stop oldbury

India's Nuclear Madness: 560 Million at Risk

2012-02-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

Arun Shrivastava Salem-News.com   Feb-02-2012 10:43
http://www.salem-news.com/

Narora nuclear power plant is 93 kilometers east of Delhi; Tarapur and Madras stations are closer to Bombay and Chennai, respectively.

(NEW DELHI, India) - When mad men and women run the world, to be sane is dangerous. An American psychologist Dr. Harvey Cleckley, professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Medical College of Georgia, wrote ‘The Mask of Sanity’ published in 1941. In this book Dr. Cleckley talks of psychopathic personalities, humans that are without conscience. But we are confronted with men and women who decimate societies; they are not psychopaths who kill a few individuals; they are sociopaths who kill entire societies.
The Indian Government operates 20 nuclear reactors at seven locations in India; the contentious Koodankulum has yet to go critical. These are located in northern, western and southern parts of India in an arc of nuclear apocalypse. The reactors operate under ‘OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT,’ colonial India's anti-espionage act to protect and preserve British annexation of India, that states that one cannot approach, inspect, or even pass over a prohibited government site or area. The nuclear reactors operate on prohibited government area and hence common citizens are barred from entering, inspecting or even asking the questions from the forecourt attendant.
India is 1/3 the size of the USA with three times as many people; nine times as densely populated as the USA. These reactors are all located close to densely populated urban regions and close to natural water bodies like rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Fukushima or Chernobyl in India
Let us assume the worst case scenario that one of these stations with their cluster of encased bombs blows up a la Fukushima. Note that the Japanese Government has behaved in the most criminal manner by withholding information from its people. They had known the consequences and had prepared an evacuation plan for Tokyo last year. Now, Tokyo is about 206 kilometers from Fukushima.
Narora nuclear power plant is 93 kilometers east of Delhi; Tarapur and Madras stations are closer to Bombay and Chennai, respectively.
In case of a major accident in any of the stations, 26 to 154 million people will be affected or need to be evacuated. {Table 1] Over half a billion are endangered living on borrowed time.
Table 1 Nuclear power stations Population within 250 kilometer radius
1 Narora Atomic Power Station   154,252,500
2 Rajasthan Atomic Power Station 39,250,000
3 Tarapur Atomic Power Station 118,044,375
4 Kakrapar Atomic Power Station   54,753,750
5 Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant   80,462,500
6 Madras Atomic Power Station   89,097,500
7 Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant   25,905,000
Grand total 561,765,625
Data from Chernobyl suggests that vast swathe of lands will remain uninhabitable for at least 600 years. Pripyat city remains highly radioactive today, no one can live there. Where the millions living in Delhi, Bombay or Chennai would be relocated? Can India afford the cost of 40-50 million mega city relocation?
We know that no reactor is safe and they all leak low level radiation. Most vulnerable are people downwind of the reactors. But we in India have both easterly and westerly, strong surface winds. So people all around are continuously exposed to low dosing of radiation. Is it causing the massive growth in abortions, pre-mature births, birth defects and an explosive growth in diabetes and cancers among the adults? Or, is the low dosing making us healthier as claimed by post-Fuku Japanese Government shills and Indian and American perps? The people will soon know and then rat holes will be in short supply.

New energy secretary’s appointment underlines unhealthy relationshipbetween government and nuclear sector

2012-02-08T21:23:00.000-08:00

Anti-nuclearcampaigners have slammed the decision to appoint Ed Davey as the new Energy andClimate Change Secretary as further evidence of the unhealthily closerelationship between the government and the nuclear energy sector.

Campaign group,Kick Nuclear, has learned that Davey’s brother, Henry, is a partner at HerbertSmith, a law firm that has a long-standing relationship with the nuclear giantEDF Energy. Herbert Smith’s website declares that it is, ‘proud to be at thevanguard of next generation nuclear in the UK’.

Kick Nuclearspokesperson, Nancy Birch, said EDF Energy’s official and unofficial influencewithin government is extremely worrying. She said: ‘Davey’s brother advised EDFon trading contracts relating to the company’s acquisition of British Energy in2008. Herbert Smith has sinceworked with EDF to gain development consent for the construction and operationof a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Only yesterday EdDavey made a dramatic U-turn by declaring he is now pro-nuclear. The connectionwith his brother’s professionals interests is simply too close for comfort.’

It is becomingincreasingly clear that the nuclear sector - and EDF Energy in particular – has an excessive influenceon the energy agenda both within Whitehall and Westminster. An independentreport launched last week by Unlock Democracy and The Association for theConservation of Energy, claims the government’s own data has been skewed tosupport the ‘new nuclear’ option. The report concludes: ‘Either it’s amonumental series of mistakes or the ‘nuclear lobby’ has got control of theWhitehall machine.’

Since the lastgeneral election, EDF executives have met government ministers on six occasionsto discuss energy policy and related issues. Only last June, The Guardiannewspaper accused government officials of colluding with nuclear companies,including EDF Energy, to play down the effects of the Fukushima nuclearaccident in Japan.

Anti-nuclearcampaigners’ concerns were also heightened during Gordon Brown’s premiership whenit transpired that his brother, Andrew, was head of EDF’s media strategy. Kick Nuclear isnow calling for an independent inquiry into the nuclear lobby’s influence onenergy policy. Nancy Birchconcluded: ‘There is growing evidence that the ‘new nuclear’ option is neithersafe nor affordable. It’s time for the public to stand up and say we don’t buythe nuclear greenwash. Germany is showing that we can have a nuclear-freefuture that is affordable and environmentally sound. New nuclear will takeinvestment away from truly renewable forms of energy and drag us backward intonuclear dependence.’

The ten most radioactive places on earth

2012-02-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

http://brainz.org/ten-most-radioactive-places-earth/

Anti nuclear protestors attacked at TIRUNELVELI: South India

2012-02-02T05:36:00.000-08:00

Feb 01, 2012 at 07:48am IST
Anti-KKNPP ativists attacked
Express News Service

TIRUNELVELI: Tension gripped areas around the Collectorate here on Tuesday following an attack on anti-Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant Project (KKNPP) protestors.
The vehicle of the protestors was also damaged in the attack. As many as 14 members of the Hindu Munnani were arrested in connection with the incident. The fourth round of talks between the Central Expert Committee and the nominees of the State panel from the anti-KKNPP protest committee, was scheduled for 11 am. Led by convener A E Muthunayagam, the Central panel arrived at the Collectorate before the scheduled time.

Meanwhile, Hindu Munnani state vice president V P Jayakumar, who was accompanied by his outfit members, was addressing journalists in front of the Collectorate. This was when anti-KKNPP protest leaders Pushparayan, M P Jesuraj and the PMANE’s S P Udayakumar, arrived at the spot in a vehicle. As they were entering through the second gate, Hindu Munnani men rushed towards their vehicle and pelted stones at it in the presence of the police. A contingent of anti-KKNPP protestors, most of them women, who subsequently arrived in another vehicle, fought off the Hindu Munnai men, with some hurling footwear, and chased them away. A few Hindu Munnani members, who stayed back, and the anti-KKNPP activists were engaged in a scuffle, when the police managed to separate them. As the situation continued to be tense, more cops arrived to control the situation at the collectorate.
According to CoP Karunasagar, the anti-KKNPP protestors came in through the second gate instead of the first gate. This led to a minor problem, he said.
‘Bid On Our Lives to Break K-Stir’

Alleging that the attack on the anti-KKNPP activists at the Collectorate on Tuesday was an attempt on their lives meant to end the anti-KKNPP protest, Udayakumar said, “We will continue our protest until the KKNPP is shut down.” Three women protesters-Leela, Milread and Vijayapathi panchayat ward member Initha were attacked, he said.

