Thaw in relations between Iran and the West
Kerry sees nuclear deal with Iran as diplomacy warms BY LESLEY WROUGHTON AND ANDREW OSBORN ABU DHABI/LONDON Mon Nov 11, 2013 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he hoped an agreement on Iran’s disputed nuclear program would be signed within months and London and Tehran revived diplomatic ties, signs of a warmer atmosphere between the Islamic Republic and the West.
In a further indication of cooperation, the United Nations nuclear watchdog reached an agreement under which Iran will grant U.N. inspectors access to more nuclear facilities.
Iran and six world powers – the United States, Britain, Russia, France, China and Germany – came close to a preliminary nuclear agreement at the weekend during talks in Geneva and decided to resume negotiations on November 20 in their attempt to defuse a decade-old standoff……. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/11/us-iran-nuclear-idUSBRE9A804X20131111
Extreme weather events, such as typhoons, to come more often with climate change
IPCC chairman: we may “pass on a lousy, spoilt and defiled planet” As Typhoon Haiyan hits the Philippines, Rajendra Pachauri calls for a grassroots movement to put pressure on politicians to act on climate change theguardian.com, Sunday 10 November 2013 The chairman of the United Nations’ climate panel has warned the world to act on global warming to avoid passing “on a lousy, spoilt and defiled planet” to future generations.
Rajendra K Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), spoke out as typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Philippines causing hundreds of deaths and widespread destruction.
While Pachauri said it was not possible to blame any single disaster on the steep rise in carbon emissions, the increased frequency of extreme weather events was consistent with scientific predictions.
Speaking in Copenhagen, Pachauri criticised those who claim higher global temperatures would be beneficial to human society. While he said some countries may benefit in the short term, the impacts would be disastrous over time and hit the most marginalised communities.
Pachauri called for a grassroots movement to put pressure on politicians to act and warns that they risk the voters’ wrath if they fail to respond.
To the fossil fuel lobby that is seeking to maintain the status quo, Pachauri gives this message: “It’s the will of the people that will be supreme.”…… http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/ippc-pachauri-climate-change-spoilt-defiled-planet
Clean, renewable energy is good for the health of our kids
Development of renewable energy good for children http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/mailbag/development-of-renewable-energy-good-for-children/article_c7a10e73-d247-5540-9a35-58e95c1ad803.html 10 Nov 13, Kate French This week, state lawmakers will meet to continue their review of the environmental and economic impacts of the state’s renewable energy standard. The law, passed in 2005, requires that the state’s investor owned utilities purchase at least 15 percent of their power from new, clean, renewable energy sources by the year 2015. Utilities are now on track to meet that goal, and in the process of complying with the law, the development of new Montana wind and hydro resources has created jobs and cleaned up our environment.
The development of Montana’s abundant renewable resources — like wind, solar and hydro — isn’t just good for our economy; they are also good for our kids’ lungs and hearts. Unlike their dirty fossil fuel counterparts, these energy sources don’t spew toxic pollutants like mercury, nitrogen oxides or sulfur into our air. These pollutants are directly responsible for thousands of cases of asthma, heart disease and other respiratory ailments each year in the U.S. Additionally, because renewable resources are carbon free, they are not contributing to the global climate change crisis. Overall, developing our renewable resources means cleaner air and water for all Montanans.
We can do more. Instead of looking at ways to grant the large corporate power companies more exemptions, state lawmakers should keep their eye on the future by considering an expansion to the RES. I hope you will join me in urging the Energy and Telecommunications Committee to take a step in that direction this week.
Bottom has fallen out of Fukushima’s fishing industry
Fukushima’s fishing industry hit by radiation fears http://english.cntv.cn/program/asiatoday/20131109/104193.shtml 11 Nov 13,The fishing industry in Fukushima prefecture has been hard hit by the 2011 nuclear disaster and ongoing fears of radiation leaks. It’s now trying to get back to work.
