Dan Hirsch April 29 2012 SanO Rally | AceHoffman's YouTube channel
Dan Hirsch, Committee to Bridge the Gap, speaking at the San Onofre Shutdown rally, April 29, 2012 near the power plant.
Monday, April 30, 2012
VIDEO: Dan Hirsch April 29 2012 San Onofre Rally
Dan Hirsch, Committee to Bridge the Gap, speaking at the San Onofre Shutdown rally, April 29, 2012 near the power plant.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Shut Down San Onofre Rally, PHOTOS Apr 29 2012
photos courtesey Syd Stevens
Sunday, April 29, 1-3 p.m. San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, San Clemente, CA! Protest the Continued Risky and Costly Operation of San Onofre Nuclear Waste Plant and Commemorate:26th Anniversary of Continued Chernobyl Meltdown (April 26, 1986) 33rd Anniversary of the Three-Mile Island Disaster (March 28, 1979) Recognition of the Continuing Fukushima Meltdown (March ll, 2011) And Stand for Permanent Decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS)
more photos /descriptions > Shut Down San Onofre Rally: Shut Down San Onofre Rally By Syd Stevens (Facebook _Albums)
links | see also
A29 San Onofre Protest and Rally EVENT INFO
RSVP on Facebook
• whats up: San Onofre CA: Rally Against Nuclear Power April 29 | Serious Steam Generator Problem, design changes made by Southern California Edison
• whats up: San Onofre: Why it should NEVER reopen! (The activists speak.)
• whats up: NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW - Flyer | Shut San Onofre | Code Killers
Saturday, April 28, 2012
video refresher course: If You Love This Planet - Helen Caldicott on Nuclear War, 1982
this film was officially designated as "foreign political propaganda" by the U.S. Department of Justice and suppressed in the United States |
If You Love This Planet by Terre Nash - NFB: If You Love This Planet
* PSR Founder and President, 1978-1983 | President Emeritus, 1983-Present, Women’s Action for Nuclear
If You Love This Planet is a 1982 short documentary film recording a lecture given to SUNY Plattsburgh students by physician and anti-nuclear activist Dr. Helen Caldicott about the dangers posed by nuclear weapons. The movie was directed by Terre Nash and produced by Edward Le Lorrain for Studio D, the women's studio of the National Film Board of Canada. Studio D head Kathleen Shannon was executive producer.
Released during the term of the Reagan administration and at the height of Cold War nuclear tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, If You Love This Planet was officially designated as "foreign political propaganda" by the U.S. Department of Justice and suppressed in the United States. The subsequent uproar over that action gave the film a publicity boost; it went on to win the 1982 Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. It appears that the first cinema showing of the film in Britain did not occur until April 2008, when it was screened by the London Socialist Film Co-op.
If You Love This Planet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
links | see also
Helen Caldicott MD - website
Physicians for Social Responsibility | PSR
The Medical Implications of Fukushima, Chernobyl and the Nuclear Age - IME Video Library
Helen Caldicott MD | 04/19/2012 | 57 minutes
Department of Pediatrics Grand Rounds
University of Wisconsin
• whats up: Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 | Downwinders | Nuclear Law
• whats up: Atomic Cover-Up: The Hidden Story Behind the U.S. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• LINKS PAGE
• VIDEOS PAGE
NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW
Friday, April 27, 2012
video refresher course: NIE CHCEMY ATOMU W NASZYM DOMU !!! -NUCLEAIRE: STOP AU MASSACRE! -NUCLEAIRE: OMS - AIEA: ARRETONS-LES!
video refresher course
if you by chance don't like the music please hit mute and don't miss the slide shows :)
Miraho -Nie chcemy atomu (DiesProduction).avi
25 lat po wybuchu w Czarnobylu Polska zamierza kontynuowac budowe elektrowni jadrowych w kilku lokalizacjach , z tej okazji skunkheads wyraza swoj sprzeciw wobec polityki atomowej .
NIE CHCEMY ATOMU W NASZYM DOMU !!!!
25 years after the explosion at Chernobyl, Poland intends to continue building nuclear power plants in several locations, on this occasion skunkheads expresses its opposition to nuclear policy.
WE DO NOT WANT atom in our house!!
NUCLEAIRE : STOP AU MASSACRE !
NUCLEAIRE : OMS - AIEA : ARRETONS-LES !
pour en apprendre plus c'est ici :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukCYeAZYGKg
Ce film révèle qu'au coeur de la civilisation occidentale, riche et technologiquement avancée, un crime scientifique programmé se perpétue depuis 25 ans sous de hautes responsabilités, dans l'indifférence générale et la désinformation. Un accord signé par l'OMS et l'AIEA, promotrice de l'industrie nucléaire, condamne sciemment des millions de cobayes humains à expérimenter dans leur corps des pathologies nouvelles dans le vaste laboratoire à ciel ouvert des territoires contaminés par Tchernobyl.
Cette vidéo est mise en ligne sur la chaîne d'IndependentWHO, un collectif créé en 2007 et qui lutte pour que l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) remplisse sa mission de protection des populations touchées par la contamination radioactive.
Pour plus d'informations :
independentwho.org
This film reveals that at the heart of Western civilization, rich and technologically advanced, scientific programmed a crime has been going on 25 years in senior positions in the general indifference and misinformation. An agreement signed by WHO and the IAEA, promoter of the nuclear industry, knowingly condemns millions of human guinea pigs to experiment in their bodies new diseases in the vast open-air laboratory of the territories contaminated with Chernobyl.
This video is posted on the chain IndependentWHO, a group created in 2007 and fighting for the World Health Organization (WHO) fulfills its mission of protecting the people affected by radioactive contamination.
on a lighter note
Rankin & Dub Ainu Band "You can't see it, and you can't smell it either "
"You can't see it, and you can't smell it either - 誰にも見えない、匂いもない 2011- "
By Rankin Taxi & Dub Ainu Band
Words & Music: Rankin Taxi
with much respect
M.U.S.E. - KOAN
more > NUCLEAR | OCCUPY NUCLEAR | NO NUKES • RE-TOOL NOW
- YouTube PLAYLIST (@200 videos) plus NUCLEAR 2 | #OCCUPY #NUCLEAR • NO #NUKES - YouTube
See also
• The OcNuke Nuclear Daily #OccupyNuclear
on twitter• LINKS PAGE
• ALERTS: #OccupyNuclear
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• SHOUTOUTS: #OcNuke
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• google news ~ "Fukushima + nuclear"
• news feeds below
-!- fukushima nuclear power plant japan nuclear crisis nuclear disaster radiation catastrophe radioactive fallout nuclear energy safety hazard environment ecology pollution -!-
NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Chernobyl: solidarity as anti-nuclear initiative launched | Friends of the Earth Europe
26 APRIL 2012
On the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Friends of the Earth Europe stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and neighbouring countries, remembering those affected by the catastrophe.
For many people the consequences of Chernobyl are still a reality, and nuclear power remains more than ever a threat to people and planet. But, resistance against nuclear power continues to grow across Europe, while genuine solutions, such as renewables and energy efficiency, gain ever more prominence.
Today, Friends of the Earth Austria launch their European Citizens' Initiative ‘My Voice Against Nuclear’. We aim to mobilise one million people across Europe against nuclear power, demanding that the European Commission deliver an energy system based on the only safe and secure form of energy – that which harnesses clean, renewable resources, or the energy we save through increased energy efficiency.
