tagged w/ Nuclear Power
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January 17, 2012
FRONTLINE travels to three continents to explore the debate about nuclear power: Is it safe? What are the alternatives? And could a Fukushima-style disaster happen in the U.S.?January 17, 2012
FRONTLINE travels to three continents to explore the debate about... more
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Japan says it will soon require atomic reactors to be shut down after 40 years of use to improve safety following the nuclear crisis set off by last year’s tsunami.
Concern about aging reactors has been growing because the three units at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan that went into meltdown following the tsunami in March were built starting in 1967. Among other reactors at least 40 years old are those at the Tsuruga and Mihama plants in central Japan, which were built starting in 1970.
Many more of the 54 reactors in Japan will reach the 40-year mark in the near future, though some were built only a few years ago.
The government said Friday that it plans to introduce legislation in the coming months to require reactors to stop running after 40 years. Japanese media reported that the law may include loopholes to allow some old nuclear reactors to keep running if their safety is confirmed with tests.
The proposal could be similar to the law in the U.S., which grants 40-year licenses and allows for 20-year extensions. Such renewals have been granted to 66 of 104 U.S. nuclear reactors. That process has been so routine that many in the industry are already planning for additional license extensions that could push the plants to operate for 80 years or even 100....
Continued at:
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=18134Japan says it will soon require atomic reactors to be shut down after 40 years of use... more
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Dagum
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27 days ago
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ENE News...
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Published: December 27th, 2011 at 03:46 AM EDT | Email Article Email Article
By Enenews Admin
Physician: “When it comes to Fukushima, we are all downwinders”
Nuclear waste stockpile – Ottawa Citizen
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Dale Dewar, Ottawa Executive Director, Physicians for Global Survival (Canada)
[...] My physics professor in 1962 was skeptical about the environmental cost of nuclear power. He could not have been the only person to raise a voice of caution so I’m sure that, beneath the superficial history of nuclear power, there is a story of deals, deception, and press releases.
While we students thought that the professor was a bit of a fuddyduddy, time has proven him correct. The actual cost of nuclear power is beyond our wildest dreams. [...]
Given that birds and insects affected by Chernobyl are showing chromosomal abnormalities, there is no reason to suspect that humans cannot expect the same over generations.
When it comes to Fukushima, we are all downwinders.
.ENE News...
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Published: December 27th, 2011 at 03:46 AM EDT | Email Article... more
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Los Angeles Times...
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NRC approves new nuclear reactor design
Associated Press
December 22, 2011, 10:11 a.m.
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WASHINGTON — Federal regulators have approved a nuclear reactor designed by Westinghouse Electric Co. that could power the first nuclear plants built from scratch in this country in more than three decades.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission unanimously approved the AP1000 reactor on Thursday. The certification, effective immediately, will be valid for 15 years.
NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said the newly approved design would ensure safety through simplified, passive security functions and other features. He said plants using the design could withstand damage from an airplane crash without significant release of radioactive materials — an issue that gained attention after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Approval of the design is a major step forward for utility companies in Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas that have billions of dollars riding on plans to build AP1000 reactors in the Southeast. Without NRC approval, the utilities could not have gotten a license to build their plants.
Federal officials approved an earlier version of the AP1000 reactor in 2006, but it was never built in the United States. Four AP1000 reactors are now under construction in China.
Aris Candris, Westinghouse president and CEO, said the road to receiving design certification of the AP1000 "has been long and sometimes arduous."
The NRC vote brings the U.S "one step closer to constructing AP1000 units and putting thousands to work to ultimately provide future generations with safe, clean and reliable electricity," he said.
Utilities in Georgia and South Carolina have been waiting for the design certification so they can move ahead with applications to build two reactors in each state.
Atlanta-based Southern Co. applied to build the first two AP1000 reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Ga. The $14 billion effort is the pilot project for the new reactor and a major test of whether the industry can build nuclear plants without the endemic delays and cost overruns that plagued earlier rounds of building years ago. President Barack Obama's administration has offered the project $8 billion in federal loan guarantees as part of its pledge to expand nuclear power.
Close on its heels is SCANA Corp., which is also seeking permission to build two reactors at an existing plant in Jenkinsville, S.C.
Other applications that use the AP1000 design include two plants in Florida, one and South Carolina and another in North Carolina. Each application is for two reactors.
Even with the design certification, it remains unclear when the Vogtle reactors will receive final approval — a major concern for Southern Co. since any delays could increase the cost of the project.
