Comments: Great info:
Latest Entries
Click below to read the above and latest news:
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Petition: Nuclear Wasted
Nuclear Wasted - Please sign!
By Michael Saftler (Contact)
To be delivered to: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama
There is no safe way to mine, mill, process and transport Uranium and no safe way to operate a Nuclear Power plant and no safe way to dispose of Nuclear waste.
THEREFORE, Stop the proposed funding of new Nuclear Plants and begin shutting all existing plants down.
Congress and the President have authorized spending 8 billion dollars to finance 2 new Nuclear Power plants in Georgia at a time when there is very little regulation from the NRC or the DOE as to how or where to contain the waste from the back end of Nuclear power generation.
Additionally as Fukishima has lethally demonstrated the effects of an accident can be deadly and last for generations.
Furthermore, the mining and milling of Uranium is dangerous at all stages.
NEW goal - We need 300 signatures
Please click here to sign the petition:
The Radioactive Nub of the Problem
Commemts: Thanks Dr. Edwards!
Remarks submitted to the
Joint Review Panel, Darlington New Build Project,
by G. Edwards, Ph.D., President,
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility
submitted to the Panel on February 22 2011
(17 days before the Fukushima disaster)
The Radioactive Nub of the Problem
Every nuclear reactor is not only a machine that produces electricity, but one that mass-produces staggering quantities of highly radioactive and/or highly radiotoxic materials that did not exist in nature in measurable amounts prior to the discovery of nuclear fission in 1938.
The fission products, together with the activation products and the transuranic elements that are created inside every operating nuclear reactor, constitute a unique threat to the environment of living things and – under conditions where these materials are released in significant quantities – have the capacity to poison large land areas and large bodies of water, rendering them unsuitable for human use for very long periods of time.
This being so, there should be no more siting of new nuclear reactors on the shores of the Great Lakes or in the neighbourhood of large population centres. To advocate or authorize the building of new nuclear reactors at the Darlington site in 2011, knowing what has happened at Chernobyl and at Fukushima, is not only unwise but could be seen as a crime against future generations. It is certainly contrary to the precautionary principle.
The review panel cannot in good conscience exempt Ontario Power Generation from the responsibility of characterizing the worst possible accident scenario at the proposed new Darlington reactors – partial or complete core meltdowns coupled with partial or complete loss of containment.
To paraphrase the California Energy Resources and Conservation Development Commission, the belief that nuclear power reactors are acceptably safe is based not so much on scientific evidence as on engineering euphoria. (The Commission made a similar statement with regard to the “safe disposal” of irradiated nuclear fuel.)
Nuclear Power is Inherently Dangerous
Around the world, nuclear regulatory agencies are allied with the nuclear industry to work together in a common effort to make nuclear energy an economically viable and “acceptably” safe energy choice. Although they may try to deny it, the fact of the matter is that there is zero tolerance in these organizations for any anti-nuclear attitudes among staff, while pro-nuclear attitudes are considered normal, healthy, and even desirable. Thus there is a strong inherent bias in both the industry and in the regulatory bodies that nuclear energy is fundamentally desirable and safe.
As the President’s Commission on Three Mile Island concluded, however, the number one cause of the TMI accident was the false belief – prevalent among workers and managers alike – that nuclear energy is inherently safe. According to the Presidential Commission, headed by John Kemeny, there will surely be future meltdowns caused by a combination of human error and equipment failure unless this attitude is fundamentally changed.
Workers and managers must see nuclear power as an inherently dangerous technology. But this flies in the face of the industry PR message – aimed at the general population and their elected representatives -- that nuclear energy is safe. That is the exact message emblazoned on the cover of the latest Annual Report from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) where one reads:
FACT: Nuclear in Canada is safe.
Such a message from any nuclear regulatory agency anywhere in the world would indicate that that agency is “Unfit to Regulate” – a term used by the British Columbia Medical Association to describe the Atomic Energy Control Board (the precursor of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) in Chapter 22 of its publication, “The Health Hazards of Uranium Mining” [http://ccnr.org/bcma.html].
A regulatory agency that does not even draw a distinction between a “fact” and an “opinion” is not worthy of public trust. Such an agency has chosen to act as a public relations arm of the industry rather than as an agency that seeks to enlighten the public about the very real dangers associated with nuclear power – dangers which make the existence of a federal regulatory agency necessary in the first place.
Meltdowns are Inevitable if Cooling is Inadequate
It is a fact that any nuclear power reactor currently operating will undergo a core meltdown if deprived of adequate cooling for a long enough period of time. The reason for this is that the radioactivity, created by the fission process during normal operation, generates about seven percent of the full-power heat. For a 1000 (electric) megawatt reactor, the total heat output is about 3000 (heat) megawatts. Thus, immediately after shutdown, the radioactivity in the core of the reactor continues to generate about 200 megawatts of heat – more than enough to melt the core of the reactor at a temperature of 2800 degrees Celsius.
The essential point is that this radioactivity cannot be shut off. Thus the “decay heat” produced by the enormous inventory of radioactive poisons in the core of the reactor is literally unstoppable. As more net heat is added, the temperature rises higher and higher. The only way core-damaging temperatures can be prevented is by removing the heat just as rapidly as it is being produced. With a complete loss of on-site and off-site electrical power, thus becomes impossible. Such a circumstance, while unlikely, can be brought about by a variety of abnormal conditions, ranging from natural disaster, to acts of warfare, to deliberate sabotage, to devastating fires in the electrical systems of the reactor, or to simple mechanical failures with or without human error.
