Thorium reactors – taxpayers to cough up for another nuclear fantasy?
http://agreenroad.blogspot.ca/2012/12/thorium-reactor-fort-st-vrain-power.html MSR Thorium Reactor Fort St. Vrain Power Station xperiment Failed – A Green Road Magazine, 1 July 13“……..The Molten Salt Reactor MSR program was defunded in 1976 after its patron Alvin Weinberg was fired.[9]……. studies assume some actinide losses and find that actinide wastes dominate thorium cycle waste radioactivity at some future periods.[18]…”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium_fuel_cycle
Westinghouse Corporation discovers Climate Change – to promote nuclear power
As Obama targets climate change, Westinghouse bangs the nuclear drum SHAWN MCCARTHY TORONTO — The Globe and Mail , Jun. 28 2013, “……For a generation, it has been the nuclear industry’s calling card – that only large-scale reactors can provide steady, base-load power that does not emit greenhouse gases. And with U.S. President Barack Obama’s pledge this week to heighten the battle against climate change and reduce the U.S.’s reliance on carbon-intensive, coal-fired power, Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Co. sees an opportunity to restart a renaissance that was promised a decade ago but has fizzled……
With the 2011 meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima plant still in the public’s mind, and the issue of how to permanently dispose of highly radioactive waste still unresolved, the industry faces the twin challenge of persuading the public that nuclear power is both safe and economical…….
In the United States, the much-hyped renaissance has stalled. The federal regulator has received applications for 24 new reactors, but few are currently proceeding. Duke Energy recently scrapped plans for two of the six reactors while NRG Energy cancelled two reactors in Texas in 2011, saying they couldn’t compete with gas. California recently announced it will not refurbish its aging San Onofre plant, near San Diego….. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/banging-the-nuclear-drum/article12891014/
The way forward for India’s energy development
India’s Coal Reliance And Global Warming Hypocrisy By Dr EAS Sarma & Shankar Sharma 28 June, 2013 Countercurrents.org“……..The way forward India is endowed with a vast potential in renewable energy sources. The ‘expert group on low carbon strategies for inclusive growth’ states that “solar power is one of the critical technology options for India’s long term energy security. Several parts of India are endowed with good solar radiation and deploying solar even on 1 percent of the land area could result in over 500,000 MW of solar power.”
Assuming an average of 1,000 Sq. ft of roof surface area for each of 30% of the houses in the country, the total potential for installing SPV systems on such a total surface can be about 1,000,000 MW @ 1 kW per 100 Sq. ft of roof surface. If even 10% of roof top surfaces in each of the other categories of building are considered for this purpose, the potential is enormous; running to millions of MW. Such a policy can transform our power sector scenario with minimum impacts on the land, water and the general environment.
Other renewable energy sources such as wind and bio-mass too have huge potential, and are much more suitable to Indian way of life than the conventional energy sources.
In this background the statements such as that by Dr. Pauchari’s advocating for more coal power capacity addition can serve only to defend a corrupt sector and its coal gate scandals. We, in India, need to take a much more holistic view of the energy needs of the people vis-à-vis all-round welfare of communities. We should build new clean energy sources regardless of what the West does because it’s the cheapest, cleanest, and best solution for our people. It’s time our ‘leaders’ focused on India’s clean energy future and dropped support for a corrupt dirty coal sector.
Dr EAS Sarma is Former Union Power Secretary
Shankar Sharma is a Power Policy Analyst http://www.countercurrents.org/sharma280613.htm
The Center for Public Integrity exposes MOX nuclear facility in South Carolina
‘Nuclear Waste’ series targets seriously troubled project Center for Public Integrity, By Bill Buzenberg 27 June 13 In four superb reports this week, The Center for Public Integrity’s national security team tells the disturbing story of how billions of dollars are being wasted on a specialized nuclear plant that was supposed to produce fuel for nuclear energy and reduce weapons grade plutonium. Not only could this failing enterprise end up costing as much as $20 billion, it may also create more nuclear weapons material instead of less. The Center’s Nuclear Waste series kicks off what will be an ongoing investigation into the world’s faltering efforts to control these most dangerous nuclear explosives……. Read this entire four-part series to see public service investigative journalism at its best http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/06/27/12900/nuclear-waste-series-targets-seriously-troubled-project
Indian Point Nuclear plant at risk, as UN downplays Fukushima effects
Critics have dubbed Indian Point, which sits on two fault lines, as “Fukushima on the Hudson”, in reference to the nuclear disaster in Japan that was sparked by an earthquake and a tsunami.