The biggest difference between the AP1000 and existing reactors is its safety systems, including a massive water tank on top of its cylindrical concrete-and-steel shielding building. In case of an accident, water would flow down and cool the steel container that holds critical parts of the reactor — including its hot, radioactive nuclear fuel.
An NRC taskforce examining the nuclear crisis in Japan said licensing for the AP1000 should go forward because it would be better equipped to deal with a prolonged loss of power — the problem that doomed the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.
Marilyn Kray, president of NuStart Energy Development, a nuclear industry consortium that has worked to demonstrate the design's effectiveness, said she was pleased to see the design move forward.
"The AP1000 is the reactor design that will set the foundation for the next generation of nuclear plants in the U.S.," Kray said.
A nuclear watchdog group called the vote disappointing, saying the NRC should have done a new analysis in the wake of the Japan crisis, which occurred after a March 11 tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into meltdowns in the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.
A new study could have helped identify and correct any vulnerabilities based on lessons learned from Fukushima, said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"It would be more efficient and cost-effective to address problems that could be corrected at the design stage now, before any new plants are constructed," Lyman said.
After plants are built, any new safety requirements would have to be addressed through costly retrofits and other actions, Lyman said, adding that he was "far from convinced" that the AP1000's passive safety features would be effective in coping with severe accidents.
Under existing rules, a reactor design that commissioners have voted to approve must be published in the Federal Register for 30 days before it is legally effective. Southern Co. officials asked the NRC to make the design effective immediately after the vote, a request that was granted. Publication in the Federal Register is expected by Jan. 5.
.Los Angeles Times...
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NRC approves new nuclear reactor design... more
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By HIROKO TABUCHI and MARTIN FACKLER
Published: December 4, 2011
TOKYO — At least 45 tons of highly radioactive water have leaked from a purification facility at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, and some of it may have reached the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said Sunday.
Nearly nine months after Fukushima Daiichi was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami, the plant continues to pose a major environmental threat. Before the latest leak, the Fukushima accident had been responsible for the largest single release of radioactivity into the ocean, threatening wildlife and fisheries in the region, experts have said.
The new radioactive water leak called into question the progress that the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, appeared to have made in bringing its reactors under control. The company, known as Tepco, has said that it hopes to bring the plant to a stable state known as a cold shutdown by the end of the year.
The trouble on Sunday came in two stages, a Tepco statement said. In the morning, utility workers found that radioactive water was pooling in a catchment next to a purification device; the system was switched off, and the leak appeared to stop. But the company said it later discovered that leaked water was escaping, possibly through cracks in the catchment’s concrete wall, and was reaching an external gutter.
In all, as much as 220 tons of water may now have leaked from the facility, according to a report in the newspaper Asahi Shimbun that cited Tepco officials.
The company said that the water had about one million times as much radioactive strontium as the maximum safe level set by the government, but appeared to have already been cleaned of radioactive cesium before leaking out. Both elements are readily absorbed by living tissue and can greatly increase the risk of developing cancer.
Tepco said a check on Saturday had found no sign of the leak, suggesting that it began Saturday night or early Sunday morning. The company said it was exploring ways to stop any more water from escaping.
Since the disaster in March, workers have been struggling to cool the stricken plant’s reactors by flooding them with water, which is contaminated with radioactivity in the process and becomes a problem of its own.
Tepco installed a new circulatory cooling system in September with filters that decontaminate and recycle the cooling water. But the company acknowledges that some water has already leaked into the ocean, and thousands of tons of water remain in the flooded basements of the plant’s reactor buildings.
The Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety in France estimates that between March and mid-July, the amount of radioactive cesium 137 that had leaked into the Pacific from the Fukushima Daiichi plant amounted to 27.1 petabecquerels, the greatest amount known to have been released from a single episode. (A becquerel is a frequently used measure of radiation, and a petabecquerel is a million billion becquerels.)
http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00856/JAPAN_INSIDE_FUKUSH_856341f.jpgBy HIROKO TABUCHI and MARTIN FACKLER
Published: December 4, 2011
TOKYO — At... more
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TOKYO — In a direct act of rebellion against Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owns the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the local government in Tokyo is moving swiftly to build a huge natural gas facility that would generate as much electricity as a nuclear reactor.