Even before fuel melting begins, the cladding will begin melting at about 1200 degrees Celsius, as zirconium metal (Zr) combines with steam (H2O) in a strongly exothermic (heat-generating) reaction to produce zirconium oxide (ZrO2) and large quantities of hydrogen gas that can result in powerful explosions.
This is all very basic science, yet none of it is communicated to the public or to their elected representatives by the regulatory agency or by the proponent in language that can be easily understood by the lay person.
To withhold this information is an act of intellectual dishonesty that is unconscionable. The panel should not accept this "sin of omission" as permissible behaviour on the part of the proponent or the regulator.
Misuse of Mathematics Leads to Self-Deception
Nuclear proponents and regulators often rely on a technique called “probabilistic safety analysis” in order to persuade themselves and others that certain accidents – the very accidents that would make nuclear power completely unacceptable – do not need to be considered because they are so unlikely to occur.
While probabilistic safety analysis is a useful technique for comparing competing mechanical or electronic designs, or for assisting engineers to appreciate sequences of events (mechanical failures) that could have major undesirable consequences, it is entirely unscientific and a misuse of mathematics to use this technique to assert that certain types of reactor accidents are so unlikely to occur that their consequences need not be considered.
Anyone who studies probability theory knows that an event that cannot be imagined ahead of time cannot be given any probability at all. Thus the probability of such an event is, to the analyst, “ZERO”.
Probability theory begins by creating a real or imaginary list of all possible outcomes that can be foreseen. This is called the Sample Space. Then the analyst assigns probabilities to each outcome by estimating its expected frequency of occurrence, based on a number of mathematical assumptions that are sometimes (but not always) rooted in experience.
No one denies that this is a useful exercise. However, in actual fact, the probability of almost all nuclear accidents that have so far occurred is in fact ZERO, because none of them were foreseen as possible outcomes by any of the people who carried out the safety analysis initially.
Did anyone foresee the possibility of Fukushima Dai-ichi units 1, 2, and 3, suffering core damage simultaneously? Did anyone foresee the chain of events that led to the fires in the spent fuel bay of unit 4? I think not.
Even if such outcomes had been analyzed in advance, the real probability of that particular outcome is dominated by the probability of the earthquake and tsunami that precipitated the outcome, and that probability is incalculable by any reliable scientific method available to us.
Simple Prudence Dictates….
Arrogance is inappropriate, even criminal, in the face of such incipient dangers. Science and engineering are powerful and useful tools, but they are no substitute for common sense. Just as many people around the world are asking themselves, “Why would the Japanese site nuclear reactors so close to an earthquake zone?”, our grandchildren may well be asking themselves, “Why would our forebears site nuclear reactors so close to the most precious body of freshwater in North America, and perhaps in the entire world?”
Simple prudence, coupled with a sense of responsible humility, should tell us that it is folly to continue to site nuclear reactors which are CAPABLE of undergoing such terrible meltdown scenarios, on the Great Lakes or near large population centres. In fact an enormous portion of the entire North American population lives within the “striking distance” of a potential nuclear catastrophe on either side of the border.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry
We urge the panel to recommend that the government of Canada launch a pan-Canadian Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Nuclear Power in Canada. We urge the panel also to recommend that all licensing of new nuclear reactor facilities be suspended until the Commission has completed its work. We further urge the panel to recommend that no new nuclear reactors be sited on the shores of the Great Lakes unless it can be proven beyond any doubt that a catastrophic release of radioactive fission products is physically impossible.
It is time to stop hiding the truth about the dangers of nuclear power from the Canadian population and from their elected representatives. A Royal
Commission of Inquiry will allow the facts to be made public – facts about both the benefits and the hazards of this technology. On the basis of a clear understanding of those facts, Canadian citizens and their elected representatives will be enabled for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age to make an informed choice about the future of this heavily-subsidized energy option.
Read:
http://www.ccnr.org/index.html#topics
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Nuke dangers nowhere near resolved: Kan's crisis adviser
Staff writer
In December, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced the "conclusion" of the meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, saying Tokyo Electric Power Co. was managing to keep the three crippled reactors cool, as well as the facility's spent fuel pools.
But a former special adviser to Naoto Kan, who was prime minister when the crisis started, warned that the situation is far from resolved and said Fukushima has exposed a raft of serious nuclear problems that Japan will have to confront for years.
"I would say (the crisis) just opened Pandora's box," Hiroshi Tasaka, who has a doctorate in nuclear engineering and is now a professor at Tama University, said in a recent interview with The Japan Times.
He was one of a select group who glimpsed the secret worst-case scenario document written up by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission on March 25 that was later reportedly quashed by the government.
According to the scenario, the biggest risk during the meltdown crisis wasn't the reactors themselves but the spent fuel pools sitting atop them, particularly the one above reactor 4, which still contains about 1,500 nuclear fuel assemblies, Tasaka said.
Unlike reactors 1, 2 and 3, the No. 4 unit was offline for regular checks when disaster struck on March 11 and thus didn't suffer a meltdown. But its fuel rods were in the pool outside the reactor, and its coolant water fell dangerously low.
Adding to the danger is that the fuel pool is now directly exposed to the outside environment after a hydrogen explosion blew off the upper part of the reactor building on March 15, Tasaka noted.
