Global Climate Change Reveals Fatal Flaws of the Nuclear Energy Paradigm
“Fukushima: Dispossession or Denuclearization?” — The Final Chapter, The Millennium Report 13 Sept 14“……While Fukushima is the poster child for everything that can go wrong — very wrong — with nuclear power generation, there have been several instances since March of 2011 which have highlighted the inherent weaknesses found in the global Nuclear Energy Paradigm.
Photos often tell the story much better than all the words in the world. The media carried startling photographs of Nebraska’s Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station during the floods of June, 2011. The plant was completely surrounded by floodwaters and under threat of losing its power supply. Even though it had been in cold shutdown since April, it was still vulnerable to problems not too dissimilar to the Fukushima Daiichi plant…….
Because of the ongoing intensification of Global Climate Change, this scenario can repeat itself virtually anywhere around the globe. Wherever there is a nuclear power plant, it can be overwhelmed by floodwaters if the rains and subsequent flooding are severe enough. When the plants are located on the coastline, as many are, to provide easy, inexpensive access to ample water supply, the threats greatly increase due to hurricanes and typhoons.
The real question remains, therefore, as to what type of contingency plans the various nations of the world have in place to address the worst case scenarios. The Perfect Storm that occurred at Fukushima can easily be duplicated in the form of a catastrophic weather event that temporally paralyzes a nuclear power plant, especially one that is in the way of raging floodwaters or a category 5 hurricane or typhoon.
Big media fails the public on environmental and public health matters
Economy & Ecology: The Inconvenient Truths The Global Calcuttan, September 21, 2014 “…..Manufactured Complacency The facilitators of our collective slide to environmental devastation is Big Media. Owned, globally by a few corporate houses, they are failing miserably in their job of informing the public. This is an essential function as democracy is premised on the notion that the electorate are informed. If problems are not given due attention in the media, politicians find them easy to be ignored.
Just as investors cannot take rational decisions on investing without proper information, how can the public take rational decisions about their future if information is withheld or they are simply distracted by noise?
In the last Indian general election, political parties ignored environmental issues, which is alarming considering the problems India faces:
The World Bank estimates that environmental degradation costs India 5.7 per cent of its annual gross domestic product, and causes a quarter of the country’s 1.6 million deaths among children each year.
Thorium proponents created the cult of Weinberg
Thorium Trolls Hypnotise Environmentalists D. A. Ryan November 19th, 2011 Also as regard Weinberg, another classic symptom of any cult is the adulation of a particular hero figure. Look at the scientologists and Ron Hubbard. If Kirk is the High Priest of the LFTR cult, clearly Weinberg is its Saint (or its martyr if you believe some LFTR propaganda!).
Of course the fact the LFTR bloggers are putting words in Weinberg’s mouth and misrepresenting his views completely, as well as ignoring certain basic scientific facts (the primary purpose of the MSR experiment of the 1960’s was to create a breeder cycle to feed nuclear fuel into other reactors, they were never intended as a major source of power, or so my nuclear engineer buddies tell me!) has little to do with anything. But let’s not let pesky little “facts” get in the way of a good fantasy!
Furthermore, science is about rigorous critical analysis. The instant one scientist’s words (or supposed words) are elevated to the point where they cannot be challenged or criticized is the point where you cross the Rubicon between science and pseudo-science.
Perhaps LFTR fans should get some E-meter’s and build Weinberg a temple?http://www.joabbess.com/2011/10/26/thorium-trolls-hypnotise-environmentalists/#comment-107302
Dispute over water – uranium miners fight it out in Africa
Uranium producers in fight for water http://www.africaintelligence.com/AMA/exploration-production/2014/07/29/uranium-producers-in-fight-for-water%2C108033195-ART?did=46190443&eid=206481
310,000 New Yorkers keen to win fight against Coal, Oil, Nuclear, Gas
At the Grassroots How to Win the Climate Fight CounterPunch. by HARVEY WASSERMAN 23 Sept 14, The most hopeful, diverse, photogenic, energizing and often hilarious march I’ve joined in 52 years of activism—and one of the biggest, at 310,000 strong—has delivered a simple message: we can and will rid the planet of fossil fuels and nuclear power, we will do it at the grassroots, it will be demanding and difficult to say the least, but it will have its moments of great fun.With our lives and planet on the line, our species has responded.
