Navy sought to stifle concerns of radiation on S.F. Bay island, emails show
By Matt Smith and Katharine Mieszkowski The Bay Citizen, 30 Aug 12, As U.S. Navy officials readied a report this summer acknowledging a broader history of radioactive contamination at Treasure Island, they also sought to prevent California health officials from adding to the written record their concerns that the cleanup had been mishandled, according to internal emails. Continue reading
Breakthrough to very cheap solar pholtovoltaics – from USA Dept of Energy
Photovoltaics from Any Semiconductor Berkeley Lab Technology Could Open Door to More Widespread Solar Energy Devices Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory USA Department of Energy JULY 26, 2012 Lynn Yarris (510) 486-5375 lcyarris@lbl.gov
A technology that would enable low-cost, high efficiency solar cells to be made from virtually any semiconductor material has been developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley.
This technology opens the door to the use of plentiful, relatively inexpensive semiconductors, such as the promising metal oxides, sulfides and phosphides, that have been considered unsuitable for solar cells because it is so difficult to
tailor their properties by chemical means….. http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2012/07/26/photovoltaics-from-any-semiconductor/…..http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2012/07/26/photovoltaics-from-any-semiconductor/
Radiation levels at Louisiana sinkhole 15 times over limit
Sinkhole radiation 15 times over limit, residents urged to record health signs
BAYOU CORNE SINKHOLE DISASTER, Examiner.com AUGUST 24, 2012 BY: DEBORAH DUPRE A non-government group is urging Bayou Corne sinkhole area residents to use a new record log as a veteran radiation expert says Louisiana environmental officials are “in denial” over hazards posed by elevated radium levels that are actually fifteen times higher than the state limit, a “worst nightmare coming true,” according to an environmental attorney.
Stanley Waligora, a New Mexico-based radiation protection consultant and leading authority on health risks of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) has confirmed that radium levels at Bayou Corne’s sinkhole are not within safe limits, but instead, roughly 15 times higher than the state’s acceptable level, according to one of the nation’s leading environmental attorney’s Stuart Smith.
State officials are saying NORM is is below hazardous levels, but the independent findings indicate other actions need to be taken, including residents using Louisiana Environmental Action Network’s report logs to record signs and symptoms of ill health.
The information about radium is buried in a state news release, poorly written, “and goes out of its way to downplay the results,” Smith said Wednesday…… http://www.examiner.com/article/sinkhole-radiation-15-times-over-limit-residents-urged-to-record-health-signs
Every USA State has big potential for renewable energy
NREL Study Shows Renewable Energy Potential in Every State http://www.rdmag.com/News/Feeds/2012/08/materials-nrel-study-shows-renewable-energy-potential-in-eve/ by National Renewable Energy Laboratory A new study of renewable energy’s technical potential finds that every state in the nation has the space and resource to generate clean energy.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory produced the study, U.S. RE Technical Potential, which looks at available renewable resources in each state. It establishes an upper-boundary estimate of development potential. Economic or market restraints would factor into what projects might actually be deployed.
The report is valuable for decision-makers and utility executives because it compares estimates across six renewable energy technologies and unifies assumptions and methods. It shows the achievable energy generation of a particular technology given resource availability – solar, wind, geothermal availability, etc. — system performance, topographic limitations, and environmental and land-use constraints.
The study includes state-level maps and tables containing available land area (square kilometers), installed capacity (gigawatts), and electric generation (gigawatt-hours) for each technology.
“Decision-makers using the study will get a sense of scale regarding the potential for renewables, and which technologies are worth examining,” said NREL’s Anthony Lopez, a co-author of the study. “Energy modelers also will find the study valuable.”
“This is intended to be a living document,” NREL’s Donna Heimiller, another co-author, added. “We’ll be frequently updating the information as we get more data.”
For more information go to the NREL website: http://www.nrel.gov/gis/re_potential.html.
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.
Michigan’s initiative for renewable energy jobs and economy
Counterpoint: More renewable energy will create jobs, rein in energy costs M Live Micigan, By Todd Fettig , August 23, 2012, Opponents of increasing Michigan’s renewable energy standard should rethink their obstruction to more Michigan-made energy, more jobs, more clean air and water, and more opportunities for Michigan manufacturers and businesses to compete in the clean energy economy.
They should also rethink using paid and unpaid mouthpieces like former state Sen. Ken Sikkema and Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Rick Baker to spread misinformation and distortions about what the bipartisan Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs proposal will actually do.
