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Jaitapur nuclear project highlights conflict of interest

Despite assurances by the government, experts feel an honest assessment of hazards is impossible. “Like the International Atomic Energy Authority, the Indian DAE too is trapped in conflict of interest. They are both the promoters and regulators of atomic energy. How can one expect an honest assessment from them?” asks Krishna. “Safety audit should be independent,” says Bidwai. Even Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has called for an independent regulatory body for nuclear energy.  “Fukushima has changed everything,” says Krishna

JAITAPUR’S own Fukushima | Hard News After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it’s time for a moratorium on all unsafe nuclear complexes in India, Sadiq Naqvi 12 April 11, “…….”JAPAN HAS CHANGED the paradigm of debate vis-à-vis the proposed Jaitapur nuclear park,” says Vivek Montero of the Konkan Bachao Samiti. He says that the Fukushima disaster has shown that radioactivity affects everything, all life, agriculture, plantations, animals, human lives. “People have categorically stated their position. The question is not of compensation. We don’t want the project, that’s all,” he adds. Continue reading →

April 12, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, environment, India | Leave a comment

High radiation levels at Minamisoma

“While the Japanese government’s data is not necessarily incorrect, it is neither telling the full story, nor being adequately used to protect the health of people in Minamisoma…“Our measurements, taken between government monitoring points, show elevated levels of contamination outside the official 20 km mandatory evacuation zone that indicate a risk to health, yet people in Minamisoma are only being advised to stay indoors or leave on a voluntary basis. This is unacceptable.”

Greenpeace Team Identifies “High Contamination Levels“ in Minamisoma Vegetables, April 6, 2011 Yonezawa, Japan- (PanOrient News) Greenpeace said in a statement today that its radiation experts investigating impacts from the Fukushima nuclear crisis have discovered high levels of contamination in crops grown on the outskirts of Minamisoma city, raising further concerns over health risks to residents and a lack of official information outside the 20 km evacuation zone. Continue reading →

April 8, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Claims that Iran has another secret nuclear facility

Iran opposition backers claims find of secret Iranian nuclear facility, By Pam Benson, CNN  April 7, 2011 Washington — Supporters of an Iranian opposition group claimed Thursday they have information about another secret facility tied to the Iranian government’s nuclear program.

According to Alireza Jafarzadeh, an Iranian-American with ties to the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, the facility is at a site referred to as TABA, just west of Tehran, and is designed to manufacture parts for centrifuges used to enrich uranium, a key component for civilian nuclear power as well as for nuclear weapons. A U.S. official who is not authorized to speak on the record said the United States is aware of the facility…..Iran opposition backers claims find of secret Iranian nuclear facility – CNN.com

April 8, 2011 Posted by | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

In USA EPA prepares to allow more radioactivity to be called “safe”

The radiation guides called Protective Action Guides or PAGs are protocols for responding to radiological events ranging from nuclear power-plant accidents to dirty bombs.

Drinking water, for example, would have a huge increase in allowable public exposure to radioactivity,

Group warns EPA ready to increase radioactive release guidelines | The Tennessean | tennessean.com, Anne Paine, 17 March 11, EPA is preparing to dramatically increase permissible radioactive releases in drinking water, food and soil after “radiological incidents,” according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.What is termed a guidance that EPA is considering – as opposed to a regulation – does not require public airing before it’s decided upon. Continue reading →

April 5, 2011 Posted by | health, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

India’s Parliament and people kept in the dark, as USA sells nuclear to India

Among the US objectives were the desire ……to revive the moribund US nuclear industry by selling US-design nuclear reactors to India……US and Indian corporate sectors and their federations interested in profiteering from the Indian nuclear power business,….This collective also successfully kept Parliament and the people of India deliberately in the dark throughout this decision-making process. And all this is still continuing under cover of the Official Secrets Act, which is unnecessarily being applied to this civilian nuclear power sector, mainly to hush up the irrational policy decisions and the questionable financial deals between the government and corporate business houses.

Abandon the import of nuclear reactors: DNA ,  Dr A Gopalakrishnan Former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board , Apr 4, 2011,   Mumbai : The decision taken by the government to import about 40,000 MWe of Light Water Reactors (LWRs) within the next two decades, has no justifiable technical or economic basis. Continue reading →

April 4, 2011 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Whistleblower sues nuclear power company

San Onofre nuclear plant worker files whistleblower suit,  SignOnSanDiego.com, By Onell R. Soto  March 30, 2011 A former manager at the San Onofre nuclear plant in North County said Wednesday that he was fired after complaining to nuclear regulators that his superiors were ignoring worker complaints.

Paul Diaz, 35, of Oceanside, said he tried to go through channels within the plant when people he supervised raised questions, but was shot down.

“I needed to do something,” he said. And so he went to Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors based at the plant. He was then fired from his job as manager of business accounting and project services…….. San Onofre nuclear plant worker files whistleblower suit – SignOnSanDiego.com

 

March 31, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

USA Freedom of Information request on Fukushima nuclear radiation

Groups Demand Data on Radiation Release – NYTimes.com, 28 March 11, As the Japanese authorities order a wider evacuation area around the stricken Fukushima reactor complex to as far out as 19 miles, three health and environmental groups in the United States announced that they were seeking further information about why American officials recommended that its citizens keep at least 50 miles away……
-The American groups — Friends of the Earth, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and Physicians for Social Responsibility — said on Friday that they were filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy. They are seeking access to all information about radiation levels gathered by American radiological monitoring equipment and helicopter overflights…..
Groups Demand Data on Radiation Release – NYTimes.com

March 28, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties | Leave a comment

USA nuclear firms not able to shake India’s Nuclear Liability Act

Emboldened anti-nuclear activists marched on the Indian Parliament today, and the WikiLeaks website gave critics more fodder this week by releasing a U.S. diplomatic cable that reported money was offered to lock down Indian legislators’ support for the nuclear pact……the government has been weakened by scandals. … In this light, it is safe to say that the Indian [liability] legislation will not be amended to accommodate the interests of GE and Westinghouse.”..

