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Keeping one’s cancer risks down – avoid airport radiation scanners

Radiation: Why I choose the patdown at airports, Sun Sentinel By Lois Solomon, November 30, 2011 This story today confirmed my decision to get patted down at airports rather than get irradiated by people who promise it won’t harm me.

 European airports have banned body scanners because studies have linked them to cancer in small numbers of people. The TSA continues to defend the technology.

Everyone knows radiation in the atmosphere hits us every day and there is little we can do about it. On top of that, we get dental X-rays, orthodontic scans, cell phone radiation and other potential waves that we can reject if we choose. Radiologists say it accumulates in our bodies over the course of a lifetime.

When I flew for Thanksgiving, I asked for a patdown instead of going through the scanner at Fort Lauderdale’s airport. The TSA guard assured me I wouldn’t be seen naked; I told him I was more concerned about the radiation. He told me I get more in my cellphone, but called for the female attendant to pat me down. It was definitely intrusive but hopefully lessened my exposure to future cancers.  http://blogs.trb.com/features/family/parenting/blog/2011/11/radiation_why_i_choose_the_pat.html

December 1, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

UK sacrificing renewable energy development in order to have nuclear power

UK’s faith in nuclear power threatens renewables, says German energy expert, Jochen Flasbarth, who is advising German government on its nuclear, phase-out, says UK’s wind and solar industry will suffer Guardian UK 29 Nov 11 Continue reading →

November 30, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

We may be entering an era of rational laws for the public good

One reason the US consistently sets such lame renewable energy goals and then fails to meet them is that the carbon lobby has owned Congress for decades and recently has figured out how to successfully control broadcast media and Presidential elections. 

But we may be entering an era where looking after the public good by enacting rational regulations experiences a resurgence, as happened with environmental law and regulation making in the 1970’s….

Is It Too Late To Stem A Worldwide Outbreak Of Rational Governance?, Tree Hugger,  John Laumer, November 28, 2011 Something interesting is going on in Australia. The world’s first national carbon tax was just finalized. What makes this especially interesting is that they have an economy highly dependent upon coal exports and coal burning…..

Contrast this with the USA where the entire Republican Party denies climate change exists …
Something is rational in Denmark. Continue reading →

November 29, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

The risks and consequences of a nuclear war between USA and China

Is a Nuclear War with China Possible?, Huntington News.net , November 28, 2011 – BY LAWRENCE S. WITTNER While nuclear weapons exist, there remains a danger that they will be used.  After all, for centuries national conflicts have led to wars, with nations employing their deadliest weapons.  The current deterioration of U.S. relations with China might end up providing us with yet another example of this phenomenon. Continue reading →

November 29, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

France’s politics making the nuclear industry anxious

 The nuclear and uranium industries are getting edgy about politics in France.  the Socialists and the Greens are doing a deal about opposing nuclear power, and there’s an election coming in France: –

Uranium And The French Threat FN Arena News – Greg Peel – 29 Nov

… TradeTech did not publish its usual weekly update on uranium spot market … impact on European CO2 pricing (which might be interesting for Australia). …

November 29, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Drug use among nuclear plant workers – eleven sacked

Nuclear plant workers fired over alleged drug use, KAREN HOWLETT TORONTO  Globe and Mail, Nov. 28, 2011 Eleven employees at a nuclear power station in Ontario have been dismissed with cause for allegedly using drugs on the job.

Ontario Power Generation issued a statement Monday evening, saying it took prompt action to ensure that neither the safety nor security of the nuclear plant was compromised after allegations of the drug-related activity were made…. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/nuclear-plant-workers-fired-over-alleged-drug-use/article2252432/

November 29, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Claim that Pakistan’s nuclear program is unsafe

Pakistan’s nuclear program unsafe in Zardari’s hands, says Qureshi, By AZHAR MASOOD, Arab News Nov 27, 2011 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Sunday claimed that the country’s nuclear program was in “unsafe
hands.” Qureshi, who joined Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaaf party at a rally in Ghotki on Sunday, said, “Pakistan’s nuclear program is unsafe as long Asif Ali Zardari was at the helm of affairs.”