The plant would ensure a stable supply of electricity for the capital in the aftermath of the nuclear meltdowns in March at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. But more important, the city government says, it could spur desperately needed change in Japan. By weakening Tokyo Electric, or Tepco, reformers hope to finally break the linchpin of the collusion between business and government that once drove Japan’s rapid postwar rise, but that now keeps it mired in stagnation.
“Now’s our chance,” said Naoki Inose, Tokyo’s vice governor, invoking an ancient proverb about attacking a wild dog only after it has fallen into a river: “On March 11, Tepco became the dog that fell into the river. Only then can you fight against such a formidable foe.”
So formidable a foe, in fact, that just eight months after Japanese leaders vowed the nuclear disaster — like the end of World War II — would lead to a kind of rebirth, the chances for fundamental change are rapidly slipping away.
Already, the reformers have lost a crucial ally: Naoto Kan, who as prime minister had called for an end to nuclear power and major changes to the power industry. He was eased out of office with the help of Japan’s most powerful corporate lobby, a faithful Tepco supporter that, like many members of Japan’s establishment, has benefited from the company’s largess.
And Mr. Kan’s successor, Yoshihiko Noda, whose party came to power promising to build a new Japan, instead joined the old guard to rally around nuclear power, and Tepco.
It is difficult to overstate the influence of Tepco, which rivals the American defense industry in its domestic reach.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the rest of the world holds it's breath.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/11/18/world/jp-tepco/jp-tepco-popup.jpgTOKYO — In a direct act of rebellion against Tokyo Electric Power Company, which... more
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http://newmoderate.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/mt-fuji-in-red.jpg
KOFU, Yamanashi Pref. — Among the 47 prefectures, the March disasters and ensuing nuclear crisis have apparently hit foreign tourism hardest in Yamanashi Prefecture, which traditionally attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to Mount Fuji on its southern border.
Tourism officials, who have touted Mount Fuji as the symbol of Japan, believe foreign guests stayed away because of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, even though the country's highest peak is around 300 km away and hardly anyone in Japan believes the accident had a serious impact on Yamanashi Prefecture.
Seen from abroad, the nuclear disaster appeared to affect a much larger area than it really did, the officials said.
"It's impossible to do business with foreigners unless it is perceived to be a safe area. I really wish the government would soon issue a safety declaration."
??????????????????????????
Japan, welcome to your new nuclear future, remodeled Chernobyl style!
It's going to take more than a governmental safety declaration to convince tourists to return to Japan. How about actually making it safe, wouldn't that be just a little more important?
Hey we could always look at the glass as half full and say that a 91% drop in tourism actually means that 9% of the tourists bravely decided to return.
Nuclear power: unsafe, unnecessary and unwanted.
Oh yeah AND bad for tourism.http://newmoderate.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/mt-fuji-in-red.jpg
KOFU, Yamanashi... more
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At a dinner in Washington celebrating his mother's birthday on March 26, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko received an urgent phone call: The nuclear crisis besetting Japan required him to be at Dulles International Airport in two hours to fly across the Pacific Ocean.
Jaczko proceeded to work for more than 24 hours on little sleep with NRC teams helping stabilize the post-tsunami nuclear emergency at the Fukushima plant. Then he flew 14 hours back to Washington in time for a March 30 congressional hearing.
"It's been a challenging year, for sure, and we've had a lot of issues," he says. "But I'm tremendously proud and impressed with the way the agency has responded. You always have plans for work over the next year, but what happened in Japan caused us to reevaluate and reorganize and retrench, so some things we wanted to do won't get done. The most important thing is that our safety focus on our existing plants, our materials licensees and our field cycle facilities continues at a tremendously high level."
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Despite Jaczko's priority of keeping NRC "a strong, credible regulator on nuclear safety," 2011 has been a year of scathing criticism. Some Republicans in Congress -- and even some NRC officials -- questioned his objectivity in implementing the Obama administration's 2009 decision to cancel long-in-the-works plans to store nuclear waste inside Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Media investigations and a Brookings Institution study charged that NRC is in "regulatory capture," a situation in which a regulatory agency becomes dominated by the industry it is charged with overseeing, and weak on enforcement. And NRC's inspector general in June reported that some managers are offended by Jaczko's temper outbursts.
"I'm a very passionate person, and I believe strongly in what I do," Jaczko says. "Everyone has their own style and personality, but anyone who knows will say I care deeply about what I do."
