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

The world’s oldest nuclear reactors

Nuclear Halt in South Korea Seen Boosting Coal: Energy Markets, Bloomberg News, By Sangim Han and Yuriy Humber on April 13, 2012“….World’s Oldest The U.K, India, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and the U.S. have the world’s oldest nuclear plants, with 31 operating reactors aged 40 years or more, according to the London-based World Nuclear Association. No reactor has yet operated 50 years.

The U.S., which has the most nuclear reactors, originally licensed its units to run 40 years. Today, 71 of the 104 U.S. reactors have 60-year permits and 15 more applications are under review, according to the country’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission website.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-13/nuclear-halt-in-south-korea-seen-boosting-coal-energy-markets

April 14, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Reference, technology | Leave a comment

In the world of birds, radiation is more damaging to females

the tertiary sex ratio (here defined as the proportion of males among adults) was skewed towards an excess of males across 48 different bird species. This finding is in accordance with lower adult survival rates in females compared to males previously reported for barn swallows in contaminated areas around Chernobyl …..

Female barn swallows suffer differentially from the mortality costs of radiation, with male adult survival being reduced by 24%, while female survival is reduced by 57% in contaminated areas compared to controls 

Elevated Mortality among Birds in Chernobyl as Judged from Skewed Age and Sex Ratios PLoS One 13 April 12, “….Radiation has negative effects on survival of animals including humans, although the generality of this claim is poorly documented under low-dose field conditions.

Because females may suffer disproportionately from the effects of radiation on survival due to differences in sex roles during reproduction, radiation-induced mortality may result in
male-skewed adult sex ratios. Continue reading →

April 13, 2012 Posted by | environment, Reference | Leave a comment

The bitter history of Malaysia’s Bukit Merah rare earths project.

Some of the surviving residents of Bukit Merah are still plagued with severe health problems. Until this very day, the Malaysian authorities refuse to acknowledge that the radioactive waste was responsible for the sudden escalation of health problems among the residents

Today, the government is the official custodian of this repository in Bukit Merah. This site in Bukit Merah is declared as a restricted and dangerous dump site for radioactive materials but a curtain of official silence has descended on it. Has the government not learnt from Bukit Merah?

The Lynas project is likely to be a replay of the ARE fiasco but on a much larger scale.

The benefits gained by Malaysia from the Lynas investment are very little relative to the risks involved. Whilst the profits of the project go to Lynas (untaxed) and the few Malaysian companies that are involved in the construction of and the provision of supplies to the Gebeng rare earth plant, the radioactive waste will remain in
Malaysian soil for hundreds of years.

Lynas issue: Not learning from bitter experience —The Malaysian Insider,  Richard Pendragon, April 12, 2012 “……..Bukit Merah The history of the rare earth industry in Malaysia is little known to most Malaysians. Most Malaysians in fact think that the Lynas project in Pahang is the first time Malaysia has been associated with this industry.
Few Malaysians actually know that there was a rare earth plant in Bukit Merah, Perak, which has been closed some 10 or more years ago, following a ruling by the High Court of Malaysia that the company involved was in negligence, and that the radioactive waste generated by the plant was dangerous and had to be removed and secured in a safe
place away from people for hundreds of years.

The evidence of the hazardous legacy of this rare earth plant is still present in our midst as a reminder to every one of the risks involved. Continue reading →

April 13, 2012 Posted by | environment, history, Malaysia, Reference, Uranium, wastes | 2 Comments

The danger of nuclear powered drones, and plutonium for spacecraft

The Deadly Folly of Nuclear Power Overhead HUFFINGTON POST, Karl Grossman: 04/12/2012  The crash last week of a U.S. drone on the Seychelles Islands– the second crash of a U.S. drone on Seychelles in four months — underlines the deadly folly of a plan of U.S. national laboratory scientists and the Northrop Grumman Corp. for nuclear-powered drones. Continue reading →

April 13, 2012 Posted by | - plutonium, Reference, safety, technology, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

UK’s messy situation – the economics of new nuclear reactors

Japan, the nation who cannot even restart its own reactors or bring the Fukushima disaster to a close, will be allowed, no encouraged, to sell the UK its own technology right back, and presumably for a profit.

The Nuclear Powers of Japan and United Kingdom Enformable, 13 April 12,  “……The history of nuclear energy economics in the UK is equally complex. The once-mighty UK nuclear fleet, which at the beginning of the 1990s generated over 25% of the nations power, has fallen hard in more recent years.   Continue reading →

April 13, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Reference, UK | Leave a comment

In 3 days, Japanese government runs up sloppy safety standards, to keep the nuclear industry going

 It even appears that the government intentionally worked out looser standards so that utilities can meet them in order to hasten the reactivation of Oi nuclear plant’s idled reactors.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano says there is no need for reactivation of nuclear reactors stopped for regular inspections if the overall supply of electric power is sufficient.

