Nuclear experts sent to test China’s Tianjin explosion site
Chemical, nuclear experts testing Tianjin blast site, Aljazeera America, Military has begun work on the ground in China’s northern port city where two explosions killed at least 55 dead August 14, 2015 China has sent chemical experts into Tianjin to test for toxic gases after a series of deadly explosions.
The team of nuclear and chemical experts is on the ground on Friday in the northern port city of Tianjin, the scene of two massive explosions that have left at least 55 people dead. Seventeen of the dead were from among the more than 1,000 firefighters sent to the mostly industrial zone to fight the ensuing blaze, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The chemical experts were testing the area for toxic gases, the official news agency Xinhua said, adding that the death toll had climbed to 55, with 701 admitted to hospital.
The team of 217 nuclear and biochemical materials specialists from the Chinese military began work at the site on Thursday.
The explosions at a warehouse for hazardous chemicals in the Chinese port of Tianjin on Wednesday raised questions about the whether the materials had been properly stored. Windows were shattered for miles around by the shockwaves, and the explosions were so big they were seen by satellites in space and registered on earthquake sensors.
Officials in Tianjin said they did not yet know what materials were at the hazardous goods storage facility where the explosions happened, or the cause of the blast.
But the Beijing News reported earlier that according to manufacturers, at least 700 ton of sodium cyanide were at the site, along with other substances, and the poisonous chemical had been detected in sewage samples in the area.
The report was no longer available on the newspaper’s website on Friday………..
ianjin is the 10th largest port in the world by container volume, according to the World Shipping Council, and the seventh-biggest in China. It handles vast amounts of metal ore, coal, steel, cars and crude oil.
Ships carrying oil and “hazardous products” were barred from the port Thursday, the Tianjin Maritime Safety Administration said on its official microblog. It also said vessels were not allowed to enter the central port zone, which is near the blast site.
State media said senior management of the company had been detained, and that President Xi Jinping demanded severe punishment for anyone found responsible for the explosions……..
As is customary during disasters, Chinese authorities tried to keep a tight control over information. Police kept journalists and bystanders away with a cordon about a mile from the site. On China’s popular microblogging platform of Weibo, some users complained that their posts about the blasts were deleted, and the number of searchable posts on the disaster fluctuated, in a sign that authorities were manipulating or placing limits on the number of posts.
The Tianjin government said that because of the blasts it had suspended online access to public corporate records. These records might be used to trace the ownership of Ruihai. It was not clear whether the blackout was due to technical damage related to the explosion. No one answered the phone at the Tianjin Market and Quality Supervision Administration or the Tianjin Administration for Industry and Commerce on Thursday.
Ruihai Logistics said on its website — before it was shut down — that it was established in 2011 and is an approved company for handling hazardous materials. It said it handles 1 million tons of cargo annually……..http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/13/at-least-50-dead-and-hundreds-injured-in-chinese-warehouse-explosion.html
Explosion in Tianjin, China – in warehouse supplying nuclear fuel?
Top Asian News at 11:00 pm GMT
TIANJIN, China (AP) — Huge explosions at a warehouse for … ore which could supply its nuclear weapons program or fuel nuclear reactors, …–
The blasts ripped through a warehouse storing “dangerous goods” in Tianjin’s Binhai New Area around 11:30 p.m. local time, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said. http://www.wsj.com/articles/huge-blast-rocks-chinese-city-1439403843
Solar power races ahead as China builds huge station in Gobi desert
China builds huge solar power station which could power a million homes, http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/china-builds-huge-solar-power-station-which-could-power-a-million-homes-10446840.html The Independent, ALEXANDRA SIMS, 08 August 2015 China is set to build a giant solar power station in the Gobi desert, which could generate enough energy to supply one million homes. The proposed power station will measure 10 square miles and generate 200 megawatts of solar energy.
The plans will fall in line with the Chinese government’s ambitious initiative to reduce the country’s fossil fuel energy by 20 per cent by 2030 in addition to cutting its green house gas emissions.
Construction began six years ago on the country’s first large –scale power station, according to National Geographic.Recent photos from NASA satelites show that the solar panels making up the plant cover an area roughly three times bigger than was seen three years ago.
China is quickly becoming a world leader in solar power.
According to the International Energy Agency, the country produces two-thirds of all solar panels and it gained more solar capacity than any other country in the world last year. China invested $83.3 billion dollars last year into renewable energy, more than any other country, according to a report from the UN Environment programme.