The issues around Yucca Mountain "have been challenging and contentious for the country for a long time," he says. "What I continue to be proud of is having an agency where people with strong views can go to Congress and express those views. It's a hallmark of our agency. Those are the people I want at this agency. That's how we do the right thing." Passions can be equally strong among employees performing reviews of applications for nuclear licenses. "Nuclear safety is not an easy issue, and regulation requires that kind of open exchange of ideas," he says.
Some see political bias in NRC's decision to end its evaluation of future prospects for the canceled Yucca project because the site is in the home state of Jaczko's former boss, Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid. Jaczko counters that the agency's focus is safety, not politics. He says NRC doesn't make the decision to build (or not build) a facility.
"The Energy DeÂpartÂment no longer has a budget or program for Yucca Mountain so I don't think it would be a prudent use of taxpayer dollars for us to be working on a technical review for an application for a program that doesn't exist," he says.
Recent reports of low morale at NRC -- which has three times been named the best agency to work for by the Partnership for Public Service -- don't faze Jaczko. "As I walk through the halls and talk to people, most tell me they love working here," he says. "Those with issues tell me about them so we can make it an even better place. The NRC continues to perform at an incredibly high level, and that's a function of the fact that they come to work knowing the mission."
And the charge that America's chief nuclear regulator is in the pocket of the energy industry? "I come to work every day with 4,000 people dedicated to public health and safety," Jaczko says. "There will always be some people who think we do too much and others who think we do not do enough. It's the nature of being a regulator."At a dinner in Washington celebrating his mother's birthday on March 26, Nuclear... more
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An anti-nuc demonstration was held in Tokyo,from Meiji koen.
50,000 people were assumed to attend but at least 60,000 people are in the demonstration for now.
From an unconfirmed report,over 100,000 people are in the demonstration at this moment.
This time,a lot of lawyers attended at the demonstration,also, they have learnt to take videos of police,so police could not touch the demonstration.
Demonstration was on the live stream at 6 different locations.
Even major media,such as Kyodo and Tokyo shimbum reported the demonstration.
The feature of this demonstration is the variety of the attendance.
From young family with babies and old people attended at the demonstration.
A 94 years old man attended with a wheel chair.
Reports from the scene:
sayakaiurani SAYAKA
94歳のおじいさんが車椅子でデモ参加。『私はあの時、怖くて、言えなかった。非国民にされてしまうと怯えた。だから多くの日本人が死んでしまった。この国はまた形を変えて、戦争を始めている。決して原発という名の兵器を可動させてはならない。あの時の悔しさを今ここで！』と訴えてます。
“During WWW2,I was scared of the government like all the other people.We didn’t want to look like renegades against the nation,so a lot of Japanese went to the battle field and died.Now alternative war has started.Nuc is the weapon.We must never start it again.
During the WWW2,I deeply regretted.I don’t want to repeat that again,that’s why I’m here.”
Mr.S (Our temporary reporter)
“My own estimate was somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000. The police tried to delay the marchers so long that they would just go home. Hours standing in the hot sun trying to start the march. Some people did give up but most did not. And this time, the big difference from 11 June was that nearly all the ordinary people out in Aoyama, Omotesando and Shibuya were supporting the marchers. Waving and smiling and chanting in support. The next one we need 500,000.
Well, the police used their normal tactics: delay and disburse, and make the marchers march in a tiny lane on the left-hand side. They made us wait in the park between one and four hours. When we fianlly got onto the road, there were private cars dirving up and down taking up three out of four lanes on the back streets (not main roads) around Jingu Gaien. So it took us about two and a half hours to get to Aoyama Dori. And we were probably in the first third of marchers, so some people waited much longer. Anyway, there were tens of thousands of ordinary families and young and old people. People from all over Japan came for this rally. People sick of all the lies and criminal acts by the nucleocracy that owns and runs Japan. The media pretends it’s all over but more people are realizing the hell has only just begun. Very few non-marchers in the city for shopping or whatever were giving us strange looks. Nearly everyone smiled and waved their support. The organisers can be proud, and the participants. This is just the beginning.”(added 7:10 9/20/2011)An anti-nuc demonstration was held in Tokyo,from Meiji koen.
50,000 people were... more
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German industrial and engineering conglomerate Siemens is to withdraw entirely from the nuclear industry.
The move is a response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March, chief executive Peter Loescher said.
He told Spiegel magazine it was the firm's answer to "the clear positioning of German society and politics for a pullout from nuclear energy".
"The chapter for us is closed," he said, announcing that the firm will no longer build nuclear power stations.
