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Dick Smith calls the bluff on new nuclear technology scheme

“I predict that Mr Rossi will delay and delay in producing machines or in getting a proper scientific test done, while behind the scenes more and more people will be investing. “

Dick Smith: “Rossi E-CAT … too fantastic to be true” Forbes, Mark Gibbs, 24 Feb 12, Recently Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith offerred Andrea Rossi $1,000,000 if he could prove that Rossi’s Energy Catalyzer (E-Cat) cold fusion (or Low Energy Nuclear Reaction) system actually works as claimed. Rossi immediately turned down the challenge. Continue reading →

February 25, 2012 Posted by | spinbuster | Leave a comment

Confusing schoolchildren with anti science, climate denialism

Don’t cloud young minds http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328533.600-dont-cloud-young-minds.html New Scientist, 22 February 2012 THERE is a strong sense of déjà vu about what is emerging over leaked emails from the Heartland Institute. The US libertarian think tank, which argues that global warming is not primarily caused by humans, intends to develop teaching material that would cast doubt on the scientific consensus on climate change. Its approach is sadly reminiscent of fogging tactics employed by the tobacco industry and creationists

 Children should be taught honestly what we know about climate change, as well as what we don’t know and where the uncertainties lie. Yet a plan outlined in documents allegedly from Heartland would build a curriculum around statements such as “whether humans are changing the climate is a major scientific controversy” (see “Climate sceptics may find fertile ground in US schools“). This is to create controversy where none exists.

There simply is no credible scientific alternative to the theory that humans are warming the atmosphere. In 2010, a survey of 1372 climate scientists found that 97 per cent of those who publish most frequently in the field were in no doubt. They agreed with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that human activity had caused most of Earth’s warming over the second half of the 20th century. By comparison with these scientists, the climate expertise of the small group of contrarians was substantially lower (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1003187107). Continue reading →

February 24, 2012 Posted by | spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

Confronting the dodgy science of “radiation hormesis” and “adaptive response”

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

Look – I know that this one is “heavy going” for those of us who are not crash hot on science.

I don’t usually publish items that are so scientifically challenging.  But the thing is –  we’re all gonna have to get a bit more informed scientifically.

Why?  Because, along with the Climate Denialists, and the Creation Scientists, – we’re now facing the “Radiation Denialists”.

These guys, fronting for the nuclear industry, have now come up with two dodgy “scientific” slogans – “radiation hormesis” and “adaptive response”.   Sound good – don’t they?   But they are both no more than a bodgy attempt to con us all into thinking that low level ionising radiation is not harmful, is even good for you.  They want the current radiation standards changed – for the benefit of the nuclear industry.

The new web page – below – will counter their scientific bullshit.   It is my hope that not only the great unwashed are reading this page, and aspiring to become better informed, but also scientists, who need to become aware of the radiation “spin” now going on.  All need to be aware of this new con. – Christina Macpherson


RADIATION HORMESIS AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE Radiation Hormesis and Adaptive Response – Definitions. by nuclearhistory , 16 Feb 2011,   “……. Adaptive response andhormesis are often mentioned to minimize the risk of radiation or sometimes to deny any adverse outcome below a dose threshold…

We may wonder why the proponents of the hormesis model acknowledge a radiation threshold value for harmful effects, but reject it for beneficial effects…..

The Linear No Threshold hypothesis should remain so far the basic guide line for the radioprotection authorities. It appears clearly that the ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle, which is currently the basis of radiation protection policies, should be followed as long as no relevant scientific facts provide other insights. …..
Belgian Nuclear Research Centre http://www.sckcen.be/

The European Radiation Research Society, contact person Dr. Louis de Saint-Georges, secretary-treasurer. The European Radiation Research Society (formerly the European Society of Radiation Biology) is an Europeannon profit organisation founded in 1959 with the aim of promoting radiation research  http://www.errs.eu/….
http://hormesishistory.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/radiation-hormesis-and-adaptive-response-definitions/

February 16, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Astroturf in Australia – fake citizen action by fossil fuel lobby

Faked “citizen action” was the brainchild of PR heavyweight Burson Marsteller, whose leaked email “Doubt is our Product” laid bare the ruse behind tobacco’s denial campaign during the tobacco wars.

The same ruse has been used for the last decade by the mining industry to create doubt about global warming….

 a cynical campaign run by ideological advocates Americans for Prosperity, funded by “free marketeer” mining billionaires — the Koch Brothers.

Deception is our product Independent Australia 9 Feb 2012,   Environment editor Sandi Keane exposes the shadowy world of PR, where astroturfing and propaganda is used to coerce the public into sacrificing their own interests for those of big corporations.

Deceiving the public these days is a lucrative industry. Experienced PR practitioners now coerce you through astroturfing and other socially engineered forms of brainwashing to sacrifice your interests for those of their clients – especially those with the biggest war chest – the fossil fuel industry…. Continue reading →

February 9, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, spinbuster | 1 Comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s State of the Art Spin on ionising radiation

Nuclear accidents pose little risk to health: NRC The study found there was “essentially zero risk” to the public of early fatalities due to radiation exposure following a severe accident.

