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Peace event on atom bomb anniversary to reflect on nuclear power ‘From Hiroshima to Fukushima’ The Republic EVANSTON, Ill. — A peace event called “From Hiroshima to Fukushima” will be held in Evanston next month, and will feature two experts on nuclear power.

Norma Field is the Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Professor in Japanese Studies, who is retiring from the University of Chicago this year after a career as a scholar, teacher and activist.

Yasuteru Yamada is co-founder of the Skilled Veterans Corps for Fukushima. It’s a group of Japanese retirees who volunteered to do cleanup work after the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster to spare younger people exposure to radiation.

The conference on nuclear power will take place at the Unitarian Church of Evanston on Aug. 5, the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II.

Online: http://www.chipeaceaction.org    http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/c9ffd948cb284c29825a2cc92f0f6d52/IL–Hiroshima-Remembrance

July 29, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

NHK: International nuclear experts turning attention to Onagawa nuke plant — Intensity of 3/11 quake exceeded maximum limit (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/nhk-nuclear-experts-turning-attention-to-onagawa-nuclear-plant-intensity-of-311-quake-exceeded-maximum-limit-video  July 26th, 2012  
By ENENews  Title: IAEA to assess quake resistance at Onagawa plant Source: NHK World
Data at some nuclear plants in northern and eastern Japan show that the intensity of the quake exceeded the maximum level assumed by the plants’ designers.

Officials from the IAEA and foreign experts will visit the Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture on Monday for an on-site assessment.

Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says the team will enter the plant’s No.1 through No.3 reactors to examine piping and the cooling system. They will also check the condition of the nuclear fuel pools.

But this is the first time since last year’s disaster that it will assess quake resistance at a nuclear plant in Japan.

July 29, 2012 Posted by | general, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

The sorry state of Japanese democracy

AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED, JAPAN GOES NUCLEAR AGAIN  LE MONDE 27 JULY 12 Although 80 percent of the population would like to see the end of nuclear power in Japan, electrical companies are gradually reopening their plants. “………The nuclear lobby makes a comeback

According to polls, 80 percent of Japanese people would like a quick closure of all nuclear power plants, a demand that is starting to be made heard by citizens. Regardless of the opposition, the nuclear lobby is currently claiming back the approval of an indecisive and weakened government, and closing in on the conservative opposition following the recent departure of around 50 of its members. This political crisis marks the demise of the first change in government in half a century, when the Democratic Party came to power in 2009, says political scientist Jiro Yamaguchi. Inexperience, clumsiness, procrastination, and a confused and ill-advised management were the causes of the catastrophe on March 11 2011: in three years, the Democratic Party has lost all credit and disappointed many. Continue reading →

July 29, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Learning Fukushima’s lessons  http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/learning-fukushimas-lessons/blog/41579/  by Justin McKeating – July 27, 2012  A series of startling investigative reports into the Fukushima disaster have made it clear the crisis was both human-made and could have been avoided.

The question is, will the Japanese government and the wider world take heed?

A report released earlier this week from Japan’s Investigation Committee on the Accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Stations was especially scathing in its findings.  Continue reading →

July 29, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Japan government names radiation physicist as new atomic regulator head   By Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO | Thu Jul 26, 2012  (Reuters) – Japan’s government on Thursday nominated Shunichi Tanaka, an expert in radiation physics, to head a new safety regulator,… But it is uncertain whether confidence can be restored with public feeling running high against the “nuclear village” –

– industry officials, politicians and utility operators seen as failing to avert the
disaster…..
The government hopes that the new safety body, to be launched in September, will instill more confidence than two current regulatory bodies, both heavily criticized for their cozy ties with the power  industry.

Tanaka, 67, a former deputy head of the Cabinet Office’s Atomic Energy Commission, was nominated for the new safety watchdog along with four other candidates….. Critics see some nominees, including Tanaka, as closely linked to the “nuclear village”. ….
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/26/us-japan-nuclear-watchdog-idINBRE86P0LH20120726

July 29, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Failure of Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX) reprocessing projects

The government would be crazy to consider building another MOX plant. MOX cannot be recycled.”….
No scientist in the United States is studying how to safely store MOX fuel.