We conducted the interviews below with Reinhard Uhrig, an anti-nuclear campaigner for Friends of the Earth Austria who is launching the initiative ‘My Voice Against Nuclear’ today, and Pavlo Khazan, campaign director for climate change and energy at Friends of the Earth Ukraine. Both talk about mobilisations against nuclear power in Europe, hopes for a future beyond the nuclear age, and what we can learn from the past, on the 26th anniversary of Chernobyl.
more > Chernobyl: solidarity as anti-nuclear initiative launched | Friends of the Earth Europe
TAKE ACTION > How we can make the EU nuclear free
Sign up at www.my-voice.eu to receive all the updates on the campaign.
Relax, It’s Just a Run-of-the-Mill Nuke Spill
APRIL 26, 2012
The Limerick Incident Wasn't an "EPPI"
Relax, It’s Just a Run-of-the-Mill Nuke Spill
by DAVE LINDORFF
A little over a month ago, back on March 19, at 3:00 in the morning, the Limerick Nuclear Power Station, which runs two aging GE nuclear reactors along the Schuylkill River west of Philadelphia, had an accident. As much as 15,000 gallons of reactor water contaminated with five times the official safe limit of radioactive Tritium as well as an unknown amount of other dangerous isotopes from the reactor’s fission process blew off a manhole cover and ran out of a large pipe, flowing into a streambed and on into the river from which Philadelphia and a number of smaller towns draw their municipal water supplies
No public announcement of this spill was made at the time, so the public in those communities had no idea that it had occurred, and water system operators had no opportunity to shut down their intakes from the river. There was no report about the spill in Philadelphia’s two daily newspapers or on local news programs.
Only weeks later, after the regional office of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was finally sent an official report by Exelon, the owner of the plant, did a public notice get posted on the NRC’s website, after which some excellent reporting on the incident was done by Evan Brandt, a reporter for a local paper called The Pottstown Mercury.
We contacted the NRC regional office with oversight over Limerick and were told that Exelon had only reported the incident to state authorities — the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). A call to the DEP elicited a response that the state agency, now in the hands of a Republican governor who has shown open distain for environmental concerns ranging from nuclear
waste to regulation of natural gas fracking chemicals, that it did not feel it was necessary to issue any public report on the spill. “Exelon assured us that it was not an EPPI incident,” explained DEP regional office spokeswoman Deborah Fries.
“What’s an EPPI?” she was asked. “It’s an Event of Potential Public Interest,” Fries replied.
In other words, Exelon and the state’s DEP and PEMA officials, meeting behind closed doors, agreed that the spilling of up to 15,000 gallons of radioactive isotope-laced reactor water into a river that supplies drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people was not an event of “potential public interest,” and so they didn’t make it public, thus insuring that it would not become a matter of public interest, or even of public knowledge! The logic is impeccable, though the NRC subsequently protested that Exelon should have reported the incident to the commission, which would automatically have posted it on its website as public notice of a spill.
But it gets worse. Mercury reporter Brandt discovered that one reason Exelon was able to claim initially that the spill of reactor water into the river was no big deal, and to avoid publicly announcing it, was that it was a “permitted discharge.” Even the NRC report on the incident, when it was finally posted three weeks late, said that the spill had merely been waste water that had “overflowed during a scheduled and permitted radiological release.”
The idea that the Limerick nuclear generating plant is “routinely discharging” nuclear waste into the Schuylkill River and that this is permitted by the NRC, and that by extension this is being done by all the nuclear generating plants across the nation, will no doubt come as a big surprise to most Americans, including those who live downstream and downwind of these plants (because it turns out that there are also permitted regular releases of radioactive gas by these other facilities). But that’s the truth.
The Limerick Incident Wasn't an "EPPI"
Relax, It’s Just a Run-of-the-Mill Nuke Spill
by DAVE LINDORFF
The idea that the Limerick nuclear generating plant is “routinely discharging” nuclear waste into the Schuylkill River and that this is permitted by the NRC, and that by extension this is being done by all the nuclear generating plants across the nation, will no doubt come as a big surprise to most Americans, including those who live downstream and downwind of these plants (because it turns out that there are also permitted regular releases of radioactive gas by these other facilities). But that’s the truth. |
No public announcement of this spill was made at the time, so the public in those communities had no idea that it had occurred, and water system operators had no opportunity to shut down their intakes from the river. There was no report about the spill in Philadelphia’s two daily newspapers or on local news programs.
Only weeks later, after the regional office of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was finally sent an official report by Exelon, the owner of the plant, did a public notice get posted on the NRC’s website, after which some excellent reporting on the incident was done by Evan Brandt, a reporter for a local paper called The Pottstown Mercury.
We contacted the NRC regional office with oversight over Limerick and were told that Exelon had only reported the incident to state authorities — the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). A call to the DEP elicited a response that the state agency, now in the hands of a Republican governor who has shown open distain for environmental concerns ranging from nuclear
waste to regulation of natural gas fracking chemicals, that it did not feel it was necessary to issue any public report on the spill. “Exelon assured us that it was not an EPPI incident,” explained DEP regional office spokeswoman Deborah Fries.
“What’s an EPPI?” she was asked. “It’s an Event of Potential Public Interest,” Fries replied.
In other words, Exelon and the state’s DEP and PEMA officials, meeting behind closed doors, agreed that the spilling of up to 15,000 gallons of radioactive isotope-laced reactor water into a river that supplies drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people was not an event of “potential public interest,” and so they didn’t make it public, thus insuring that it would not become a matter of public interest, or even of public knowledge! The logic is impeccable, though the NRC subsequently protested that Exelon should have reported the incident to the commission, which would automatically have posted it on its website as public notice of a spill.
But it gets worse. Mercury reporter Brandt discovered that one reason Exelon was able to claim initially that the spill of reactor water into the river was no big deal, and to avoid publicly announcing it, was that it was a “permitted discharge.” Even the NRC report on the incident, when it was finally posted three weeks late, said that the spill had merely been waste water that had “overflowed during a scheduled and permitted radiological release.”
The idea that the Limerick nuclear generating plant is “routinely discharging” nuclear waste into the Schuylkill River and that this is permitted by the NRC, and that by extension this is being done by all the nuclear generating plants across the nation, will no doubt come as a big surprise to most Americans, including those who live downstream and downwind of these plants (because it turns out that there are also permitted regular releases of radioactive gas by these other facilities). But that’s the truth.
MORE > Relax, It’s Just a Run-of-the-Mill Nuke Spill - Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
26th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | Nuclear Power = Crime Against Humanity
26th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
GABRIELA BULISOVA photo - Chernobyl Children International It was 26 years ago today when a deadly explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the former Soviet state of Ukraine led to what was then the worst nuclear disaster in history. It sent a cloud of radioactive fallout into Russia, Belarus and over a large portion of Europe.
