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The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Controversial brachytherapy treatment for breast cancer

“It’s important for any woman really to discuss with her physician the risks and benefits of either approach,”

More women need breasts removed after brachytherapy  By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK   May 1, 2012   (Reuters Health) – Women who got seed radiation as part of their breast cancer treatment were more likely to have an infection or breast pain than those who were treated with whole-breast irradiation, in a new study.

And more patients treated with the quicker and more local radiation technique, also called brachytherapy, went on to need a mastectomy as well — but there was no difference in their chance of dying in the few years after treatment. “The decision of whether a patient was treated with brachytherapy or whole-breast irradiation was the single most important factor in whether a patient had a mastectomy,” said study author Dr. Benjamin Smith, who called that result “surprising.” Continue reading →

May 2, 2012 Posted by | Reference, USA, women | Leave a comment

USA’s nuclear regulators put costs above safety

“If filtered vents are good enough for Sweden, if they are good enough for Germany, if they are good enough for France and for Switzerland,”   “they should be good enough for us.”

Nuclear Safety Advocates Accuse Industry And Regulators Of Foot-Dragging On Basic Safety Measure HUFFINGTON POST, Tom Zeller Jr.04/30/2012  “……  one seemingly straightforward emergency feature: Requiring a filtered vent in the concrete containment buildings surrounding nuclear reactors like the one at Pilgrim.

Such a vent would come into play in only the worst sort of emergency, when the usual means for keeping the reactor core cool are lost and things inside are heating up to the point of becoming explosive. Operators can then open the vent and exhale the pressure directly into the air. The filter would capture dangerous radioactivity, to prevent contamination of the surrounding area.

Until now, vents have been an optional feature for American plant operators, but in March, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its first orders since undertaking a review  of safety systems and procedures at American plants in the aftermath of the disaster in Japan. Among the orders was a requirement  that reactors of similar pedigree to those used at Fukushima should have containment vents installed. For reactors that already have them, steps should be taken to ensure they operate in an emergency, officials declared.

To the dismay of Lampert and others, however, regulators have not required filters, Continue reading →

May 1, 2012 Posted by | Reference, safety, USA | Leave a comment

3.000 of Chernobyl’s most vulnerable children helped to safety and care

Children of Chernobyl Airlifts 97th Group in Advance of 26th Anniversary http://www.chabad.org/blogs/blog_cdo/aid/1838545/jewish/Children-of-Chernobyl-Airlifts-97th-Group-in-Advance-of-26th-Anniversary.htm, April 25, 2012 By Joshua Runyan  One week before the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion that rained down fallout across an entire swath of Eastern Europe, Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl brought 26 more children to safety and medical care in Israel, its 97th rescue mission.

“On this significant anniversary, thousands of children every day are still feeling the tragic consequences of the Chernobyl disaster,” said Nancy Spielberg, founding board member of CCOC, in a statement. “They are facing devastating illnesses from radiation contamination –radiation that will be with us for thousands of years. As we’ve seen from the recent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, the impact from this kind of radioactivity is as devastating today as it was 26 years ago.”

To date, the Chabad-Lubavitch run organization, which was designed to rescue those most vulnerable from the April 26, 1986 meltdown that left thousands of square kilometers uninhabitable, has helped 2,822 children escape the contaminated living conditions surrounding that portion of Ukraine. Most are brought to a sprawling educational and residential complex in the central Israeli village of Kfar Chabad, where they’re provided with medical care and social services.

The organization also provides medicine, equipment and other needed items for those who
cannot leave Europe. Spielberg pointed to World Health Organization statistics, which show the rate of thyroid cancer in the contaminated areas surrounding Chernobyl as more than 200 times the world norm.

April 30, 2012 Posted by | Israel, Reference, social effects, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Revelations of the un-safety of Japan’s nuclear reactors

”All the samples would be considered nuclear waste if found here in the US.”   – Arnie Gundersen on soil samples taken recently from parks, playgrounds and rooftop gardens throughout Tokyo.

Fukushma the Japanese Chernobyl’…a year later and politics still ‘trump’ safety…UK Progressive,   | APRIL 29, 2012  The Japanese Prime Minister Declares Nuclear Plant Safe… Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda declared that nuclear units 3 & 4 at the Ohi Nuclear Plant were safe for operation.
Prime Minister Noda based this declaration on ‘stress tests’ which were nothing more than computer simulations.  The computer simulations merely estimate any given reactor’s ability to withstand large earthquakes and/or tsunamis, allegedly like last year’s Fukushima disaster.  No other studies, expert testimony or other considerations were mentioned.  Unfortunately, for Japan—and the world—Noda couldn’t be more wrong. Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by | Japan, Reference, safety | Leave a comment

Report on financial problems in investing in new nuclear power

Around the world, solar power and wind power are growing fast, while the number of operational nuclear reactors in the world is shrinking
THE FINANCIAL RISKS  OF INVESTING IN NEW  NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
www.energyfair.org.uk, March 2012 Since most of the cost of nuclear electricity is in the capital cost of nuclear plants, since build times can be 7 years or more, and since payback times can be 30 years or more, investors in new nuclear plants are exposed to financial risks from inaccurate estimates and from changes in markets in the  future.