……….Climate chaos is a clear and present danger.
It’s caused by “King CONG”—Coal, Oil, Nukes and Gas.
The corporations who threaten us all must be reorganized and held accountable. Corporate greed is no way to power an economy. Corporate personhood is an unsustainable myth. The corporate profit motive is at war with our survival.
But renewable energy, community-owned and operated, can and will green-power our Earth cleanly and cheaply, bringing jobs, prosperity, ecological balance and, in concert, peace and social justice, without which no green transition is sustainable.
And it will come to us on the wings of focussed local campaigns against each and every polluting project, one at a time, through the grueling, endless hard work of an aroused and focussed citizenry.
The magic of today’s New York minute was its upbeat diversity, sheer brilliance and relentless charm. A cross between a political rally and a month at Mardi Gras. There were floats, synchronized dances, outrageous slogans, chants, songs, costumes, marching bands, hugs, parents with their kids, and one very sweaty guy in a gorilla suit.
Above all, there was joy…which means optimism…which means we believe we can win….which is the best indicator we will…….http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/09/23/how-to-win-the-climate-fight/
There is no Planet B. see photos of New York Climate Rally
PHOTOS OF NEW YORK IN ACTION TO SAVE THE PLANET ~~ ‘THERE IS NO PLANET B’ Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers took to the streets on Sunday in what was billed as a People’s Climate March. Police estimated there were 600,000 marchers present, many more than the 100,000 which was expected.Climate March Shatters Record, DesertPeace, By Andrew Restuccia, 23 Sep 14
Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon joined a larger-than-expected throng of activists, scientists, students and elected officials who took to New York City’s streets Sunday for a massive march meant to sound the alarm about climate change.
Organizers initially estimated that the march had drawn 310,000 people, then raised that estimate to nearly 400,000 — far exceeding their projections of 100,000 attendees and making the procession through midtown Manhattan by far the largest climate-related protest in history. New York police did not offer their own crowd count.
Participants waved flags, pounded on drums and carried signs that said “No More Climate Change” and “Climate Action Now,” while police blocked traffic along Central Park West from 59th Street to 86th Street.
The scene turned a bit chaotic when Gore, Moon, scientist Jane Goodall and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio joined the march around 12:45 p.m., with police, security officers and arms-linked volunteers holding back the crowd while photographers clicked away. After a moment of silence, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Others taking part in Sunday’s protest included Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) as well as former Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
Participants said they were trying to send a message to elected officials that tackling climate change, an issue that has often taken a back seat in Washington, should be a top priority.
“It shows we have power,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. “It’s a diverse coalition. It’s broad and it’s growing in strength and it’s growing in diversity. And it’s increasingly impatient at the rate of progress.”
But it wasn’t making an immediate splash on national TV — “Meet the Press” didn’t mention the march, while CNN, Fox and MSNBC were focusing on issues like the NFL, the fight against ISIL, Friday’s White House intruder and the November elections…….http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/photos-of-new-york-in-action-to-save-the-planet-there-is-no-planet-b/
South Africa denies that it has finalised a nuclear deal with Russia
South Africa says no Russia nuclear deal, Sky News, Wednesday, 24 September 2014 South Africa’s government says it has not yet awarded Russia a deal worth as much as $US50 billion ($A54 billion) to develop eight nuclear reactors, saying the countries had merely signed a cooperation agreement.
Russia’s atomic energy agency on Monday announced it had won a lucrative contract to develop nuclear power in South Africa, prompting allegations that President Jacob Zuma’s government had dodged procurement rules.
Pretoria’s energy ministry insisted on Tuesday that the Russia deal ‘initiates’ the procurement phase of the project and that other countries would be given a chance to bid.
‘Similar agreements are foreseen with other vendor countries that have expressed an interest in supporting South Africa in this massive programme,’ the ministry said.
‘If chosen, all nuclear vendor countries have technologies of their choice that they would want to deploy,’ a statement said, mentioning a delegation will visit France shortly.