“A compliant was given to the Tirunelveli police. Though cops were present at the Collectorate, they were overpowered by the attackers. As we had no security, the protest committee nominees of our State panel did not meet the Central Panel,” he added.
Further, the PMANE leader said the Central Expert Committee members, who had not invited them for talks, was yet to give them the documents regarding the Koodankulam Plant, including the detailed project report and site evaluation study. Calling the Central Expert Committee a ‘joke’, Udayakumar said the panel members were yet to meet the people living in a 30 km radius of the K-plant.
“We had no faith in the Centre or the Central Expert Committee,” he said. “We will not come to next round of talks, if the Central Expert Committee or the Centre invites us.” However, “if the State government invites us, we will come,” he added.

Prior Info on Attack
Anti-KKNPP protest committee member M Pushparayan indicated that they got prior information about the attack. “Based on prior information about the attack, we came with other protesters in two vehicles,” he said. “We also informed the Collector’s PA, who told us that police would be deployed at the spot.”

2.
From: webindia123.com
Lawyers hold demo
Tiruchirapalli | Wednesday, Feb 1 2012 IST

A section of lawyers, owing allegiance to the members of the anti-nuke protestors, led by J Kennedy staged a demonstration in front of court complex here today. The demonstration was to protest the attack against the Anti-Koodankulam activists by Hindu Munnani activists at Tirunelveli Collectorate yesterday. They also wanted suitable action against the erring Hindu Munnani activists.

3.
From: webindia123.com
Attack on PMANE a conspiracy, claims anti-nuclear group
Tirunelveli | Wednesday, Feb 1 2012 IST

The attack on the activists of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE),spearheading a non-violent movement against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), before the District Collector's Office yesterday by an outfit was a conspiracy to create tension and turn the movement violent, an anti-nuclear support group alleged. In a fax message to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Indian National Congress Office, a copy of which was released to media here today, Mr N Subramanian, Convener of Koodankulam Anti-Nuclear Protest Support Group, Kerala (an umbrella organization of various anti-Nuke organizations of Kerala) said the representatives of PMANE and 20 women accompanying them 'were attacked by hired thugs inside the Tirunelveli Collectorate' compound when they were on way to attend the fourth round of talks with the Central Expert Committee. The women, who tried to shield the PMANE representatives, were also beaten up. Along with the thugs were local Congress leaders also, he alleged. 'The police were mute spectators when the attack was staged against the PMANE representatives,' he alleged.

4.
http://www.sacw.net/article2525.html
People’s Union for Civil Liberties
Press statement February 1, 2012

CONDEMNING VIOLENCE AGAINST KUDANKULAM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT PROTESTORS

People’s Union for Civil Liberties is shocked at the incidence of brutal violence, on 31-1-2012, at Tirunelveli, against people’s representatives of PMANE (People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy), including twenty women, opposing the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), by democratic and peaceful means, to preserve their right to life, livelihood and safe environment. The attack was reportedly carried out by local thugs, members of Hindu Munnani and the local Congress. It occurred just prior to a scheduled fourth meeting between representatives of PMANE and members of the Central Government Expert Panel on KKNPP.
What makes this attack particularly vile and reprehensible, is that it occurred in the premises of Tirunelveli Collectorate, while the collector was present in his chambers, and in presence of police force, thereby making both effectively complicit to this attack.
PUCL condemns all forms of violence, in particular, violence which scuttle democratic processes by the State, in a variety of ways, especially by the use of violence – direct, sponsored or tacitly supported.

PUCL demands strictest action to be taken against all individuals and groups charged with direct violence. Disciplinary action must also be taken against all police officers present, who, in a dereliction of duty, did not sufficiently safeguard PMANE members from physical harm against hooliganism on government premises. District Collector , R Selvaraj, as the Chief Executive of the District Administration, must accept final responsibility for this grievous incidence, occurring within his jurisdiction and in his office premises.
Sd./-
Pushkar Raj
General Secretary, PUCL
PUCL National Office:
270-A, Ground Floor, Patpar Ganj, Mayur Vihar-I, Delhi-110091
Ph. 011-22750014, 09810656100
www.pucl.org
____________

Pakistan’s rush for more bombs — why?

2012-02-01T00:18:00.000-08:00

by Pervez Hoodbhoy January 29, 2012

http://www.sacw.net/article2524.html

On January 24, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon vented his frustration at Pakistan’s determined opposition to a treaty that would limit fissile material production for use in nuclear weapons. For three years, Pakistan has single-handedly — and successfully — blocked the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva from discussing an effort that would reduce nuclear weapons globally. Consequently, within diplomatic circles, Pakistan has acquired the reputation of an outlier that opposes all efforts towards this end.

The opposition comes in the backdrop of news that Pakistan has the world’s fastest-growing nuclear arsenal. This claim — which still reverberates around the world — was first published in a Bulletin of Atomic Scientists report entitled “Pakistan’s nuclear forces — 2011”. The authors, Hans M Kristensen and Robert S Norris, say although the numbers of Pakistani warheads and delivery vehicles is a closely-held secret, yet “we estimate that Pakistan has a nuclear weapons stockpile of 90-110 nuclear warheads, an increase from the estimated 70-90 warheads in 2009”. They reckon that if the expansion continues, Pakistan’s stockpile could reach 150-200 in a few years. By this count, Pakistan’s arsenal may have already exceeded India’s, and will soon rival Britain’s.

The Bulletin report has not been denied by Pakistan. Its stockpile of highly enriched uranium is increased daily by thousands of centrifuges whirring away at the Kahuta Laboratory (and possibly elsewhere). This is augmented by plutonium producing reactors at Khushab; two are already at work and a third is undergoing trials. Google Earth photos show that a fourth one is under construction. The plutonium has no commercial purpose. Instead, the goal is to produce lighter but deadlier bombs to be fitted on to missile tips.

Pakistan’s position is that it needs to produce still more bombs — and hence more bomb materials — because of India. It cites the US-India nuclear deal, along with older issues related to verification problems and existing stocks. Indeed, that infamous deal is Pakistan’s strongest argument and a correct criticism: the US has committed itself to nuclear cooperation with a state that is not a signatory to the NPT and one that made nuclear weapons surreptitiously. Now that the sanctions once imposed are long gone, India can import advanced nuclear reactor technology as well as natural uranium ore from diverse sources — Australia included. Although imported ore cannot be used for bomb-making, India could in principle divert more of its scarce domestic ore towards military reactors. Pakistan also says that “Cold Start” — an operation conceived by the Indian military in response to more Mumbai-type attacks — requires it to prepare tactical nuclear weapons for battlefield use. But the US-India nuclear deal may actually be a fig leaf. Pakistan’s rush for more bombs has as much to do with its changing relationship with the United States as with Indian military modernisation.

This racing reflects a paradigm shift within Pakistan’s military establishment, where feelings against the US have steadily hardened over many years. Post-bin Laden, the change is starkly visible. In the military’s mind, the Americans are now a threat, equal to or larger than India. They are also considered more of an adversary than even the TTP jihadists who have killed thousands of Pakistani troops and civilians. While the Salala incident was allowed to inflame public opinion, the gory video-taped executions of Pakistani soldiers by the TTP were played down. A further indication is that the LeT/JuD is back in favor (with a mammoth anti-US and anti-India rally scheduled in Karachi next month). Pakistani animosity rises as it sees America tightly embracing India, and standing in the way of a Pakistan-friendly government in Kabul. Once again “strategic defiance” is gaining ground, albeit not through the regional compact suggested by General Mirza Aslam Beg in the early 1990s. This attitudinal shift has created two strong non-India reasons that favour ramping up bomb production.
First, Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are seen to be threatened by America. This perception has been reinforced by the large amount of attention given to the issue in the US mainstream press, and by war-gaming exercises in US military institutes. Thus, redundancy is considered desirable — an American attempt to seize or destroy all warheads would have smaller chances of success if Pakistan had more.
But such an attack is improbable. It is difficult to imagine any circumstances — except possibly the most extreme — in which the US would risk going to war against another nuclear state. Even if Pakistan had just a handful of weapons, no outside power could accurately know the coordinates of the mobile units on which they are located. It is said that an extensive network of underground tunnels exists within which they can be freely moved. Additionally, overground ones are moved from place to place periodically in unmarked trucks. Mobile dummies and decoys can hugely compound difficulties. Moreover, even if a nuclear location was exactly known, it would surely be heavily guarded. This implies many casualties when intruding troops are engaged, thus making a secret bin-Laden type operation impossible.

