Wobbly words from USA, as it has no solution to its nuclear wastes
Solution to nuclear waste remains in limbo, Greenville Online, 20 June 12, “….. The nuclear industry has produced about 65,000 metric tons since its inception, and 2,000 more per year must be stored in deep pools of water and moved above ground to steel containers reinforced with concrete — all at the sites of the country’s 104 nuclear reactors…..
the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future was created and tasked with finding a solution …
In discussions of how to dispose of nuclear waste, terms such as “temporary” and “interim” are defined in timelines extending more than 100 years.
In 1987, Congress dismissed two other options being studied to designate Yucca Mountain as the only site the Department of Energy could consider for a permanent repository. Nevada at the time lacked political clout, and the decision has long been described by the state as the “screw Nevada bill.”
Twenty five years later, the government is back where it started. The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, in its long-anticipated report, said recently that just selecting a new site could take as long as 20 years…..
Two years ago, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a “waste confidence decision” declaring that storage of spent fuel at reactors is safe despite the fact that the country has no place to store it permanently.
The fuel rods must cool in large pools near the reactor for several
years before they can be moved into “dry cask” containers.
Instead, the regulatory commission relies on the notion that a permanent site will be operating by the time it is necessary.
World Health Organisation dancing to nuclear lobby’s tune on Fukushima radiation?
Dr. Caldicott says the WHO only focuses on 
thyroid cancer and ignores all other cancers and other radiation related diseases.
“There is a substantially increased incidence of thyroid tumors among exposed children, up to 50 percent of those tested by ultrasound. But instead of biopsying these tumors, they are ‘following’ them, i.e. doing nothing, which means they are
not being diagnosed and many of these children are therefore destined to die, because almost certainly
many of the tumors will be malignant,” …. She is far from alone in her views.
The Fukushima Battleground Over Science, By Aron Lamm, Epoch Times, 8 June 12, More than a year after the Fukushima nuclear incident, there is still much disagreement about many aspects of its actual consequences. A recent example is a report by the World Health Organization, which estimates radiation doses and cancer risks in the wake of the disaster.
Its findings are being criticized by other medical professionals who use different assumptions and different science, and accuse the WHO of downplaying the gravity of the health risks for people living in the affected area…… Continue reading
The latest dirty lie – gas energy called “clean” and eligible as “renewable”
The EU governments fast one is a clear victory for the European natural gas lobby, according to The Guardian. “The insertion of gas energy as a low-carbon energy into an EU programme follows more [than] 18 months of intensive lobbying by the European gas industry, which is attempting to rebrand itself as a green alternative to nuclear and coal, and as lower cost than renewable forms of power such as wind and sun.”
EU Pulls an €80B Fast One; Natural Gas to be Eligible for Renewable Energy Subsidies http://cleantechnica.com/2012/06/03/eu-pulls-an-e80b-fast-one-natural-gas-to-be-eligible-for-renewable-energy-subsidies/ JUNE 3, 2012 BY ANDREW Clean Technica The power and influence of fossil fuel dollars over politicians and political processes never ceases to amaze. In the latest illustration of just how much sway the fossil fuel lobby has over governments around the world, the European Union (EU) is likely to divert €80 billion of funds earmarked specifically for development of innovative renewable energy sources to the development of natural gas power plants. Continue reading
Nuclear disaster’s effect on humans has been underestimated
WHO statistics and studies on how the Fukushima disaster may have already, and will continue to affect human beings must be re estimated. The outcome based on the new information will obviously be much worse.
Germany’s Solar Success and Fukushima’s Crisis: Intelligent Energy Priorities, HUFFINGTONPOST, Vivian Norris 06/01/2012 “…….Fukushima is far from over, and to emphasize this, new information coming from testimony from Japanese leaders who were making decisions during the early days of the crisis, force us to accept that virtually no one had correct information, no one was in control, and the
situation was far worse than the public was told.
Yet nuclear physicists, engineers and safety specialists were at work on the internet trying to tell anyone who would listen that the situation at Fukushima was bordering on a worldwide catastrophe.
The amounts of radiation which flowed into the Pacific, the weather patterns which carried radioactive particles across the Pacific, and frankly around the world, were far higher than TEPCO admitted. This has led to a mistrust not only of the industry, but of the mainstream media and regulators as the Japanese government appeared to put saving face before informing the public. Continue reading
USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s real role is to PROMOTE nuclear power
Nuclear Rubberstamp Commission HUFFINGTON POST, Karl Grossman, 05/30/2012“… The resignation last week of the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is another demonstration of the bankrupt basis of the NRC. Gregory Jaczko repeatedly called for the NRC to apply “lessons learned” from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster in Japan. And, for that, the nuclear industry — quite successfully — went after him fiercely.
The New York Times, in an editorial over the weekend , said that President Obama’s choice to replace Jaczko, Allison Macfarlane, “will need to be as independent and aggressive as Dr. Jaczko.”
That misses the institutional point.