All nuclear reactors and their waste should be declared illegal, and can be considered crimes against humanity and the ecosphere - all governments and corporations and their officers should be made directly liable for the immediate decommissioning of all nuclear power plants, and for the security, clean up and management of the eternal quagmire of nuclear waste that they have created.
see also: Nuclear Power = Crime Against Humanity
Chernobyl nuclear reactor after the disaster. Reactor 4 (center). Turbine building (lower left). Reactor 3 (center right). This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons
much more at whats up: 25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | NUCLEAR "SAFTEY" = NUCLEAR THREAT
Miraho -Nie chcemy atomu (DiesProduction).avi
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Lessons of Chernobyl and Fukushima: Nuclear Safety is an Oxymoron — DiaNuke.org
Chernobyl’s 26th Anniversary today.. On the occasion of the Chernobyl Disaster anniversary on 26-4-2012,people in all countries in the world must take an oath to fight against both nuclear plants and weapons as they are intended to destroy the life and culture of mankind .The Chernobyl reactor explosion occured on 26-4-1986 in Russia due to human failure.The resulting radio activity spread in parts of Western Russia and europe.About 5 lakh workers suffered ill-health and the economic losses were estimated at 18 billion rubles..A Russian Report places about a million premature cancer deaths upto 2004.About 3.5 lakhs of people were evacuated from the areas contaminated by the radio activity released from the explosion..In spite of these serious damaging impacts due to reactor failures,the industrialists are still promoting nuclear reacxtors all over the world to make easy money at any cost and such moves must be stopped by educating the people on the impacts of Reactor explosions at Chernobyl in russia and Fukushima in Japan. see also: whats up: 25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | NUCLEAR "SAFTEY" = NUCLEAR THREAT, this blog one year ago... |
ABSTRACT:
In the wake of the nuclear explosion at Fukushima on 11-3-2011 several expert committees investigated the sequence of events leading to the catastrophe. Chancellor of Germany Mrs. Angela Merkel discussed in depth with International experts on Fukushima disaster and concluded that nuclear safety is a pure myth and she declared phase out of all German nuclear plants by 2022. The former Prime Minister of Japan Mr.Kan and the present Prime Minister Noda also studied the tragic events at Fukushima and declared that nuclear safety is a myth. In Japan 53 out of 54 reactors are shut down and due to public agitation they are not allowed to restart operations. From 5-5-2012 Japan is going to be the first nuclear-free country in the world. But the Indian Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu Jayalalitha are bent upon promoting large nuclear plants in Kudankulam in Tamilnadu state and at other places like Jaitapur in Maharasthra, Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh and Bhavnagar in Gujarat, inspite of strong public opposition and by violating all the rules and regulations although there are more inexpensive and safer energy resources like lignite coal in Tamilnadu which is deny to the state while being exported to Uttara Pradesh for production of more electricity. There are other alternate energy sources like natural gas and renewable energy sources to meet the power needs of Tamilnadu. In this context it is proposed to present the Fukushima nuclear disaster as a case study to prove how it is hundred percent impossible to guarantee the safety of nuclear reactors and that to the proposed large size new varieties of reactors proposed at Kudankulam in Tamilnadu.
2) NUCLEAR PLANTS FOR CIVIL AND MILITARY PURPOSES:
Nuclear plants were originally proposed during 1950s when there was a serious cold war between Russia and the United States. The rivalry between these countries forced them to take the extreme step of going for a nuclear war to establish their supremacy in the world politics. For this purpose they had to produce nuclear weapons which needed enriched Uranium and Plutonium. For obtaining substantial quantities of these hazardous materials, establishment of nuclear plants became inevitable and for their establishment the justification was made that they are needed for production of electricity for civilian purposes and for medical and scientific applications. Subsequently the nuclear plant manufacturers found it as a handy instrument to make enormous amounts of easy and quick money by securing it for a special status by bribing the Presidents and Prime Ministers, influential politicians, bureaucrats, officials, pro-nuclear scientists and engineers in several countries.
During the second world war a Japanese Naval Officer Nakasone looked at the bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945 and said “I saw the nuclear mushroom cloud over Hiroshima”. At that moment, I sensed that the next age was the nuclear age, he wrote in an essay in 1960s. Many Japanese were told that nuclear power is the only way for Japan to become more energy dependant in the aftermath of defeat in world war-II and it paved the way for eventual development of nuclear weapons because of the nuclear power links to nuclear arms. Due to Japan’s close ties with United States in nuclear matters , the leftist politicians and academicians became fierce opponents of nuclear power and as a counter measure the rightists groups automatically assumed the role of proponents of nuclear power by going all the way to stress on its absolute safety. Thus the Japanese groups have developed different attitudes so that each side has stuck to extreme positions on nuclear power even today. Thus there is a widespread adoption of the belief called the “safety myth” that Japan’s nuclear power plants were absolutely safe and such an egoistic attitude made Japan single mindedly pursue nuclear power even though western countries began to distance themselves from the inherently hazardous nuclear power.
3) RAMPENT COURRUPT PRACTICES BY NUCLEAR INDUSTRY:
Infact the nuclear establishment in Japan led by the prominent industrialists and the Ministry of Trade have been spending since 1970s hundreds of billions of dollars for advertisement and educational programmes on nuclear safety and the Government spent $12million per year. After the 1973 oil crisis Japan promoted nuclear plants under the pretext of energy security and began to spend about 400billion Yen per year for nuclear power while the industries invested 2 trillion Yen per year for nuclear plants. The Government created many organizations to propagate on nuclear safety and one of the organization known as Japan Atomic Energy Relations Organization gets 40% funding from Government and 60% from nuclear plant operators. This organization sends nuclear power experts to propagate on nuclear safety in the high school and colleges all over the country. With the result that even the Chernobyl accident could not raise the consciousness of the people about the risks of nuclear power. Because the people became addicted to reflexively trust the Government and its assurances about the safety of nuclear power even though they were posing the greatest risk to the nation. The Japanese people even after the Fukushima accident did not become aggressive in the beginning as they believed in the false statements on radiation exposure and reactor explosions presented them by the nuclear plant operators and the Government. Japanese realized the truth of the statement by the nuclear reactor pioneer, Alwin Weinberg that “a nuclear accident somewhere is a nuclear accident everywhere.” But as the damaging impacts were seen and experienced by the people over a period of time they began to realize the truth that nuclear safety is a myth. Consequently they are agitating for closure of all the nuclear plants in Japan and are demanding for generation of electricity from alternate sources like wind, solar and geo-thermal energies and other sources like oil and natural gas. Due to public agitations against nuclear plants, Japan has recently announced that from 5th May 2012 the country will be free of nuclear power.
4) HUMAN ERRORS MAKE NUCLEAR SAFETY A MYTH:
It is an established fact that the major nuclear reactor accidents of Three Mile Island in US (1979), Chernobyl reactor explosions in Russia (1986) and Fukushima reactor explosions in Japan (2011) are man-made disasters. The reactor accident resulted in cancers, ill-health and deaths and economic damages worth about Rs.4 lakh crores. Thus nuclear reactors are neither safe nor economical as propagated by the nuclear plant organisations and the concerned Governments. How nuclear safety is a pure myth can be visualized by the sequence of events that led to the reactor explosions at Fukushima in March 2011 and how improper siting, under design of the plants including improper operation and maintenance and human failures resulted led to an avoidable disaster. Shunichi Tanuka, a former Chairman of Japan Atomic Energy Commission one said that nuclear promoters were always on guard. He said “If we even mentioned there is a slight possibility that nuclear plants were dangerous the anti-nuclear advocates pushed for shutting every plant down and so we just kept on declaring that nuclear plants were safe. Another Japanese expert said “we believed Japans nuclear plant were top class. But there was probably a bit of over confidence there”. Such combination of over confidence among Japanese experts and trapping themselves with their own words gradually built up the “Safety Myth of nuclear power plants”. A former nuclear plant operator said “You can take all kinds of possible situations into consideration but something beyond imagination is bound to take place like the Tsunami on 11-3-2011 at Fukushima. The possibility of a worst case scenario should have been assumed and there should have been a reliable system in place with proper training to keep damage to a minimum. If safe nuclear plant should not lose all its cooling functions as had happened at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
5) MAN-MADE EVENTS THAT LED TO FUKUSHIMA REACTOR EXPLOSION:
The massive earthquake of magnitude 9 occurred in the Fukushima region in the sea at about 2:46 PM on 11-3-2011 and a huge tsunami water wave of about 15meters high occurred 40 minutes later. 10 hours later at about 1:00 AM on 12-3-2011 the Prime Minister Of Japan, Mr.Kan was getting worried and wanted to visit the reactor at Fukushima but he was prevented to do so. At 2:00 AM on 12-3-2011 the Government told the plant operators to vent steam from the reactor. At about 6:00AM the Prime Minister started by helicopter and reached Fukushima at about 7:00 AM and enquired if venting was done even after 5 hours of the direction from the Government. After the Prime Minister left Fukushima at 8:00 AM on 12-3-2011, the plant manager Yoshida, instructed his workers to carryout venting as he thought that venting radioactive steam from the reactor was needed to prevent an explosion, although such an action was never taken before in Japan. At about 9.00 AM 6 workers carried nitrogen cylinders and batteries over their shoulders and headed for the reactor building and called their mission their “Last Service”. As per Government orders evacuation of people within 3kms of the plant was completed by 12:30AM on 12-3-2011. At about 2:00PM on 12-3-2011 the venting operations were deemed to be successful. Unfortunately one and half hours after steam venting at about 3:30PM there was a hydrogen explosion at the reactor.