Following the Russian announcement, South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance called for parliament to investigate….. http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/africa/2014/09/24/south-africa-says-no-russia-nuclear-deal.html#sthash.SGOQfEpx.dpuf– See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/africa/2014/09/24/south-africa-says-no-russia-nuclear-deal.html#sthash.SGOQfEpx.dpuf
USA and Iran discuss new nuclear proposals
Iran open to new US proposals on Tehran’s uranium programme Guardian, 24 Sept 14 Plan that would disconnect enriching machines from feeds of uranium being discussed at talks between Iran and six major powers.
With Iran refusing US demands that it gut its uranium enrichment programme, the two sides are discussing a new proposal that would leave much of Tehran’s enriching machines in place but disconnected from feeds of uranium, diplomats told the Associated Press Saturday.
The talks have been stalled for months over Iran’s opposition to sharply reducing the size and output of centrifuges that can enrich uranium to levels needed for reactor fuel or weapons-grade material used in the core of nuclear warheads. Iran says its enrichment programme is only for peaceful purposes, but Washington fears it could be used to make a bomb.
Time is running out before a 24 November deadline and both sides are eager to break the impasse.
Ahead of the resumption of talks, on Friday, the New York Times reported that Washington was considering putting a new plan on the table that would focus on removing the piping connecting the centrifuges that enrich uranium, instead of demanding that Iran cut the number of centrifuge machines from 19,000 to no more than 1,500.
Two diplomats told the AP Tehran was initially non-committal at a bilateral meeting in August. But they say the proposal has now moved to being discussed at the talks Tehran is holding with the US and five other powers, and that the Islamic Republic is cautiously receptive.
Both diplomats demanded anonymity because their information is confidential…….http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/20/iran-open-to-new-us-proposals-on-tehrans-uranium-programme
Confusing hype about South Africa’s planned nuclear deal with Russia
More questions than answers on SA’s nuclear deal, Business Day, BY EVAN PICKWORTH, 23 SEPTEMBER 2014 ANALYSTS WERE ON TUESDAY LEFT WITH MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS ABOUT SA’S MUCH-HYPED NUCLEAR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA, NOTABLY HOW MUCH IT WILL COST.
Russia has always been seen as the front-runner to win the tender and an announcement on Monday evening from Russia confirmed Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation had won the bid. But little detail about how it will be funded was forthcoming……..
Teneo Africa risk analyst Anne Fruhauf said. – “I am concerned that the deal seems to be going ahead without real discussion of the arguments made in the National Development Plan, which advocated for alternative energy sources such as natural gas before committing SA to a potentially very expensive nuclear build on the scale of 9,600MW.”
Ms Fruhauf said the “million dollar question” would be the financing details and equity ownership. The statement from Rosatom was unclear on financing details, and the Department of Energy had not returned calls asking for more clarity.
“How much of a financial liability will the nuclear deal become for SA? There are no details yet but it could be SA’s biggest public procurement programme to date. If finalised, the deal (is) likely (to) imply significant financial risks and implications for the electricity price path. The deal will almost certainly be scrutinised for irregularities and potential flouting of procurement processes,” said Ms Fruhauf……..
The agreement with Rosatom refers to up to eight units using Russian VVER reactors. A VVER reactor is Russia’s version of a pressurised water reactor. These will be the first nuclear power plants based on the Russian technology to be built on the African continent.
Estimates for the capital cost of 9.6GW of nuclear energy range from R400bn to R1-trillion‚ raising concern taxpayers will have to foot the bill‚ as government cannot afford it……… http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/2014/09/23/more-questions-than-answers-on-sas-nuclear-deal
Waste of time and money pursuing the false climate solution of nuclear power
Nuclear solutions to climate change are anything but, Aljazeera Americaby Gregg Levine @GreggJLevine 23 Sept 14 “……….Yes, nuclear plants generate waste. Highly radioactive waste. Mountains of it. The U.S. already has over 70,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel with no viable plan for permanent storage. Nevada’s Yucca Mountain was once supposed to take that payload, but after 20 years of trying to make it work, it was deemed unviable for a host of reasons. There is no permanent plan B.
The 1,500 new reactors would generate a Yucca Mountain-sized amount of waste every three to four years.
There is actually more, like the dangers of proliferation and the toxic pollution caused by related industries, and the increased chance or major accidents that come with such a vast increase in the number of reactors, but the bottom line is that nuclear power is neither greenhouse neutral nor quickly scalable; it is an edgy proposition in a warming environment, produces prodigious amounts of waste and, from start to finish, is actually now more expensive than a host of other options.