Mr Loescher also gave his backing to the German government's planned switch to renewable energy sources, calling it a "project of the century" and claiming Berlin's target of reaching 35% renewable energy by 2020 was achievable.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced at the end of May that all of the country's 17 nuclear reactors would be shut down by 2022.
Prior to the Fukushima disaster, nuclear power accounted for 23% of electricity production in Germany.
The decision marked a complete U-turn by the chancellor, who only in September 2010 had announced that the life of existing nuclear plants would be extended by an average of 12 years.German industrial and engineering conglomerate Siemens is to withdraw entirely from... more
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Wetdog
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added this
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5 months ago
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The 'apocalyptic' media frenzy post Fukushima which displaced the real disaster story and horrific loss of life wrought by the earthquake & tsunami, sickened Japanese born Mari Shibata. Along with WORLDbytes volunteers she investigates the fear factor. Why did a nuclear incident affecting only a small area fuel global meltdown stories? In an interview with the Director of the Science Media Centre we learn of news values shaped by a concern to terrify people, journalists removed from stories for being too measured and scientists accused of lying. Granted unique access to Oldbury, the oldest nuclear power station in the world we learn how seriously safety is taken and due to fears of terrorism post 9/11 its tragic shut down to visitors. Through talking to relatives in Japan we learn of the progress being made to clear up the real mess made by a natural disaster, a story neglected by the Western media.The 'apocalyptic' media frenzy post Fukushima which displaced the real... more
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CNN...
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Agency approves construction of nuclear plant in Alabama
By Tricia Escobedo, CNN
August 19, 2011 6:07 p.m. EDT
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(CNN) -- The Tennessee Valley Authority has approved construction on a nuclear plant in northeastern Alabama -- the first U.S. agency to do so since the Japan nuclear disaster this year.
The TVA board of directors -- which approved the $4.9 billion project Thursday night -- said the Bellefonte project could create 2,800 construction jobs in north Alabama as well as 650 permanent jobs once the plant is complete.
It estimates the plant will be online in 2020 and will provide enough megawatts to power about 750,000 homes in the region.
The TVA still needs approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission before it can start construction at Bellefonte, a commission spokesman said.
"TVA still has work to prove they're in a position to start construction," commission spokesman Scott Burnell said. "But TVA's decision yesterday marks their formal re-entry into the process of completing the plant and bringing it online."
It could take months before the agency grants a full construction permit to the TVA.
The triple meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi power plant after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami was the worst nuclear accident in a quarter-century. It displaced more than 100,000 nearby residents, and engineers are still working to restore normal cooling in the three reactors that melted down.
The NRC has made "recommendations" for nuclear plant operators in light of Fukushima, but it has not yet made any "new or enhanced requirements," Burnell said.
Nevertheless, TVA said it is taking into account the "lessons learned" from the Japan nuclear disaster.
"As we build Bellefonte we will integrate safety modifications from the extensive review of the lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear plants in Japan," Tom Kilgore, TVA president and CEO, said in a statement.
Construction on the Bellefonte nuclear site began more than 37 years ago, and the facility is already 55 percent complete. It's near Scottsboro, Alabama, about 40 miles east of Huntsville.
Construction at Bellefonte was halted in 1988 because, according to the TVA, there wasn't a need for the increase in power at the time.
"Now because demand continues to grow, they (the TVA board members) are looking at other options and Bellefonte is one of them," TVA spokeswoman Barbara Martocci said.
CNN affiliate WAAY-TV in Huntsville reports that local business owners are excited that the new nuclear plant could help boost their sales.
"Well, I hope it will increase it about 25 percent," restaurant owner Miles Smith told WAAY. "That will be a big, big impact; it really will."
The project also has its opponents. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy warns that not only is there "compromised radiation containment in the unfinished reactor" at Bellefonte, but it would be a "financial gamble" to get any of the Bellefonte reactors back online.
"The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has serious concerns about TVA's push to complete the mothballed, abandoned Bellefonte reactors," Steven Smith, the group's executive director, said in a statement.
The NRC said the TVA has a lot of work to do before it can start new construction at Bellefonte.
"TVA is still in the information-gathering and information-providing phase prior to the NRC granting full authorization to grant construction," Burnell said.
The TVA board also approved a 2 percent rate increase starting on October 1 to pay for "nuclear safety modifications as a result of Fukushima" as well as cybersecurity measures and clean-air initiatives, it said.