Read More:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
breaking news - Federal Agency’s Decision May Halt Uranium Mill’s Progress
Comments: State of VA, take heed but of course a certain group used Canada and CO as examples of "Best International Uranium Mining Practices" which the gov took to heart! Okay, I am knock over by the NRC action, thank You NRC for your action, tell the state of VA, open up the Work Group session now!
by Gus Jarvis
Mar 13, 2012
MONTROSE COUNTY – In what seems to be a major blow to the proposed construction of Energy Fuels’ Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill in the Paradox Valley, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has found that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment did not follow procedures under federal law during the mill’s approval process and may force a new approval process.
Telluride Town Attorney Kevin Geiger told members of the Telluride Town Council on Tuesday that the concerns of the town and opponents of the mill appear to be “substantiated” by the federal government.
“They are very concerned about the pubic hearing components and made a finding that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment did not follow the proper procedures under federal law,” Geiger said.
Geiger cautioned members of council on further speculating on what the decision means but said it could lead to the reopening of a public hearing.
The Town of Telluride along with Ophir and the Telluride-based environmental group Sheep Mountain Alliance have challenged the licensing of the uranium mill, with the legal services of Public Justice, a national public interest law firm.
The litigation challenges the state’s licensing of the Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill, which was granted in January 2011.
According to Geiger and Public Justice, possible impacts were given little or no consideration by the state in its review process.
Colorado is an “Agreement State” under the Federal Atomic Energy Act, which gives the state ultimate authority to license and approve radioactive projects. The NRC decision apparently concludes that the state did follow federal guidelines.
“We have said all along that the state needed to conduct public hearings, they did not,” Sheep Mountain Alliance Executive Director Hilary White said on Tuesday. “They needed to conduct a transparent application process, they did not.
They piecemealed all off the things necessary to make an approval and that approval was based on a flawed process.
“The NRC gives the authority to the state to process applications under the Atomic Energy Act,” she continued. “Colorado is an agreement state but it still has to follow the law and they didn’t.” White said she was notified of the decision in a letter from the NRC on Monday and does not yet know what the decision means for the permit itself.
Up until this week, Energy Fuels’ progress toward the start of construction was moving forward with success. Last December the Colorado Court of Appeals denied a legal challenge by Sheep Mountain Alliance, upholding the Montrose County Special Use Permit.
gjarvis@watchnewspapers.com or @gusgusj
Read more:
http://www.watchnewspapers.com/view/full_story/17859438/article-Federal-Agency%E2%80%99s-Decision-May-Halt-Uranium-Mill%E2%80%99s-Progress?instance=top_story
Japan earthquake: Northern Japan rattled by 6.8 earthquake
Japan earthquake: Tokyo was hit by a 6.1 magnitude earthquake Tuesday. Northern Japan - the same area hit last year - was struck by a 6.8 earthquake. But there were no injuries reported.
A series of earthquakes rattled Tokyo and northeast Japan late Wednesday evening but caused no apparent damage or injury in the same region hit by last year's devastating tsunami
The strongest tremor, off Hokkaido island, was 6.8 magnitude and caused tidal changes that prompted some communities to issue evacuation orders or tsunami advisories to residents nearest the coast.
A swelling of 20 centimeters (8 inches) was observed in the port of Hachinohe in Aomori, northern Japan, about one hour after the tremor. Smaller changes were reported in several locations on Hokkaido island and Aomori prefecture.
The Japan Meteorological Agency lifted all tsunami advisories about an hour and half later.
Within about three hours, a magnitude-6.1 quake shook buildings in the capital. It was centered just off the coast of Chiba, east of Tokyo, at a rather shallow 15 kilometers (9 miles) below the sea surface.
Narita International Airport briefly closed runways for inspection but later resumed operation. Several local train services were suspended for safety checks.
There were no abnormalities reported at nuclear power plants after the two earthquakes, operators said. Nearly all of Japan's nuclear plants are offline for safety inspections.
Read more:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0314/Japan-earthquake-Northern-Japan-rattled-by-6.8-earthquake
The strongest tremor, off Hokkaido island, was 6.8 magnitude and caused tidal changes that prompted some communities to issue evacuation orders or tsunami advisories to residents nearest the coast.
A swelling of 20 centimeters (8 inches) was observed in the port of Hachinohe in Aomori, northern Japan, about one hour after the tremor. Smaller changes were reported in several locations on Hokkaido island and Aomori prefecture.
The Japan Meteorological Agency lifted all tsunami advisories about an hour and half later.
Within about three hours, a magnitude-6.1 quake shook buildings in the capital. It was centered just off the coast of Chiba, east of Tokyo, at a rather shallow 15 kilometers (9 miles) below the sea surface.
Narita International Airport briefly closed runways for inspection but later resumed operation. Several local train services were suspended for safety checks.
There were no abnormalities reported at nuclear power plants after the two earthquakes, operators said. Nearly all of Japan's nuclear plants are offline for safety inspections.
Read more:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0314/Japan-earthquake-Northern-Japan-rattled-by-6.8-earthquake
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Tell Secretary Chu: Stop taxpayer loans for Georgia reactors!
Two years ago, the Department of Energy approved a conditional loan guarantee for new nuclear reactors in Georgia. Much has happened in those two years that make this conditional loan questionable at best, and more likely an $8 Billion+ loss to taxpayers. The DOE should rescind this loan now, before the losses pile up.
While the NRC has granted a construction/operating license to these reactors, several environmental groups have filed suit in federal court charging that the granting of this license was illegal. Clearly, taxpayer loans must not be granted before the outcome of this suit is known.