Mark Fisk Just as flat-screen TVs that cost $6,000 in 2002 cost less than $450
today, renewable energy is also getting cheaper with innovation and new technology. Michiganders should know one fact up front: The Michigan Public Service Commission clearly states that renewable energy now costs $58 per megawatt/hour LESS than the cost of building a new coal plant. Continue reading
Just exactly who should pay for San Onofre’s repairs and restart?
If San Onofre nuclear plant is restarted, who pays? The San Onofre nuclear plant must first be deemed safe to restart. But with costs already mounting, it’s unclear who would foot the bill. By Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times August 22, 2012
Nearly seven months after the San Onofre nuclear power plant was closed because of a leak, officials are grappling with whether it makes financial sense to bring the plant fully back online, and if so, who should pay for the necessary repairs. Continue reading
Court ruling on uranium company’s insurance policies
Court rules in uranium mine cleanup dispute http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/aug/23/court-rules-in-uranium-mine-cleanup-dispute/#ixzz24VeeQu7N
– vcstar.com The Associated Press VCStar.com August 23, 2012 SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – The state Supreme Court has ruled a uranium company’s insurance policies may cover costs of cleaning up contamination at a former mine in northwestern New Mexico.
The ruling on Thursday sends the dispute back to a district court to
determine what insurers must pay for, if any, involving a cleanup by
United Nuclear Corp. at the Northeast Church Rock mine near Gallup.
The site is adjacent to the Navajo Nation.
The court decision hinged on an insurance provision excluding coverage
for pollution damages unless the discharges were “sudden and
accidental.” The court concluded the term “sudden” meant unexpected
rather than happening over a short period of time. An insurance
company had contended its policies provided no liability coverage
because environmental damage at the mine happened over many years.
Legal action against relicensing Seabrook nuclear power plant
Beyond Nuclear et. al. take NRC to federal court in Seabrook relicensing: Wind power vs. nuclear power Beyond Nuclear 23 Aug 12, Three environmental groups (Beyond Nuclear, Seacoast Anti-Pollution League and the New Hampshire Chapter of the Sierra Club) have taken the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (Boston, MA) in a legal challenge to NextEra Corporation’s application to extend the operating license of New Hampshire’s Seabrook nuclear generating station application from 2030 to 2050.
The citizen groups want the court to remedy this injury by ordering NRC to re-admit the groups back into Seabrook hearing process to review the wind energy alternative to the relicensing of the nuclear power station for 2030 to 2050. Oral arguments by the parties in the case are likely to be heard in the Boston federal court by early 2013…. http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-reactors-whatsnew/2012/8/22/beyond-nuclear-et-al-take-nrc-to-federal-court-in-seabrook-r.html
Vogtle costs approved despite warnings of overruns and delays
Vogtle costs approved despite warnings of overruns and delays By Kristi E. Swartz The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 23 Aug 12, Reports of cost overruns and scheduling delays loom over Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle expansion project…… An independent utility watchdog has warned of scheduling delays at Vogtle, however. The delays have made the project’s capital and financing costs go up, he said.
In addition, Georgia Power is disputing its responsibility for a $425
million cost overrun stemming from delays in getting key license
approvals from federal regulators. The project’s main vendors,
Westinghouse and The Shaw Group, say Georgia Power is responsible for
that amount. Separately the vendors have sued the utility and the
project’s co-owners for additional expenses that came from backfilling
two excavation sites at Vogtle.
The continuing dispute over who will pay for those escalating costs
may force the reactors to start producing power later than their
scheduled 2016 and 2017 dates, the utility’s parent, Southern Co.,
said in a recent document.
Georgia Power and a group of municipal and cooperative electricity
utilities are adding two reactors at Vogtle. The reactors are the
first in the United States to win permits in 30 years. ..
http://www.ajc.com/business/vogtle-costs-approved-despite-1503361.html
Opposition to USA plan to commercialise plutonium wastes at Savannah
The preferred plan under consideration calls for the shipment of 7.1 metric tons of so-called pits — or cores — of an undisclosed number of nuclear warheads now stored at the Pantex plant in West Texas to Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Savannah River Site for disarmament and processing into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors.
Anti-nuclear activists question plan for shipping plutonium from warheads to New Mexico By Associated Press, August 22 LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — Nuclear watchdogs are fighting a proposal to ship tons of plutonium to New Mexico, including the cores of nuclear warheads that would be dismantled at an aging and structurally questionable lab atop an earthquake fault zone.