The Bomb Plant: A MOX White Elephant?, DC Bureau By , on October 20th, 2011  The National Nuclear Security Administration may have a $10 billion taxpayer-financed white elephant on its hands based on Britain’s experience with a similar plant that has been shuttered after a decade of failed operations.

NNSA is building a French-designed plant to convert plutonium warheads into mixed oxide (MOX) reactor fuel at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. The United States’ MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility is over budget – already double the estimated costs – behind schedule and still has no commercial customers for the fuel. But the DOE is pushing ahead with construction at a time when international nuclear utilities are shuttering their failed MOX programs. Continue reading →

July 26, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Nuclear reprocessing is not the answer to the nuclear waste problem

“No currently available or reasonably foreseeable reactor and fuel cycle technology developments — including advances in reprocess and recycle technologies — have the potential to fundamentally alter the waste management challenge this nation confronts over at least the next several decades, if not longer,’’ the report said…..

A Long, Long Road to Recycling Nuclear Fuel, NYT, By MATTHEW L. WALD, 15 Nov 11, The question of what to do with spent nuclear fuel from civilian power reactors has stirred renewed interest in reprocessing — that is, chopping up the fuel, retrieving materials that can power a reactor and possibly recovering the most troublesome waste products so they can be broken up in the reactor into easier-to-handle elements.
But the Energy Department, which is supposed to is evaluate different ways that the used fuel could be recycled, has a long way to go, according to the Government Accountability Office. In a report released on Wednesday, the auditors noted that the Department of Energy had listed a huge number of potential ways to do the job and classified the methods according to the degree of promise that each held. Still, the department’s evaluation does not indicate the state
of technical progress for the many technologies that would be needed, the report said. Continue reading →

July 26, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Japanese experts say nuclear reprocessing is not viable

Fast-breeder said realistic no more, Japan Times, 25 Feb 12,  Kyodo A panel of experts reviewing the nuclear fuel cycle policy in light of the Fukushima crisis has agreed that while a fast-breeder reactor has advantages, from a technology viewpoint it can’t be considered a realistic option for the next 20 to 30 years. The nuclear fuel policy involves reprocessing spent fuel to produce plutonium that can be reused to produce electricity.

The subcommittee of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission said in a draft document summarizing its discussions that two viable options during the next few decades would be to not reprocess spent nuclear fuel, and to recycle plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel, or MOX fuel.

The former option is called the “once-through” cycle, in which uranium fuel is used in nuclear reactors just one time and disposed of by burying it in the ground. In the latter option, MOX fuel is manufactured from plutonium recovered from spent nuclear fuel and used in ordinary reactors. Continue reading →

July 26, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Japan’s massive nuclear waste problem, and reprocessing is a failed solution

The amount of spent fuel stored at power stations has continued to surge, standing at around 14,200 tons across 17 facilities as of last September, including the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.’s storage facilities are already almost full and contained a total of 2,800 tons as of February, while several power stations are expected to reach maximum capacity over the next three years if their currently idled reactors are restarted, industry
sources said.

Policy of recycling all spent nuclear fuel may be axed, Japan Times, 22 June 12,  Kyodo, Jiji The Japan Atomic Energy Commission has proposed both reprocessing and directly disposing of spent nuclear fuel if Japan’s atomic energy reliance is cut to 15 percent, a departure from the current policy of total reprocessing…

.. The changed tack comes as massive amounts of spent fuel are accumulating at nuclear plants nationwide and as decades-long efforts to activate reprocessing facilities remain mired in technical difficulties, sources said. Continue reading →

July 26, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

After one MOX nuclear reprocessing disaster, is Britain about to start another one?

Pete Wilkinson, an independent environmental consultant, said it “beggared belief” that ministers were going down this path after losing an estimated £600m from operating an original MOX plant.

“It would be interesting to see the commercial arrangements which justify turning Britain into a nuclear waste dump for plutonium that no-one else wants.”