The second – and perhaps more important — reason for the accelerated nuclear development is left unstated: nukes act as insurance against things going too far wrong. Like North Korea, Pakistan knows that, no matter what, international financial donors will feel compelled to keep pumping in funds. Else a collapsing system may be unable to prevent some of its hundred-plus Hiroshima-sized nukes from disappearing into the darkness.

This insurance could become increasingly important as Pakistan moves deeper into political isolation and economic difficulties mount. Even today, load-shedding and fuel shortages routinely shut down industries and transport for long stretches, imports far exceed exports, inflation is at the double-digit level, foreign direct investment is negligible because of concerns over physical security, tax collection remains minimal, and corruption remains unchecked. An African country like Somalia or Congo would have sunk under this weight long ago.

To conclude: throwing a spanner in the works at the CD (Geneva) may well be popular as an act of defiance. Indeed, many in Pakistan — like Hamid Gul and Imran Khan — derive delicious satisfaction from spiting the world in such ways. But this is not wise for a state that perpetually hovers at the edge of bankruptcy, and which derives most of its worker remittances and export earnings from the very countries it delights in mocking.
[The above article from The Express Tribune is reproduced here for non commercial and educational use.]

The Huge cost of nuclear power is holding up the development of renewable energy

2012-01-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

Jan 14, 2012 - http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/energy/europes-reliance-on-nuclear-energy-a-costly-obstacle-to-green-power

A decision by France to spend billions of euros making its vast network of ageing reactors safe is once again making environmentalists question the future of nuclear energy.
"This is more evidence that nuclear energy is commercially, as well as environmentally, unviable in the long term. We have always opposed nuclear energy on grounds of cost as well as safety. That nuclear energy is far costlier than alternative energy is something we have always argued," Graham Thompson, a spokesman for the environmental lobby group Greenpeace, says.

French nuclear authority ASN has warned that France and its nuclear energy supplier EDF will have to find roughly €10 billion (Dh46.74bn) to ensure the nation's vast spider's web of 58 nuclear reactors spread across the country are made safe.
France, which relies on nuclear energy for almost 80 per cent of its power, is having to comply with an international raising of nuclear-power-generation safety standards after last year's nuclear reactor disaster in Fukushima, Japan. There is concern that many of France's reactors, about 34 of which are coming up to 30 years old, will require increasingly expensive maintenance in the future.
Although none of the French reactors need be shut down immediately, they require a huge investment if they are to be made safe in the event of a natural shock on the scale of Fukushima. But French Prime Minister François Fillon has promised to ensure that nuclear operators will conform to all of the safety requests made by ASN. Given voter concern over the dangers of nuclear energy, the French government can do little but enforce new safety regulations and other governments across the world will also need to follow suit.
The rising cost of nuclear energy versus the falling cost of power sources such as the wind and the sun is also set to be a primary focus of the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) 2012 being held in Abu Dhabi next week.
France's €10bn bill acts as a stark warning to those countries now debating whether to opt for traditional or sustainable sources of power. Nuclear energy's reputation as a cheap, clean source of electricity has become increasingly tarnished. There is mounting evidence that, as a long-term source of sustainable energy, nuclear power is neither cheap nor clean. The possibility of radioactive fallout from a faulty reactor and mounting safety costs appear to far outweigh any benefits formerly associated with nuclear energy.
Developing economies, in particular, are in a prime position to avoid the sustainable energy problems facing the more developed world. As well as sidestepping a potential nuclear nightmare, they can also leapfrog power-generation solutions that are reliant on fossil fuels.
Africa, for example, currently has a relatively clean slate as far as power generation is concerned. According to the United Nations (UN), over 600 million Africans do not have access to electronic power and roughly 70 per cent of the population of sub-Saharan lives without access to clean and safe energy for their basic needs. Globally, there are still around 1.4bn with no access to electricity. Nearly half of humanity, over 2.5bn people, still relies on wood, charcoal and animal waste to cook and heat their homes.
The fact that regions such as Africa and Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt are looking at the long-term benefits of sustainable energy is good news for green investors. The developing world has already committed billions of dollars to renewable energy projects.
Investment in renewable energy in Africa alone grew from US$750m (Dh2,755) in 2004 to $3.6bn in 2011, according to Nigeria's Bank of Industry. This contrasts with a far slower global rate for renewable energy adoption; worldwide investment in renewable energy is estimated to have grown from $33bn in 2004 to $211bn in 2011. International business consultancy Frost & Sullivan believes that investment in renewable investment in Africa is now set to grow to $57bn by 2020.
Europe's sustainable energy woes are also having a directly beneficial effect on regions such as the Middle East and North Africa (Mena). Germany's post-Fukushima acceleration of its planned phase-out of nuclear power generation gave a boost to German-led project Investec, which aims to provide 15 per cent of Europe's electricity by 2050. Destertec hopes to develop a network of wind and solar power generation facilities stretching across the entire Mena region to feed Europe's ever-hungry power needs. The cost of the vast Destertec project has been roughly estimated at €400bn. The first phase of Desertec is now scheduled to start this year with the development of 500MW solar farm close to the desert city of Quarzazate in south central Morocco.
Throughout 2012, Europe's clean-energy challenges are now set to have a beneficial effect not only to developing countries but also to the long-term value of green investments in renewable energy.
____________
SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN):
An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned
about the dangers of Nuclearisation in South Asia
http://s-asians-against-nukes.org/
SAAN Mailing List:
To subscribe send a blank message to: saan_-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

.

__,_._,___

Greenpeace activists break into French nuclear plant

2011-12-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

By Michael Mainville (AFP) – 7 hours ago -

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hEG-eAesK3O7F_R8Em1pMcLcTfAg?docId=CNG.272dde88c249b04657842be1af789a26.6d1

PARIS — Activists from environmental group Greenpeace managed to sneak into a nuclear power plant near Paris on Monday in a move they said highlighted the dangers posed by France's reliance on atomic energy.

Police confirmed the intrusion and said activists had tried to break into two other nuclear sites in the south of France.

French energy giant EDF, which runs the nuclear plants that France relies on for 75 percent of its energy, sought to play down the incident, saying the activists at the plant near Paris had been detected but a decision made not to immediately intercept them.

EDF said activists had unfurled banners at two other sites but did not specify whether they had managed to enter the nuclear plants.

In a statement, Greenpeace said some members had entered the nuclear site at Nogent-sur-Seine, 95 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Paris, to "spread the message that there is no such thing as safe nuclear power."

"A group of militants managed to climb on to the dome of one of the reactors, where they unfurled a banner saying 'Safe Nuclear Power Doesn't Exist'," said Greenpeace spokesman Axel Renaudin.

"The aim is to show the vulnerability of French nuclear installations, and how easy it is to get to the heart of a reactor," said Sophia Majnoni, a Greenpeace nuclear expert.

EDF insisted it had been aware of the intrusion from the start.

The activists "were immediately detected by the security system and were permanently followed on the site, without a decision being made to make use of force," the company said in a statement.