There is increasing recognition in the business world that investing in new nuclear power stations is commercially risky.
This report describes five major types of risk for any investor considering putting money into new  nuclear plants, with particular emphasis on the situation in the UK: Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Reference, UK | Leave a comment

.TEPCO’s history of fraud

TEPCO’s ‘malpractices’ included:
• falsification of inspection records over many years;
• covering up data about cracks in water circulation pumps and pipes which are critical for reactor cooling;
• failure to report cracks in reactor core shrouds (stainless steel cylinders surrounding the reactor core), steam dryers, access hole covers, and components associated with jet pumps (which circulate cooling water inside the reactor);
• in 1991 and 1992, tests of the leak rate of a Fukushima reactor containment vessel were faked by surreptitiously injecting compressed air into the containment building;
• written records of cracks in neutron-measuring equipment at Fukushima were deleted by contractor Hitachi at TEPCO’s request; and
• eight TEPCO reactors were still operating although required repairs
had not been carried out.”

Fukushma the Japanese Chernobyl’…a year later and politics still ‘trump’ safety…UK Progressive,   | APRIL 29, 2012 “……….TEPCO’s history of fraud…on top of a flawed Mark 1 design… The operator responsible for Fukushima Daiichi, namely TEPCO has a history of fraud allegations.  In 2002, five TEPCO executives resigned over allegations they falsified nuclear plant safety records.  Five reactors were shut down as a result.

In 2006 the Japanese government discovered false water coolant temperature readings at Fukushima Daiichi in 1985 and 1988 and ordered TEPCO to re-inspect past data. Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by | Japan, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

The General Electric Corporations’s connection with Fukushima

5 of the 6 reactors at Fukushima-Daiichi are GE manufactured Mark 1 systems.   To add further insult to injury—the GE Mark 1 reactors at Fukushima—have “23 sisters in the US.”  According to Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) data, 23 of the 104 existing nuclear plants in the US are GE boiling-water reactors with GE’s Mark 1 radiation containment systems.  

nuclear reactors such as those at Fukushima are little more than a radioactive time-bomb …”looking for a place to happen.’

Fukushma the Japanese Chernobyl’…a year later and politics still ‘trump’ safety…UK Progressive,   | APRIL 29, 2012  “…….. The GE Connection to Fukushima… Tanaka has not been the only engineer involved in the building and operation of ‘boiling-water’ reactors who became a whistle-blower against corporate practices deemed scientifically negligent in the nuclear industry.  Dale G. Bridenbaugh, Gregory C. Minor and Richard B. Hubbard, all former engineers with GE resigned in protest over major design flaws in the Mark 1 nuclear reactor designs they were reviewing.

Dubbed the “GE Three”—these engineers switched sides and joined the anti-nuclear movement in 1975.  The GE Three were reviewing the Mark 1 system which is among the oldest reactors in use.  Arguing that the Mark 1 system was a disaster in the making to deaf corporate ears—the three engineers quit in disgust. Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by | Reference, safety, USA | Leave a comment

Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMR’s) – last forlorn hope of the nuclear industry

There just isn’t any proof that small reactors are going to be any more economic than larger ones….  it’s all about hype and hope

Small nuclear reactors generate hype, questions about cost  STL Today 29 April 12, “…..Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse Electric Co. announced plans to pursue a $452 million federal subsidy to advance development of small modular reactors that could be built alongside the utility’s much larger Callaway nuclear plant near Fulton, Mo.
While some utilities are still pursuing full-scale plants, there is a parallel push for smaller reactors that could be easier for utilities to finance and minimize sticker shock for regulators and consumers.
But despite a lower total cost, there’s no evidence yet that tiny fission factories would be able to produce electricity at a competitive cost in an era of abundant, cheap natural gas. Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Reference, technology, USA | Leave a comment

after 26 years, a start to cover damaged Chernobyl nuclear plant

The 26 April, 1986, explosion spewed a cloud of radiation over the northern hemisphere, forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes in Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia.

Work begins on ‘mausoleum’ for worst nuclear disaster, 26 years on, scotsman.com   27 April 2012   TWENTY-SIX years to the day after the world’s worst nuclear disaster, Ukraine yesterday began construction of a vast new metal shelter to contain the stricken Chernobyl reactor.

The 20,000-tonne structure, big enough to enclose the Statue of Liberty, is due to be completed by 2015, allowing the delicate and dangerous job of dismantling the reactor and cleaning vast amounts of radioactive waste still around it to begin.

“The Chernobyl disaster underscored that mankind must be extra careful in using nuclear technologies,” president Viktor Yanukovych said at the commencement ceremony. “Nuclear accidents lead to global consequences. They are not a problem of just one country, they affect the life of entire regions.” Continue reading →

April 27, 2012 Posted by | Reference | Leave a comment

Nuclear Risk Reduction Center expanding its role to security in cyberspace

In U.S.-Russia deal, nuclear communication system may be used for cybersecurity Washington Post, By Ellen Nakashima,  April 26 A secure communications channel set up to prevent misunderstandings that might lead to nuclear war is likely to expand to handling new kinds of conflict — in cyberspace.

The Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, established in 1988 under President Ronald Reagan so that Washington and Moscow could alert each other to missile tests and space launches that could be mistaken as acts of aggression, would take a central role in an agreement nearing
completion between U.S. and Russian negotiators..

…The secure channel would be a milestone in the effort to ensure that misperceptions in
cyberspace — where it is difficult to know who is behind a digital attack or even whether a computer disruption is the result of deliberate action — do not escalate to full hostilities, say U.S.officials and experts from both countries…….. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-us-russia-deal-nuclear-communication-system-may-be-used-for-cybersecurity/2012/04/26/gIQAT521iT_story.html?tid=pm_wo

April 27, 2012 Posted by | Reference, safety, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Cesium 137 and the follies of Chernobyl and Fukushima

The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Is Far From Over   HUFFINGTON POST, Robert Alvarez, Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies, 22 April 12, “….It’s been 26 years, since the Chernobyl reactor exploded and caught fire releasing enormous amounts of radioactive debris — seriously contaminating areas over a thousand miles away. Chernobyl revealed the folly of not having an extra barrier of thick concrete and steel surrounding the reactor core that is required for modern plants, in the U.S., Japan and elsewhere. The Fukushima Dai-Ichi accident revealed the folly of operating several nuclear power plants in a high consequence earthquake zone while storing huge amounts of highly radioactive spent fuel in vulnerable pools, high above the ground.

What both accidents have in common is widespread environmental contamination from cesium-137. With a half-life of 30, years, Cs-137 gives off penetrating radiation, as it decays and can remain dangerous for hundreds of years. Once in the environment, it mimics potassium as it accumulates in the food chain. When it enters the human body, about 75 percent lodges in muscle tissue, with, perhaps, the most important muscle being the heart.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-alvarez/the-fukushima-nuclear-dis_b_1444146.html

April 23, 2012 Posted by | environment, health, Japan, Reference | Leave a comment

Another sort of “feed-in tariff” – UK’s sly subsidy for nuclear power

The “feed-in tariffs” referred to in the leaked submission are not the same as the feed-in tariffs by which households can gain extra income by installing solar panels. 

Ministers planning ‘hidden subsidies’ for nuclear power Lib Dem worries over leaked document revealing plans to subsidise nuclear through electricity bills Fiona Harvey and Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk,  20 April 2012 “……The leaked document, a submission to the European commission, which the government has confirmed as genuine, says: “Our reforms will put in place a regulatory framework based on feed-in tariffs for all low-carbon technologies, which will allow younger technologies to mature so that in the near- to mid-term future they will be able to compete in the open market … in time, we expect that this regulatory framework will enable different low-carbon technologies to compete against each other on a level playing field for their appropriate role in the energy mix.” Continue reading →

April 21, 2012 Posted by | politics, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Rapid increase in brachytherapy for breast cancer, but is this wise?

“The most plausible explanation for our data is that women treated with brachytherapy were at increased risk of having a recurrence of cancer in their breast”

 A large federally funded study is trying to clarify the risks and benefits of brachytherapy for breast cancer. But the results won’t be out for years. 

includes audio.  Wider Use Of Breast Cancer Radiation Technique Raises Concern   http://www.npr.org/blogs health/2012/04/09/150088892/wider-use-of-breast-cancer-radiation-technique-raises-concern?ps=sh_stcathdl “…..there’s an intense debate under way about whether the approach is being used too widely before there’s clear evidence it’s as effective as the traditional approach. Continue reading →

April 16, 2012 Posted by | health, Reference, Resources -audiovicual, technology, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear fusion – an expensive pipedream

“Fusion will never be a practical source because it requires vast resources and technical capital”

The Tantalizing Promise And Peril Of Nuclear Fusion, Forbes, 15 April 12 “…..To be clear, fusion is different from fission, which is how today’s nuclear reactor’s produce energy. Fission splits atoms apart whereas fusion combines them — a process that thus far consumes more energy than it generates. Continue reading →

April 16, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Reference, technology | Leave a comment

60 years of government welfare to the nuclear industry. Time to stop this.

Stop the nuclear industry welfare programme After 60 years, the taxpayer should not continue to subsidise multibillion-dollar corporations in the nuclear energy sector Bernie Sanders and Ryan Alexander guardian.co.uk,   13 April 2012    ‘It is shocking that the nuclear industry continues to receive so much federal support at a time of record debt.’
The US is facing a $15 trillion national debt, and there is no shortage of opinions about how to move toward deficit reduction in the federal budget. One topic you will not hear discussed very often on Capitol Hill is the idea of ending one of the oldest American welfare programmes – the extraordinary amount of corporate welfare going to the nuclear energy industry.

Many in Congress talk of getting “big government off the back of private industry”. Here’s an industry we’d like to get off the backs of the taxpayers. Continue reading →

April 14, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, politics, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

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