When Yoshida was asked why he waited for 7 hours delay to order workers to conduct the venting operations he seems to have cited slowness in evacuation of people in the neighbouring area as a reason for the delay in carrying out the venting operation. It is speculated that time was wasted in chalking out a working plan to fight the crisis from 6:30 AM to 9:00 AM on 12-3-2011 and plant officials faulted the visit of the Prime Minister as a waste of their time as the Director had accompanied him. But the Prime Minister is reported to have said that the plant operators are failed to respond promptly to the Government instructions to carryout the venting.
a)Police report on reactor accident disbelieved by authorities: 24 hours after the earthquake at 3:36PM on 12-3-2011 Fukushima police station told government crisis management center in the Prime Minister’s Office that an explosion occurred at Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant. The nuclear safety agency in the Prime Minister’s office refused to accept this information on Nuclear reactor explosion by saying “that is not possible”. But 5 hours later at 8:30 PM the Government accepted the news about hydrogen explosion and at 8:40PM the Cabinet Secretary told press reporters that the explosion destroyed the reactor building but the containment vessel containing the reactor has not been damaged and thereby he cheated the people that the reactor was safe. But the plant operators casually announced that they were just analyzing the reasons for the accident.
6) GOVERNMENT EXPERTS MISLEAD PRIME MINISTER AND THE PEOPLE:
Special advisor to the Prime Minister on Nuclear Power Goshi Hosono said “No expert had predicted that hydrogen explosion would occur at the reactor building”. The Japanese Nuclear Safety Commission Haruki Madarame said the containment has been refilled with nitrogen, so a hydrogen explosion would not happen” and this explanation was accepted by the Prime Minister. Most nuclear experts also ignored the risk of hydrogen explosion because they were imprisoned by what is called commonsense among nuclear experts which turned out to be wrong and more like excessive self confidence or over confidence or ego which is part of human working culture. A report prepared by the Fukushima plant operators and other nuclear companies in 2002 on the response measures to be implemented in the case of core melt down and other accidents stated “ there is no need to take hydrogen explosion into consideration”. Such a belief came from the common knowledge that such an explosion will not occur if the containment vessel was filled with nitrogen which will keep the concentration of hydrogen at a low level. Thus the Government safety procedures are based on similar blind beliefs. Yamada, Director of Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said “the reactor was designed to keep hydrogen from leaking out of the containment vessel into the reactor building. In the safety screening we assumed that hydrogen explosion would not occur in the reactor building. Due to this assumption measures to prevent a hydrogen explosion in the reactor building were not included in the list of safety measure evaluations.
7) IGNORANCE OF EXPERTS ON HYDROGEN EXPLOSION:
According to the plant management when nuclear fuel at the No.1 reactor melted 16 hours after the earthquake and tsunami at about 6:46 AM on 12-3-2011 before the Prime Minister reached Fukushima the pressure and containment vessels became damaged. Hydrogen due to reaction between Zirconium cladding and oxygen leaked out and began to accumulate in the reactor building. Workers failed to prevent a hydrogen explosion at No.3 reactor even on 14-3-2011. The explosion at No.1 reactor has led to delays in responses to the Nuclear accident. During reactor operation hydrogen is generated by the radiolytic decomposition of water and other chemical reactions. Since hydrogen generation was not the cause of most past reactor explosions adequate attention was not paid to this phenomena during the Fukushima disaster. But when cooling malfunction occurred in Three Mile Island reactor in 1979 a hydrogen explosion occurred inside the containment vessel in 10 hours after the malfunction began. The reactor building and containment vessel stood intact inspite of the blast. A few hours later the cooling system was restored. But it took 4 days for eliminating the hydrogen and the catastrophe was avoided. In November, 2001 there was a hydrogen combustion inside a pipe used for emergency core cooling at Hamawaka nuclear plant in Shizoka District causing an explosion.
8 ) REACTOR DESIGN FAULTS:
The Mark-I Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) has small containment vessels and so the pressure fluctuates causing difficulties in operation and hence a plant operator at Fukushima said “as Hydrogen accumulates easily, I felt a potential risk”. In USA experts realize the vulnerability of Mark-I BWR reactor to serious accidents but they did not ban them due to their large scale usage. However since 1970’s as a safety measure they installed equipment that regenerates water from hydrogen in turbine buildings and they injected nitrogen in containment vessels. In 1980’s they installed devices like venting system to reduce pressure in the containment vessel. Mark-I reactors are operating safely in USA as they added more safety features. But the reactor manufacturing officials lamented “the biggest problem is the lack of knowledge of the workings of safety measures and devices that are vulnerable to the total loss of power at the plant. Even the device that regenerate water from hydrogen cannot work if power is lost”.
According to Fukushima industrial representative “unexpectedly nuclear engineers are not so familiar with electrical systems”. “18 hours after the earthquake the radioactive particles were detected at 6km from the plant at 8:40AM on 12-3-2011. It means that nuclear fuel attained a temperature of 1000oC or 1632oF which implies that reactor core got damaged and radioactivity leaked into the environment. 7 hours later at 3:30 PM on 12-3-2011 a massive hydrogen explosion rocked the Fukushima No.1 reactor.
9)IRRESPONSIBILITIES OF CENTRAL AND STATE GOVERNEMNT OFFICIALS ON PRESENTING RADIATION DOSES TO THE PUBLIC FOR EMERGENCY EVACUATION:
Although the Japanese nuclear disaster management planners are supposed to broadcast radiation doses every hour since 4:00 PM on 11-3-2011 to make evacuation recommendations the Government failed to inform the public because they were “afraid to inform the public because they were afraid of triggering a panic”. Surprisingly the national Disaster Response planners assume that the radiation levels due to an explosion must be done by local District government officials and that the Central government role is only supplementing to the duties of the District officials of the state Government. In Fukushima crisis the District officials were unable to handle radiation measurement work on their own and hence on 16-3-2011 the central Government officials were directed to cooperate with the District officials in analyzing and broadcasting radiation data. Sasaki the concerned Government minister said “both personnel and equipment were sorely lacking as there was no proper plan in place for central Government to take the initiative in addressing the situation. On 16-3-2011 Moriguchi National Government Minister reported radiation doses of 330 mSv at 20km from the nuclear plant and when questioned about the possible health hazards he said “our duty is confined to providing the public with data”. We have been restricted by the Chief Secretary not to make any comments on the data”. But the Chief Secretary passed an order that evaluations of radiation data could only be done by the nuclear safety commission. But commission never broadcast any safety evaluation because the chief was tied up in advising the Prime Minister and other Government leaders. Surprisingly the Chief Secretary repeatedly told the press that radiation levels would not cause any immediate health damage. On 23-3-2011 the Chief of Nuclear Safety Commission told at his first press conference “we are very sorry, but we cannot make any radiation evaluations because we are very under staffed”.