It said seven to nine people had been "calmly apprehended" by the French gendarmerie, a branch of the armed forces that protects nuclear sites.

Ladders and banners were also found near a nuclear power station in Blaye in southwestern France and at a nuclear research centre in Cadarache in the southeast, the gendarmerie told AFP.

EDF said banners had also been deployed at nuclear power plants in Chinon in central France and at Blayais in southwestern France, but "immediately removed." The company did not say whether activists had managed to enter those sites.

Henri Guaino, an advisor to President Nicolas Sarkozy, said the activists' move was "irresponsible" but raised questions about security at nuclear plants.

"It was irresponsible on their part," he told BFMTV. "But this does make one think about the security of access to nuclear power plants. Conclusions must be drawn from this."

The incident comes as some in France have begun to question the country's long-held support for nuclear energy.

France, the world's most nuclear-dependent country, operates 58 reactors and has been a leading international proponent of atomic energy.

But the country's reliance on nuclear energy has been increasingly called into question since the Fukushima disaster in Japan, which prompted Germany to announce plans to shut all of its reactors by the end of 2022.

Ahead of a presidential election next year, Socialist candidate Francois Hollande has agreed a deal with the country's Greens to push to reduce France's reliance on nuclear energy to 50 percent by shutting down 24 nuclear reactors by 2025.

EDF and Greenpeace have a long history of confrontation, and last month a French court fined the company 1.5 million euros ($2 million) after it hired a private security firm to hack the computer of the group's former head of campaigns in France.

Greenpeace's action came as UN climate talks entered their second week in South Africa.

Near the Durban conference site six Greenpeace campaigners were arrested as they tried to hang a banner reading "Listen to the People, not the Polluters" at a hotel where a "Global Business Day," hosted by business organisations, was taking place.

URGENT! Stop the Burning of Fukushima Daiichi's Radioactive Rubble

2011-11-22T08:16:00.000-08:00

We MUST Protect Children and Future Generations Worldwide!

FACT 1 : Radioactive debris is ready to be shipped all over Japan.

FACT 2 :1,000 tons of contaminated rubble will be brought to Tokyo by train at the end of October, 2011. It will be BURNED and DUMPED into TOKYO BAY.

We are writing this letter in support of a network of thousands of mothers across Japan who fear the devastation resulting from the tsunami on March 11th and the grossly negligent government policies since its occurrence. We believe the government's negligence will have more adverse consequences than the already catastrophic impact of the tsunami and resulting radiation exposure. An almost certain rise in cancer rates for millions of people is the best case scenario from the continued leakage from Fukushima Daiichi reactors No. 1, 2, 3, and 4. It is our intention to limit the exposure of human beings to this risk to the greatest extend possible.

Statement of Purpose. It is the belief of the undersigned that the dangerous radioactive rubble at Fukushima Power Plants and the other areas around must be left at the site of the disaster. Efforts must be focused on ending the ongoing fires at the plant, and people should be evacuated from the immediate area in accordance with radiation levels set before March 11th. All recent Japanese Government policy changes to increase allowable radiation levels must be overturned to pre-disaster levels.

Today Japanese government is systematically spreading radioactive material, publicly hosting events to eat food from Fukushima as a patriotic act, raising radiation safe standard for food and rubble alike. For example in Japan today food reading 499 bq/kg can be legally distributed in the market without any label for consumers. Similarly has twice raised allowable levels of radiation for rubble which they will now ship across the country to be burned and dumped into the ocean at locations including Tokyo Bay. This negligent behavior must be stopped or an already devastating event will turn into an historic environmental disaster with international reach. The Japanese Environmental Ministry estimates 23.82 million tons of rubble resulted from the March disaster in the coastal areas of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. This rubble is one of many obstacles that Japanese are facing, because they must remove the rubble in order to rebuild their lives. If the rubble piled up everywhere were not a big enough problem for the government, there is the added fact that much of this rubble contains radioactive material from the nuclear spill.

Tokyo’s local government officially accepted 1,000 tons of rubble from Iwate, they will transport the debris on trains and burn it and use the ashes as landfill in Tokyo Bay starting at the end of October, 2011. Iwate Prefectural government estimates indicate that the rubble contains 133 bq/kg of radioactive material. This would have been illegal before March but the Japanese Government changed the safety level for rubble from 100 bq/kg to 8000 bq/kg in July, 2011, then again to 10,000 bq/kg in October. Tokyo officials announced that they will accept 500,000 tons of rubble in total.

In the same Iwate prefecture, On August 12th, 2011, 1130 bq/kg readings were detected on firewood (on surface bark) , and the Kyoto local authority who was going to burn it for a popular religious event decided not to do so because of the contamination.

It is difficult to accurately speculate about the consequences of these government actions, but no one can argue that a huge environmental gamble is being waged.

The problem is not restricted to the Tokyo area, which is geographically near the impacted areas. The governor of Tokyo stated that he hopes this would encourage other local authorities to accept rubble. The Minister of the Environment, Mr. Hosono, said in a September 4, 2011 press conference that "it is the consideration of the national government [or as Japan as the nation] to share the pain of Fukushima with everyone [or everywhere] in Japan," reiterating his intention to create a final processing facility outside Fukushima Prefecture for debris and dirt from near the nuclear accident to be burned. If many other local governments in Japan decide to follow Tokyo’s lead it will cause areas where are not yet directly impacted by the radioactive spill to contaminate their local soil and water.

We are asking you to please discourage the Japanese government from spreading, burning and dumping rubble from contaminated areas. It should be left on site and people should be evacuated from those areas according to the standards in place before March 11th. It is the opinion of the undersigned that, if allowed to proceed, we will witness an historic error conducted by the Japanese government that will negatively impact human lives for hundreds of years. The alternative is that we act immediately to prevent this unnecessary outcome, and history will remember this only as the time that Fukushima Daiichi region was rendered uninhabitable rather than a worse, if uncertain, alternative.

Initiator : One World No Nukes [NY,USA] --http://www.oneworldnonukes.org/

Endorsers : Bianca Jagger [UK] Helen Caldicott Foundation [AUSTRALIA] Todos Somos Japon [NY,USA] SHUT TOMARI [Hokkaido, JAPAN] Save Fukushima Children [Hokkaido, JAPAN] OKATON [Osaka, JAPAN] KansaiFuture [Osaka, JAPAN] SHINENTAI [Osaka, JAPAN] RadiationTruth.org [NY, USA] Team Coco [Fukushima, JAPAN] C.A.N. Coalition Against Nukes [USA] Protection of Children from Radiation Daito Network [Osaka, JAPAN] Green Action [Kyoto, Japan] Rete Nazionale Antinucleare [ITALY] Abolition 2000 NY Metro [NY, USA] DiaNuke.org [INDIA] Rock The Reactors [CT, USA] Nuclear Information and Resource Service [Washington DC,USA] Shut Down Indian Point Now! [NY, USA] Street Corner Resources [Harlem NY, USA] Beyond Nuclear [MD, USA] Ecological Options Network [CA, USA] Joanna Macy, PhD [CA, USA] Time's Up! Environmental Organization [NY, USA]

Go Here To Sign Online: http://tinyurl.com/5wc73fl

MANAGING RADIOACTIVE WASTES SAFELY HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

2011-11-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

The Scariest Halloween Story is the one where the nasties appear as respectable types who say "Don't Worry Everything is OK!" The viewer has a hunch that there will be an inevitable doom laden slide to a scary
ending.

With nice timing for the scary Halloween season the Managing Radioactive Wastes Safely Partnership have produced a draft consultation document which will be used to continue promoting the "steps towards geological disposal" of high level nuclear wastes in Cumbria's leaky geology.