The NRC was created in 1974 when Congress abolished the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission after deciding that the AEC’s dual missions of promoting and at the same time regulating nuclear power were deemed a conflict of interest. The AEC was replaced by the NRC, which was to regulate nuclear power, and a Department of Energy was later formed to advocate for it.
However, the same extreme pro-nuclear culture of the AEC continued on at the NRC. It has partnered with the DOE in promoting nuclear power.
Indeed, neither the AEC, in its more than 25 years, nor the NRC, in its nearly 30 years, ever denied an application for a construction or operating license for a nuclear power plant anywhere, anytime in the United States.
The NRC is a rubberstamp for the nuclear industry. “NRC stands for Nuclear Rubberstamp Commission,” says Kevin Kamps of the organization Beyond Nuclear. And it isn’t that Jaczko opposed nuclear power. “Greg is not anti-nuclear, but he’s pro-nuclear in a smart and considered way,” says Christopher Paine , director of the nuclear program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Continue reading
Counteracting the pro nuclear spin that “ionising radiation is OK”
Low dose ionising radiation IS harmful to health http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/life/health/low-dose-ionising-radiation-is-harmful-to-health/ Independent Australia, Noel Wauchope, 21 May 12, A landmark study on Hiroshima survivors comprehensively disproves nuclear lobby spin about ionising radiation being safe at low doses. This week, a new report about low dose ionising radiation was published — one that should put a spanner in the works of the nuclear lobby. It is called ‘Studies of the Mortality of Atomic Bomb Survivors, Report 14, 1950–2003: An Overview of Cancer and Noncancer Diseases’.
First of all, let me explain why this report is so important and so timely.
It’s now just over a year since the tragic Fukushima disaster. So the nuclear lobby thinks that it’s time to restart the nuclear renaissance, and to get people to stop worrying about ionising radiation.
To this end, the industry, and particularly the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have projects under way.
In particular, there are two important projects going on —seemingly unrelated ones. But they are, as a matter of fact, closely related. Both aim to dampen the public concern about ionising radiation — indeed, to promote acceptance of “low level radiation”:
One sets out to downgrade nuclear emergency procedures. The other aims at discrediting the scientifically accepted model on the cancer risk of low level radiation — known as the Linear No Threshold model (LNT), which states that there is no level below which ionising radiation is not harmful, with risk increasing with each added unit of radiation……..
Project 2 – discrediting the radiation risk model
The U.S. Department of energy funds research projects worldwide that promote the theories of “radiation hormesis” and “adaptive radiation”.
Radiation hormesis holds that, at a low level, radiation is not only harmless, but actually good for human health.
Adaptive radiation holds that people exposed to low level radiation, over time, become resistant to its cancer-causing effects.
It’s easy to see how well this fits in with a relaxing of the rules for safety around nuclear facilities, and a public complacency about the nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima, Chernobyl and Three Mile Island…… Continue reading
India’s atomic energy chief says fears about nuclear radiation are “irrational”
Priority is to remove irrational fears about radiation: Ratan Kumar Sinha Interview with Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission Business Standard, Sanjay Jog / Mumbai May 10, 2012, Ratan Kumar Sinha, who was director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, took over as chairman of Atomic Energy Commission and secretary of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) last week.
His appointment comes at a time when India’s nuclear sector is facing challenges. Sinha, in an interview with Sanjay Jog, speaks on a number of issues. Edited excerpts:
What are your priorities?
The first is to remove an irrational fear of radiation in the public mind….. We would educate the public and try to remove the unwarranted fear of radiation associated with nuclear plants.
Heartland Institute’s heartfelt attack on climate science
The chimerical construction of an ideologically-driven topsy-turvy reality by Heartland 
and its Australian equivalent, the IPA, is neither new nor surprising.
As the evidence for climate change continues to pile up, and as the frequency of severe weather events continues to sky-rocket, we can therefore be fairly certain that climate denial will take ever more scurrilous forms.
Are Heartland billboards the beginning of the end for climate denial? The Conversation, Stephan Lewandowsky 7 May 2012, The inversion of reality and morality has been a long-standing attribute of the climate “debate,” which reached a new watershed low a few days ago with the latest travesty from the Heartland Institute, a Chicago “think” tank.
Heartland posted on its website that “the people who still believe in man-made global warming are mostly on the radical fringe of society. This is why the most prominent advocates of global warming aren’t scientists. They are murderers, tyrants, and madmen.” Continue reading
Despite the facts, nuclear lobby preaches success
“Nuclear Renaissance” Back on Track WDM Group PR Network, Business Review Australia NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – May 3, 2012) – Last year the Fukushima disaster in Japan started a downward spiral for companies in the Uranium Industry. Approximately one year later the industry looks to be finally recovering….. ”Fukushima put a speed bump on the road to the nuclear renaissance,” Ganpat Mani, president of Converdyn, said at a nuclear industry summit. “It’s not going to delay the programs around the world.”