Qureshi alleged, “Zardari has turned the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) a backyard of the CIA.” Qureshi added, “I will make more disclosures in this regard before Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s rally in Karachi on Dec. 25.” http://arabnews.com/world/article539536.ece

November 28, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

For India sustainable banking and nuclear energy are incompatible

NUCLEAR EMERGENCY IN JAPAN: LESSONS FOR INDIA,  Aid Netherlands, Shankar Sharma November 25, 2011 “.……Tall claims have been made about the capability of Indian nuclear establishments, especially the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), to ensure complete safety of nuclear power projects. The fact that the people manning AERB are generally deputed from Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) OR Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd., which is the operator of the nuclear power plants in the country, cannot assure the complete operational independence of AERB. As far as Chernobyl disaster is concerned Indian nuclear authorities have said that “… secrecy was part of the Soviet culture…” How transparent are the issues with our own nuclear establishments? Mr. A Gopalakrishnan, A former Chairman of AERB, has expressed concern about the complete dependence of AERB on DAE for resources.

There have been suggestions from Indian nuclear authorities that the safe storage of nuclear waste is technically feasible during its active life time. Is it really so, and if so, what about the huge costs involved? Are the efforts to keep nuclear waste safe for thousands of years worthy of all the risks involved? In this regard there are credible and serious concerns that whereas the present generation may get the benefit of electricity from nuclear power, the future generations have to deal with all the risks and costs associated with the spent fuel. Is this fair or socially responsible?….

The exorbitant capital and operating costs, cost and time over runs, subsidies and hidden costs in the Indian context of nuclear power plants have also been quietly ignored by IEP. International studies have established that if we take into account the true costs associated with disposing nuclear waste, decommissioning the worn out plants, and insuring reactors against catastrophic failures into objective account building nuclear plants in a competitive electricity market is not simply economical…..

There seems to be growing skepticism even to finance the nuclear power. “Too many well known banks that otherwise have taken laudable steps towards sustainability, are still investing heavily in the nuclear industry, putting the world on the wrong energy track. Sustainable banking and financing nuclear energy are simply incompatible” said Johan Frijns, BankTrack coordinator…..”. http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-asia/nuclear-emergency-in-japan-lessons-for-india/

November 27, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste train stopped by France through fear of protest movement

France Stops Nuclear Waste Train Headed For Germany, Voice of America, November 24th, 2011 French authorities have stopped a train carrying reprocessed nuclear waste to Germany before it reached the border, in hopes of avoiding protests over the radioactive material headed for storage in the northeastern city of Gorleben.

The train was late leaving the Areva nuclear reprocessing facility near Normandy on Wednesday because police clashed with hundreds of protestors trying to stop it in Valognes. Police fired tear gas and used batons to keep protestors from occupying the tracks.

The train was halted about 50 kilometers from the German border at Remilly, France Thursday, in what French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet called a “planned” stop. Brandet says it is not certain when the train will resume its journey.

Brandet says the continuation of the trip to Gorleben may partially depend on which of the multiple routes into Germany is chosen for the train to take.

This is expected to be the final transfer of reprocessed nuclear waste from France into Germany, which has voted against transporting more of the radioactive fuel into the country. In the wake of the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima power plant, German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised to shut down all of the country’s nuclear reactors by 2022. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/11/24/france-stops-nuclear-waste-train-headed-for-germany/

November 25, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

French company EDF’s plans for UK nuclear plant now available for public scrutiny

EDF Energy’s Hinkley Point plans released to public, BBC News 24 November 2011 Plans for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset have been released to the public. EDF Energy handed its application to the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), which deals with large-scale projects, on 31 October. The 30,000-page document has now been accepted by the IPC allowing its release to the public for scrutiny. Further public consultation will take place and the final decision will be made by the energy secretary…..

Before people can take part in the public consultation they will have to register with the IPC, however the deadline to register will be set by EDF Energy.

It must be a minimum of 28 days but could be longer in order take into account the Christmas and New Year public holidays…. West Somerset, Sedgemoor, and Somerset councils highlighted concerns about a lack of detail about transport proposals and said they felt not enough effort had been made to contact the whole community.

The application has also attracted criticism from anti-nuclear campaigners who believe nuclear power is unsafe.If the application is approved, the new nuclear power station could open in 2020. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-15869975

November 25, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Media blacking out the full and continuing rate of radiation from Fukushima

Fukushima: 27 Hiroshimas per day, China Syndrome inevitable, Abused Islanders,  , Human Rights Examiner November 21, 2011  Fukushima nuclear energy ecocide, ongoing Big Energy human rights abuses Eight months after 311, a human right to health violation with media blacking out the public health hazards of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, the highest radiation to date, the silence was broken Sunday with news that 1600 millisievert per hour at Unit No. 3 reported on Tokyo Broadcasting System, shocking news that the nuclear event is equivalent to 27 Hiroshimas per day. Uehara Harua, architect of Fukushima’s Reactor #3 warned that China Syndrome is inevitable and tons of radioactive contaminated debris is hitting shores of Least Developing Pacific Island nation, Marshall Islands where its Indigenous People’s rights have been gravely violated for years by American scientists studying nuclear weapons on them.