The document which will be discussed in Egremont this thursday says:

"We wanted to be 'confident in the integrity of the BGS (British Geological Society) screening work/report'.

Our initial opinions are:

BGS study. We are confident in the integrity of the BGS screening report because it has been endorsed by two independent reviewers and there is no significant criticism of the study's integrity from elsewhere".

http://www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk/meetings_more.asp?news_id=30

Really? "No significant Criticism" ?

What about the significant criticism from:

The Nirex Inspector
http://www.nuclearwasteadvisory.co.uk/news-and-events/news/nirex-inquiry-inspector-attacks-nda/

Members of the original Committee on Radioactive Waste Management
http://www.nuclearwasteadvisory.co.uk/news-and-events/news/letter-from-corwm-members-on-new-build-waste/

Dr Helen Wallace- author of the Rock Solid? Scientific review
http://northern-indymedia.org/articles/1052

Dr Rachel Western - former employee of Nirex- researcher for Cumbrian

Friends of the Earth groups
http://northern-indymedia.org/articles/943

Professor David Smythe - former employee of Nirex
http://www.davidsmythe.org/nuclear/nuclear.htm

Tim Farron MP

http://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/great-pyramids-spoil-heaps-in-cumbria/

There are many more significant criticisms!

http://101-uses-for-a-nuclear-power-station.blogspot.com/2011/10/mrws-halloween-special.html

The good news is that unlike the viewer or reader of a scary Halloween

story, Cumbria has the wherewithal to stop the slide into the unfathomable

void.

The film "3 miles to Gorakhpur" is about an anti nuclear protest in Haryana, India

2011-10-21T02:02:00.000-07:00

The Hindu NEW DELHI, October 21, 2011

Gorakhpur Village's protest against nuclear power plant 3 Mile away
Staff Reporter

Protesting against the proposed nuclear power plant at Gorakhpur village in Haryana, a group people associated with the struggle on Thursday gathered at the Indian Social Institute in Lodhi Road for the screening of a film 3 Mile to Gorakhpur and a discussion on the issue.

“A majority of villagers of Gorakhpur are opposed to the proposed nuclear power plant because it will come up in a densely populated area with over 20,000 people. The Government is planning to acquire 1,305 acres here and about 185 acres in the adjoining Badopala village. People in these villages and nearby areas are afraid of any possible nuclear radiation or related accidents,” said Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha national convenor Soumya Dutta who has been associated with the protest.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, which had proposed the building of the plant, had sent notices to the villagers last year informing them about land acquisition. Opposing this move, lead by Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, farmers from the villages of Gorakhpur, Badopala and nearby villages are participating in a sit-in dharna which started on August 17 last year shortly after the land acquisition notices were sent.

Highlighting the issue

“While the villagers are not ready to give in, the Government too has to understand that this is a very fertile land that they are planning to take over. They will also be using the only water source for the plant that will eat into the villagers' water source which is used for drinking and irrigation,” added Mr. Dutta.

“The villagers have been protesting against the plant for the past fifteen months. Most women here are very attached to their land. Most of them say that the money the men will get will be spent and the families will suffer. Most say that they will not sell their land. The idea of bringing the film and discussion to Delhi is to highlight the issue and generate more public discussion,” said Mr. Dutta.
SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN):

An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about the dangers of Nuclearisation in South Asia

http://s-asians-against-nukes.org/

Radiation leak from Pakistani nuclear power plant

2011-10-21T01:01:00.000-07:00

Pakistan Peace Coalition expresses concern over leakage incident at KANUPP; demands shutting down of nuclear power plants in Pakistan

KARACHI, Oct. 20 [2011]: Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) has expressed serious concern over the leakage of heavy water from a feeder pipe of the reactor at Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) and asked the government to get rid of this nuclear power plant, which is actually non productive, but posing great threat to human lives and also to the coastal environment of Karachi.

In a statement issued here Thursday, PPC General Secretary B. M. Kutty said the government has not provided any details for the release of radiation as a result of this accident. As reported in the newspapers, the Director General KANUPP Javed Iqbal declined to give any details when contacted, saying the situation was reported to the head office in Islamabad and they could not comment on it.

The safety of the current nuclear installations remain a serious concern because there is very little information on security measures adopted to protect the population from any potential risk in case of mishap at any of the country's nuclear plants. Nuclear facilities in Pakistan are precariously located, particularly the KANUPP that is stationed alongside the coast. An earlier letter written by civil society organisations to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission to demand a copy of the Karachi Emergency Relief Plan, in case of a nuclear disaster, met with no response. Concerns have also been raised against the authorities, practice of dumping uranium waste near the mines in Dera Ghazi Khan. According to reports the incidence of leukemia is higher in the region. Kutty pointed out that a similar incident of the leakage of heavy water had also taken place some 20 years ago at KANUPP, but the government did not provide any details at that time. It is the right of public to know the factual position of release of radiation and extent of the threat to human health.

The recent incident at the KANUPP is a cause of grave concern as PPC had already feared the happening of such incidents at the nuclear plant. The radiation leaks at the two nuclear power stations, Fukushima-Daiichi and Fukushima-Daini in Japan following a powerful 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast in last March had put the population of Japan at great risk, and should have proved to be an eye-opener to our authorities. The PCC demanded the government to put a stop to the ongoing nuclear programmes, while any plans of expanding the countryâ?Ts current nuclear power generation capacity must be immediately called off. The nuclear contribution to the current Pakistani total electricity supply is very limited, while the hazards it poses far outweigh its utility. According to the recent estimates, nuclear capacity represents merely 2.4 percent of the total installed capacity of 19,252 MWe in Pakistan, but the cost to the people and the country in the return would be quite high. Kutty demanded the government to provide exact information of the radiation release to the public and no further work be allowed on this age-old, almost obsolete, plant.

Anti nuclear protest in France

2011-10-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

1000s urge end to nuclear activities in France

Sun Oct 16, 2011 8:52AM GMT -http://presstv.com/detail/204854.html

Thousands of activists have staged demonstrations in seven cities across France, calling for an end to all forms of nuclear activity in the country.

Some 25,000 activists from 900 French anti-nuclear groups took part in the Saturday rallies, which were organized by Sortir du nucléaire (Nuclear phase-out) federation.

The demonstrators called on the government to halt all its military and civilian nuclear activities, and criticized Paris for continuing its nuclear policy while France's neighboring countries have already announced plans to scrap their nuclear facilities, AFP reported.

The protesters particularly called for the closure of Bugey nuclear plant in eastern France, which they say is susceptible to high risks of earthquake and flood.

They also held a minute of silence in honor of the victims of Fukushima nuclear disaster in eastern Japan, and urged the French government to take lessons from Japan's tragedy and turn to renewable energies.

Since a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a devastating tsunami on March 11, the Daiichi Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan has been leaking radiation into the air, soil.

The quake triggered a nuclear crisis by knocking out power to cooling systems at the nuclear power plant on Japan's northeast coast.
(Le Monde - 15 octobre 2011)

Plusieurs milliers de manifestants ont défilé contre le nucléaire en France‎

http://tinyurl.com/685jgyx

Anti nuclear blockade in Tamil Nadu, India

2011-10-14T01:05:00.000-07:00

10,000 protesters lay siege to Tamil Nadu nuclear plant site
By Kumar Chellappan Place: Chennai Agency: DNA

The agitation against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant near Tirunelveli reached a feverish pitch on Thursday with more than 10,000 activists laying siege to all the entry points to the project site.

More than 700 scientists and technicians who reached the KNPP for their morning shift could not enter the reactor premises which broughtroutine works to a grinding halt.

“The maintenance works were carried out by the staff on overnight duty who could not come out of the plant because of the road block,” a senior executive of the KNPP told DNA.