The conditional loan guarantee was granted under the presumption that the reactors would be built on time and on budget. Today, even before real construction has begun, these reactors are already behind schedule and over budget, according to the Georgia Public Service Commission's own watchdog. The original Vogtle reactors were 1200% over budget when completed! The potential for taxpayer losses that would dwarf the Solyndra debacle is extraordinarily high. After all, this loan would be 15 times larger than the Solyndra loan, and is probably 50 times riskier.
At the time the conditional loan was granted, there was a belief that there might be a nuclear power "renaissance" in the U.S. After Fukushima, that is clearly not happening. Even Standard & Poor's last week found the prospects of such a "renaissance" to be "faint." The Georgia reactors have not been required to meet post-Fukushima regulatory guidelines, and will not inspire construction of other new reactors. There is simply no justification to continue with these loans.
Tell Secretary Chu below to stop these loans now.
As usual, you can edit the sample letter to reflect your own concerns. Support from our international friends is very welcome. Please help us organize and mobilize by using the icons on the top right. You too can be an organizer; it's easy. Our outreach only goes so far; by telling your friends about this action page, posting it on your Facebook/Twitter or other social network pages, you are helping expand our reach and making a real difference.
Note: because information provided to the Department of Energy can become public, please do not provide your home address or phone number. Only your city, state, zip, country (if outside the US) and e-mail address are needed.
Click here to send letter:
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9662
While the NRC has granted a construction/operating license to these reactors, several environmental groups have filed suit in federal court charging that the granting of this license was illegal. Clearly, taxpayer loans must not be granted before the outcome of this suit is known.
The conditional loan guarantee was granted under the presumption that the reactors would be built on time and on budget. Today, even before real construction has begun, these reactors are already behind schedule and over budget, according to the Georgia Public Service Commission's own watchdog. The original Vogtle reactors were 1200% over budget when completed! The potential for taxpayer losses that would dwarf the Solyndra debacle is extraordinarily high. After all, this loan would be 15 times larger than the Solyndra loan, and is probably 50 times riskier.
At the time the conditional loan was granted, there was a belief that there might be a nuclear power "renaissance" in the U.S. After Fukushima, that is clearly not happening. Even Standard & Poor's last week found the prospects of such a "renaissance" to be "faint." The Georgia reactors have not been required to meet post-Fukushima regulatory guidelines, and will not inspire construction of other new reactors. There is simply no justification to continue with these loans.
Tell Secretary Chu below to stop these loans now.
As usual, you can edit the sample letter to reflect your own concerns. Support from our international friends is very welcome. Please help us organize and mobilize by using the icons on the top right. You too can be an organizer; it's easy. Our outreach only goes so far; by telling your friends about this action page, posting it on your Facebook/Twitter or other social network pages, you are helping expand our reach and making a real difference.
Note: because information provided to the Department of Energy can become public, please do not provide your home address or phone number. Only your city, state, zip, country (if outside the US) and e-mail address are needed.
Click here to send letter:
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9662
Sunday, March 11, 2012
“Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown” - 1 Year Later
Watch Inside Japan's Nuclear Meltdown on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.
The Workers We Spoke to Thought They Were Going to Die”February 28, 2012, 3:50 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett
Dan Edge, the writer, producer and director of tonight’s film Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown, spoke at length with NPR Fresh … Continue reading
“The Fate of Japan Hangs in the Balance”
February 28, 2012, 11:48 am ET · by Gretchen GavettIt was day five of Japan’s nuclear crisis last March, and the sun had yet to rise. The previous few days involved chaotic efforts to power the plant, cool the reactors and vent radioactive gas in order to prevent a nuclear explosion. …
One Pilot’s Dangerous Mission to Stop Fukushima’s Nuclear Meltdown
February 27, 2012, 1:07 pm ET · by Gretchen GavettYou may have seen it on TV or online — a grainy video shot 20 miles away. The helicopter, no bigger than a dot against the sky, releasing what resembled an exhale of breath on a cold day. In fact, it was 2,000 gallons of water falling 300 feet against the wind.
FEATURED FROM THIS REPORT
- February 28, 2012, 10:14 pmTEPCO’s Akio Komori: “The Options We Had Available … Were Rather Limited”
- February 28, 2012, 10:11 pmHow Do You Clean Up After a Nuclear Disaster?
- February 28, 2012, 10:09 pmNaoto Kan: “Japan Was Invaded by an Invisible Enemy”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/japans-nuclear-meltdown/
Earthqauke and Nuclear Meltdown - 1 Year Later - Pray for Japan
Tsunami Hits Japan – Worst Earthquake in 140 Years of History
It was at2.46 pm of Japan time, that an earthquake was struck measuring 9.8 Richter scale. The earthquake was struck about 24.4 kilometers below the surface of the ocean and 130 kilometers away from the Japan coast(the Japanese city of Honshu) and 373 kilometers or 231 miles from the Japan’s capital city Tokyo. This massive earthquake gave rise to a tsunami, which had waves that measured height more than 10 meters high and this high tsunami struck the Sendai port and then created devastation to a very huge part of Japan’s North east side.
This earthquake that was reported today, on 11th March 2011 is probably said to be the worst earthquake that was witnessed in the last 140 years in Japan. Due to this tsunami that hit, there was chaos at Japan. Public transports, mobile services, vehicles, railways, airways all were closed and schools and other big buildings were giving shelter to the ones who were stranded.