However, there are a few differences between Fukushima and Indian Point. “Fukushima was directly over the ocean, and the winds were favourable. They were blowing most of the radiation out to sea,” said Manna Jo Greene, environmental director for Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, noting that the remaining radiation was still disastrous.
But the winds in New York would blow plumes of radiation from north to south and from east to west. “There are 20 million people living within [100 kilometres], and there are 9 million people between Indian Point and the nearest ocean,” Greene told IPS.
“If there was a problem at Indian Point,” she added, “there’s a very good chance that the radiation could move in a southeasterly direction and expose millions of people to radiation before it blew out to sea.”
U.N. Downplays Health Effects of Nuclear Radiation, IPS, By George Gao, 26 June 13 UNITED NATIONS, – The United Nations has come under criticism from medical experts and members of civil society for what these critics consider inaccurate statements about the effects of lingering radioactivity on local populations. Scientists and doctors met with top U.N. officials last week to discuss the effects of radioactivity in Japan and Ukraine, and the U.N. has enlisted several of its agencies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), to address the matter.
In May, UNSCEAR stated that radiation exposure following the 2011 Fukushima-Daichii nuclear disaster in Japan poses “no immediate health risks” and that long-term health risks are “unlikely”.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Helen Caldicott, an Australian doctor and dissident, in response to the UNSCEAR report.
“There have been health effects. A lot of people have experienced acute radiation illness, including bleeding noses, hair loss, nausea and diarrhoea,” she told IPS……. Asked why UNSCEAR and WHO released such statements if they were medically inaccurate, Caldicott referred to a 1959 WHO-IAEA agreement that gives the IAEA – an organisation that promotes nuclear power – oversight when researching nuclear accidents.
“The WHO is a handmaiden to the IAEA,” said Caldicott, Continue reading
Expensive (and failing) struggle to control Hanford’s radioactive leaks
| Nuclear Waste Site in Washington State Leaking Again, wunderround.com. By: Shannon Dininny |
The U.S. Energy Department said workers at Washington state’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation detected higher radioactivity levels under tank AY-102 during a routine inspection Thursday……. AY-102 is one of Hanford’s 28 tanks with two walls, which were installed years ago when single-shell tanks began leaking. Some of the worst liquid in those tanks was pumped into the sturdier double-shell tanks.
The tanks are now beyond their intended life span.
Two radionuclides comprise much of the radioactivity in Hanford’s tanks: cesium-137 and strontium-90. Both take hundreds of years to decay, and exposure to either would increase a person’s risk of developing cancer.
The Energy Department announced last year that AY-102 was leaking between its two walls, but it said then that no waste had escaped.
However, Seattle television station KING5 has reported that the cleanup contractor knew a year earlier that the tank was leaking.
Mike Geffre, an instrument technician who works for contractor Washington River Protection Solutions, said Thursday’s inspection came from a pit under the tank, like a saucer under a teacup. Water samples from the pit had an 800,000-count of radioactivity and a high dose rate, which means that workers must reduce their time in the area.
“Anything above a 500 count is considered contaminated and would have to be disposed of as nuclear waste,” Geffre said. “Plus, the amount of material we’ve seen from the leak is very small, which means it’s a very strong radioactive isotope.”……..
Today, it is the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site, with cleanup expected to last decades. The effort — with a price tag of about $2 billion annually — has cost taxpayers $40 billion to date and is estimated will cost $115 billion more.
The most challenging task so far has been the removal of highly radioactive waste from the 177 aging, underground tanks and construction of a plant to treat that waste.
The one-of-a-kind plant, long considered the cornerstone of Hanford cleanup, will encase the waste in glasslike logs for permanent disposal. But workers designing and building it have encountered numerous technical problems, delays and skyrocketing costs.