This is the first time in the history of the country that the works in a nuclear reactor were affectedfollowing agitation by the local residents.

The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy intensified their agitation within 12 hours of the Prime Minister’s letter to chief minister Jayalalithaa reached the Fort Saint George.

In his letter Manmohan Singh asked Jayalalithaa to help the union government to implement the project as scheduled. He also offered to depute a group of experts to address the legitimate concerns of the people in Kudankulam.

But Pushparayan, the second-in-command to Udaya Kumar , who heads the PMANE, declared that the agitation would continue in a peaceful manner till the reactor was shut down.

“Today morning’s road block is an indication that our agitation has entered into a critical phase. We will not allow anyone to enter the KNPP premises. Today’s blockade has instilled a moral fear in the minds of the KNPP staff,” said Pushparayan.

The road block which began at 8 am in the East Coast Road was shifted to vantage points near the KNPP. “Ours is a Gandhian style agitation and we do not want to create any inconvenience to the people. But this agitation will continue till the government orders the closure of the plant. We do not want the nuclear reactors,” he said.

Even N K Balaji, project director, KNPP could not go inside the plant. “I was asked by the district administration to stay put in my house since the roads have been blocked by the agitators,” he said. Both the Tirunelveli collector and superintendent of police wereunavailable. “Both of them are busy with election duties and conferences ,” said thepersonal assistant to the collector.

Balaji feigned ignorance when asked whether the unit 1 of 1000 MW of the KNPP could be commissionedin October as scheduled. The Prime Minister in his letter had told Jayalalithaa that Tamil Nadu is entitled for 925 MW power once both the units are commissioned.

Intelligence officials said that the agitators resorted to road block because Jayalalithaa was campaigning in the district in connection with the election to the local bodies. “Though she has declared that her support was with the agitators, we are not giving any significance to it. Let her walk the talk for us to believe her assurances,” said Pushparayan.

Meanwhile, a former top intelligence bureau official expressed apprehensions over the agencies behind the agitation. “The possibility of some invisible forces working in a systematic manner to undermine national interests is quite likely. It will, however, require an intensive probe, for which one only wonders how much the present government has the capacity, time and commitment,” he told

Source: Daily News and Analysis, Oct 13, 2011, 18:00 IST

SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN):

An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about the dangers of Nuclearisation in South Asia

http://s-asians-against-nukes.org/

Blockade of nuclear power station at Grohnde in Germany

2011-10-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

antinuclear protestors block traffic

anti nuclear protestors abseil from nearby bridge to nuclear power station with banner

Several hundreds of people protested today, Sunday October 2, 2011 in Grohnde (Lower Saxony). After a demonstration the access roads to the NPP are blockaded by climbing activists who abseiled from a highway

bridge. They are supported by some 50 activists blockading the road and an operating track with a sit-in. A second access road is blocked by an announced and permitted anti-nuclear concert in front of the atomic power station. Though police new about the action day, they could not prevent the blockades.

With speeches at the railway station a few kilometers from the Grohnde atomic power station the rally started with several hundreds of people. Many tractors and other vehicles accompanied the demonstration showing the farmers protest against the dangerous facility. Arrived at the NPP speakers with several NGOs, activists and foreign anti-nuclear campaigners informed about the threats connected to the Grohnde NPP and other atomic power in general and demanded the immediate phase-out of all nuclear facilities worldwide.

Afterwards an anti-nuclear concert was started on a stage in front of the NPP's cooling towers to be continued the whole night.

Several anti-nuclear organizations had provided information stalls besides the main access road to the nuclear power plant, coffee and other drinks were provided as well as vegan food for the protesters that are supposed to stay at the NPP site for 24 hours. A big meadow was provided for individual tents as well as a big circus tent has been set up for the activists. The anti-nuclear concert next to the main access road blocks this street to the NPP as there are so many people to join the music.

Police still behaves calm and didn't intervene much when the access roads to the Grohnde NPP were set up. Around 5 PM CET the first blockade was set up at a highway bridge crossing another access road to the nuclear site. They abseiled with banners demanding the total nuclear phase-out and an end of the uranium industry that provides the nuclear power stations with fuel. One hour later a smaller blockade of a couple of people was set up with a chair and a sign saying "sit out Grohnde" ("Grohnde AUSsitzen") on the road stopping police cars being supposed to support the police forces dealing with the abseiling action. A sit-in blockade on an industrial track and on the road beneath the bridge supported the climbing action with up to
50 people on the ground.

Four hours after the abseiling blockade action started the access road is still blockaded.

Around 9.40 PM CET a message was send from the stage to the audience and police objecting to their order to open the main access road for the NPP workers' verhicles. They read out the official demonstration
orders made by the police beforehand only forcing the street to be opened for emergency vehicles on short notice if necessary. Thus, the anti-nuclear protesters argue, they don't have to clear the road just for the workers, and they won't do so. After a couple of minutes the police unit that had tried to force to open the road went off.

A couple of minutes later police rudely pushed blockaders from the road next to the blockaded bridge to send a couple of workers' cars to the nuclear power plant for the shift change. No one has been hurt yet, although police treated them with rude force. Currently, police is endagering one of the climbing activists by trying to remove their securing ropes.

Around 10 PM CET police ordered the announcer of the demonstration to reduce the demonstration to make it possible for the workers to reach the NPP. Protesters are refusing to follow that order as they believe police has no legal right to change the orders for the demonstration afterwards just to let the workers enter the NPP.

updates and photos:

http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Blockade_of_the_Grohnde_NPP

Anti nuclear blockade at Hinkley Point

2011-10-09T02:47:00.000-07:00

Stop New Nuclear

A campaign to stop new nuclear power stations

Email: campaign@stopnewnuclear.org.uk Web: http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk

c/o 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX, Phone: 0845-2872381

29 Sept anniversary of the third worst nuclear accident in the world

2011-09-28T04:15:00.000-07:00

Map of the East Urals Radioactive Trace (EURT): area contaminated by the Kyshtym disaster.

The Kyshtym disaster - Russia

In September 1957, the cooling system in one of the tanks containing about 70–80 tons of liquid radioactive waste failed and was not repaired. The temperature in it started to rise, resulting in evaporation and a chemical explosion of the dried waste. The explosion, estimated to have a force of about 70–100 tons of TNT threw the concrete lid, weighing 160 tons, into the air.[3] There were no immediate casualties as a result of the explosion, which released an estimated 2 to 50 MCi (74 to 1850 PBq) of radioactivity.[2][4][5]

In the next 10 to 11 hours, the radioactive cloud moved towards the northeast, reaching 300–350 kilometers from the accident. The fallout of the cloud resulted in a long-term contamination of an area of more than 800 square kilometers, primarily with caesium-137 and strontium-90.[2] This area is usually referred to as the East-Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT).[6]

References1.^ a b Schlager, Neil (1994). When Technology Fails. Detroit: Gale Research. ISBN 0-8103-8908-8.

2.^ a b c "Chelyabinsk-65". http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/chelyabinsk-65_nuc.htm.

3.^ a b "Conclusions of government commission" (in Russian). http://nuclear.tatar.mtss.ru/arxiv/332.htm.

4.^ Kabakchi, S. A.; A. V. Putilov (1 1995). "Data Analysis and Physicochemical Modeling of the Radiation Accident in the Southern Urals in 1957". Moscow ATOMNAYA ENERGIYA (1): 46–50. http://www.fas.org/news/russia/1995/fbust037_95011.htm.

5.^ See also List of military nuclear accidents

6.^ Dicus, Greta Joy (January 16, 1997). "Joint American-Russian Radiation Health Effects Research". United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/speeches/1997/s97-04.html. Retrieved 30 September 2010.

7.^ Pollock, Richard (1978). "Soviets Experience Nuclear Accident". Critical Mass Journal.