New standards for reactivating nuke reactors are too hasty and sloppy , 11 April 12,  http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20120409p2a00m0na018000c.html The government should be criticized for having moved too hastily and in a sloppy manner when it set new standards for deciding whether to reactivate nuclear reactors, even though the criteria are crucial in ensuring the safety of the public.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and three Cabinet ministers concerned approved the standards on April 6 with an eye to approving resumption of operations at the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture, which are currently suspended for regular inspections. Continue reading →

April 11, 2012 Posted by | Japan, Reference, safety | Leave a comment

Plutonium in space – another great idea from the pro nuclear lobby

despite precautions, scenarios exist in which plutonium-238 from spacecraft could contaminate Earth. If a nuclear-laden spacecraft performed a high-speed slingshot fly-by and a calculation mistake occurred, the craft could enter the Earth’s atmosphere, disintegrate, and spew plutonium throughout the planet.

The public will have to weigh the benefits [what benefits? – Christina Macpherson] of these pioneering space missions against the costs and risks of use

Nuclear Renaissance in Space, Miller-McCune, By Wendee Holtcamp, April 6, 2012 As the U.S. prepares to relaunch domestic production of plutonium-238, the space community wishes to assure the public of its safety. Are they right?

In this, the 50th year of using nuclear energy for space missions, the U.S. is preparing to restart domestic production of a plutonium isotope that fuels space vehicles — a topic that was front and center at the recent Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space conference, held in The Woodlands, Texas…. Continue reading →

April 7, 2012 Posted by | - plutonium, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

The Czech Republic’s cruel history of uranium mining

Around 80,000 people are believed to have been sentenced to work in the uranium mines by the Czechoslovak communist regime 

A cheap and plentiful source of labor was concocted by the communist regime as it turned on its real and imaginary enemies after taking power…. Brutal conditions in the mines and the camps

Czech historian produces death tally for communist uranium camps Czech historian says he has drawn up the first accurate death tally for the former communist regime’s uranium labor camps Czech Position.com Chris Johnstone | 05.04.2012 A Czech historian has drawn up the first list of prisoners who perished in the Czechoslovak communist regime’s infamous network of uranium mining camps. Continue reading →

April 6, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, history, Reference, Uranium | 1 Comment

Small Modular Reactors – the latest desperate effort to revive the nuclear idustry

Small Modular Reactors, [SMRs] the latest “rabbit out the nuclear hat,” are generally based on scaled down BWR or PWR technology and illustrate the nuclear industry’s schizophrenic attitude to reactor size…. it was clear that the AP600 [small nuclear reactor] was hopelessly uneconomic…  SMRs may turn out to be the latest in a long line of nuclear designs that looked good on paper, but could not make the transition to commercial technology

Prospects for Nuclear Power in 2012, The Energy Report 2 April 12, ”…….Technological Cul-de-Sac If plant life extensions can be achieved in France and the U.S. and Gen III+ does prove a blind alley, it raises the question of what options are open to the nuclear sector. Ten years ago, the industry answer would have been Generation IV designs. Unlike Gen III+, which evolved from existing Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs), these would be based on radical new technologies. Six technologies were selected by the major nuclear countries as the most promising.

However, 10 years on, they seem no closer to commercial deployment. Continue reading →

April 6, 2012 Posted by | Reference, technology, USA | Leave a comment

60 years later, radiation from Mayak nuclear plant still taking its toll

 Many people we spoke to say they are being used as human guinea pigs. They talk of a secret government experiment looking at the effects of radiation exposure on humans.

They say they have to go to a hospital in Chelyabinsk, the regional capital around 50km away, for treatment of the various radiation related illnesses they suffer.

Living in a nuclear hell, Aljazeera, By Charles Stratford in Europe , 2012-04-04 The town of Muslymovo has to be one of the saddest places on earth. The thousands of people who have little choice but to live here, on the banks of the Techa river not far from Russia’s
southern border with Kazakhstan, are the victims of a nuclear disaster that began more than six decades ago.

They are still suffering with the consequences of life next door to the Mayak nuclear plant – still dying from the radiation-related illnesses that have claimed the lives of so many before them. Continue reading →

April 5, 2012 Posted by | health, Reference, Russia | Leave a comment

Cost of building nuclear plants, and the risk of time and cost overruns

 the issue of shifting the risk from the banks back to convincing consumers that they must bear the risk…. 

 the Vogtle project for two AP1000 reactors supplied by Toshiba/Westinghouse, is in a state (Georgia) where the regulator is already allowing cost recovery, even before the start of serious construction…. It is unlikely there will be many more states with regulators willing and able to commit consumers to repay all the costs, especially if things go wrong at these sites

Prospects for Nuclear Power in 2012, The Energy Report, 5 April 12 “…..Gen III+ Claims The nuclear industry would probably like to forget the claims it made for Generation III+ designs. In short, Gen III+ reactors would achieve the dream combination of being both safer and simpler, making them cheaper and easier to build. The expected overnight (excluding finance charges) construction cost was forecast to be no more than $1,000/kilowatt hour (KWh), so that a typical 1,500-megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant would cost $1.5 billion (B). This was much less than the few plants completed in the 1990s and, not by coincidence, a figure that meant power from new nuclear reactors would be competitive with power from gas-fired plants.