Customers are unwilling to buy seafood from the area even if it has passed official inspections. To ease these concerns, all seafood now has to pass strict radiation inspections before it goes to market.
The local fisherman’s association has set a standard of less than 50 becquerels per kilo. That’s half the government’s limit of 100 becquerels.
Inspectors tested samples from each boat and said they were completely free of radioactive substances.
“All we can do is to carry out strict radiation inspections on the seafood unloaded in the Fukushima area, and to release the results to the public in time,” said Hisashi Maeda from Iwaki Onahama Fisheries Associations.
“Any products that aren’t inspected will not be put on the market. Only those that pass the inspections can go out. We are doing this in order to win back trust from our customers.”
Dr Helen Caldicott on Fukushima radiation, nuclear fusion, renewable energy
‘Any country with a nuclear plant is a bomb factory’ Dr Helen Caldicott is one of the most articulate and passionate advocates of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises. Rt.com November 07, 2013 There are countries who are selling nuclear reactors all around the world, which means they are not only selling cancer and leukemia to the future generations, but also atomic bombs, anti-nuclear advocate Dr. Helen Caldicott said in RT’s Google Hangout.
During the hangout, Helen Caldicott, answered a variety of RT readers’ questions on topics, ranging from those of immediate importance, like the Fukushima crisis, to the prospects of humanity living through the nuclear age.
Q: Should we all move to Africa in case TEPCO fails to remove the spent fuel rods?
A ……….. we’re facing a potential catastrophe in terms of public health. People should know, though, that it takes a long time to get cancer after you’ve inhaled, breathed in or eaten radioactive materials, like, anytime from two to 80 years. But it is a very serious situation.
‘No food testing in Japan, govt lying to you’
Q: I live in Tokyo and worry about health impact. When it comes to only cesium, soils here contain 100 becquerels per kilogram of cesium-134 and 137, and about 20 per cent of foods have a few becquerels per kilogram to 10 becquerels per kilogram. Please let me know your opinion on health impact and the reasons you think so.
HC: First of all, parts of Tokyo are extremely radioactive. They’ve taken dirt from the streets, moss from the roofs, and dust from vacuum cleaners inside apartments. And in some cases there are very high measurements of cesium and strontium and other such elements, literally over a hundred elements in the fallout apart from cesium-137 and 134. People in Tokyo, actually, many of them, are at great risk. That’s number one.
Number two, it’s very difficult to know what to eat in Japan because you can’t taste or smell or see radioactive elements in your food. And each dose of radiation that you get adds to the risk of getting cancer. And as you eat more and more radioactive food, more radioactivity builds up in various organs of your body. There is little testing of food in Japan, the government is lying to you, and they are encouraging the farmers in Fukushima to grow their food, which is really criminal because there’s a hell of a lot of fallout on the ground, in Fukushima, and the radiation concentrates back from the soil into rice, green vegetables, milk, meat, and the like.
They are even promoting the Fukushima food in Korea when I was there, and in Taiwan, but also in Tokyo and other places, also in markets in England, so the situation is very grim. And I think if I lived in Tokyo, I would move south. And I would be very, very careful about what I eat. I would only eat food coming from the south of Japan, and I wouldn’t eat any fish because they are pouring huge amounts of radiation into the Pacific Ocean every day. And you don’t know which fish are radioactive and which are not. ……….
‘We’re living with impending catastrophe every day’
Q: Do you see faster progress on the construction of fusion reactors?
HC: No, fusion reactors are a dream for the physicists, they haven’t been able to construct a fusion reactor, I think that will never happen. But as Einstein said, the answers to today’s problems will not be produced by the same technology that caused them. We’ve got to change the way we think. And what Einstein said – the splitting of the atom changed everything, all reality, save man’s mode of thinking. Thus, we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe. He was right so many years ago – why do we keep doing it? ………
Q: Nuclear is the only option if you want clear skies. Nuclear is big in Europe. If you don’t want nuclear, you must have dirty coal-powered stations, there’s no free choice…
HC: That’s not true! If you download the study called ‘Carbon-Free, Nuclear-Free’ from the internet, the study that I commissioned and organized several years ago with a brilliant physicist called Arjun Makhijani, it shows that all energy for Europe and for America, for every country, can be now supplied by renewable energy.