The United States, despite being the second highest investors in renewable energies, invested less than half this amount.
Jennifer Morgan, director of the climate program at the World Resources Institute told National Geographic: “China is largely motivated by its strong national interests to tackle persistent air pollution problems, limit climate impacts and expand its renewable energy job force.”
She added that China, presently the greatest emitter of greenhouse gases, will be able to meet its pledge if it continues with its new emphasis on renewables.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said: “China’s carbon dioxide emission will peak by around 2030 and China will work hard to achieve the target at an even earlier date,” according to Reuters.
A global boom in solar power could be on the cards, according toBloomberg New Energy Finance, as panels get cheaper and batteries become more advanced.
By 2040, they predict, in moves led partly by China, solar power could account for one-third of new electricity.
Typhoon Soudelor hits Taiwan, then China’s coast – danger to nuclear stations
Typhoon Soudelor toll rises to 17 in China: state media http://news.yahoo.com/typhoon-downgraded-china-killing-five-taiwan-030301544.htmlShanghai (AFP) – The number of people killed by Typhoon Soudelor in China rose to 17, state media reported on Monday, with five more missing.
Three people were killed by a mudslide and one was missing after being swept away by floods in Ningde, in the eastern province of Fujian, the Fujian Daily reported.
In neighbouring Zhejiang province 14 were killed and four were missing, the official news agency Xinhua said earlier, quoting local officials as saying that the dead and missing may have been washed away by floods or buried under ruined homes.
The total direct economic losses in the two provinces were estimated at around eight billion yuan ($1.31 billion), figures from state media showed.
Billed as the biggest typhoon of the year last week with winds of up to 230 kilometres (140 miles) an hour, Soudelor — named for a Micronesian chief — has since weakened.
It made landfall in Fujian on Saturday night after leaving six people dead in Taiwan — including two twin sisters and their mother, who had all been swept out to sea.
It also knocked out power to a record four million households on the island. [Taiwan’s nukes in danger from typhoon,too]
Some 379 people were injured by the storm in Taiwan, which saw rivers break their banks under torrential rain and towering waves pound the coastline.
The China Meteorological Administration lifted its typhoon warning Monday as the storm weakened and moved further inland.
China’s massive solar farm going ahead fast in Gobi desert
China builds huge solar power station which could power a million homes, http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/china-builds-huge-solar-power-station-which-could-power-a-million-homes-10446840.html
The Independent, 08 August 2015 China is set to build a giant solar power station in the Gobi desert, which could generate enough energy to supply one million homes. The proposed power station will measure 10 square miles and generate 200 megawatts of solar energy.China sends back infant milk formula to Fukushima
The principle radioactive poison that is being tested for in Japanese foods is cesium-137. Unfortunately, there are also other deadly poisons that have been spewed in lesser amounts by Fukushima disaster. These include americium-241, plutonium-236, uranium-238, thorium-232 and the extremely dangerous isotope, strontium-90. All of these contaminants may also be found in food from Japan, including in baby formula.
Fukushima Baby Milk Formula Declared Unfit by China http://www.huntingtonnews.net/11938 August 5, 2015 – BY JOHN LAFORGE Chinese authorities seized more than 881 pounds of baby milk formula that had been imported from Japan because it had been produced in areas known to be heavily contaminated with radioactive material emitted by three damaged nuclear reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi complex. Continue reading
Climate change danger hangs over China’s coastal cities (and their nukes!)
Climate change threatens China’s booming coastal cities, says expert, Guardian, Peng Yining , 25 July 15
With an ageing society and more people living by the coast, China faces a challenge coping with climate change, reports China Daily A recent study led by Georgina Mace, ecosystem professor at University College London, indicated that governments across the world have failed to grasp the risk that population booms in coastal cities pose as climate change continues to cause rises in sea levels and extreme weather events. Mace is director of the UCL Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research.
Mace says population growth in coastal areas can lead to big increases in exposure to extreme weather. The biggest direct effect of projected climate change is heat waves. The number of people dying from extreme heat could increase twelvefold by the end of this century, as a result of global warming combined with increasing numbers living in affected areas.
“People are increasingly living in the wrong places, and the demographic shift in China is enormous. China has a lot of old people who are vulnerable to extreme weather,” says Mace………
The commission also released a report in July indicating that by 2030, China will have 230 million rural residentswho have relocated to urban areas and the urbanisation rate will reach 70%.