10) IMPROPER SITE SELECTION AND UNDERDESIGN FOR EARTHQUAKES AND TSUNAMI:
About 1150 years ago a massive Jogan earthquake and a Tsunami stuck the Tohoku region to the North of Fukushima. The damage was very serious including the drowning of 1000 people. Research studies on this earthquake and tsunami conducted by the local University and the National Institute of Science and Technology confirmed that the Jogan earthquake had a magnitude of 8.4 and the tsunami was on the same scale as the one that occurred at Fukushima. Another study by Tohoku University two tsunami waves equivalent to Jogan tsunami hit the Sandai plain in the North of Fukushima in the past 3000 years. Although academicians and research workers warned repeatedly at several National conferences that a massive tsunami could hit the Tohoku region in the near future the nuclear industry and the Government never cared for such disaster forecasts. The National Disaster Management Agency and the Fukushima plant operators deliberately ignored such findings and never used them in their estimates of the damage that earthquake and tsunami cause to the nuclear plants in Japan.
11) NUCLEAR INDUSTRY DOWNGRADE THE POTENTIAL EARTHQUAKES AND TSUNAMIS:
Moreover the TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Corporation) argued that there is no evidence of damage by Jogan Earthquake and it is more appropriate to consider the Shiyozaki Earthquake of 7.9 magnitude that hit Fukushima District in 1938 with much smaller tsunami. Since the repeated warnings of research scholars were ignored while designing the Fukushima reactors the disaster of 11-3-2011 at Fukushima is not a natural disaster and according to Tokyo University Prof.Geller “It is a man-made disaster”.
Even the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization, a wing of the National government in its annual reports predicted possible damage tsunami could cause to Fukushima plant. The report stated that if a 13-meter high breakwater above sea level was hit by 15-meter high tsunami all power sources would be knocked out including outside electricity and emergency power generators. In such a situation the cooling functions would be lost and the core would cause melt down. But the break water at Fukushima was based on TEPCO assumption that the Tsunami hitting the reactor would be 5.4 to 5.7m high. Unfortunately on 11-3-2011 the tsunami wave was 14m to 15m high. Inspite of all these findings TEPCO officials said “we gave priorities for preparing for high probability incidents, so we could not respond to everything”. Wataru of Kinki University said “from a cost performance perspective it is difficult to prepare for low probability disasters and prevent all accidents. But by thinking about things after an accident, it is possible to prevent worse situations. Cost benefit analysis and economic factors are not the only reasons why nuclear industries are reluctant to take action on safety measures. The industries also want to avoid losing the trust of the local residents. Although several faults were detected since 2002, TEPCO believed that launching repairs to solve these problems would make the explanations given by the company about the safety of the nuclear power to local residents ring false. When people questioned the nuclear industry Minister Why Japan government failed to act on tsunami warnings? He said that his Ministry had blindly believed “Japan’s Nuclear Plants were the safest in the world”. That is why an International Medico Environmental Expert Dr.Rene Dubois of USA said “a nation which blindly believes in its experts is a nation on its way to death”.
12) IMPROPER PLANNING OF REACTORS:
According to Dr.Kinichi, a Ph.D from MIT (USA) Fukushima reactors would not have failed if only human failures did not actually disabled them. The actual reactor melt down started at 11:00 PM on 11-3-2011. Zirconium alloy used for fuel cladding reacted with water vapour and produced large quantities of hydrogen and Zirconium oxide which exploded and blew out the 3 reactor buildings on 12th, 14th and 15th. The tsunami waves soaked the emergency diesel engines and batteries stored in the basement of these buildings. Out of the 13 emergency generators for the 6 reactors only one air cooled diesel engine was located on the top of the hill near reactor No.6 as its size was too big to be located in the basement and this diesel engine was not dependent on water as a heat sink. This air cooled diesel engine was the only one that was not entirely submerged under water and its power was enough to save reactors No.5 and 6 which were brought down to a cold shut down within a few weeks. That the same earthquake and tsunami destroyed 1 to 4 reactors while reactors No.5 and 6 were intact shows that if only one can provide a source of electricity through the air cooled emergency diesel engine located at an elevated place, other reactors could have been saved. It means that we should have multiple sources of electrical supply and cooling heat sinks instead of blindly arguing that the massive earthquake and a large tsunami wave were responsible for the natural disaster, far beyond anything anyone could have imagined and planned for.
13) INABILITY TO VISUALISE LOSS OF ALL POWER CONNECTIONS:
If an industry wants to operate nuclear reactor one should not assume anything about potential disaster like earthquakes, tsunamis, terrorist attacks or an aeroplane crash, internal sabotage or bombing. If we want to operate a nuclear reactor no matter what kind of accidents may happen we must find a way to bring back the reactor to a cold shutdown in any type of emergency explosions and it needs a hundred percent dependable electric supply and also heat sinks. One may make any number of assumptions on the possible causes of nuclear accidents and take engineering based precautionary measures so that the common people could feel rest assured by knowing that the reactor is safe. Japanese also assumed that the probability of loss of external electrical supply in a country like Japan was very unlikely and hence did not plan over for prolonged power breakdowns and hence provided only 3 emergency generator sets per reactors and they never imagined the possibility of breakdown of all external electrical connections.
14) WAS FUKUSHIMA EXPLOSION AVOIDABLE?:
If only the nuclear plant authorities provided for external power generation by solar, wind, gas turbine or even a small gas based power station to back up the 6 reactors at Fukushima, this disaster could have been avoided even if the earthquake was of high magnitude and the tsunami wave was large. Even when academicians predicted a massive earthquake and tsunami to happen infrequently the Japanese Government and nuclear industrial experts failed to realize that what may happen will certainly happen sometime or the other. In this world nothing is absolutely safe. The nuclear industry must build reactors that can reach cold shut down with 100% certainty no matter what kind of accidents may happen in the nuclear plants. If an industry has a working reactor and it is deprived of the last resort of power supply and heat sink the industry should not have taken the responsibility to operate nuclear plant in the first place and that is what is the key lesson that the Government and nuclear industries all over the world must learn from the Fukushima disaster. It means that the emergency power should be provided from a multiple of means and locations and the heat sink should not be depended on existing water supply alone but on air and alternate water reservoirs. The industry must realise that none of the safety measures like emergency core cooling systems, boric acid sprays did not save Fukushima reactors because even the most critical emergency devices and methods are dependent on the availability of electrical power supply.
15) FUKUSHIMA EXPLOSION CAN OCCUR ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD:
Many countries are misleading that since massive earthquakes and large tsunami waves are specific only to Japan and what happened to reactors at Fukushima in Japan on 11-3-2011 does not apply to other countries and that is a very fatal mistake to mislead the people. Instead, the nuclear industry must show how they can avoid core melt downs under any circumstances by realizing that the industrialists are being tested by nature and that God will keep testing the industry and the people and checking to see if the people are ready to ask the right questions to protect public health, safety of eco-systems and sustainable development of man and nature in the world.