8.^ Medvedev, Zhores A. Nuclear disaster in the Urals translated by George Saunders. 1st Vintage Books ed. New York : Vintage Books, 1980, c1979, ISBN 0394744454.

9.^ Diane M. Soran; Danny B. Stillman (1982). An Analysis of the Alleged Kyshtym Disaster. Los Alamos National Laboratory. http://www.osti.gov/bridge/purl.cover.jsp;jsessionid=AE63F0635724B2D67229E70E6BAE485A?purl=/5254763-UCvDE3/.

10.^ a b "The Southern Urals radiation studies: A reappraisal of the current status". Journal of Radiation and Environmental Biophysics 41. 2002. http://www.springerlink.com/content/x3ghck8x96b74n53/.

11.^ John R. Trabalka (1979), "Russian Experience" pp. 3–8 in Environmental Decontamination: Proceedings of the Workshop, December 4–5, 1979, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, CONF-791234

12.^ The Nuclear Disaster They Didn't Want To Tell You About/Andrew Cockburn/ Esquire Magazine/ April 26 1978

13.^ Gyorgy, A. (1979). No Nukes: Everyone's Guide to Nuclear Power. ISBN 0919618952.

14.^ "The decision of Nikipelov Commission" (in Russian). http://nuclear.tatar.mtss.ru/of280490.htm.

15.^ R. Jeffrey Smith (Jul 10, 1989). "Soviets Tell About Nuclear Plant Disaster; 1957 Reactor Mishap May Be Worst Ever". The Washington Post: A1. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73886738.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+10%2C+1989&author=R.+Jeffrey+Smith&pub=The+Washington+Post+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=a.01&desc=Soviets+Tell+About+Nuclear+Plant+Disaster%3B1957+Reactor+Mishap+May+Be+Worst+Ever.

India postpones buying nuclear reactors from France

2011-09-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

Since the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the Indian government has become concerned about the safety of the nuclear reactors that they were going to order from France. They have postponed their decision to buy the EPR reactors.

How come the British government is still backing EDF's plan to build this type of reactor at Hinkley?

Vaiju Naravane wrote in The Hindu, Paris, September 20, 2011

"India will postpone its final decision on the purchase of EPR type nuclear reactors from France until after the current post-Fukushima nuclear safety tests have been satisfactorily completed, it is reliably learnt.

Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission, conveyed this message to French Industry Minister Eric Besson when the two met during the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) consultations which opened in Vienna. Mr. Besson said: “Dr. Banerjee said India imports only reactors which have been certified by their own authorities. The EPR has already been certified. Now they want the post-Fukushima certification.” However, he added that the Indians had conveyed this message “in a very positive manner.”

Several nuclear contracts around the world have been either frozen, delayed or cancelled as a result of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, the worst nuclear accident to hit the planet after the Chernobyl explosion of 1986, putting into doubt the much-vaunted “nuclear renaissance.” Germany has chosen to forgo the nuclear option altogether and in France there is talk of reducing the country's dependence on nuclear energy to 50 per cent from the current 75 per cent, by 2025.

The EPR plant under construction at Flamanville (northern France) has seen interminable delays and a massive cost hike. Two persons have died on the construction site and the plant is not expected to go on stream before 2016 at the very least. EDF, the most experienced constructor in the world, has admitted it has not mastered the engineering techniques demanded by the hugely complex and complicated design of the massive 1,650 MWe pressurised water reactor. There is not a single EPR plant operating to date and the Olkiluoto plant in Finland too has seen massive cost overruns and long delays, with the result that the Finns and Areva are locked in a protracted legal battle.

In December 2010 Areva signed a framework agreement with India to build the first of six EPR reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra with an option of four more reactors to follow. But Areva will build only the nuclear island while the turbine island and other installations will have to be built by contractors chosen by the NPCIL. Fears have been expressed that with EDF, the most experienced builder and operator of nuclear reactors in the world unable to get it right in Flamanville, the Indian side may not be able to ensure proper construction and safety. There is also some uncertainty about the central dome of the EPR which is forged by the Japanese. Japan, with its aggressive anti-nuclear stand (especially on proliferation issues) may not agree to the technology transfer to India.

On September 15, France's major nuclear operators including Areva and electricity giant EDF handed in their self-evaluation reports on 80 installations to the nuclear safety agency, the ASN. This body, along with the IRSN (Institute of Radio-protection and Nuclear Safety) will now examine the self-evaluations submitted by the three nuclear players in France and hand in its report by the end of 2011.

Already nuclear watchdog agencies such as Sortir du Nuclear (Quitting Nuclear), the Nuclear Observatory and several ecologist groups have criticised the method of self-evaluation adopted by the ASN and the French government.

“No credibility can be accorded to this type of self-evaluation by commercial enterprises. They have no desire whatsoever to see their operations halted for further verification,” said Stephane Lhomme, of the NGO Nuclear Observatory. “The only way to really verify all the safety factors and mechanisms is by halting the installations. This is not to speak of the totally unresolved questions of nuclear waste or the decommissioning of old reactors.”

“These tests are all fluff,” said nuclear scientist Jean-Marie Brom, who works at the Centre for Scientific Research in Strasbourg and is a member of Sortir du Nucleaire. “We are not in any way better prepared to prevent nuclear accidents. Had Tepco been asked to do a safety report on Fukushima a year ago, the company would have said it was perfectly safe.”

A recent blast at France's oldest nuclear site in Marcule which killed one person and injured four has reignited the debate on nuclear safety in France."

SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN):

An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about the dangers of Nuclearisation in South Asia

http://s-asians-against-nukes.org/

Anti Nuclear Hunger Strike at Koodankulam, south India

2011-09-20T04:45:00.000-07:00

Koodankulam Updates:

The non-violent hunger strike at Idinthakarai has entered its 9th day but the state and central governments have turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the demands of the people. In the meantime, the situation of many of the hunger strikers continues to deteriorate to an alarming level. More than 15,000 people have been gathering every day for the past 8 days from 30 odd villages and towns around Koodankulam from three districts, viz. Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. The protest has spread to many parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala with southern Tamil Nadu turning out to be the epicenter of protests. For the eighth day in succession, fishermen, farmers, manual laborers, merchants of the area did not go to work while students have boycotted educational institutions. Shops remain closed in many places around Idinthakarai.

The men and women who gather everyday to participate in the protest also fast throughout the day. People of Hindu, Muslims and Christian faiths and of all major caste groups are involved in the hunger strike and the relay fast by tens of thousands of people. Leaders of most of the major political parties have come and expressed their support to the protest and a few of them have also announced specific protest programs.

The authorities have foisted false cases on 500 odd people and a few have been put in jail. A huge police battalion has been posted near Idinthakarai and neighboring villages. Road blocks have been created and public transport has been suspended by authorities who are preventing people from coming to the protest in all possible ways.

With the swiftly deteriorating health situation of the fasters and lack of any serious or official initiative on the part of the governments to talk, some people are losing their patience. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer has issued a call to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to intervene immediately and has also asked the movement to continue the protesters without putting the lives of the people in danger or resorting to violence. Medha Patkar is joining the protest today. The protest needs intervention from eminent and respected personalities like you and solidarity and support from groups across the country to force the governments to act and save the lives of fasters and to maintain a peaceful atmosphere.

K.Sahadevan from Koodankulam

SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN):

An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about the dangers of Nuclearisation in South Asia

http://s-asians-against-nukes.org/

Anti Nuclear Protest at Koodankulam, India

2011-09-20T04:32:00.000-07:00

India began to build these nuclear power stations in 1991 in Tamil Nadu, Southern India.
Recently local people, many of whom are fishermen, realising that their livelihoods are at stake, are protesting. They fear that the radioactive waste discharged from the reactor will contaminate the fish. They also fear a Fukushima-type disaster since Tamil Nadu has been hit by tsunamis.