The nearly 9 million customers indirectly serviced by the TVA will pay an average of $1.60 more a month on each 1,000 kilowatt-hour bill, the TVA said.
The price hike will not directly fund the Bellefonte project, according to Martocci.
She said the board is looking at paying for the project through "alternative financing" as well as borrowing through bonds.
"We'll look at that, and certainly anything we do comes from the revenue we get from the sale of electricity. We don't get any money from the federal government," Martocci said. "What we're trying to do is reduce the cost to our consumer as much as possible."
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Agency approves construction of nuclear plant in Alabama
By Tricia... more
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Uploaded by MsMilkytheclown on Aug 12, 2011
Dial "M" for Meltdown - by Brian Rich
http://fairewinds.com/content/dial-m-meltdown-brian-ric...
Long time Fairewinds.com viewer and filmmaker Brian Rich has created a moving and high energy chronology of nuclear power and its impact upon the world.
Our website has transitioned in a manner Arnie and I never imagined when I started setting it up several years ago. We have received incredible public acknowledgement and support since we first began putting up videos about Fukushima, nuclear power, and answering questions sent to us by viewers. Thanks to all of our viewers for their emails, questions, data, and report information. We also could not do any of our work without the ongoing professional dialogue with scientists around the world. As time progresses, I will be using this column to feature frequently asked questions and some of the material that I receive daily from the 250 emails we receive and from the professional dialogue we have throughout the world. Together, we all can fill the void the main stream media and various world governments have left.
In that vein, I want to share this high energy video created by the young and dynamic filmmaker Brian Rich, a long-time viewer of our site. Please watch it and share it with your friends. I think you will be as moved as I was.
Only two days after publication, Brian's video has already been viewed more than 5,000 times around the world! You may also see footage you have never seen, and certainly this mini-film puts images in context in a manner that has never been done before.
The people of Japan need our attention and support. My friends in Japan are asking for this opportunity. To this end Fairewinds Energy Education Corp will continue our analytical analysis, outreach, and my commentary.
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Tags:
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tokyo electric power company
japan
ukrane
mark 1 boiling reactor
radioactive fallout
liquidators
"And the final Darwin award goes To???"Uploaded by MsMilkytheclown on Aug 12, 2011
Dial "M" for Meltdown - by... more
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KB723
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6 months ago
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(NaturalNews) Virtually all the numbers you're seeing about the radioactivity coming out of Fukushima are based on iodine-131 which only has a half-life of 8 days, not the far more dangerous cesium-137 which has a half-life of 30 years. So while the mainstream media reports that "radiation levels are falling rapidly" from the 7.5 million times reading taken a few days ago, what they're not telling you is that the cesium-137 radioactivity will take 30 years just to fall by 50 percent.(NaturalNews) Virtually all the numbers you're seeing about the radioactivity... more
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Friday, July 1, 2011
Radiation in Japan: Professor Kosako: "Come the harvest season in the fall, there will be a chaos"
Professor Toshiso Kosako of Tokyo University, who resigned in protest against the Kan Administration's policy to allow 20 millisieverts/year external radiation exposure for children which he called unacceptable and unconscionable, gave an interview for the first time since his resignation to Wall Street Journal (or so it looks).
Kosako says:
There will be chaos and scandal when the rice is harvested in the fall, as it will contain radioactive materials;
Japan is looking like a developing country in East Asia without democracy;
The government uses the high ceiling for radiation in schools so that it doesn't need to spend money to ameliorate the situation;
The government hasn't done enough to investigate ocean contamination.
So far, I am unable to find the equivalent Japanese article in the Japanese version of WSJ. Interesting by itself, but not surprising as the paper has put out dramatically different versions of the same news in Japanese and in English.
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From WSJ (Yuka Hayashi, 7/1/2011):
TOKYO—A former nuclear adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan blasted the government's continuing handling of the crisis, and predicted further revelations of radiation threats to the public in the coming months.
In his first media interview since resigning his post in protest in April, Toshiso Kosako, one of the country's leading experts on radiation safety, said Mr. Kan's government has been slow to test for possible dangers in the sea and to fish and has understated certain radiation dangers to minimize what it will have to spend to clean up contamination.
And while there have been scattered reports already of food contamination—of tea leaves and spinach, for example—Mr. Kosako said there will be broader, more disturbing discoveries later this year, especially as rice, Japan's staple, is harvested.