Read more: http://scienceray.com/earth-sciences/tsunami-hits-japan-worst-earthquake-in-140-years-of-history/#ixzz1noa4k0lP
Monday, Feb 27, 2012 10:00 AM 17:51:24 EST
Activists challenge Japan’s “nuclear village”
A year after Fukushima, an energized civil society pushes for solar power and accountability
In the nearly one year since the March 11 earthquake, Japan has suffered a bevy of problems, from rolling blackouts and currency woes, to radiation fears, all under the tutelage of a central leadership that has failed to inspire public confidence.
So much so that Japan changed prime ministers last August – now the sixth in five years – amid a pivotal period in the country’s history. Yet the crisis in leadership, lack of transparency and revelations of nuclear safety oversights have also facilitated activism in a civil society that typically emphasizes cohesion over confrontation.
The fallout from Fukushima and the bungled response have spurred an increasing number of citizens to challenge the bureaucracy and nuclear industry as health and safety concerns still linger. Local areas are undergoing a rapid shift toward renewable energy.
And citizen groups – many of which are led by women — are also leading the charge for a more direct democracy by attempting to hold what would be an unprecedented national referendum on the use of nuclear power.
Now, however, several community-based initiatives, protests and rallies have sprung up in the past year. Volunteers have set up a popular website where users crowd-source local radiation levels. Mothers are testing school lunches for radiation. And perhaps in a nod to the Occupy movement, antinuclear activists have camped out in front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo for more than four months and refused orders to leave. Citizens are also becoming increasingly vocal toward public officials.
“You see people yelling and interrupting these bureaucrats, which I’ve never seen at public meetings,” said Aldrich. “What I’ve been seeing from Fukushima and elsewhere is ‘rituals of dissent’ — local people not willing to be talked down to, not willing to be ignored.”
Others have started referendum campaigns in cities like Tokyo and Osaka to decide whether Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co. should be allowed to run nuclear plants. In December, the group Let’s Decide Together/Citizen-initiated National Referendum began a petition seeking signatures for a local plebiscite.
Read more:
http://www.salon.com/2012/02/27/activists_challenge_japans_nuclear_village/
And citizen groups – many of which are led by women — are also leading the charge for a more direct democracy by attempting to hold what would be an unprecedented national referendum on the use of nuclear power.
Now, however, several community-based initiatives, protests and rallies have sprung up in the past year. Volunteers have set up a popular website where users crowd-source local radiation levels. Mothers are testing school lunches for radiation. And perhaps in a nod to the Occupy movement, antinuclear activists have camped out in front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo for more than four months and refused orders to leave. Citizens are also becoming increasingly vocal toward public officials.
“You see people yelling and interrupting these bureaucrats, which I’ve never seen at public meetings,” said Aldrich. “What I’ve been seeing from Fukushima and elsewhere is ‘rituals of dissent’ — local people not willing to be talked down to, not willing to be ignored.”
Others have started referendum campaigns in cities like Tokyo and Osaka to decide whether Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co. should be allowed to run nuclear plants. In December, the group Let’s Decide Together/Citizen-initiated National Referendum began a petition seeking signatures for a local plebiscite.
Read more:
http://www.salon.com/2012/02/27/activists_challenge_japans_nuclear_village/
Japan Weighed Evacuating Tokyo in Nuclear Crisis
Issei Kato/Reuters, via Bloomberg
Journalists, in protective gear, were taken on a tour last week of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, at the center of the crisis last year.
By MARTIN FACKLER
Published: February 27, 2012
As first reported by Steve Mufson of the Washington Post on Feb. 7th, transcripts and audio recordings of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission responses to the unfolding Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Catastrophe in the first hours, days, and weeks after March 11, 2011-- recently released in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by journalists and environmentalists -- reveal a state of confused chaos and groping frustration. Clearly, NRC's March 13, 2011 media release, claiming that no harmful levels of Fukushima radioactive fallout would reach U.S. territory, were -- as Beyond Nuclear warned in media interviews at the time -- at best premature (as a number of large-scale explosions were yet to happen, and meltdowns were still very much underway). However, the recently released documentation reveals that a strong element of deception was also at work, as NRC was aware that Alaska could experience plumes of radioactive Iodine-131, hazardous to human thyroid glands. An NRC official referred to the proposal -- from a U.S. Department of Energy ad hoc emergency response think tank -- to use a shaped charge to blow a hole through a radiological containment structure, in order to create a pathway for cooling water flow to a melting down reactor core, as "madness."
As revealed by a Feb. 22nd New York Times article by Matt Wald, as well as a transcript uncovered by Scott Portzline of Three Mile Island Alert, NRC was very much in spin mode, worried about the political ramifications and public perceptions in response to the unfolding radioactive calamity. The latter transcript could be entitled "How many NRC staff does it take to make a hole?" Several NRC staff spend pages of transcript just over a week into the nuclear catatrophe discussing how to enlarge a hole in the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 reactor building's roof, in order to "vent" explosive hydrogen gas, partly to avoid the "political" fallout of yet another large-scale explosion broadcast worldwide on live t.v. Frighteningly, deputy administrator Chuck Casto of NRC's Western U.S. regional office suggests using a helicopter to drop or slam a heavy weight, such as a colorfully named "Bambi bucket" (a large water filled container used for fighting forest fires), above or beside the irradiated nuclear fuel storage pool. Apparently, Casto was unfamiliar with 2001 and 1997 NRC reports, as cited in the 2003 Alvarez et al. study about pool fire risks, warning that a "heavy load drop" that drains a storage pool's cooling water could cause a radioactive waste inferno releasing up to 100% of the irradiated nuclear fuel's volatile Cesium-137, resulting in 25,000 to 143,000 latent cancer deaths downwind, up to 2,700 square miles of agricultural land condemned, and economic costs due to evacuation into the hundreds of billions of dollars.