Japan Disaster Refuels Liability Debate in U.S.-India Nuclear Pact, NYTimes.com, By ELANA SCHOR  March 25, 2011“…..Amid that uncertainty over how much of the radiation seeping from the Fukushima plant could have been kept in check, a heated debate has erupted in India over the evolution of its still-undersized nuclear industry and the implementation of its 6-year-old deal with Washington. Continue reading →

March 26, 2011 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

In Japan nuclear regulators and the regulated are the same people

The commission has no idea what the hell is going on,” he told The Independent. “Bureaucrats leave the government and go to TEPCO. The regulator and the regulated are the same people.”….”The government wanted more nuclear power and steamrollered anyone who got in its way. ..

Murky past of Japan’s troubled nuclear industry revealed, The main nuclear power operator has cut corners over the years – with the government’s knowledge.The Independent, 24 March 11,  Daniel Howden reports in Fukushima prefecture, 25 March 2011 “…..TEPCO were told from the start that the primary containment vessels, based on 50-year-old US technology, were too small.

Continue reading →

March 26, 2011 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

The problem of the nuclear industry being its own regulator

This is the situation not only in Japan but in Canada, the United States and other countries, Edwards said. “There are few independent nuclear experts in the world. Everyone either works in the industry or used to and are now regulators,”

Who controls nuclear control agencies? Japan’s earthquake caused a nuclear crisis which could be repeated in other countries .. Al Jazeera Stephen Leahy 23 Mar 2011“….. Regulatory problems  Japan’s environmental activists have long complained about the inadequacy in government regulation and a culture within the industry’s management of covering up mistakes.The problem is that nuclear power companies like TEPCO and the government regulators are “essentially one and the same,” Continue reading →

March 24, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Japan’s history of falsified nuclear safety records

In 2002 TEPCO was caught falsifying safety records and was forced to shut down all 17 of its reactors, including those at the stricken Fukushima I facility, located some 240km north of Tokyo in eastern Japan, on the Pacific coast. TEPCO executives admitted to over 200 submissions of false technical data in the previous two decades. The only reason TEPCO was caught was because a US nuclear engineer working at TEPCO came forward with the information,

Who controls nuclear control agencies? Japan’s earthquake caused a nuclear crisis which could be repeated in other countries .. Al Jazeera Stephen Leahy 23 Mar 2011 As Japan struggles to confront a nuclear disaster that could be the worst in history, it seems clear that any discussion about the safety of nuclear energy should address the independence of regulatory agencies. Continue reading →

March 24, 2011 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is not independent

“In 2008, when the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety  Commission CNSC (Linda Keen) tried to bring Canadian nuclear safety regulations in line with international standards, the government fired her,……The independence of the Commission has been compromised with the appointment of a pro-nuclear industry president”

Who controls nuclear control agencies? Japan’s earthquake caused a nuclear crisis which could be repeated in other countries .. Al Jazeera Stephen Leahy 23 Mar 2011 “…..Canadian connectionThe reactor buildings at Fukushima held up well, but there clearly was a problem with the back-up power for the cooling systems, says John Luxat, professor and Industrial Research Chair in Nuclear Safety Analysis at McMaster University, near Toronto. Continue reading →

March 24, 2011 Posted by | Canada, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) faked nuclear safety records

for many in Japan, Tepco’s track record of safety issues and attempts to cover them up add to suspicion over a flow of opaque, erratic information about Fukushima.

Power company failed to maintain safety checks, Kimiko De Freytas-Tamura SMH March 21, 2011 OSAKA: Days before Japan plunged into an atomic crisis after a giant earthquake and tsunami knocked out power at the ageing Fukushima nuclear plant, its operator had admitted faking repair records.

The revelation raises more questions about the scandal-tainted past of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the government’s perceived soft regulation of the industry. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Japan has misled public on the radiation exposure from Fukushima

These radioactive clouds are now mixing with higher altitude air currents and being dispersed more widely across northern Asia and the north Pacific……The quality of information from the Japanese has descended into farce, with simultaneous claims that  radiation levels are harmful  in the Chernobyl-sized exclusion zone but did not constitute a threat to health. This follows the patently dishonest misuse of radiation exposure metrics used for the first 3½ days of the crisis, which understated the real levels by 1000 or three orders of magnitude.
Japan’s Nuclear Farce, Crikey, by Ben Sandilands, 17 March.11 A plume of radioactive particles extending into the stratosphere from the Fukushima Daiichi reactor complex makes a mockery of claims that Japan’s nuclear crisis isn’t comparable to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Continue reading →

March 17, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Smuggling of nuclear equipment to Pakistan

Pakistani Man Charged Over Shipments to Pakistan’s Nuclear Program – WSJ.com, Evan Perez, 9 March, WASHINGTON—U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday charged a Pakistani man with running a smuggling operation that shipped materials and equipment to the agencies operating Pakistan’s nuclear program. Continue reading →

March 10, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

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