The long-term risk of dying from cancer due to radiation exposure after an accident was less than one in a billion and less than the U.S. average risk of dying from other causes of cancer, which is about two in one thousand.

The study, called the State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA), looked at the radiological health consequences for potential severe accidents at Exelon Corp’s Peach Bottom nuclear plant in Pennsylvania and Dominion’s Surry nuclear plant in Virginia.

February 2, 2012 Posted by | spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

Small modular nuclear reactors” – is this REALLY “a way for USA to regain leadership in nuclear”

from a strictly commercial perspective, there is no reason to use nuclear power at all. The capital costs are enormous and the operations and maintenance costs are very high, to say nothing liability insurance.

daviddelosangeles  comments on  Feds To Finance Small Nuclear Reactor Designs, Ucilia Wang, Forbes, 21 Jan 12,   “The key question is would that there need to be a certain minimum number of these [small nuclear] reactors in service for a civilian nuclear power system based on these smaller reactors to operate successfully. This is true for mining, processing, research, and waste disposal. It is not clear that that “critical mass” of reactors could be developed in the current environment.

The decision of the Federal government in the 1950′s to subsidize the creation of the civilian nuclear power industry (e.g. The Price-Anderson Act) was made because nuclear power was not commercially viable but the military needed a nuclear power industry (naval powered submarines – and later aircraft carriers- and nuclear warheads for the air force).

The military alone could achieve the necessary critical mass. A federally subsidized commercial nuclear power industry was the answer. Continue reading →

January 21, 2012 Posted by | spinbuster, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

“cold shutdown” – incorrect words to hide the truth on Fukushima

News of a “cold shutdown” sounds like a PR smokescreen.

Redefining “Cold shutdown” doesn’t hide the truth about Fukushima Greenpeace, by Justin McKeating – December 20, 2011 The Japanese authorities stated last Friday that Fukushima is in a state of “cold shutdown. This is not true. At first glance, the announcement that the stricken nuclear reactors are now “stable” sounds like some rare good news from the disaster zone. Not at all. As we all know, first impressions can be deceptive.

The industry definition of “cold shutdown” means that the temperature inside a nuclear reactor has stabilized below 95℃ from the hellish temperatures of the nuclear fission process. In the case of Fukushima, this suggests the crisis is over. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, the Japanese authorities have cheated by redefining  “cold shutdown” to suit the situation at Fukushima. Continue reading →

December 21, 2011 Posted by | Japan, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Nationalise Fukushima nuclear plant – to get to the truth- says Japan’s former Prime Minister

Hatoyama: Nationalize Fukushima N-plant The Yomiuri Shimbun, 18 Dec 11 Only by bringing the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into government hands can scientists thoroughly discover what caused the nuclear crisis, former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama says in an article published in the Dec. 15 issue of the British science journal Nature.

In the two-page article coauthored by Hatoyama and Tomoyuki Taira, a fellow Democratic Party of Japan member of the House of Representatives, Hatoyama said the Fukushima plant “must be nationalized so that information can be gathered openly.”

“A special science council should be created to help scientists from various disciplines to work together on the analyses,” he said. “Through such a council, the technologies needed for decommissioning and decontamination…can be developed.”

It is extremely rare for a major science journal to carry an article written by a former prime minister as a cover story, according to an official of Nature Japan.

In the article, Hatoyama criticizes Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the crippled plant, for disclosing only limited information to Diet committees. He also hints at the possibility of recriticality at the plant and says there is still much about the crisis that needs clarification, including the state of the molten fuel within the nuclear reactors.

Hatoyama also says that he and Taira obtained data on samples of contaminated water TEPCO obtained from the basement of the plant’s No. 1 reactor and asked an outside research institute to reanalyze them…. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111215005428.htm

December 19, 2011 Posted by | Japan, spinbuster | 1 Comment

Working at Fukushima nuclear plant likely to be a death sentence?

 Government was likely avoiding the huge task of evacuating major cities like Iwaki and Fukushima.

He also expressed concern for those working to recover the plant. He said: “Working at Fukushima is equivalent to being given an order to die”…..

Fukushima nuclear shutdown: ‘No progress is being made’ ZDNet By Hana Stewart-Smith | December 16, 2011, Summary: The Japanese government says that troubled nuclear plant
Fukushima is under control. But an undercover journalist suggests that no progress is being made towards recovery.

The Japanese government announced publicly today that the troubled Fukushima plant is now under control, having achieved a ‘cold shutdown‘….This is reassuring news for the public after the reactor sprung a leak earlier this month, pouring out an estimated 45 tonnes
of radioactive water, which may have reached the sea….
However, freelance journalist Tomohiko Suzuki, who worked undercover at Fukushima for over a month, disputed this news.      Suzuki spoke to reporters at a Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan conference yesterday, telling a very different story to the one officially given
by the Government. Continue reading →

December 19, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Nuclear “Cold Shutdown” – a good “spin” phrase, but not actually true

Again, should “Cold Shut Down” be a term applicable to broken reactors with molten cores in their basements?,  Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, December 19, 2011 probably not. The actual pressure vessels are empty and unsealed, and the state of the fuel and its precide disposition are unknowns. If you dont know the temperature and whereabouts of the fuel, how is that “cold shutdown”. The fuel has gone feral. Just like the industry.