In addition, National Public Radio's "Marketplace" has just posted audio recordings of NRC discussions.
When it comes to NRC FOIA responses, "patience is a virtue." NRC's FOIA office has told Beyond Nuclear that its requests for documentation on the Davis-Besse atomic reactor's cracked containment will take four months to provide. Even worse, NRC's FOIA office has told Beyond Nuclear that there is no date certain for responding to a request for documentation on allegations that NRC Commissioner William Magwood IV regularly meets with nuclear industry representatives "off campus," in violation of norms -- and perhaps even laws and regulations -- pertaining to open, transparent, and accountable government, principles promised by President Barack Obama within hours of taking office in January 2009.
As revealed by a Feb. 22nd New York Times article by Matt Wald, as well as a transcript uncovered by Scott Portzline of Three Mile Island Alert, NRC was very much in spin mode, worried about the political ramifications and public perceptions in response to the unfolding radioactive calamity. The latter transcript could be entitled "How many NRC staff does it take to make a hole?" Several NRC staff spend pages of transcript just over a week into the nuclear catatrophe discussing how to enlarge a hole in the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 reactor building's roof, in order to "vent" explosive hydrogen gas, partly to avoid the "political" fallout of yet another large-scale explosion broadcast worldwide on live t.v. Frighteningly, deputy administrator Chuck Casto of NRC's Western U.S. regional office suggests using a helicopter to drop or slam a heavy weight, such as a colorfully named "Bambi bucket" (a large water filled container used for fighting forest fires), above or beside the irradiated nuclear fuel storage pool. Apparently, Casto was unfamiliar with 2001 and 1997 NRC reports, as cited in the 2003 Alvarez et al. study about pool fire risks, warning that a "heavy load drop" that drains a storage pool's cooling water could cause a radioactive waste inferno releasing up to 100% of the irradiated nuclear fuel's volatile Cesium-137, resulting in 25,000 to 143,000 latent cancer deaths downwind, up to 2,700 square miles of agricultural land condemned, and economic costs due to evacuation into the hundreds of billions of dollars.
In addition, National Public Radio's "Marketplace" has just posted audio recordings of NRC discussions.
When it comes to NRC FOIA responses, "patience is a virtue." NRC's FOIA office has told Beyond Nuclear that its requests for documentation on the Davis-Besse atomic reactor's cracked containment will take four months to provide. Even worse, NRC's FOIA office has told Beyond Nuclear that there is no date certain for responding to a request for documentation on allegations that NRC Commissioner William Magwood IV regularly meets with nuclear industry representatives "off campus," in violation of norms -- and perhaps even laws and regulations -- pertaining to open, transparent, and accountable government, principles promised by President Barack Obama within hours of taking office in January 2009.
February 23, 2012
Thursday
Feb232012
Arnie Gundersen at the Japan National Press Club
Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen (pictured at left) of Fairewinds Associates in Vermont, who has become regarded as a regular, trusted expert on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Catrastrophe and other nuclear power matters by such national media outlets as CNN, just presented at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. Over 80 journalists were present. Arnie presented on various aspects of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, including the ongoing risks associated with GE Mark I BWR atomic reactors. A video recording of Arnie's presentation and the question and answer session is viewable online at Fairewinds' website.
Read more:
Lessons from Fukushima: new Greenpeace report a warning on nuclear risks
Blogpost by Jan Beranek - February 28, 2012 at 7:35
I will never forget the sleepless nights that began for me on March 11, 2011, endless hours organizing the Greenpeace response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
I was looking for any new information with better clues to what was really happening at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. My mind was in Japan. I worried about everyone in the country, first hit by natural disasters and then exposed to an unfolding nuclear disaster. I could not stop thinking about the heroic efforts of plant workers who risked their lives and fought against time to avoid the worst-case situation under which even Tokyo would have to evacuate.
After living through the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, and Fukushima again last year, I told myself repeatedly that disasters like these must never ever happen again.
To learn from Fukushima, Greenpeace commissioned “Lessons from Fukushima.” This report, by three independent experts (a nuclear physicist, a correspondent for a health publication and a nuclear engineer), documents how the government, regulators and the nuclear industry enabled the Fukushima Daiichi disaster and then failed to protect the people from its impacts. Given that these failures are repeated wherever nuclear power is generated, means that millions who are in the shadow of reactors live with the risks of the next nuclear disaster.
Instead of acknowledging these risks, many politicians and authorities responded to Fukushima by calling for the need to “restore public confidence in nuclear power.”
Something is clearly wrong. A year after the disaster began; governments continue to protect the nuclear industry instead of protecting their citizens.