Each day renewable energy gets cheaper and cheaper; cheaper by far than nuclear. We mustn’t burn coal, you’re absolutely right, but for God’s sake, why don’t the countries of the world stop subsidizing nuclear, stop subsidizing fossil fuels, and cover every house with solar panels, solar hot water system, solar thermal systems like they’ve constructed in Spain, windmills? I’ve just been in Germany and Austria, and lots of farmhouses are now covered with solar panels. Germany is moving fast with renewables. [As for] Denmark, 40 percent of its electricity comes from wind. http://rt.com/op-edge/nuclear-energy-threat-risks-342/#_=_
Nuclear power far to expensive as climate change cure – – renewables faster and cheaper
Who killed nuclear power? Hint: It’s not the people who actively supported placing a high and rising price on carbon pollution.
Four of the country’s top climate experts have distributed an open letter “To those influencing environmental policy but opposed to nuclear power.” I have the greatest respect for James Hansen, Kerry Emanuel, Tom Wigley, and Ken Caldeira — and have written dozens of blog posts about their vital climate work.
But I think their letter is mis-addressed and also misses the key point about nuclear power — because it is so expensive, especially when done safely, the industry has no chance of revival absent a serious price on carbon. Continue reading
Israel reassured that its diplomats didn’t talk to Iranians
Jerusalem downplays nuclear meeting where Israeli, Iranian representatives were in same room Jerusalem Post, By HERB KEINON 11/05/2013 Diplomat says there was no direct contact between Israelis, Iranians and meeting was “completely procedural.”……… http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Iran-Israel-took-part-in-secret-Mideast-nuclear-talks-sources-say-330689
28 reasons to worry about Fukushima radiation reaching USA West Coast
28 facts that prove Fukushima’s nuclear disaster has put the West Coast in danger http://www.dose.ca/2013/11/04/28-facts-prove-fukushimas-nuclear-disaster-has-put-west-coast-danger Dose.caWeb stuff November 4, 2013 – New reports are showing that the infamous Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster that happened on March 11, 2011 has been more harmful than anyone could have ever predicted. Why? Because it turns out that radiation levels are constantly getting worse, especially on the West Coast, as 300 tons of radioactive water enter the Pacific Ocean every day.
UK’s new nuclear obsolete before it’s ever switched on ?
Nuclear may become obsolete warns US solar energy chief The UK risks missing out on the benefits of solar power by focusing on sources such as nuclear, according to the Scottish entrepreneur behind one of America’s fastest growing retail solar panel companies. Telegraph UK By Louise Armitstead25 Aug 2013
“Given the proven cost curve in solar, that nuclear plant could be obsolete before it’s even switched on. Politicians must be careful not to lock Britons into 20th century energy prices…….http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10265065/Nuclear-may-become-obsolete-warns-US-solar-energy-chief.html
Anti nuclear protest in Tokyo
Radioactive contamination a global issue – Fukushima shows this up
Fukushima: Life and the Transnationality of Radioactive Contamination
生命と国境を越える放射能汚染 Adam Broinowski Asia Pacific Journal 14 Oct 2013 When Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) was torn apart by several explosions, whether due to technical failings in correspondence with the earthquakes, tsunami or a combination of both, it not only dispersed radioactive contaminant but also exposed the bonds connecting people’s lives with nuclear power.
Over the two and a half years since then, the corruption, inadequacies and mendacities at the centre of the sovereign power structure that has prevailed in Japan since 1945 have become ever more visible.
This essay first introduces the foundations of this structure, exploring how the long-standing relationship between Government and major private electric utilities in Japan informs the present crisis, noting in particular the ramifications of decisions being made within this structure at the individual level in present and projected effects to human health.