UK nuclear authority takes ownership of German plutonium UK risks becoming a ‘nuclear laundry’ looking after unwanted waste from other countries, warns industry expert Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk, 13 July 2012  Britain risks being turned into a “nuclear laundry” by taking ownership of German plutonium in return for cash, the government was warned on Friday.

The move came along with confirmation that ministers were moving towards a controversial decision to build a new mixed oxide fuel (MOX) plant despite having just agreed to close an existing one which lost millions of pounds. Continue reading →

July 26, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Time for USA to lead the retreat from the nuclear arms race

It is in America’s best interest to further this nuclear downsizing……. We ushered in the nuclear era 67 years ago. Now we must do our part to help the world find a safe exit.

Let’s usher out the nuclear era JTA Globe News Service for the Jewish People, Op-Ed: On Tisha b’Av, By Sandy Pappas · July 25, 2012 MINNEAPOLIS (JTA) — As July ends and we wind down the Three Weeks before Tisha b’Av, we mourn the destruction of both Holy Temples.
Unfortunately, this is not the only destruction that bears remembrance. This August marks the 67th anniversary of the only time that nuclear weapons were ever used in warfare. The United States tested the first nuclear weapon in July 1945 and dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9 that year.

These events spawned the nuclear race, Continue reading →

July 26, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Renewable energy getting global support

International Support for Renewable Energy, Environmental Leader,  Jeff Colton, 24 July 12,  With the December 31 deadline for the extension of the wind power production tax credit (PTC) looming, the future of American green energy hangs in limbo. The US might to look to other countries that are dedicated to the development of the renewable energy sector and make the passing of the PTC extension — and support for clean energy in general — a priority.

China’s Sustainability Plans In its twelfth Five-Year Plan, China places strong emphasis on boosting economic growth through the encouragement of the development of seven emerging industries: new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, biotechnology, new materials, new IT, high-end equipment manufacturing and clean energy vehicles. It is no surprise that three of the seven priority industries revolve around sustainability, given China’s narrow miss of its eleventh Five-Year Plan target of reducing energy consumption by 20 percent. China is understandably more aggressive in its investments in a low-carbon economy. The country aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 percent per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020, compared with 2005 emission levels….  http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/07/24/international-support-for-renewable-energy/

July 25, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

UK govt ‘sabotaging clean energy future’

And it is big – £110bn – all of which will ultimately be paid by you and me through our electricity and gas bills. The good news, trumpeted most recently not by greens but by the UK’s biggest business lobby, the CBI, is that the green economy is growing fast, in stark contrast the rest of the UK economy. It already employs a million people…..

Why is the Treasury intent on sabotaging our clean energy future?, Guardian UK, Damian Carrington, 23 July 12 George Osborne appears utterly unwilling to give up burying landmines along the road to a low-carbon energy system. The reason why is a disturbing one. Defending the indefensible is not uncommon in politics, but its rarely a winning strategy. Yet George Osborne and the Treasury appear utterly unwilling to give up burying its landmines along the road to a clean energy system that is fit for the 21st century. The urgent question is why: the answer is a disturbing one. Continue reading →

July 24, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Oyster Creek nuclear plant shut down http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/23/4651792/oyster-creek-nuclear-plant-shut.html#storylink=cpy The Associated Press, Jul. 23, 2012   LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Officials shut down the Oyster Creek nuclear plant in Lacey Township after the plant lost off-site power Monday.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says emergency generators powered safety systems and plant operators responded appropriately to the situation. Officials believe the loss of power resulted from a ground of a high-voltage line that provides electricity to the nuclear plant in
Ocean County.

July 24, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Secrecy in UK’s deals about buying nuclear reactors

Nuclear deals “behind closed doors” could damage low-carbon plans Construction News 23 July, 2012 | By Tom Fitzpatrick Perceptions that decisions on nuclear contracts for difference are being made “behind closed doors” could be “hugely damaging” to the UK’s low-carbon plans, according to a new report.   subscribers only
http://www.cnplus.co.uk/news/nuclear-deals-behind-closed-doors-could-damage-low-carbon-plans/8633398.article

July 23, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

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