Sneaking a nuclear waste dump in, under another name
Opponents believe that attempts to ‘spin’ a potential Lakeland nuclear waste dump as ‘West Cumbrian’ is an irresponsible strategy of deception that glibly condemns both Cumbria and the Lake District as a whole to inevitable environmental catastrophe…
Nuclear waste – tarnishing the Lake District ‘brand’? Virtual Lancaster, 26 APRIL 2012 The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) has issued a consultation response that indicates that its sole concern about having a dump for high-level nuclear waste built under the Lake District is bad publicity to the Lakeland ‘brand’.
Continue reading
Pro nuclear governments’ dishonest efforts to prop up the ailing nuclear industry
At this critical moment of a fading nuclear power industry, pro-nuclear governments of France, the UK, Poland, and the Czech Republic seem to have embarked upon a mission to save the future of nuclear energy. According to a leaked letter to the European Commission, they have voiced their wish that nuclear energy should be on par with young renewable energy technologies, thus making their struggling nuclear projects eligible to receive EU subsidies.
Where is the Positive Image of Nuclear Energy Coming From?, Clean Technica, 16 April 12, Despite the problems and disasters of the past and present, nuclear power is still being praised for being a cheap, abundant, and clean form of energy production by many politicians. Of course, it’s also “safe” and without any kind of “waste management problems” (due to future developments that would make energy out of dangerous nuclear waste), but those slogans are a little harder to sell today, so the focus is usually on “clean” and “cheap”. Continue reading
Enormous costs of the global fraud that is nuclear power
The world has since lost over $1,000 billion in subsidies, cash losses, abandoned projects and other damage from nuclear power. Decontaminating Fukushima alone is estimated to cost $623 billion, not counting treatment costs for thousands of likely cancers.
The end of the nuclear illusion, The Daily Star, Praful Bidwai, 20 March 12A year after the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe began in Japan, the world has a historic chance to end one of the biggest-ever frauds played on the public to promote a patently unsafe, accident-prone, expensive and centralised form of energy generation based upon
splitting the atom to boil water and spin a turbine. Candidly, that’s what nuclear power generation is all about. Continue reading
Kids get a sanitised tour of Hanford nuclear plant
The Stories Kids Touring Hanford’s Nuclear Plant Won’t Get to Hear, Seattle Weekly, By Johnathon Fitzpatrick ., Mar. 13 2012 Washington’s Hanford nuclear facility is home to the world’s worst radioactive dump site. This year for the first time ever, the Department of Energy is allowing school kids to tour the world’s original production-scale nuclear reactor, but there are plenty of secrets which the tour guide probably won’t mention.
Last fall, we published a cover story that looked at the boondoggle that is the massive cleanup of the nuclear dump site, with a follow up on what an environmental crisis at Hanford would look like. Then, last month, we published another cover story about whistleblowers crying foul over the institutional problems within Hanford management . Given all that coverage, here are some facts about Hanford you likely won’t hear on the tour: Continue reading
Legal action against Taipower nuclear company for deceiving public
“Taiwan cannot afford a single nuclear disaster,”…Japan is about 10 times the size of Taiwan. If a radioactive leak occurs in Taiwan, people would have nowhere to escape,
Taipower misleading public: activists, Taipei Times, 14 March 12, ATOMIC ANGST:Environmentalists said Taipower wasted taxpayers’ money promoting nuclear power and falsely claimed Taiwan would face power shortages without it By Lee I-chia
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) released misleading information to the media and public that power rationing would have to be implemented if nuclear power plants were shut down,
environmentalists said yesterday. Saying the misinformation was a bid by the company to ensure the continuation of its nuclear projects, environmental groups said they would file a lawsuit against the state-run company for “document forgery.” Continue reading
“State of the Art Reactor Consequence Analysis” (SOARCA) downplays nuclear accident impacts
NRC should immediately withdraw its absurd SOARCA report, and get about the business of protecting public health, safety, and the environment — its mandate — rather than doing the nuclear power industry’s bidding by downplaying risks as at Peach Bottom 2 and 3
“Demonic” reality of Fukushima, versus absurdity of NRC Beyond Nuclear 2 Mar 12, I”……..On March 13, 2011, even as Fukushima Daiichi’s reactors were melting down and exploding, and its storage pools at risk of boiling or draining dry and the high-level radioactive waste catching fire, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) provided false assurance to the U.S. public and news media, that no harmful levels of radioactive fallout would reach U.S. territories. However, at the very same time, we now know, NRC was itself worried about potentially hazardous levels of radioactive Iodine-131 reaching Alaska.
Just last week, NRC held public meetings about its newly unveiled, so-called “State of the Art Reactor Consequence Analysis” (SOARCA). One meeting took place near the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, not far from Philadelphia or Washington D.C., where two General Electric Boiling Water Reactors of the Mark I design (GE BWR Mark I) operate. Paul Gunter, Beyond Nuclear’s Reactor Oversight Project Director, attended and testified. Continue reading
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