All these above phenomena that led to Fukushima disaster clearly prove that nuclear safety is a myth. The nuclear safety considerations are not at all clearly understood and assimilated by the nuclear experts who select appropriate sites for location of the industry the experts who design the plant by underestimating the location features like potential earthquakes and tsunami and their damaging consequences on the people and their environment. The specialists who deal with manufacturing, construction and commissioning of the nuclear plants and the experts who get involved in the operation and maintenance of the nuclear plants are not fully informed. The experts who prepare the Environmental Impact Assessment reports including Risk Analysis, accident scenarios, emergency response system including timely evacuation to safer places and the experts who operated and maintained the spent fuel storage tanks, the experts who are involved in decommissioning the nuclear plants and the experts who operated and maintained the waste treatment plants and restore the natural resources free from pollution and the experts who monitor the radioactive emissions and ensure the health and welfare of all plant, animal and human population in different ecological systems are not fully qualified as per section 45 and 51 of the Indian Evidence Act. Hence it is the duty of the general public and educated people to debate on all these above crucial aspects and stop all nuclear reactors and destroy all nuclear weapons to save mankind and nature in the interests of leaving this world in a better condition than what we have inherited from our forefathers in the interests of our future generations.
Lessons of Chernobyl and Fukushima: Nuclear Safety is an Oxymoron — DiaNuke.org | DIALOGUES and RESOURCES on Nuclear, Nature and Society — DiaNuke.org
see also: whats up: 25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | NUCLEAR "SAFTEY" = NUCLEAR THREAT, this blog one year ago...
Dr. Helen Caldicott on Fukushima and the Perils of Nuclear Power
Dr. Helen Caldicott on Fukushima and the Perils of Nuclear Power
Earth Focus: Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott discusses with Earth Focus correspondent Miles Benson what the Fukushima disaster really means for the health and future of the people of Japan. Dr. Caldicott also explains the links between nuclear power and public health in the United States and Europe. Dr. Caldicott received her medical degree from the University of Adelaide Medical School. In 1977, she joined the staff of Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston and taught pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School from 1977 to 1978. She served as President of Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization of 23,000 doctors committed to educating others on the dangers of nuclear energy from 1978-1983. She also worked to establish similar groups focused on education about the risks of nuclear energy, nuclear weapons and nuclear war. One such group, International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. She is the author of seven books including: Nuclear Madness (1979); Missile Envy (1984); If You Love This Planet: A Plan to Heal the Earth (1992 and 2009); The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush's Military Industrial Complex (2001 and 2004) and Nuclear Power is Not the Answer to Global Warming or Anything Else (2006). The Smithsonian Institution named Dr. Caldicott as one of the most influential women of the 20th century.
Nuclear Power Aging Reactors & Earthquakes: AlJazeera
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Nuclear Power Aging Reactors & Earthquakes - YouTube
The US has more than 100 reactors similar to Japan's destroyed Fukushima plant. Some located in earthquake zones or close to major cities are now reaching the end of their working lives. People & Power sent Joe Rubin and Serene Fang to investigate.
The Big Six Energy Bash | Campaigning against the UK's addiction to nuclear power
Kick Nuclear, Stop Nuclear Power Network and friends are asking anti-nuclear activists from around the country to mobilise for this and to join them as part of the 'Dirty Energy' bloc at The Big Six Energy Bash in central London on Thursday 3rd May, from 11am, to give EDF Energy and friends a right ole bashin' and expose nuclear power as the false, dirty, dangerous and undemocratic 'solution' to climate change that it is...
more >
Stop Nuclear Power Network: The Big Six Energy Bash
The Big Six Energy Bash | Campaigning against the UK's addiction to nuclear power
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Tuesday 17th April 2012 12:00
http://climatejusticecollective.org/
Tel: 07976689170
Email: climatejusticecollective@gmail.com
For updates, follow @CJ_Collective on Twitter
Climate activists and anti-cuts protesters team up to target UK Energy Summit in 'Big Six Energy Bash'
On 3rd May, hundreds of protesters from across the country will target the UK Energy Summit in the City of London. They intend to stop the conference from going ahead to "challenge the corporate control of energy." [1]
On the programme for The UK Energy Summit are speaker sessions and debates including CEOs of the Big Six energy companies.[2] The Big Six have recently come under widespread criticism for drawing in record profits whilst one quarter of UK households have been pushed into fuel poverty. [3]
The Summit will see Big Six executives convening with government representatives and high level staff from oil giants BP and Shell. Registration for the summit, organised by The Economist magazine, costs over £1000. The event will take place at The Grange Hotel, near St Paul's Cathedral.
The Climate Justice Collective (CJC) – which says it is a national network tackling corporate control, fuel poverty and climate change – is behind the protest titled 'The Big Six Energy Bash'. Stemming from the colourful and confrontational Climate Camp [4], CJC says it is also close to the Occupy movement.
Other groups supporting the Big Six Energy Bash are: UK Uncut, Occupy London, Disabled People Against the Cuts, Kick Nuclear, UK Tar Sands Network, Campaign Against Climate Change, Biofuelwatch, London Rising Tide and Fuel Poverty Action.
Billie Blackwood, CJC said: “This conference is a classic 1% stitch up. It is corporate elites, including the government, conspiring to keep the status quo of high energy prices, soaring profits, growing climate instability and disaster capitalism. This conference is the wrong people asking the wrong questions and proposing the wrong solutions...” | [more]
Climate Justice Collective | About -
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
San Onofre CA: Rally Against Nuclear Power April 29 | Serious Steam Generator Problem, design changes made by Southern California Edison
#A29 ANTI-NUCLEAR RALLY SAN ONOFRE CA
2012 Rally at San Onofre on Fukushima Day 3/11
followup: whats up: Shut Down San Onofre Rally, PHOTOS Apr 29 2012 Three Mile Island! Chernobyl! Fukushima! San Onofre? Rally to Shut SONGS, Sunday, April 29, 2012. A29 San Onofre Protest and Rally EVENT INFO RSVP on Facebook |
more > OB Rag: Rally Against Nuclear Power at San Onofre on April 29th
Down
- A new television ad targeting Southern California Edison calls on residents to let the utility know that their families come first -- and that it must not restart the troubled San Onofre nuclear reactors, which are currently closed due to serious safety problems.
2nd Peaceful Protest at San Onofre April 29, 12 to 3pm | Residents Organized for a Safe Environment
KEEP SONGS SHUTDOWN FOR GOOD
April 6, 2012 press conference of a coalition of activist groups opposing the re-opening of the San Onofre Nuclear Waste Generating Station.
event info > ShutSONGS < Common < CopsWiki
It’s time to close San Onofre nuclear facility | san, nuclear, onofre - Opinion - The Orange County Register
Like billions of people around the world, beginning on March 11, 2011, I struggled to absorb the meaning of the horrific televised images coming from northern Japan. Like others watching from afar, I witnessed the shocking devastation caused by a massive 9.0 earthquake, followed by a 50-foot tsunami. And, like others, I witnessed the unfolding catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where the earthquake and tsunami crippled its operations, leading to nuclear reactor meltdowns, major explosions, and the dreaded release of radioactive gases and particles that spread over vast areas of land and sea...
Mitsubishi Affirms Serious Steam Generator Problem at San Onofre Nuclear Reactors | Residents Organized for a Safe Environment | design changes made by Southern California Edison
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Shaun Burnie | 202.957.1247
April 20, 2012
Mitsubishi Affirms Serious Steam Generator Problem at San Onofre Nuclear Reactors
Reactors Cannot Be Operated During 2012 Summer – Says FOE
SAN FRANCISCO – The Japanese firm responsible for fabricating the failing steam generators at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear reactors announced today that it is undertaking analyses of the causes of the serious, unresolved safety problems.
In papers filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the firm, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, revealed that its reviews will extend at least through the end of August—ensuring that the troubled reactors will not be able to operate through the summer.
The severity of the problems at San Onofre first came to light when one of the reactor’s steam generators leaked radiation at the end of January. The subsequent discovery of unusual levels of wear in steel tubing in the steam generators of both units has caused both reactors to remain shut down since.