Following consideration of the effects of radiation on human health, the discussion then turns to visual and local testimonies of the effects of other radiological events – Hanford, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Chernobyl and Iraq – so as to offer a comparative assessment of the Fukushima disaster.
While mindful of the difficulty in arriving at an absolutely conclusive position on these conditions, enough evidence has now accumulated to make a realistic assessment of the human health impact, and to discern how public understanding has been, and continues to be, confused.
Finally, given that the Fukushima disaster is distinguishable from other radiological events in scale and type of contamination, this essay argues that far-reaching change is called-for in the current legal standards and institutional responses which have been governed thus far by mid twentieth century power relations…………: http://www.japanfocus.org/-Adam-Broinowski/4009#sthash.boeUaiWq.dpuf
Real hazards are what prompts fear of ionising rdaiation
Radiation Fears Are Real http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/opinion/radiation-fears-are-real.html?_r=0 October 30, 2013, HELEN CALDICOTT David Ropeik, a specialist on risk perception and risk communication, plays down the mass of scientific and medical literature that amply demonstrates that ionizing radiation is a potent carcinogen and that no dose is low enough not to induce cancer.
Large areas of the world are becoming contaminated by long-lived nuclear elements secondary to catastrophic meltdowns: 40 percent of Europe from Chernobyl, and much of Japan.
A New York Academy of Sciences report from 2009 titled “Chernobyl” estimates that nearly a million have already died from this catastrophe. In Japan, 10 million people reside in highly contaminated locations.
Children are 10 to 20 times more radiosensitive than adults, and fetuses thousands of times more so; women are more sensitive than men.
Radiation of the reproductive organs induces genetic mutations in the sperm and eggs, increasing the incidence of genetic diseases like diabetes, cystic fibrosis, hemochromatosis and thousands of others over future generations. Recessive mutations take up to 20 generations to be expressed.
Storm shuts down two UK nuclear reactors
UK storm causes two Dungeness nuclear reactors to close LONDON | Mon Oct 28, 2013 (Reuters) – The storm that swept across southern Britain on Monday morning caused nuclear poweroutages at the Dungeness B21 and B22 units, operator EDF Energy said……http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/28/us-energy-britain-nuclear-idUSBRE99R0FG20131028
UK’s green energy dream falling apart, with new nuclear deal
Nuclear plant will hurt renewables http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/letters/nuclear-plant-will-hurt-renewables.22522731 Stephen McMurray Saturday 26 October 2013 The danger of the announcement of the £14 billion nuclear power station at Hinkley Point on the Bristol Channel coast of Somerset is that it will reduce the resources for renewable energy (Is our green energy dream falling apart?). Rather than investing in a nuclear waste legacy, the focus should be on developing all types of renewable energy and energy efficiency, including proper insulation for our housing stock, which has seen decades of under-investment.
7.3 earthquake off Japan’s East coast shakes Tokyo
Tokyo shaken by magnitude 7.3 earthquake off Japan’s east coast, SMH, October 26, 2013 Tokyo: A 20-centimetre tsunami has hit Japan after a powerful and shallow undersea quake, broadcaster NHK said, although there were no immediate signs of serious damage or injury.
People were being warned to stay away from the coast with the small wave rolling ashore in Ishinomaki around an hour after the 7.1 magnitude quake.
Workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant were “ordered to evacuate from the waterfront”, Kyodo reported, also quoting the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) as saying no new abnormalities had been found at the power station.
The quake struck at a depth of 10km at 2.10am local time, 327km southeast of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, according to the US Geological Survey……http://www.smh.com.au/world/tokyo-shaken-by-magnitude-73-earthquake-off-japans-east-coast-20131026-2w7xd.html
1 This Month
petition to oppose the rapid increase of space-military industry threatening Jeju Island and the region.
[Petition by April 19th (KST)] Stop the joint military-Hanwha Systems-Jeju Provincial Government Sea Launch!
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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