Partial quote: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/16/japan-nuclear-crisis-cold-shutdown_n_1152889.html

Japan Nuclear Crisis: Prime Minister Says Tsunami-Devastated Nuclear Power Plant Has Reached Stable State Of ‘Cold Shutdown’

“…..The government said Fukushima Dai-ichi has reached cold shutdown “conditions”_ a cautious phrasing reflecting the fact that TEPCO cannot measure the temperatures of melted fuel in the damaged reactors in the same way as with normally functioning ones.”……  http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/

December 19, 2011 Posted by | Japan, spinbuster | Leave a comment

The term “cold shutdown” is not appropriate to the Fukushima nuclear reactors

Japanese Government speeds rezoning of contaminated areas. Paul Langley’s nuclear history blog 18 Dec 11  The appropriateness of the use of the term “cold shutdown” in relation to the Fukushima reactors in meltdown has been discussed in an editorial by the Mainichi Daily News, Japan, 17 Dec 2011. It is term applicable to a reactor in normal mode, not disaster failure meltdown mode.

The pressure vessels are essentially in a vastly abnormal state, and although the Japanese  Government  states venting of radionuclides has “significantly” stopped, things are still very abnormal in the Fukushima reactors. Neither TEPCO nor the Japanese  Government understands the true state of the escaped fuel, nor how much the reactor vessels have been eroded. Continue reading →

December 19, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Fukushima nuclear plant nowhere near ‘under control’ despite govt’s claims

The nuclear power lobbyists are the ones who can claim credit for stabilizing their own situation and getting the government under control.

 Fukushima power plant is far from ‘cold’,Deutsche Welle, Alexander Freund , 16 Dec 11 http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6682457,00.htm The Japanese government has claimed to have reached a cold shutdown in Fukushima. But experts are skeptical and believe it could take another 40 years to get the situation under control. Headlines from Japan surely sound good: Fukushima is under control, the dilapidated nuclear power plant is stable.

But these headlines are nothing more than a euphemism. The situation at Fukushima is nowhere near under control. Continue reading →

December 16, 2011 Posted by | Japan, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Unreliable claim that Fukushima nuclear plant is now ‘stable’

TEPCO has not been able to take direct measurements of the temperatures at the bottoms of the containment vessels, and the site is still too radioactive for the fuel rods’ status to be visually confirmed.

Radiation levels are too high for people to get close to the reactors, leaving engineers and scientists to make important judgments using computer simulations, scattered bits of data and guesses.

Skeptics cast doubt on Fukushima status, even as Japan declares nuclear reactors ‘stable’ Christian Science Monitor, By Arthur Bright, December 16, 2011 Japan’s government declared that the damaged reactors from the Fukushima disaster were ‘stable.’ Not everyone is convinced.   The Japanese government announced that the Fukushima nuclear complex, heavily damaged by the March 11 tsunami in the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, is now stable.  But serious doubts remain about Fukushima’s status, as officials remain unable to confirm the status of the reactors’ fuel and an undercover report impugns the clean-up efforts’ efficacy.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told a government nuclear emergency meeting that “The reactors have reached a state of cold shutdown” and are “stable,”
reports Reuters.  Mr. Noda and his environment and
nuclear crisis minister, Goshi Hosono, both said that the situation at
the plant is under control , though the clean-up may still take decades.  The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which operates the reactor and has been leading the clean-up, had been attempting to achieve cold shutdown before the end of the year. Continue reading →

December 16, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Climate change deniers attack renewable energy in North Carolina

Climate-warming opponents join forces against NC renewable-energy program Xpress, By Jeff Fobes on 12/11/2011  Progressive think-tank and news outlet Facing South reports:
Climate-science deniers with ties to the fossil-fuel industry have joined forces in an assault on North Carolina’s renewable energy program and particularly wind power, which has been making big gains in the U.S. in recent years. Continue reading →

December 12, 2011 Posted by | spinbuster | Leave a comment

Individual landowners responsible for radioactive material on their lands – says TEPCO

“Radioactive materials that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not Tepco,” the company said. 

Adding Insult to Injury TEPCO: Fukushima Radiation Isn’t Our Problem Counter Punch, by JOHN LaFORGE, 8 Dec 11,  In the amoral milieu of the corporate bottom line, you can’t blame Tokyo Electric Power Co. for trying.

Tepco owns the 6-reactor Fukushima complex that was wrecked by Japan’s March 11 earthquake and smashed by the resulting tsunami. It faces more than $350 billion in compensation and clean-up costs, as well as likely prosecution for withholding crucial information that may have prevented some radiation exposures and for operating the giant station after being warned about the inadequacy of its protections against disasters. Continue reading →

December 9, 2011 Posted by | Japan, spinbuster | Leave a comment

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