“The people of southern California need answers to what exactly is happening at San Onofre. It doesn’t exactly instil confidence in Edison or the NRC that we have to learn about the process from the Japanese fabricator of the damaged steam generators,” said Damon Moglen of Friends of the Earth. “At the same time, Edison and the NRC must explain why Mitsubishi is planning on doing separate root cause analyses of the two reactors, and on a staggered schedule, when it is clear that the technical problems are shared at the steam generators of both reactors.”
“It’s clear that any plans Edison has for restarting either of the reactors this summer must be abandoned. It’s essential that Edison immediately disclose what plans it has for initiating efficiency and conservation measures for the coming peak energy demand months of summer. Consumers can have safe and reliable energy without relying on these ageing and dangerous nuclear reactors,” said Moglen.
Mitsubishi’s filing with the NRC reveals for the first time that the firm is responsible for conducting an analysis for San Onofre reactor unit 2, which is to be completed by May 31, 2012, and another analysis for reactor unit 3, which is due by August 31, 2012.The company provided no justification for conducting separate analyses despite the fact that the steam generators at both reactors are experiencing the same rapid and unexplained wear which has already lead to the release of radiation during the failure of a steam generator tube at unit 3 in January.
Last week, a study by nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen and Fairewinds Associates, commissioned by nuclear watchdog Friends of the Earth, provided the first detailed picture of the extent of design changes made by Southern California Edison at its San Onofre nuclear reactors. These changes likely led to the equipment degradation and failure that has forced the reactors offline, pending a thorough and comprehensive investigation.
Edison confirmed last week that the same type of severe wear in the steam generator tubes in San Onofre unit 3 had been found in unit 2.
The FOE commissioned reports on San Onofre are available at: http://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com/93/86/5/1285/Fairewinds_FOE_Cascading_Steam_Generator_Failures_San_Onofre_2012_4_12.pdf
The NRC event report can be obtained at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2012/20120420en.html#en47833
Gene Stone
links | see also
followup: whats up: Shut Down San Onofre Rally, PHOTOS Apr 29 2012
A29 San Onofre Protest and Rally EVENT INFO
RSVP on Facebook
• whats up: San Onofre: Why it should NEVER reopen! (The activists speak.)
• whats up: NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW - Flyer | Shut San Onofre | Code Killers
OpEdNews - Article: Can we stop those nukes? Wasserman says: You betcha!
OpEdNews | April 20, 2012 | By Joan Brunwasser
Tons.
First, the loan guarantees for the two reactors at Vogtle [Georgia] turn out to be not a done deal. So we are building a national grassroots campaign as fast as possible to beat them. I think that would kill any further prospects for new nukes in the US. We have a petition up at www.nukefree.org , and there are others. It's gotta happen fast, but the stakes are huge, and I think we can win. You've posted my article on it, Joan, so thanks for that.
Next, the old reactors in the US are crumbling fast. Vermont Yankee, Indian Point, San Onofre, Crystal River, Davis-Besse, South Texas and many more have really serious structural and operational issues. The grassroots opposition has become fiercer than ever. The question is: can we shut them all down before the next Three Mile Island / Chernobyl / Fukushima. For all our sakes, we MUST!!!
Next, Vermont is all-out at war with Entergy. The governor, Senator Sanders, the legislature, the grassroots".everybody wants the damn thing shut. But they are resisting, and it'll go the US Supreme Court, where it may become a states rights issue. Even the Gang of Five [Supreme Court conservative majority] has upheld states rights on medical marijuana. Now we'll see if they do it for nukes.
Worldwide the industry is collapsing. Japan may shut its last nuke next month. The only really big question is China. We shall see very soon.
Georgia has become ratepayers' worst nightmare because of CWIP, Construction Work in Progress, which allows utilities to soak them (us!) for rate hikes to pay for nukes WHILE THEY'RE BEING BUILT. This means the utilities have no risk and can build these things forever, with no cost restraints, while forcing the public to pay. It's the ultimate scam. And it means billions in useless, worthless costs that go straight to the pockets of the fat cat executives, who then use much of it to buy and rent the legislatures. Florida is now reeling from this. We had it in NH, which facilitated Seabrook. It's on the table in Iowa. It must be stopped!
I haven't seen the latest polls, and they usually depend on how the question is phrased. But there has been a great global turning against atomic energy, even in France.
This includes the financial community, which will not invest in it, and that's critically important. The tipping point has been reached and renewables are officially cheaper than new nukes. This is a very big deal, and is at the core of why we will ultimately bury this industry...
more > OpEdNews - Article: Can we stop those nukes? Wasserman says: You betcha!
"My guest today is Harvey Wasserman, author of Solartopia! Our Green Powered Earth and long-time anti-nuclear activist. Welcome back to OpEdNews, Harvey. What's new on the nuclear front these days?"
Tons.
First, the loan guarantees for the two reactors at Vogtle [Georgia] turn out to be not a done deal. So we are building a national grassroots campaign as fast as possible to beat them. I think that would kill any further prospects for new nukes in the US. We have a petition up at www.nukefree.org , and there are others. It's gotta happen fast, but the stakes are huge, and I think we can win. You've posted my article on it, Joan, so thanks for that.
[I can't take the credit for that. Someone at OpEdNews beat me to the punch.]
Next, the old reactors in the US are crumbling fast. Vermont Yankee, Indian Point, San Onofre, Crystal River, Davis-Besse, South Texas and many more have really serious structural and operational issues. The grassroots opposition has become fiercer than ever. The question is: can we shut them all down before the next Three Mile Island / Chernobyl / Fukushima. For all our sakes, we MUST!!!
Next, Vermont is all-out at war with Entergy. The governor, Senator Sanders, the legislature, the grassroots".everybody wants the damn thing shut. But they are resisting, and it'll go the US Supreme Court, where it may become a states rights issue. Even the Gang of Five [Supreme Court conservative majority] has upheld states rights on medical marijuana. Now we'll see if they do it for nukes.
Worldwide the industry is collapsing. Japan may shut its last nuke next month. The only really big question is China. We shall see very soon.
Georgia has become a cautionary tale for what can happen to local taxpayers when nuclear plants are built. Can you tell our readers about that, Harvey?
Georgia has become ratepayers' worst nightmare because of CWIP, Construction Work in Progress, which allows utilities to soak them (us!) for rate hikes to pay for nukes WHILE THEY'RE BEING BUILT. This means the utilities have no risk and can build these things forever, with no cost restraints, while forcing the public to pay. It's the ultimate scam. And it means billions in useless, worthless costs that go straight to the pockets of the fat cat executives, who then use much of it to buy and rent the legislatures. Florida is now reeling from this. We had it in NH, which facilitated Seabrook. It's on the table in Iowa. It must be stopped!
How can President Obama resist the powerful lobbies and pro-business interests who fight for nuclear plants? And just how unpopular is nuclear energy? Is it possible that people really want the plants?
I haven't seen the latest polls, and they usually depend on how the question is phrased. But there has been a great global turning against atomic energy, even in France.
