ASIA « nuclear-news

Japan wants India to sign the Nuclear non Proliferation Treaty

Sign nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Japan tells India The Hindu, 30 April 12, SANDEEP DIKSHI Japan on Monday asked India to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) even as the two sides decided to reopen talks on a bilateral civil nuclear agreement…..
“We have instructed our negotiators on the way forward,” Mr. Krishna said and added the two countries understood the “concerns” of each other which were related to their historic experiences. Officials explained this to mean that while India says its clean non-proliferation record was good enough to restart civil nuclear talks, Japan feels that since India is not a signatory to the NPT, it should demonstrate its commitment to a ban on testing in words…. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3371546.ece

May 1, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, Japan, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Cut your nuclear weapons drastically – China urges USA and Russia

China wants ‘drastic’ US, Russia nuclear arms cuts, Daily Times, 1 May 12 A senior Chinese diplomat told a nuclear meeting in Vienna that the development of missile defence systems which ‘disrupt’ the global strategic balance should also be abandoned, in a possible reference to US plans that have angered Russia

China called on the United States and Russia on Monday to make “drastic” cuts in their nuclear arsenals, saying countries with atomic weapons should pledge not to be the first to use them. Continue reading →

May 1, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, weapons and war | Leave a comment

India at international Clean Energy Ministerial meeting

When the recession-hit coalition [UK] government tried to cut the subsidies – known as Feed In Tariffs – green energy producers and the environmental group Friends of the Earth took it to court. And won

Montek’s message on clean energy, Hindustan Times, 1 May 12 The Planning Commission Deputy Chairman was in London last week for the Clean Energy Ministerial meeting – leading the Indian delegation in the absence of Dr Farooq Abdullah, the Minister for New and Renewable Energy. It was an important conference to attend, as India is a major partner in this 23-nation initiative. The CEM is a forum of 23 governments: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, the European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

So that’s pretty much most of the G-20, plus a few green worthies such as Sweden and Denmark. India’s importance is underscored by the fact that the summit in 2014 will be held in India. And that’s not a day too soon in a country that Montek Singh Ahluwalia estimates is on course to notching up a long-term economic growth rate of 8 to 9%. With a billion plus population, the environmental implications of India’s energy consumption are enormous…….

the two major clean energy sources India is looking at are solar and wind. There’s good news on both fronts: recent assessments of available resources in India are that they are much larger than previously estimated. And costs are coming down. Continue reading →

May 1, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, renewable | Leave a comment

Revelations of the un-safety of Japan’s nuclear reactors

”All the samples would be considered nuclear waste if found here in the US.” – Arnie Gundersen on soil samples taken recently from parks, playgrounds and rooftop gardens throughout Tokyo.

Fukushma the Japanese Chernobyl’…a year later and politics still ‘trump’ safety…UK Progressive, JEANINE MOLLOF | APRIL 29, 2012 The Japanese Prime Minister Declares Nuclear Plant Safe… Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda declared that nuclear units 3 & 4 at the Ohi Nuclear Plant were safe for operation.
Prime Minister Noda based this declaration on ‘stress tests’ which were nothing more than computer simulations. The computer simulations merely estimate any given reactor’s ability to withstand large earthquakes and/or tsunamis, allegedly like last year’s Fukushima disaster. No other studies, expert testimony or other considerations were mentioned. Unfortunately, for Japan—and the world—Noda couldn’t be more wrong. Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, Reference, safety | Leave a comment

The transition from nuclear energy, fossil fuels – to efficiency, renewables, and smart grids

The upshot of these events is an intensified focus on energy efficiency and renewables, two solutions that hold promise of bridging the supply-demand gap in the years ahead while simultaneously reducing the current heavy reliance on fossil fueled generation.

At the same time, new investments in smart grid technologies to manage demand and integrate renewable power supplies into the grid are increasing rapidly.

Backfilling Nuclear Shutdowns With Efficiency And Renewables In Japan, Germany And California? Think Progress, Apr 29, 2012 by James Newcomb, via the Rocky Mountain Institute Electric utilities and policymakers in Japan and Germany have been scrambling for months to find ways to compensate for nuclear power plants shut down in the aftermath of Fukushima.