Increased urbanisation will also exacerbate the effects of climate change, particularly among elderly citizens who are more vulnerable to extreme weather, Mace said recently at the release of the latest climate change report commissioned by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The report, drawn up by experts from UK, the United States, China and India, demonstrated risks triggered by climate change, including extreme weather and social instability, and also stressed the potential impact on coastal areas caused by rising sea levels
“The reason we chose to work with China is very much because of the population factor. The eastern coastal region is highly populated, and the sea level is rising. That could be a big challenge,” says David King, the UK foreign secretary’s special representative for climate change, who led the project……… http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/25/climate-change-threatens-chinas-booming-coastal-cities-says-expert
Fukushima baby milk formula seized in central China
Danger for China, in planning inland nuclear facilities
Drought and earthquakes pose “enormous risk” to China’s nuclear plans, China Dialogue Wang Yi’nan 27.02.2013
China’s nuclear industry is shifting inland, away from the crowded coast. It’s a risky move, argues Wang Yi’nan When the Fukushima nuclear disaster struck, China was building new nuclear power capacity at a rate unprecedented in world history: 40% of all reactors planned or under construction were in China. Targets for installed nuclear generation capacity by 2020 were raised repeatedly – from 40 gigawatts in 2007 to 80 gigawatts in 2010.
Preparations were also under way for more than 20 inland nuclear power plants. The 41-plus gigawatts of capacity already completed or under construction lies along China’s seaboard. Space is running out.
But Fukushima sent shockwaves through the nuclear industry. In China, focus shifted from the speed and scale of expansion to questions of safety and quality. The government placed a moratorium on approvals for new nuclear plants, which lasted for more than a year, a period during which debate on what to do raged – over safety, scale of expansion, technology, site locations and, most crucially, whether or not the process of considering applications to build new inland nuclear power plants should be restarted.
China’s nuclear moratorium may have been lifted, but those arguments continue today……..China’s realities warn against inland nuclear development.
Figures from the China Earthquake Administration’s Institute of Geology show that, since 1900, China has been hit by almost 800 earthquakes of magnitude six or above, causing destruction in all regions except Guizhou, Zhejiang and Hong Kong. Despite having only 7% of the world’s landmass, China – where three tectonic plates meet – gets more than a third of all strong continental earthquakes.
Moreover, China’s per-head freshwater resources are only one quarter of the global average. Inland nuclear power plants require a failsafe, 100% reliable and never-ending supply of water for cooling. Even if a reactor stops operating it still requires water to carry off heat. If the water dries up, we could see a Fukushima-style disaster, with terrible consequences: radioactive pollutants released into nearby rivers and lakes, affecting the safety of water on which hundreds of millions rely.
In June last year, Reuters covered a report by European and US scientists on the vulnerabilities of nuclear and thermal power to climate change. According to the report, “under climate change, a lack of water for cooling is severely restricting generating capacity at nuclear power plants in the EU and US. In the summer seasons of 2003 to 2009, many inland nuclear power plants were forced to shut down due to a lack of cooling water.”
The authors predicted that “due to a lack of water for cooling, between 2030 and 2060 nuclear and thermal generating capacity will drop 4-16% in the US, and 6-19% in the EU,” and went on to stress that “opting to build nuclear and other thermal power plants by the sea is an effective and important strategy to cope with climate change.”
China is densely populated and prone to both drought and earthquakes, making the development of inland nuclear power inadvisable. It has also long sought to emulate the EU and US, regions which have now realised the outlook for inland nuclear power is bleak. China should not make the same mistake………
Safety standards still not being met
Moreover, there are still limits to China’s ability to run nuclear power plants.
During the State Council’s safety audit of 41 reactors in operation or under construction, some plants and fuel recycling facilities were found not to meet new safety standards for flood and earthquake resilience, while some plants did not have procedures for preventing or mitigating major accidents. Others had not evaluated tsunami risks and responses.
The Taishan Nuclear Power Plant has no guidelines for managing a major accident, for example. The Taishan No.2 reactor, Ling’Ao and Tianwan Nuclear Power Plants have procedures only for certain types of major accident……..
China has better and more realistic options to relieve energy shortages and cut emissions. These include more efficient use of resources including coal; the promotion of energy-saving techniques such as the use of energy performance contracting(where energy savings from new buildings systems pay for the cost of a building renewal project) a tool which, if used in China as it is in the EU, would save the equivalent of several Three Gorges Dams’ worth of energy.