The latest concerns center on adequate mixing of the waste, with the potential for explosions if radioactivity is allowed to build up in one area, and erosion and corrosion in vessels and piping. Last priced at $12.3 billion, the cost is expected to rise further….. http://www.wunderground.com/news/nuclear-waste-site-washington-state-leaking-again-20130625
Continual radiation release from Fukushima nuclear plant
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant daily spewing radiation across northern hemisphere Natural News, June 20, 2013 by: Zach C. MillerThe Fukushima Daiichi disaster continues“…….The amount of radioactivity released from Fukushima from other points of comparison yields cause for concern. The release of radioactivity from Fukushima is estimated to be the equivalent of 168 of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima, Japan during World War II. More troubling still is the fact that the Fukushima plant continues to spew out radiation across the northern hemisphere every single day because the reactors have not stabilized. Continuously, leaks in the reactors are being reported, Fukushima children are being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, fish are being found to be contaminated with radiation, and U.S. water supply samples are testing positive for radioactive components Iodine-131, Cesium-134 and Cesium -137……”
China supports Obama’s call on nuclear disarmament
CHINA BACKS OBAMA’S CALLS ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT HTTP://AU.NEWS.YAHOO.COM/WORLD/A/-/WORLD/17686652/CHINA-BACKS-OBAMAS-CALLS-ON-NUCLEAR-DISARMAMENT/BEIJING (AFP) – 21 JUNE 13, CHINA ON THURSDAY BACKED US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S CALLS FOR THE US AND RUSSIA TO SLASH THEIR ATOMIC ARSENALS, SAYING THE TWO FORMER COLD WAR RIVALS SHOULD BEAR THE BRUNT OF GLOBAL NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT.
“The US and Russia… should substantially reduce their nuclear arsenal in a verifiable and responsible manner,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing in Beijing.
She added: “As the two countries have the largest nuclear arsenal, they should bear special and primary responsibility for nuclear disarmament.”
Her remarks came a day after US President Obama called for the US and Russia’s stash of strategic nuclear weapons to be cut down to around 1,000 and for stocks of tactical nuclear arms to be reduced.
Russia and the United States together hold about 90 per cent of the world’s nuclear weapons, while China is the fourth biggest nuclear power, behind France, according to the May/June 2013 report by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists published in the United States.
Russia’s total inventory of 8,500 warheads slightly surpasses that of 7,700 in the US. France has 300 warheads, while China has 250 and the United Kingdom 225, the report said.
Russian officials on Wednesday reacted coldly to the call by Obama, saying the United States should address Moscow’s concerns over missile defence first.
“How can we take seriously this idea about cuts in strategic nuclear potential while the United States is developing its capabilities” to intercept Russia’s weapons, deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin asked.
Careless management at radiation lab, leak of radiation
Unfiltered fan ran for three days after radiation leak Japan Times, 19 June 13 A ventilation fan with no filters was used for three days after a radiation leak at an atomic research laboratory in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, the lab’s operators said Tuesday.This means that radioactive substances may have continued to escape from the facility after the operators reported the leak to regulators on the night of May 24…..http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/06/19/national/unfiltered-fan-ran-for-three-days-after-radiation-leak/#.UcNqFedwo6I
10 million radiation monitoring data points now reached by Safecast
Safecast, crowdsourced radiation monitoring project, logs 10 million data points http://boingboing.net/2013/06/17/safecast-crowdsourced-radiati.html Xeni Jardin, Jun 17, 2013The crowdsourced radiation monitoring project Safecast, which was launched in the weeks after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, has reached a big milestone: they have collected and published over 10,000,000 individual data points.
Obama’s plans to reduce nuclear weapons stockpile in Europe
No Word From Russia as Obama Will Announce U.S. Nuclear Reductions The Daily Beast, by Josh Rogin Jun 18, 2013 There’s no word yet if the Russians will follow suit after President Obama. In his first visit to Berlin since becoming president, Barack Obama will give a speech including an update on his plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons and an announcement that he wants to further reduce America’s deployed stockpile of nuclear bombs by one third, a proposal that already faces stiff GOP opposition. Obama laid out his famous Prague agenda in a landmark speech speech in the Czech capital only three months into his presidency in 2009….. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/18/no-word-from-russia-as-obama-will-announce-u-s-nuclear-reductions.html
North Korea seeks talks with USA
North Korea makes u-turn from nuclear threat, tells U.S.: Let’s talk, The Star, 16 June 13, The caveat: No preconditions and no demands that Pyongyang give up its prized nuclear assets unless Washington is willing to do the same. By: Jean H. Lee The Associated Press, Published on Sun Jun 16 2013 PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA—After months of threatening to wage a nuclear war, North Korea did an about-face Sunday and issued a surprise proposal to the United States, its No. 1 enemy: Let’s talk.