And therein lies the real rub. The time and money spent on nuclear could be much better spent on conservation programs, boosts in energy efficiency and the construction and development of truly renewable, genuinely low-carbon alternatives.
Those options would provide more jobs for less money and realize real energy production and greenhouse gas reductions far better and far faster than any kind of nuclear pipe dream.
And that presents a smarter, more sustainable and more attainable way toward the Paris 2015 goals and toward a better climate future. http://america.aljazeera.com/blogs/scrutineer/2014/9/23/nuclear-solutionstoclimatechangeareanythingbut.html
Global rallies for action on Climate Change
People’s Climate March: Hundreds of thousands march in rallies calling for action on climate change An international day of action on climate change brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets of New York City on Sunday, easily exceeding organisers’ hopes for the largest protest on the issue in history.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-22/thousands-march-in-new-york-climate-change-protest/5759184
Organisers estimated that some 310,000 people, including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former US Vice President Al Gore, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and elected officials from the United States and abroad joined the People’s Climate March, ahead of Tuesday’s United Nations hosted summit in the city to discuss reducing carbon emissions that threaten the environment.
People joined more than 2,000 marches around the world demanding urgent action on climate change.
The march in New York came ahead of Tuesday’s United Nations-hosted summit in the city to discuss reducing carbon emissions that threaten the environment.
Organisers said some 550 busloads of people had arrived for the rally, which followed similar events in 166 countries including Australia, Britain, France, Afghanistan, Mexico and Bulgaria.
More than 10,000 people took to the streets in Melbourne, with many more in Australia’s other capital cities. A crowd including US senators Bernard Sanders of Vermont and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island marched along the city’s Central Park, through midtown Manhattan to Times Square, where they stopped for a moment of silence.
Mr Moon, wearing a blue t-shirt that read “I’m for climate action” marched arm-in-arm with primatologist Jane Goodall and French ecology minister Segolene Royal.
“This is the planet where our subsequent generations will live,” Mr Moon told reporters.
“There is no Plan B, because we do not have Planet B.”
Mr DiCaprio marched towards the front of the group, with members of an Ecuadorean tribe who have fought a years-long legal battle with Chevron Corp over Amazon pollution.
“This is the most important issue of our time,” Mr DiCaprio said.
“I’m incredibly proud to be here.”
Organisers billed the event as the largest gathering focused on climate change since 2009, when tens of thousands gathered in Copenhagen in a sometime raucous demonstration that resulted in the detention of 2,000 protesters.
The march comes days after the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that August 2014 was the warmest on record, 0.75 degrees Celsius above the 20th century global average of 15.6 degrees.
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday unveiled a new plan for the city to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent from 2005 levels by 2050.
All 3,000 major city-owned buildings would be retrofitted with energy-saving heating, cooling and light systems by then, he said, though meeting the commitment will also require significant investments by private landlords.
Japan’s new Industry Minister joins pro nuclear propaganda exercise
Japan Industry Minister attempts to convince public on nuclear power, Deccan Chronicle, AFP | September 21, 2014 Tokyo: Japan’s new Industry Minister Yuko Obuchi said on Sunday that the resource-poor nation should be realistic about its energy needs as the government tries to convince a sceptical public on the necessity of nuclear power.
More than three years after the disaster at Fukushima, where a tsunami sent reactors into meltdown, the Japanese public remains unconvinced of the safety of the technology.
The difficult task of winning them round has fallen to Obuchi, appointed the country’s first female minister of economy, trade and industry by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe….
……Japan’s nuclear watchdog earlier this month gave a green light to plans to restart two reactors, more than three years after the Fukushima disaster.
However, hurdles still remain, including getting the consent of local communities in a country still scarred by the catastrophe where all 48 viable reactors are offline.
Widespread anti-nuclear sentiment has simmered in Japan ever since the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 caused meltdowns at Fukushima, sparking the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, many of whom have not been allowed to return, with scientists warning some areas might have to be abandoned forever. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140921/world-neighbours/article/japan-industry-minister-attempts-convince-public-nuclear-power
Only collective action on climate change can save the world
What to do when you’re running out of time on climate change Grist, By Rebecca Solnit Cross-posted from TomDispatch 20 Sep 2014 “…..The glorious 10,000-year period of stable climate in which humanity flourished and then exploded to overrun the Earth and all its ecosystems is over.