However, the $1,000/KWh promise quickly began to unravel, when the first order for a Gen III+ design, Olkiluoto in Finland, was priced in 2004 at more than double that level. Construction of the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) supplied by French company Areva, and its only successor so far in the West, Flamanville in France, has descended into farce. Both plants are now five years over their expected construction time and the latest cost estimates are about double the level forecast at construction start. Most recent serious cost estimates and bids in the past few years for Gen III+ designs have been of the order of $6,000/KWh. Continue reading →

April 5, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Reference, UK, USA | Leave a comment

More accurate picture of Fukushima radiation with new camera

New Camera Sees Japan’s Radiation Threats Innovation News Daily   30 March 2012  One year after Japan’s nuclear disaster, the invisible threat of radiation still lurks around homes and businesses near the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant. Now, a new camera based on Japanese space technology has allowed humans to see the radioactive contamination around the nuclear plant’s emergency evacuation zone.

Such camera technology works by detecting radioactive particles that give off gamma rays — the highest-energy form of light in the universe. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) originally developed the technology for an upcoming X-ray observation satellite, called ASTRO-H, but successfully adapted the camera to spot Earthly radiation threats  such as Cesium 137 and Cesium 134.

The camera’s wide 180-degree vision showed radioactive particles spread across the ground and  on rooftops of the village in the Fukushima Prefecture during a field test Feb. 11. Its results proved more accurate and capable of capturing a broader snapshot of the
radioactive zone than existing cameras…. http://www.space.com/15113-camera-sees-japan-radiation.html

March 31, 2012 Posted by | Japan, Reference, technology | Leave a comment

Japan’s complicated plan to let some Fukushima residents return home

Even if residents are allowed to eventually return they will continue to live under the shadow of the devastated Daiichi plant, where its a huge and costly cleanup is expected to take several decades.

Japan to lift entry ban on some Fukushima cities TOKYO, (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Daniel Magnowski),  Mar 30, 2012 (Reuters) – Japan said on Friday it would lift entry bans on some cities in Fukushima prefecture that had been designated no-go zones due to their proximity to a nuclear power plant crippled by a powerful earthquake and tsunami last March….

… This follows their declaration in December that the Daiichi plant was in cold shutdown and under control after months of cleanup efforts, signalling it was ready to move to a longer-term phase to eventually decommission the plant. Continue reading →

March 31, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics, Reference | Leave a comment

Japanese govt losing credibility, as Fukushima not anywhere near safe

The spent fuel rods stored at the No. 4 reactor pose a particular threat, experts say, because they lie unprotected outside the unit’s containment vessel. Tokyo Electric has been racing to fortify the crumpled outer shell of the reactor, and to keep the tank fed with water. But should a problem also arise with cooling the spent fuel, the plant could run the risk of another colossal radiation leak, experts say.

“The plant is still in a precarious state,” 

Japan Admits Nuclear Plant Still Poses Dangers By HIROKO TABUCHI NYT,  March 29, 2012, TOKYO — The damage to the core of at least one of the meltdown-stricken reactors at Fukushima could be far worse than previously thought, raising fresh concerns over the plant’s stability and gravely complicating the post-disaster cleanup, a recent internal investigation has shown.

The results of the inquiry, released this week by the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, also cast doubt over the Japanese government’s declaration three months ago that the ravaged site is now under control. Continue reading →

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

A very long haul to clean up Savannah River’s plutonium wastes

The amount of plutonium in the waste tanks is uncertain. Savannah River was built to make plutonium, and the material in the tanks is what was left over after the material was produced in reactors and scavenged in chemical plants. But a fair amount ended up in the waste tanks

A Very Long Road for Military Nuclear Waste By MATTHEW L. WALD, NYT, March 29, 2012  Slowly, slowly, the Energy Department is moving forward with solidifying the liquid nuclear wastes left over from cold-war weapons production. On Thursday, the department said it had closed two more of the 51 underground tanks at the Savannah River Site  in western South Carolina. The high-level waste was mixed with molten glass to keep it chemically locked up for millennia, and the lower-level material was mixed with a kind of cement that is supposed to keep it in place until the radioactivity dies down.

The department has 22 tanks at Savannah River that do not meet Environmental Protection Agency standards , mostly because they are single-wall tanks rather than double-wall. It closed two of them in 1997 but has faced numerous technical problems. Continue reading →

March 30, 2012 Posted by | - plutonium, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

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