Read more:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/lessons-from-fukushima-new-greenpeace-report-/blog/39271/
Japan's Killer Quake
An eyewitness account and investigation of the epic earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis Airs February 29, 2012 on PBS
Takashi Hirose wrote this book in a heat of passion mixed with terrible sadness in the weeks following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. But he is far from a newcomer to this field; he has been writing books and articles warning of the terrible dangers of nuclear power since the early 1980s. In this book, which was a best seller in Japan, he not only describes the comic-if-not-so-tragic series of fumbling errors that lead to the meltdown at Fukushima, but also makes clear the absurdity of putting nuclear power plants anywhere on the earthquake and volcano prone Japanese archipelago – and by extension, anywhere in the world. This is the first translation into English of any book by this authoritative critic of nuclear power.
http://eddieleaks.org/2011/11/03/dr-anthony-j-hall-from-hiroshima-to-fukushima-1945-2011/
Japan explains nuclear crisis to kids with a cartoon about poop and farts
With all the problems facing the land of the rising radiation plume, only one m
I’m all for explaining stuff to children in a light and humorous way to take the edge off of such a terrifying event, but I also never thought I’d be more disturbed by the images of Chernobyl until I started thinking about them covered in explosive diarrhea.
Fukushima’s “mutant” earless bunny
A video captured of a rabbit born without ears sparks (likely unfounded) fears of radiation side effects
Friday, May 27, 2011 9:15 AM 18:21:36 EST
The following photographs show the premises of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant as seen in late February -- almost a year after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, triggered Japan's worst nuclear crisis.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/photospecials/graph/20120226/
FUDAI, Iwate -- A village here was spared tsunami damage in last year's Great East Japan Earthquake thanks to a high-rise breakwater introduced by a former mayor, local residents believe.
Houses in the Iwate Prefecture village of Fudai, home to some 3,000 people, did not suffer damage from the tsunami following the March 11, 2011 quake disaster, after a 15.5-meter-high floodgate and breakwater blocked tidal surges, according to villagers.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120228p2a00m0na006000c.html
Fukushima’s tsunami plan was a single page
Document reveals TEPCO had ruled out the possibility of a tsunami large enough to knock the plant offline
Almost one year on: Aerial photos from near Fukushima nuclear plant
Click image to enlarge
From left to right, the remains of Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant's No. 3 and No. 4 reactor buildings are pictured in this aerial photo taken from a Mainichi helicopter on Feb. 26, 2012. (Mainichi)
Click photo for more.
Click photo for more.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/photospecials/graph/20120226/
Village residents grateful to ex-mayor for huge breakwater that prevented tsunami damage
A 15.5-meter-high floodgate at the mouth of the Fudai River in Fudai, Iwate Prefecture, which warded off most of the massive tsunami waves on March 11, 2011. (Mainichi)
Houses in the Iwate Prefecture village of Fudai, home to some 3,000 people, did not suffer damage from the tsunami following the March 11, 2011 quake disaster, after a 15.5-meter-high floodgate and breakwater blocked tidal surges, according to villagers.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120228p2a00m0na006000c.html
Saturday, March 10, 2012
MARCH AGAINST NUCLEAR MADNESS
MARCH AGAINST NUCLEAR MADNESS
GLOBAL EVENTS CALENDAR
SATURDAY, MARCH 10
NEW YORK CITY. The Center for Remembering and Sharing
: invites the public to come and share their
stories, not only about Fukushima, but about grappling with the dangers of nuclear power and with
corporate-governmental threats to our environment and safety, everywhere. Share your fears, share
your successes, share your knowledge, and empower one another to make a better world. This event
will take place in NYC at CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing), 123 4th Ave, 2nd FL, NYC 10003 at
8pm.
www.crsny.org. Contact: Christopher Pelham: http://www.facebook.com/christopher.pelham .
SAN ANTONIO, TX. Energía Mía, San Antonio, Texas:
A volunteer, grassroots organization, Energía Mía
is planning a vigil and march in downtown San Antonio, TX. We will wear white for visibility and carry
candles. More details to come. Contact:
myenergyenergiamia@gmail.com.
HINKLEY POINT, UK:
No more Fukushimas; Surround Hinkley Point . March 10, 6pm to March 11, 2pm.
Blocade and encirclement of the Hinkley Point reactor, the first of the proposed 8 new reactor sites in
the UK. In 2010, dozens of us blockaded the gates at Hinkley. In 2011 hundreds of us blockaded the
entrance again. In 2012, thousands of us will surround the power station to say No to new nuclear! Not
here, not anywhere! Learn more at
Stop New Nuclear.
SUNDAY, MARCH 11
BUCHANAN, NY. Hudson River Sloop Clearwater:
In the NYC/Hudson Valley area, in memorial to the
disaster at Fukushima Daiichi one year ago, we will host a Human Chain Against Chain Reactions
featuring Jun San and the Peace Walk from Oyster Creek to Vermont Yankee at Indian Point in Buchanan
NY. Information at
IPSEC and Clearwater. Contact: Manna Jo Greene:
http://www.facebook.com/mannajo
.
NEW YORK CITY. We Are Pregnant With Fear of Radiation:
11:00am until 3:00pm. Union Square, New
York City. Details still to come. Information:
http://www.facebook.com/events/176712112434876/?notif_t=event_invite
OTTAWA, CANADA.
Solidarity Walk for Fukushima Victims/Marche de Solidarité pour les Victims de
Fukushima. 11am-3pm. Specific details and contact information to come.
LYON TO AVIGNON, FRANCE.
A human chain (la chaine humaine) will form in France between the cities
of Lyon and Avignon, beginning at 1:30pm.
More information (in French) here.
SUNDAY, APRIL 1
RICHLAND, WA.