In both instances, fossil fuels are part of the stopgap solution to offset the declines in nuclear generation in the short term, but longer-term energy policies are shifting definitively toward efficiency and renewables. Now, the unexpected and indefinite shutdown of both units at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in Southern California has raised questions about California’s short-term electricity supply options and long-term contingency plans. Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY, Japan, USA | Leave a comment

India pursuing nuclear missile system

India developing radar-destroying Anti-Radiation Missile, DNA, Apr 29, 2012, After the success of Agni-V project, India is developing an Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) which can hugely multiply the strike capabilities by destroying the enemy’s advance warning system. Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, weapons and war | Leave a comment

.TEPCO’s history of fraud

TEPCO’s ‘malpractices’ included:
• falsification of inspection records over many years;
• covering up data about cracks in water circulation pumps and pipes which are critical for reactor cooling;
• failure to report cracks in reactor core shrouds (stainless steel cylinders surrounding the reactor core), steam dryers, access hole covers, and components associated with jet pumps (which circulate cooling water inside the reactor);
• in 1991 and 1992, tests of the leak rate of a Fukushima reactor containment vessel were faked by surreptitiously injecting compressed air into the containment building;
• written records of cracks in neutron-measuring equipment at Fukushima were deleted by contractor Hitachi at TEPCO’s request; and
• eight TEPCO reactors were still operating although required repairs
had not been carried out.”

Fukushma the Japanese Chernobyl’…a year later and politics still ‘trump’ safety…UK Progressive, JEANINE MOLLOF | APRIL 29, 2012 “……….TEPCO’s history of fraud…on top of a flawed Mark 1 design… The operator responsible for Fukushima Daiichi, namely TEPCO has a history of fraud allegations. In 2002, five TEPCO executives resigned over allegations they falsified nuclear plant safety records. Five reactors were shut down as a result.

In 2006 the Japanese government discovered false water coolant temperature readings at Fukushima Daiichi in 1985 and 1988 and ordered TEPCO to re-inspect past data. Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

China opposing North Korea’s nuclear testng

Chinese Official: China Opposes Nuclear Test by N. Korea, Arirang, 29 April 12 Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheng Guoping has said that Beijing opposes a nuclear test by North Korea. Cheng who’s accompanying Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang on an official visit to Russia told reporters Saturday that China and Russia agreed to maintain their previous stance on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Saying that the international community must do something to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Cheng called for an immediate resumption of the stalled six-party talks.
He reiterated that China will continue to work with the two Koreas to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia…. http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=128895&code=Ne8&category=1

April 30, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, North Korea, politics international | Leave a comment

Another example of corruption in the nuclear industry

Another Nuke Scandal: Theft and Bribery After a blackout-and-coverup episode recently, another development is emerging that could deepen distrust in South Korea’s nuclear industry: a corruption scandal. WSJ, April 27, 2012,

Prosecutors in Ulsan and Busan on Thursday announced the arrest of six nuclear industry executives and an equipment broker on corruption charges. The prosecutors allege the officials received bribes up to 100 million won ($88,100) each in return for providing business favors to a Korean manufacturer.

In one case, an official is alleged to have secretly handed over a sealing unit part made by French Areva, along with its specification, to a local manufacturer in return for 80 million won. The manufacturer produced a copy and sold it to four nuclear power plants…… The
arrests came less than two months after officials were caught trying to cover up a blackout at the Gori-1 nuclear plant, the oldest nuclear facility in the country. A power failure, if persisted long enough, could be lead to a serious problem like a nuclear fuel meltdown. KHNP CEO Kim Jong-shin stepped down earlier this month due to the incident. Seven other officials were relieved of their duties.