"Come the harvest season in the fall, there will be a chaos," Mr. Kosako said. "Among the rice harvested, there will certainly be some radiation contamination—though I don't know at what levels—setting off a scandal. If people stop buying rice from Tohoku, …we'll have a tricky problem."
Mr. Kosako also said that the way the government has handled the Fukushima Daiichi situation since the March 11 tsunami crippled the reactors has exposed basic flaws in Japanese policymaking. "The government's decision-making mechanism is opaque," he said. "It's never clear what reasons are driving what decisions. This doesn't look like a democratic society. Japan is increasingly looking like a developing nation in East Asia."
Specifically, Mr. Kosako said the government set a relatively high ceiling for acceptable radiation in schoolyards, so that only 17 schools exceeded that limit. If the government had set the lower ceiling he had advocated, thousands of schools would have required a full cleanup. With Mr. Kan's ruling party struggling to gain parliamentary approval for a special budget, the costlier option didn't get traction.
"When taking these steps, the only concern for the current government is prolonging its own life," Mr. Kosako said.
Mr. Kan's office referred questions about Mr. Kosako's remarks to a cabinet office official, who declined to be identified. The official said the government is making "utmost efforts" to improve radiation monitoring in the sea and working closely with fishermen and others.
"Particularly close attention is paid to the safety of rice as Japan's staple food," the official said, adding that the government would suspend the shipment of crops if radiation exceeding a set standard is detected.
As for schools, the official said the government was working to lower the ceiling for acceptable radiation, and "is also considering additional steps. "
Mr. Kosako, a 61-year-old Tokyo University professor who has served on a number government and industrial panels, stepped down from Mr. Kan's nuclear-advisory panel on April 30, fueling concerns about the government's handling of the accident. Saying that many of his recommendations were ignored, the scientist described the government's ceiling on schoolyard radiation levels as "unacceptable." The image of him wiping tears at a press conference as he said he wouldn't subject his own children to such an environment was widely broadcast.
Having spent the past two months focusing on teaching radiation-safety courses at his university, Mr. Kosako said he is now ready to begin speaking his mind again, starting with foreign audiences. Over the coming weeks, he will be giving speeches in the U.S. and in Taiwan.
He said he is especially concerned with contamination of the ocean by the large amounts radioactive material from the damaged reactors dumped into surrounding waters. The government has released only sketchy information about what's drained into the sea as a result of efforts to cool the smoldering Fukushima Daiichi reactors. Mr. Kosako has urged more seawater monitoring, more projections of the spread of polluted water and steps to deal with the contamination of different types of seafood, from seaweed to shellfish to fish.
"I've been telling them to hurry up and do it, but they haven't," he said.
As he resigned, Mr. Kosako submitted to government officials a thick booklet that contained all the recommendations he had offered during his six-week tenure. A copy of the booklet was obtained by The Wall Street Journal from an independent source.
From the time of his appointment on March 16, Mr. Kosako and some of his colleagues were offering recommendations touching on a broad range of topics. It was weeks before the public learned of some of them, such as a March 17 call for using the government's SPEEDI radiation-monitoring system to project residents' exposure levels using the "worst-case scenario based on a practical setting."
On March 18, they urged the government's Nuclear Safety Commission to re-examine the adequacy of the government's initial evacuation zones, based on such simulations by SPEEDI.
The SPEEDI data weren't released to the public until March 23, and the evacuation zones weren't adjusted until April 11. Critics say the delay in the adjustment may have subjected thousands of Fukushima residents to high levels of radiation exposure.
Professor Kosako had been considered a pro-nuke "government scientist" until his resignation. Maybe he is still pro-nuke, but it was during his press conference at the end of April when he announced resignation that many people were made aware of this thing called WSPEEDI, which can predict radioactive fallout dispersions globally, not just Japan. Only after that revelation by the professor, the government decided to quietly sneak in the WSPEEDI simulation results sometime in mid May on the Ministry of Education website. They showed a very extensive contamination in Tohoku and Kanto.Friday, July 1, 2011
Radiation in Japan: Professor Kosako: "Come the harvest... more
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According to these numbers, even rooftop solar is more dangerous!
On a per TWh basis at least.
The writer suggests that integrating solar into roof-tiles, or requiring professional installation would address those dangers.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/03/deaths-per-twh-by-energy-source.htmlAccording to these numbers, even rooftop solar is more dangerous!