Comprehensive clean-energy solutions, incorporating solar power, wind power, bioenergy, pumped-storage hydropower and natural gas peak power plants, can provide China with the clean, reliable and efficient energy it needs for a new type of industrialisation.
China’s development must be built on genuinely safe, reliable, clean and efficient energy. Blindly opting for nuclear power in response to energy shortages and emissions pressures is to drink from a poisoned chalice. https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/5746-Drought-and-earthquakes-pose-enormous-risk-to-China-s-nuclear-plans
Japan Contaminated Food: Charges In Taiwan, Japan Asks China To Ease Restrictions
Two men have been charged in Taiwan related to the importing of banned foods from Japan. Authorities in Taiwan have asked Japan to investigate the crime on their end, so far they have received no response.
At the same time Japan is being uncooperative with Taiwan, they are asking China to ease food import restrictions. Japan recently took South Korea to the WTO in an attempt to force them to remove restrictions on suspect food imports. So far there has been no indication Japan intends to do the same to China.
The higher restrictions in place in China have created an additional problem for Japan. If they are able to comply with China’s stringent documentation requirements they have little ability to claim less onerous documentation rules in other countries are too difficult to meet. ipei Times
Sources:
Taipei Times
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/06/18/2003620995
South China Morning Post
Japan asks China to ease food import restrictions introduced after Fukushima nuclear disaster
China banned imports of food produced in 10 prefectures in Japan including Miyagi, Nagano and Fukushima following the crisis
A Japanese farm ministry official met a senior Chinese official in charge of food inspection on Friday to request the easing of restrictions on food imports introduced after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, sources said.
A director general at the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries used the meeting in Beijing to stress the safety of Japanese food, the sources said.
China banned imports of food produced in 10 prefectures in Japan including Miyagi, Nagano and Fukushima following the nuclear crisis.
The beginning of such talks reflects an improvement in relations between the two biggest Asian economies.
Ties had deteriorated after the Japanese government bought a major part of the Japanese-administered Diaoyu Islands – known as Senkaku in Japan – in the East China Sea, from a private Japanese owner in 2012. The islands are claimed by China.
Both countries’ leaders have met twice since November, indicating a thaw in their tense relations.
The sale and use of Japanese food products has dropped sharply at department stores, supermarkets and restaurants in China since the import ban went into effect.
But potential demand remains strong for such products.
The two countries are expected to set up another meeting of higher-ranking officials.
In another development, Beijing is set to hold a press conference on the arrangements for a grand military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of second world war, another grievance between the two nations.
Qu Rui, deputy director of the Military Parade Leading Group, is scheduled to attend the press conference.
The parade, to be held in September, is seen as an attempt by Beijing to exert pressure on Japan over wartime disputes.
But Beijing has said the parade is not targeted at any particular country.
China has said it will invite leaders of other nations to attend the parade.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to be a guest, but it is not known if Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be invited.
Source: South China Morning Post
Japan, China to discuss food ban
BEIJING — The Japanese and Chinese governments have agreed to hold negotiations aimed at easing China’s restrictions on imports of Japanese foodstuffs, measures put in place following the outbreak of a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The relevant bureau directors general from both sides met in Beijing on Friday, it has been learned. The event marked the first such talks since the crisis began and a move toward compromise by China.
A bureau director general of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry participated in the Friday meeting, as did China’s director general in charge of food inspections. The Japan side said it thoroughly supervised agricultural products and urged China to ease its restrictions, saying Japanese agricultural products are safe and that resolving the issue of import restrictions would contribute to the development of both nations.
China agreed to continue talks on the subject.
In addition to banning the imports of foodstuffs from 10 prefectures, including Fukushima, China requires the submission of a “radiation inspection certifi-cate” for the import of certain items from the other 37 prefectures, such as vegetables, fruit, dairy products and tea leaves.
Because the form of this certificate has not been decided, however, imports have been effectively halted.
About 50 countries and regions had curbed imports of Japanese foodstuffs at one point in the wake of the nuclear crisis. But 13 countries have lifted such rules entirely, and the trend toward easing restrictions is growing.
Source: Yomiuri
Ease food import restrictions – Japan asks China
Japan asks China to ease food import restrictions introduced after Fukushima nuclear disaster, South China Morning Post 21 June 15 China banned imports of food produced in 10 prefectures in Japan including Miyagi, Nagano and Fukushima following the crisis A Japanese farm ministry official met a senior Chinese official in charge of food inspection on Friday to request the easing of restrictions on food imports introduced after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, sources said.