Nuclear Waste and the Green Party

2011-09-20T03:29:00.000-07:00

Well at least the Green Party care what happens to our nuclear waste.
They may not have a solution to the nuclear waste problem, but then who has? There is no satisfactory solution. But clearly burying it underground, out of site, out of mind, is not the right thing to do. Geologists have already carried out surveys in Cumbria and come to the conclusion that nuclear waste buried there would leak radioactivity out into the ground water. The current government has decided to ignore geological reports and push ahead with deep geological disposal.

But the Green Party proposed at their Autumn Conference:

"We call on policy committee to develop a policy on legacy high and intermediate level radioactive waste in time for Spring Conference 2012. The policy to be based on best environmental practice, not political expediency We also call on Conference to support Allerdale and Copeland Green Party and other local groups, including West Cumbria Friends of the Earth, Radiation Free Lakeland, and CORE in their work to oppose the deep geological disposal plans and to call for alternative disposal methods to be revisited. In particular lobbying local authorities not to proceed to the next stage of the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS)process (January 2012), at which stage the right of withdrawal would be severely compromised proposed"

More Power to the Green Party

Japan Receives Reprocessed Radioactive Waste

2011-09-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

QBy Chisaki Watanabe - Sep 15, 2011

Photograph shows the Pacific Grebe. Source: International Nuclear Services Ltd. via Bloomberg

.A ship carrying radioactive waste arrived in Japan, the first shipment of the dangerous material since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that triggered the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The 5,100-ton Pacific Grebe arrived at Mutsu-Ogawara port in northern Japan today, Masako Sawai, a member of Tokyo-based Citizen’s Nuclear Information Center, said by phone. She was among about 50 protesters at the port.

Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. is receiving the cargo of spent fuel from Japanese nuclear plants that was reprocessed in the U.K. Kyoji Ebisawa, a spokesman at the company, said he can’t comment on the arrival until the waste is delivered to the nearby Rokkasho storage site later today.

Thousands of workers are struggling to contain radiation leaks after the meltdown of three reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, about 400 kilometers (240 miles) south of the port.

“The accident at Fukushima hasn’t been resolved,” Sawai said. “We are concerned accidents can happen during the transportation of radioactive waste.

The Pacific Grebe set sail from the port of Barrow-in- Furness in the U.K. on Aug. 3. The waste is sealed in 76 stainless steel canisters.

Japan contracted the U.K. and France to process its fuel in the 1970s and waste from the process is shipped back for storage. Today’s cargo is the second shipment from the U.K. and about eight more shipments are scheduled through 2020, according to Ebisawa.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Langan at plangan@bloomberg.net; Teo Chian Wei at cwteo@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/japan-receives-reprocessed-radioactive-waste.html

Nuclear Explosion in Southern France

2011-09-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

Avignon

There is a nuclear reprocessing plant near the Marcoute nuclear plant. This plant takes radioactive metal, among other things, and melts it down for recycling. The oven used for melting the metal exploded, killing one worker, seriously injuring another and slightly injuring two others.

What happens to the metal after it has been melted down???

http://m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?feed_id=2&catid=20104732&videofeed=38

Japan’s prime minister wants a future without nuclear power

2011-08-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

Japan’s prime minster, using the occasion of Friday’s anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bomb dropped by the United States, has pledged a nuclear free future for his country – making it a fourth nation to turn it’s back on atomic energy in the wake of Fukushima Daiichi.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan was the first highly placed Japanese official to speak publicly in explicitly anti-nuclear terms.

Addressing those gathered to commemorate the 66th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Kan said the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was rocked by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, means Japan must turn to other energy sources.

"The large-scale, long-running nuclear accident has triggered radiation leakage, causing serious concerns not only in Japan but also in the world," said Kan at a memorial ceremony in Hiroshima's Peace Park, as quoted by Agency France Presse.

"I will reduce Japan's reliance on nuclear power, aiming at creating a society that will not rely on atomic power generation," he added.

Kan, a one time environmental activist, promised to boost alternative energy sources to 20 per cent of the nation's energy mix by the 2020s. They currently make up about nine per cent, most of it hydroelectric power – and another 20 percent is accounted for by nuclear power.

http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2011/Kan_nonuke

Hiroshima mayor's antinuclear speech

2011-08-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

August 6th is Hiroshima Day, when Japan commemorates the atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima towards the end of the second world war. The Mayor of Hiroshima gave a speech urging the Japanese government to move away from nuclear energy

The mayor of Nagasaki also said he will urge the government to promote renewables, rather than nuclear energy, in his peace declaration ceremony on Aug. 9.

Both ceremonies can be watched on:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

EDF allowed to clear Hinkley site

2011-08-02T02:37:00.000-07:00

Anti-nuclear campaigners have slammed a council’s decision to allow EDF Energy to begin clearing land earmarked for a nuclear reactor. And they pledged to step-up their campaign of direct action against the energy giant.

Activists from the Stop New Nuclear network branded West Somerset Council’s decision yesterday to allow EDF to start bulldozing 400 acres next to Somerset’s Hinkley Point nuclear power station as a ‘circus and a travesty’. The planning committee’s decision paves the way for preparatory work to begin on the Hinkley C mega-reactor.

Local Bridgwater resident and activist, Nikki Clark, said campaigners are now gearing up for a mass blockade of Hinkey Point on October 3rd. ‘‘The planning committee was more concerned about the road layout that the social and environmental impact of such a huge power plant. Our only hope now is to physically stop the trashing of much-loved woodlands and pastures with our bodies.’

She added: ‘The travesty of the event was emphasized by the fact that permission for a wind farm on the same site was refused two years ago because of concerns about its environmental impacts. These will be dwarfed by the devastation planned by EDF.’

Campaigners maintain that ‘new nuclear’ power is dangerous and expensive. ‘After the Fukushima accident in Japan, the government should be pausing to consider the lessons rather than ploughing mindlessly ahead,’ said Stop Hinkley spokesman Crispin Aubrey. ‘Other countries are showing that a non-nuclear renewable future is feasible – we should be following their lead.’

The German government recently announced a complete phase-out of nuclear power within a decade. Its report, Germany’s Energy Turnaround – a collective effort for the future also rules out a increase in the use of fossil fuels.

‘The secret ingredient is an upscaling in the use of combined heat and power – a proven technology that will support a national energy efficiency programme,’ says Camilla Berens from Kick Nuclear. ‘The burning question is, if the German government can do, why can’t ours? We want a future, not a disaster.’

The Stop New Nuclear network objects to EDF's preparatory works because:

• There is no certainty that EDF will go ahead with building Hinkley C, partly for financial reasons. The company’s prototype power station at Flamanville in France is now four years behind schedule and its cost has almost doubled to £6 billion.

• If the French company does not gain approval for the power station from the Infrastructure Planning Commission, over 400 acres of beautiful countryside will have been needlessly trashed. EDF claims that it could be returned to its original state is a nonsense.

• The amount of time allegedly to be saved – about a year – is insignificant compared with the overall timescale of building nuclear plants of up to 10 years. This is simply an exercise in EDF “jumping the gun”.

• There is no energy gap which cannot be filled by other means, as nuclear supporters claim. Other non-nuclear power stations can be built faster and cheaper while we move towards a safer, cleaner future based on renewable sources.

• Any supposed economic benefits to the area from this work will be outweighed by the disruption it will cause. The Planning Officer's report accepts, for example, that the employment benefits are “likely to be relatively small… compared to the local impacts”.
More information on the Stop New Nuclear mass blockade can be found at:

http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk/

email: campaign@stopnewnuclear.org.uk