November 23, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

UK – renewable energy to go up 33%, while energy demand to drop

UK renewable energy supply to jump to 33 pct-NatGrid,   Energy demand to drop 5 pct between 2020 and 2030… By Henning Gloystein and Oleg Vukmanovic LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Britain’s total energy supply from renewable sources is set to double to more than 30 percent between 2020 and 2030 if the government reaches its climate and renewable energy policy targets, the National Grid said on Tuesday.

Renewable energy generation is set to rise from 232 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2020 to 474 TWh between 2020 and 2030, a share of 33 percent of total supply, Britain’s grid operator said in its ‘Gone Green Scenario’, which is part of its UK Future Energy Scenarios published on Tuesday.

During the same period, Britain’s total energy demand is set to drop by nearly 5 percent from 1,471 terawatt-hours (TWh) to 1,402 TWh.

November 23, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Iran strenuously denying nuclear weapons plans

‘Nuclear powers on brink of rui, Press TV 21 Nov 11, A senior Iranian commander says Iran has no desire to repeat the experience of nuclear powers, which are now on the verge of disintegration.

“Nuclear weapons have no place on Iran’s defensive doctrine and we have never been or will be in pursuit of nuclear weapons,” Deputy Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami told IRNA on Sunday.  The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and have used this pretext to push for the imposition of sanctions on the country as well as to call for an attack on the country.

Tehran, however, categorically rejects such allegations, saying that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has the right to acquire and develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.  Salami went on to add that the much repeated Western accusations against Iran’s civilian nuclear program are “baseless and lack logic.”  “All of these allegations aim to mount pressure on Iran and the Islamic Revolution and are nothing new,” Salami concluded.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production. 

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/211128.html

November 21, 2011 Posted by | general | 1 Comment

Alarm in India over expansion of nuclear industry

Activists sound alarm bells over India’s nuclear future, ABC Radio AM ,  By Indian correspondent Richard Lindell, November 16, 2011 India’s government has predictably welcomed Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s idea that Australia open up its uranium sales, but at home, India’s plans to expand its nuclear industry continue to face tough opposition.

From Jaitapur in the west to Koodankulam in the south, locals are protesting against nuclear power plants in their backyards. Residents who fear India could be the scene of a Fukushima have clashed with police, while others have resorted to hunger strikes.

India for Nuclear Disarmament co-founder Praful Bidwai says Japan has shown the world how disastrous nuclear power can be. ”If an advanced and relatively large nuclear power state like Japan can have a nuclear catastrophe, then a backward country like India is even more likely to witness a nuclear catastrophe in the 20 reactors that we have,” he said.

“The second big lesson I think is … about the inherently hazardous nature of nuclear power generation, which is the only form of energy production anywhere on Earth which is capable of undergoing a catastrophic accident.”…..India has not made Ms Gillard’s sales job any easier. On the day Ms Gillard announced her position on sales of uranium for peaceful purposes, India test-fired a nuclear-ready missile into international waters off the Bay of Bengal.

November 16, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Tough opposition in India against nuclear power

Activists sound alarm bells over India’s nuclear future, ABC Radio AM By Indian correspondent Richard Lindell  November 16, 2011 India’s government has predictably welcomed Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s idea that Australia open up its uranium sales, but at home, India’s plans to expand its nuclear industry continue to face tough opposition.

From Jaitapur in the west to Koodankulam in the south, locals are protesting against nuclear power plants in their backyards.Residents who fear India could be the scene of a Fukushima have clashed with police, while others have resorted to hunger strikes.

India for Nuclear Disarmament co-founder Praful Bidwai says Japan has shown the world how disastrous nuclear power can be.

“If an advanced and relatively large nuclear power state like Japan can have a nuclear catastrophe, then a backward country like India is even more likely to witness a nuclear catastrophe in the 20 reactors that we have,” he said.

“The second big lesson I think is … about the inherently hazardous nature of nuclear power generation, which is the only form of energy production anywhere on Earth which is capable of undergoing a catastrophic accident.”…..India has not made Ms Gillard’s sales job any easier.  On the day Ms Gillard announced her position on sales of uranium for peaceful purposes, India test-fired a nuclear-ready missile into international waters off the Bay of Bengal.

November 16, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

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