Opponents voiced their opposition at a series of public hearings that opened this week on the best way to dispose of the radioactive material as the federal government works to reduce the nation’s nuclear arsenal.
The Department of Energy is studying alternatives for disposing of plutonium in light of federal budget cuts that have derailed plans for new multi-billion-dollar facilities at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Continue reading
Rocketing costs of upgrading B61 bomb
Cost of Nuclear Bomb Upgrade Doubles to $8 Billion,http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2012/08/22/cost-of-nuclear-bomb-upgrade-doubles-to-8-billion/ Ottawa Citizen, August 22, 2012 One of the oldest nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal is the B-61 gravity bomb. It was first designed in the 1960s to be dropped over a target by airplane. The U.S. government is in the process of getting ready to do a life extension (ie. upgrade) on the bomb.
The upgrade was estimated in 2010 to cost $2 billion. That has now doubled to $8 billion. But there is also an independent Pentagon cost estimate noting the program will come in at $10 billion. The number of bombs to be upgraded is classified.
Here is the Washington Post’s view on this project:
“Who will be deterred by the refurbished B-61? Is the symbolism of deploying the nuclear gravity bomb in Europe worth the billions of dollars? Does it make sense to embark on a $10 billion program to refurbish a weapon that could be put on the table in negotiations with Russia a few years from now? In an age of scarce resources, such questions can’t be slighted. “
Overuse of medical radiation lifts cancer rates
Medical Radiation Soars, With Risks Often Overlooked NYT, By JANE E. BRODY AUGUST 20, 2012, Radiation, like alcohol, is a double-edged sword. It has indisputable medical advantages: Radiation can reveal hidden problems, from broken bones and lung lesions to heart defects and tumors. And it can be used to treat and sometimes cure certain cancers.
But it also has a potentially serious medical downside: the ability to damage DNA and, 10 to 20 years later, to cause cancer. CT scans alone, which deliver 100 to 500 times the radiation associated with an ordinary X-ray and now provide three-fourths of Americans’ radiation exposure, are believed to account for 1.5 percent of all cancers that occur in the United States. Continue reading
Problem of doctors referring patients to radiation clinics that they own
Doctors Who ‘Self-Refer’ to Radiation Clinics Add to Patients’ Burden: Study
In Texas, prostate cancer patients had to travel longer distances to use physician-affiliated center Aug. 21 (HealthDay News) — The practice of referring a cancer patient to a radiation clinic with links to the referring doctor can be difficult for patients, a new study finds.
The study focused on urologists in Texas. It found that the practice caused some men with prostate cancer to travel more than three times farther to receive the treatment they needed.
The researchers said the findings call into question this practice, known as physician self-referral, and highlight concerns about the increase in urology-owned radiation oncology practices.
“Travel time to cancer care centers is crucial, especially for older men with advanced disease, because external radiation therapy often requires daily treatment for six to eight weeks,” Dr. Colleen Lawton, president-elect of the American Society for Radiation Oncology, said in a news release from the organization. …..
The study is published in the Sept. 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.
More information The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has more about physician self-referral. http://www.ivillage.com/doctors-who-self-refer-radiation-clinics-add-patients-burden-study/4-a-482061#ixzz24P9awDtk
Hackers may be able to attack US nuclear power plants
US Nuclear Power Plants May Be Totally Vulnerable To Hackers Jim Finkle , Reuters | Aug. 22, 2012 BOSTON – The U.S. government is looking into claims by a cyber security researcher that flaws in software for specialized networking equipment from Siemens could enable hackers to attack power plants and other critical systems.
Justin W. Clarke, an expert in securing industrial control systems, disclosed at a conference in Los Angeles on Friday that he had figured out a way to spy on traffic moving through networking equipment manufactured by Siemens’ RuggedCom division.
The Department of Homeland Security said in an alert released on Tuesday that it had asked RuggedCom to confirm the vulnerability that Clarke, a 30-year-old security expert who has long worked in theelectric utility field, had identified and identify steps to mitigate its impact…… http://www.businessinsider.com/flaw-in-us-computer-software-may-allow-hackers-to-control-nuclear-power-plants-2012-8#ixzz24Lul43tb
Hanford nuclear waste tank – a new radioactive leak?
Big, radioactive lump in Hanford nuclear-waste tank: Is it leaking? Seattle Times, 21 Aug 12, A discovery at the Hanford nuclear reservation throws into question the integrity of the double-walled steel tanks where radioactive waste is being temporarily stored. Continue reading
1 This Month
23-25 October – on Zoom – World BEYOND War’s annual global conferenc
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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