Hanford: North America's Fukushima
will hold a rally in Richland, WA to bring
information to the public about the largest nuclear waste site in the world. We are asking specifically for
oversight for the cleanup by someone other than the DOE and for the US Government/DOE to honor the
Tri-Party Agreement. We have speakers lined up from Dr. Helen Caldicott, to Hanford Watch, OR and
WA Physicians For Social Responsibility, AIM/Warriors Society, The Shell Mound Walk, Mothers For
Peace and more. Music will be announced in the next few weeks. More information here.: http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/documents/Global%20Calendar_MarchAgainstNuclearMadness_Jan30_2012.pdf
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/freeze-our-fukushimas/2012/1/30/calendar-of-events-to-date.html
Friday, March 9, 2012
Yvonne Margarula’s letter to the UN expressing solidarity with the people of Fukushima , | Indymedia Australia,
Letter to United Nations from Yvonne Margarula
Yvonne Margarula’s letter to the UN expressing solidarity with the people of Fukushima , | Indymedia Australia, 16 Apr 2011 Below is a letter sent by Yvonne Margarula of the Mirrar people to Ban Ki Moon the Secretary General of the UN on the 6th of April 2011. The Mirrar are the traditional owners of the land that Ranger and Jabiluka Uranium mines are located on. These mines have been developed without the consent of the Mirrar people. The letter expresses solidarity with the people of Japan and sorrow that uraniun from the land of the Mirrar was used in the Fukushima plant.
Dear Secretary-General,
It was with great sadness that we Mirarr People of the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia learned of the suffering of the Japanese people due the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan at this most difficult of times. We hope that individuals, families, communities and the nation may rebuildtheir lives. We also hope for a speedy resolution to the ongoing Fukushima nuclear emergency.
It is known that Aboriginal people have occupied Australia for some 60,000 years because of an archaeological site on my country in Kakadu, where people, including myself as a child, regularly visited and camped . I am the clan leader, or senior traditional owner, in the world’s oldest continuing cultural tradition. We Mirarr are the traditional owners of the land now subject to the Ranger Uranium Mine and the site of the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine. The Ranger mine now produces some 10% of the world’s mined uranium. We Aboriginal people opposed Ranger’s development andeven though our opposition was overruled it has never gone away.
A month ago a delegation of this Corporation, comprising three young Indigenous women from Kakadu, visited Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki as part of the 72nd Global Peace Voyage of the Peace Boat. Here they met with Hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and people and organisations concerned with nuclear and peace issues. This recent visit heightens the sense of solidarity we feel for the people of Japan in their suffering and reinforces the Mirarr People’s position against further uranium mining in Kakadu.
In the early 1970s the Australian Government, as part of its negotiations with Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, committed to the export of uranium from our land at Ranger to Japan. This commitment came many years before the enactment of Aboriginal land rights in the Northern
Territory. We were not consulted about this.
We opposed Ranger’s development. When the
Australian Government introduced land rights legislation in 1976 our ability to stop the Ranger mine was blocked by special provisions of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act. Given the long history between Japanese nuclear companies and Australian uranium miners, it is likely that the radiation problems at Fukushima are, at least in part, fuelled by uranium derived from our traditional lands. This makes us feel very sad .
Ranger has operated since 1980 and has brought much hardship to local Aboriginal people and environmental damage to our country. For over 30 years we have experienced and lived with the ‘front end’ reality of uranium mining and we are opposed to any further mining at the Jabiluka site. From 1998, I led an international coalition of environment, peace, faith and human rights groups
against Jabiluka’s development.
We received a lot of support from international networks and institutions such as UN ESCO, the European Parliament and the US Congress. Over an eight-month period in 1998 more than 5000 protesters, including myself and other Mirarr traditional owners, peacefully blockaded the Jabiluka site. All our efforts were recognised that year when I was awarded both the Friends of the Earth International Environment Award and the Nuclear-Free Future Award. In 1999 I jointly received, with Jacqui Katona, the Goldman Environment Prize for my efforts to protect my country from uranium mining. We Mirarr remain opposed to Jabiluka’s development; the Fukushima incident only strengthens our resolve.
Today some 12 million litres of radioactive contaminated water lies on site at the Ranger Uranium Mine, upstream of Indigenous communities and internationally recognised Ramsar listed wetlands.The mining company, owned by Rio Tinto, has suspended all milling of uranium due to the persistent water management problems and threats posed to the environment. All this is of great concern and is taking place within Australia’s largest national park and our homeland, Kakadu.
I am writing to you to convey our solidarity and support with all those people across the world who see in the events at Fukushima a dire warning of the risks posed by the nuclear industry. This is an industry that we have never supported in the past and that we want no part of into the future. We are all diminished by the awful events now unfolding at Fukushima. I urge you to consider our viewpoint in your deliberations with governments in relation the Fukushima emergency and the nuclear industryin general.
In 2009 the European Commission found that approximately 70% of uranium used in nuclear reactors is sourced from the homelands of Indigenous minorities worldwide. We Mirarr believe that this constitutes an unfair impact on Indigenous people now and into the future.
We suffer the dangers and long term impacts of the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle so that others overseas may continue to enjoy lives without the awareness of the impacts this has on the lives of others.
We hope that people such as yourself will listen, and act, today.
Yours truly,
Yvonne Margarula
Yvonne Margarula’s letter to the UN expressing solidarity with the people of Fukushima | Indymedia Australia
Read more:
http://antinuclear.net/2011/04/16/letter-to-united-nations-from-yvonne-margarula/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