But responding to these current cataclysmic changes means taking on people who believe, or at least assert, that those of us who want to react and act are gratuitously disrupting a stable system that’s working fine. It isn’t stable. Itis working fine — in the short term and the most limited sense — for oil companies and the people who profit from them and for some of us in the particularly cushy parts of the world who haven’t been impacted yet by weather events like, say, the recent torrential floods in Japan or southern Nevada and Arizona, or the monsoon versions of the same that have devastated parts of India and Pakistan, or the drought that has mummified my beloved California, or the wildfires of Australia.
The problem, of course, is that the people who most benefit from the current arrangements have effectively purchased a lot of politicians, and that a great many of the rest of them are either hopelessly dim or amazingly timid. Most of the Democrats recognize the reality of climate change but not the urgency of doing something about it. Many of the Republicans used to — John McCain has done an amazing about-face from being a sane voice on climate to a shrill denier — and they present a horrific obstacle to any international treaties…..
We are powerful and need to become more so in the next year as a major conference in Paris approaches in December 2015 where the climate agreements we need could be hammered out. Or not. This is, after all, a sequel to the Copenhagen conference of 2009, where representatives of many smaller and more vulnerable nations, as well as citizens’ groups, were eager for a treaty that took on climate change in significant ways, only to have their hopes crushed by the recalcitrant governments of the United States and China.
Right now, we are in a churning sea of change, of climate change, of subtle changes in everyday life, of powerful efforts by elites to serve themselves and damn the rest of us, and of increasingly powerful activist and social-movement campaigns to make a world that benefits more beings, human and otherwise, in the longer term. Every choice you make aligns you with one set of these forces or another. That includes doing nothing, which means aligning yourself with the worst of the status quo dragging us down in that ocean of carbon and consumption.
To make personal changes is to do too little. Only great movements, only collective action can save us now. Only is a scary word, but when the ship is sinking, it can be an encouraging one as well. It can hold out hope. The world has changed again and again in ways that, until they happened, would have been considered improbable by just about everyone on the planet. It is changing now and the direction is up to us…….http://grist.org/climate-energy/what-to-do-when-youre-running-out-of-time-on-climate-change/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed
Finland’s political divide over nuclear power
Nuclear-power project debates expose political divide in Finland YLE News Eye on the Arctic
September 20, 2014 The Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary group proposed on Tuesday that supplementary applications from both the Fennovoima and TVO nuclear projects should be considered by the Finnish Parliament.
The announcement is in direct opposition to Monday’s recommendation from the Economic Minister to green-light only the Fennovoima project for parliamentary deliberation. The ongoing saga regarding the future of Finland’s nuclear power is exposing a clear divide in Finnish politics, as the five parties of the coalition government scramble to secure their position on two pending nuclear plant investments.
Both projects were already approved by the government and parliament in an earlier round, but significant changes in their makeup have made it necessary for both to re-apply for supplementary permission to continue……….
Greens already have one foot out the door
Meanwhile, Green League chair and Environment Minister Ville Niinistö made headlines on Monday when he said his party will go into opposition if the Stubb government approves the Russian-built Fennovoima plant.
He cited that one of his party’s three stipulations for joining the coalition government had been that no new nuclear power permits would be granted during its four-year legislative term. http://www.adn.com/article/20140920/nuclear-power-project-debates-expose-political-divide-finland
Russian strategic nuclear bombers fly across Northern Europe
Russian Nuclear Bombers Buzz Northern Europe, Washington Free Beacon BY: Bill Gertz September 19, 2014 Russian strategic nuclear bombers carried out air defense zone incursions across Northern Europe this week in the latest nuclear saber rattling by Moscow.
Two Bear H bombers conducted practice strategic bombing runs on Tuesday and were met by interceptor jets from Norway, Denmark, Britain, and Netherlands, defense officials told the Free Beacon……..http://freebeacon.com/national-security/russian-nuclear-bombers-buzz-northern-europe/
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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