Jan Vande Putte, a nuclear expert at Greenpeace International, said in a statement Friday that the latest case is “a clear indication that the Korean nuclear industry is out of control.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2012/04/27/another-nuke-scandal-theft-and-bribery/?mod=google_news_blog

April 28, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, South Korea | Leave a comment

Excessive radiation levels received, but 16 Fukushima workers have to stay on

How’s this for injustice to workers? An illustration of three things: the heroism of Japan’s Fukushima “liquidators”, the nuclear industry’s ruthless lack of concern for its workers, and the desperate situation of the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Workers with high radiation levels to stay at N-plant http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120427006236.htm Jiji Press 28 April 12, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday that a total of 16 employees whose cumulative radiation doses have exceeded 100 millisieverts, a government-set limit, will continue to work at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. According to TEPCO, the 16 are engaged in equipment operation and radiation control and have advanced expertise and extensive experience at the nuclear plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami last year.

Following the accident at the plant, the health ministry raised the cumulative dose limit to 250 millisieverts for workers there. But this measure will expire at the end of April. The cumulative limits revert back to 50 millisieverts per year and 100 millisieverts over a five-year period.

As the 16 people are vital for containing the plant’s nuclear crisis, the company will keep them at work and take steps to reduce radiation levels at the quake-proof building used for its disaster response team, it said. With TEPCO taking such measures as covering some ceilings and floors with lead in the quake-resistant building, radiation levels there have fallen to 0.7 microsievert per hour from 1.6 microsieverts, according to the utility.

April 28, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | employment, Japan | Leave a comment

The military madness of North Korea

there it is: a nation that starves its people to feed its military spouting a philosophy of friendship and cooperation.

The despairing result of all this is that it is the people who suffer, not the leaders. It’s not enough that famines devastate the population, as North Korea endured in the nineties and from which it has not recovered, but that military madness should overwhelm all other considerations.

Paranoid state fuels military madness SMH, April 27, 2012 ‘The Government of the Republic promotes friendship and cooperation with the various countries of the world. It makes every effort in unity with all the peace-loving peoples of the world to … reduce armaments, nuclear armaments in particular, thereby meeting the desire of human beings to live in a world, free from nuclear weapons.’ – The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea website
‘Once the above-said special actions kick off, they will reduce all the rat-like groups and the bases for provocations to ashes in three or four minutes, in much shorter time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style’. – The Korean People’s Army Command
It would be lunacy, rib-chuckling idiocy, if it were not so serious.
Both statements are the creation of North Korea. Continue reading →

April 28, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Satellite photography indicates North Korea’s nuclear activity

New photo shows work at NKorea nuclear test site Google News, By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press 28 April 12, WASHINGTON — New satellite imagery appears to show a train of mining carts and other preparations under way at North Korea’s nuclear test site but no indication of when a detonation might take place. Continue reading →

April 28, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear missile envy played out between India and Pakistan

Anything you can do... Pakistan follows India with its own missile test Launch is latest proof of escalation of arms in Asia as new report stresses the threat to rest of the world ANDREW BUNCOMBE The Independent, 26 APRIL 2012 A week after India successfully tested a long-range missile, Pakistan yesterday said it had also fired an upgraded nuclear-capable device in a reminder of the ongoing arms race that has gripped Asia. Officials in Pakistan said they had completed a positive trial of the Shaheen-1A, an intermediate range missile that is capable of reaching targets across India. Continue reading →

April 28, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, Pakistan, weapons and war | Leave a comment

A new anti nuclear demographic – mothers

Often, mothers and women want to leave Fukushima and protect their kids, while men tend to accept the line, from the government and the utility, Tepco, that “all is safe.” This can lead to conflict in a culture where women are taught not to challenge their husbands or government, figures of authority.

How a Group of Japanese Mothers Are Saying No to Nuclear Power The Fukushima disaster has brought a powerful new demographic to Japan’s anti-nuclear movement: mothers. AlterNet April 25, 2012 |
On the one-year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japanese women in New York City gathered for a rally they called Pregnant With Fear of Radiation. Protestors wore fake pregnant bellies, or carried posters with images of pregnant women wearing face masks. Well aware that fetuses, children under five, and women are at the greatest risk from radiation exposure, mothers have emerged as a powerful voice in Japan’s growing anti-nuclear movement. Continue reading →

April 27, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, opposition to nuclear, women | Leave a comment

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