A director general at the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries used the meeting in Beijing to stress the safety of Japanese food, the sources said.
China banned imports of food produced in 10 prefectures in Japan including Miyagi, Nagano and Fukushima following the nuclear crisis…….
The sale and use of Japanese food products has dropped sharply at department stores, supermarkets and restaurants in China since the import ban went into effect……..http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1824614/japan-asks-china-ease-food-import-restrictions
Jordan going ahead with solar technology in a big way, helped by China
Chinese enterprise funds Middle East renewables, Independent Australia Anthony M Horton 18 June 2015, New reports confirm that the future of the Middle East is in renewables, which is already cheaper and more reliable than oil. The region is predicted to become a global green economic hub, reports Anthony M Horton.
FOLLOWING A grant worth US$310 million from Hanergy, a Chinese energy enterprise that produces thin-film solar technology, Jordan will expand its power grid and increase its renewable energy production by 1 Gigawatt. As a result of Hanergy’s assistance, Jordan will achieve its goal of increasing renewable energy capacity to 40 per cent (1.8 Gigawatts) by 2020.
Jordan began removing fossil fuel subsidies and created the country’s Renewable Energy and Efficiency Fund a decade ago. This signalled the move to cleaner energy, and other Middle Eastern countries are also looking seriously at them. A report published by The Climate Group earlier this year (reported on 23 April) discussed the potential of the region to become a global green economy hub.
Their analysis, which was supported by the International Renewable Energy Agency, gave an overview of the current and future renewables landscape and explored the role that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would play in reshaping the world’s energy future, given the lessons it was learning from flagship projects in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in terms of the best opportunities and ways to upscale renewables.
The report also highlighted the increasing adoption of solar energy technologies as evidence of the growing appetite of the private sector……….https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/chinese-enterprise-funds-middle-east-renewables,7839
Gangwon Province, China, strongly opposes nuclear power
| Voices growing in Gangwon Province against slated nuclear reactors http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/696544.html Jun.18,2015 |
Government’s recently released 7th Power Supply Plan mandates two new nuclear reactors by 2029After the government announced its 7th Power Supply Plan, which will depend on the construction of two more nuclear reactors by 2029, residents of Gangwon Province are becoming more vocal in their demands to cancel the construction of nuclear reactors in Samcheok.On June 17, the Gangwon Province branch of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) held a press conference in front of Samcheok Post Office calling for the national government to scrap its plans to build nuclear reactors in the city and to revoke its designation of the planned areas.
“In a popular referendum about building nuclear reactors that was carried out in October of last year, 85% of the citizens of Samcheok voted against the plan. A majority of Samcheok citizens are united in their position that building nuclear reactors poses an unacceptable threat to their lives and safety,” a speaker at the press conference said.
“The government means to push ahead with the construction of the nuclear reactors because of its stubborn insistence that nuclear power is the business of the state and is not subject to a popular referendum, but in the end no government can defeat its own people. We will join with the people of Samcheok to block the nuclear reactors,” said Shim Gi-jun, head of the NPAD’s Gangwon Province branch.
On June 16, Lee Yi-jae, 56, Saenuri Party representative for the cities of Donghae and Samcheok; Kim Yang-ho, mayor of Samcheok; and Chung Jin-gwon, head of the Samcheok city council met with Moon Jae-do, Second Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, in the committee room of the National Assembly‘s Trade, Industry, and Energy Committee and asked that plans to build nuclear reactors in Samcheok be omitted from the 7th Power Supply Plan, which will be confirmed at the end of this month.
“Delaying the final decision about the location of the nuclear reactors for three years until 2018 will provoke conflict and division between different regions. There is precedent for this, since Deoksan Village was removed from the list of possible nuclear reactor sites in 1999 and the construction of a nuclear waste disposal facility was shelved in 2005. I hope that public receptiveness will be given the highest priority and that the plans to build a nuclear reactor in Samcheok will be scrapped,” Lee said.
The Committee Fighting against the Samcheok Nuclear Reactor recently issued a statement of its own responding to the government’s announcement of the 7th Power Supply Plan. “The nuclear reactor construction plan should not be slyly delayed until 2018 but should be struck from the 7th Power Supply Plan at once. If the plans to build nuclear reactors are not revoked, we will step up our fight against the government,” the committee said.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is set to submit the 7th Power Supply Plan to the National Assembly around June 20. If the plan is approved, it will be officially announced around the end of the month.
By Park Soo-hyeok, Gangwon correspondent Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr
1 This Month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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