On a per TWh basis... more
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JoFerg
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added this
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7 months ago
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Radioactive cesium leaking from the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant is estimated to reach the West Coast of the United States in five years after its density declines considerably, according to a semi-governmental research institute.
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has compiled a map predicting how cesium-137 will spread throughout the Pacific Ocean in the long term. Cesium-137, whose half life is 30 years, is one of the radioactive substances leaking from the crippled nuclear power station.
It estimates that cesium-137 from the plant will spread in the shape of an ellipse -- as far as about 4,000 kilometers off the coast of Japan -- in one year. It then predicts the substance will reach Hawaii three years later and the U.S. West Coast five years from now. However, the agency says that by that time, its density will have declined significantly.Radioactive cesium leaking from the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant is... more
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Ministers have announced plans for the next generation of UK nuclear plants.
The government confirmed a list of eight sites deemed suitable for new power stations by 2025, all of which are adjacent to existing nuclear sites.
The sites are: Bradwell, Essex; Hartlepool; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Oldbury, South Gloucestershire; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk; and Wylfa, Anglesey.
More info at the linkMinisters have announced plans for the next generation of UK nuclear plants.
The... more
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pdy
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added this
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8 months ago
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During the early stages of the Cold War, the Atomic Energy Commission had to make a choice between uranium and thorium as the primary fuel source for nuclear power. Perhaps there was only enough money to fund the research and development of one, at the peril of the other. More likely, the reason was far simpler: the uranium decay cycle produces plutonium, and the thorium decay cycle does not.
http://open.salon.com/blog/pjl21/2011/05/24/thorium_greener_cleaner_safer_energyDuring the early stages of the Cold War, the Atomic Energy Commission had to make a... more
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8pmKsYhqH8&feature=player_embedded
Nuclear accidents - like oil spills and financial meltdowns - happen because big companies push to make more money by cutting every safety measure in the books.
The accident at Fukushima was predictable.
Likewise, the potential problem at the Fort Calhoun reactor in Nebraska was predictable. (For background, see this and this.)
As Ketv reported in March:
Fort Calhoun's nuclear power plant is one of three reactors across the country that federal regulators said they are most concerned about.
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Last year, federal regulators questioned the station's flood protection protocol. NRC officials said they felt the Omaha Public Power District should do more than sandbagging in the event of major flooding along the Missouri river.
OPPD officials said they have already made amends and added new flood gates.
"We updated our flood protection strategy and have tested and re-tested our new strategy. The issue is operationally resolved, and at no time was there a threat to public safety or was public health at risk," OPPD President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Gates said.
The New York Times noted yesterday:
Last year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission cited the Fort Calhoun plant for not being adequately prepared for floods and rated the safety violation in the “yellow” category, the second most serious. The agency ordered changes because it said that under the plan in place at the time ...
After initially contesting the findings, the plant’s operators, Omaha Public Power District, said that the problems had been resolved.
The Daily Mail writes today:
A nuclear plant was inches away from being engulfed by the bloated Missouri River after several levees in the area failed to hold back its surging waters, raising fears it could become America's Fukushima.
Dramatic pictures show the moment the plant was threatened with being shut down today, as water levels rose ominously to within 18 inches of its walls.
The river has to hit 902 feet above sea level at Brownville before officials will shut down the Cooper Nuclear Plant, which sits at 903 feet. It stopped and ebbed slightly yesterday, a reprieve caused by levee breaches in northwest Missouri - for now.
Flooding is a major concern all along the river because of the massive amounts of water that the Army Corps of Engineers has released from six dams. Any significant rain could worsen the flooding especially if it falls in Nebraska, Iowa or Missouri, which are downstream of the dams.
The river is expected to rise as much as five to seven feet above the official 'flood stage' in much of Nebraska and Iowa and as much as 10 feet over in parts of Missouri. The corps predicts the river will remain that high until at least August.
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The river has risen at least 1.5 feet higher than Fort Calhoun's 1,004-foot elevation above sea level. The plant can handle water up to 1,014 feet, according to OPPD. The water is being held back by a series of protective barriers, including an 8-foot rubber wall outside the reactor building.
(See the Daily Mail article for photos.)
Likewise, the Cooper nuclear reactor - also in Nebraska - is threatened by the flooding as well.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports that flooding has already caused oil to spill: (read the remainder at Washington's Blog)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8pmKsYhqH8&feature=player_embedded
Nuclear... more
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