But the invitation from North Korea’s National Defence Commission, the powerful governing body led by leader Kim Jong Un, comes with caveats: No preconditions and no demands that Pyongyang give up its prized nuclear assets unless Washington is willing to do the same — ground rules that make it hard for the Americans to accept.
Washington responded by saying that it is open to talks — but only if North Korea shows it will comply with UN Security Council resolutions and live up to its international obligations…… http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/06/16/north_korea_takes_uturn_from_nuclear_threat_tells_us_lets_talk.html
Don’t mss this terrific nuclear power article by Terry Tamminen
the main reason SONGS closure might signal the beginning of the end of nuclear power in America is that the costs of decommissioning will no longer be hidden from ratepayer view, meaning we will get a good look at how “too cheap to meter” is actually “way too expensive to keep doing.” Edison invested $2.1 billion in the 
plant and related assets and has allocated $2.7 billion for decommissioning, a polite term meaning “clean up the mess,” while admitting this is not the entire cost that will ultimately be necessary. All in, SONGS will cost California ratepayers over $5 billion, plus the cost of fuel. And who knows if the nuclear waste will ever be safely stored (we’ll need hundreds of years for the final answer to that question, regardless of where the waste ends up) or if that will add still more billions to the tally.
Nuclear Power Is So 20th Centuryhttp://www.fastcoexist.com/1682328/nuclear-power-is-so-20th-century BY: Terry Tamminen, 14 June 15, Nuclear power seems cheap, but if you count the embedded costs of dealing with the fuel, does it make sense as an option for a clean future? When I was born, in the 1950s, nuclear power was said to be “too cheap to meter.” Although few and far between, disasters at Fukushima and Chernobyl have laid waste to that claim and, for that matter, entire cities. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, herself a nuclear physicist, led the charge to eliminate her nation’s nuclear power plants in the next few years based on a rational risk analysis. With the decision by Southern California Edison to decommission its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), we may now see enough data points to reasonably conclude that the nuclear power era is coming to a close.
What is different about the SONGS decision that could lead to such a “straw that broke the camel’s back” conclusion? Continue reading
Solar power could be the answer as Southern California’s electricity supplier
Could Solar Power Ride to the Rescue in Southern California? The closing of San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant leaves a region worried about how to meet summer energy demands. Take Part, June 14, 2013 “…….The answer could be solar power: Utility-scale solar in California hit a 2,000-megawatt milestone on June 7, the same day SoCal Edison voted to shutter its nuclear plant. Last September, 1,000 megawatts was a breakthrough, but California’s solar capacity kept growing throughout the winter, and doubled in nine months. Don’t assume that the new solar power can be perfectly swapped out for the nuclear power, though; the nuclear plant was producing its 2,250 megawatts 24 hours a day, while the solar output is at its highest for only a few hours at a time……
Exelon Nuclear’s Limerick Generating Station nuclear reactors need system replaced
NRC wants system replaced at Limerick nuclear plant http://www.phoenixvillenews.com/article/20130612/NEWS01/130619977/nrc-wants-system-replaced-at-limerick-nuclear-plant- By Evan BrandtLIMERICK — In an effort to prevent hydrogen explosions like the one that destroyed parts of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant two years ago, the government is requiring 31 U.S. nuclear plants with a similar reactor design to install an upgraded ventilation system in six years.
The order, issued June 6, applies to GE Mark I and Mark II Boiling Water Reactors. The two nuclear reactors at Exelon Nuclear’s Limerick Generating Station are of the Mark II design.
This new order supersedes one issued in March 2012 , which also required new venting systems.
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!
World Nuclear Power. Reactors 1951-2026, 75 Years of Nuclear Power.
Interactive Map– https://dv.worldnuclearreport.org/
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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