This includes the financial community, which will not invest in it, and that's critically important. The tipping point has been reached and renewables are officially cheaper than new nukes. This is a very big deal, and is at the core of why we will ultimately bury this industry...
more > OpEdNews - Article: Can we stop those nukes? Wasserman says: You betcha!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Kudankulam protests | Jaitapur
Kudankulam Atomic Power Project
SEE MORE RECENT POSTS FOR UPDATES: whats up - label: Koodankulam
The Largest, Most Important, Anti-Nuclear Protest You Don't Know About is in Southern India - NIRS Support Indian Protesters; Stop Kudankulam! March 27, 2012 On March 19, 2012, the Indian government gave approval for operation of two Russian-designed nuclear reactors at Kudankulam in southern India. These dangerous reactors have been under construction since 1988 and are obsolete before they even start up. Three million people live within 30 kilometers (18) miles of these reactors, some less than a half-mile away. Meanwhile, a large protest movement has risen in the region and there are currently some 10,000 people protesting nearby. They are being surrounded by thousands of armed police. One of the leaders of this nonviolent resistance is Dr. S.P. Udayakumar, who is also a leader in our NIRS/WISE international network. On March 22, 2012, he was able to get a moving letter to us describing the situation at the protest site. He since has sent two more letters, including one today that indicates more than 170 protesters have been charged with serious crimes. You can read these letters, watch videos, and get more background information here. The Indian government is threatening to arrest Dr. Udayakumar and charge him with terrorism and "waging war" against India. We are asking every one, from every country, to take action and tell India's top government officials: 1. Leave the protesters alone. 2. Close Kudankulam before it opens. These reactors are simply too dangerous--to Indians and to the rest of the world--to allow their operation. Thank you and please share widely. Support Indian Protesters; Stop Kudankulam! |
Nearly 500 women from the coastal hamlets around KKNPP joined the fast with 24 activists who were observing the fast-unto-death stir since May 1 last. The anti-nuclear protesters, including women and children, were assembling in large numbers in the protest venue. Talking to newsmen, M Pushparayan, a key activist of PMANE, claimed though more number of women activists were willing to join the fast, they were being prevented and intimidated by the police.
The women from different villages had enrolled their names to participate in the indefinite fast but did not visit the venue due to possible police harassment, he said. "Police have blocked the entrance of the villages and threaten the hired vehicle drivers not to transport people to Idinthakarai village. Even if they dared, police threaten them to cancel their vehicle licenses. So, the drivers are not willing to come to Idinthakarai.
The police have deployed anti-riot vehicles Vajra and Varun at the entrances of the villages," he said. Meanwhile, health condition of the 25 activists who were on fast since May 1, had started deteriorating and their pulse rates were going down. One of the activists, Vinoth was admitted to the hospital today, he added.
Kudankulam Atomic Power Project is a nuclear power station under construction in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Construction has been delayed due to anti-nuclear protests by the locals and People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy.
An Inter-Governmental Agreement on the project was signed on November 20, 1988 by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, for the construction of two reactors. The project remained in limbo for a decade due to the political and economic upheaval in Russia after the post-1991 Soviet breakup. There were also objections from the United States, on the grounds that the agreement does not meet the 1992 terms of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Construction eventually began in 1997...
In 2008 negotiation on building four additional reactors at the site began. Though the capacity of these reactors has not been declared, it is expected that the capacity of each reactor will be 1000 MW or 1 GW. The new reactors would bring the total capacity of the power plant to 9200 MW or 9.2 GW.
Thousands of protesters, belonging to the vicinity of the plant, have used various means to protest against the plant fearing a Fukushima like disaster. The protesters base their objection on the "more than 1 million people live within the 30 km radius of the KKNPP which far exceeds the AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) stipulations. It is quite impossible to evacuate this many people quickly and efficiently in case of a nuclear disaster at Koodankulam", etc. According to S P Udayakumar, of the voluntary People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, "the nuclear plant is unsafe" and "the safety analysis report and the site evaluation study have not been made public. No public hearing was held. It's an authoritarian project that has been imposed on the people." A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has also been filed against the government’s civil nuclear programme at the apex Supreme Court. The PIL specifically asks for the "staying of all proposed nuclear power plants till satisfactory safety measures and cost-benefit analyses are completed by independent agencies". Protesters said that even advanced countries like Germany have decided to shutdown all its 17 Nuclear reactors through which the country gets 23% of its energy. Gopal Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, former West Bengal governor also said that an "Indian Fukushima cannot be ruled out and government needs to convince people about safety aspects of the project."
In March 2012, police said they had arrested nearly 200 anti-nuclear protesters objecting resumption of work of building one of two 1 GW reactors, a day after the local government restarted work on the project.
Kudankulam Atomic Power Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Protesting Kudankulam Atomic Power Project
Protest Song Against Koodankulam Nuclear Plant
The People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy is an anti-nuclear power group in Tamil Nadu, India, founded about 2003. The aim of the group is to close the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant site and to preserve the largely untouched coastal landscape, as well as educate locals about nuclear power.
S.P. Udayakumar, a Ph.D. in Political Science, is leader of the group. He lives in a village around 30km (18 miles) from the plant site. Udayakumar believes nuclear power benefits only "industrial India", and not the common man. He says the movement has a clear aim: "Our end game is to close down this nuclear power plant. We think that this will have a disastrous impact on our livelihood, on our future generations. Because the Indian government never talks about waste, never talks about decommissioning. It does not tell us the full story."
In March 2012, Udayakumar said: "We have been carrying out hunger strikes, rallies, public meetings, seminars, conferences, and other demonstrations such as shaving our heads, cooking on the street, burning the models of the nuclear plants. This struggle has been going on for the past 197 days and the morale of the people is still very very high".
People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
More sedition cases against anti-nuke protestors than Maoists, militants
The speed and determination with which the Tamil Nadu government has been slapping its citizens right, left and centre with colonial-era laws, it would seem as if a full-fledged war of independence is raging in the fishing villages of Idinthakarai and Kudankulam along the coast of Tamil Nadu.
According to findings by a team led senior journalist Sam Rajappa, in just four months between September (when the protest movement against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant began to gather momentum) and December 2011, over 6,000 people have been charged under Section 121 (waging war against the government) and Section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Kudankulam police station.
The majority of the cases are against PMANE convenor SP Udayakumar. Firstpost
Commenting on the report Nityanand Jayaraman, a member of the Solidarity Group for Koodankulam Struggle said, “The Kudankulam police station has the dubious distinction, perhaps, of being a station where the largest number of sedition and waging war cases have been filed in the shortest time in the history of colonial and Independent India...”
more > More sedition cases against anti-nuke protestors than Maoists, militants | Firstpost
in the news
Koodankulam: People's movement against nuclear energy - DINAMALAR
The Hindu : Cities / Madurai : “A genuine people's movement”
thehindu.com - A five-member fact-finding team of the Chennai Solidarity Group for Kudankulam Struggle has stated in a report that the administration had restricted the movement of essential goods and people... thehindu.com
Don't lose the plot now
thehindu.com - The continuing efforts to criminalise protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project and portray all opposition to nuclear energy as anti-national must be unequivocally condemned... thehindu.com
Inside Kudankulam
theweekendleader.com - A fact finding team that visited Idinthakarai village recently has found the State cracking down on the peaceful agitation against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant with its full might... theweekendleader.com
Kudankulam nuke plant row intensifies as activist slams govt's atomic energy body
newstrackindia.com - Chennai, Wed, 18 Apr 2012 ANI Chennai, Apr 18 (ANI): Criticizing the Department of Atomic Energy, anti-nuclear activist Neeraj Jain has urged the Central Government to halt operations...
Kudankulam nuclear protest - Google Search NEWS - 1 week
see also
Koodankulam — DiaNuke.org
Latest Updates From Koodankulam — DiaNuke.org
Jaitapur
Jaitapur, No thank you! — DiaNuke.org
Jaitapur, No thank you!
BATTLEGROUND JAITAPUR
Anny Poursinoff intervened in the French Assembly on 9 February to oppose the deal between France and India on civil nuclear energy and extend support to the people of Jaitapur who refuse the installation by Areva of two EPR power plants in a seismic zone 400 km from Bombay.This text was not supposed to be discussed, but at the request of the Green Party, the opposition was able to impose a debate. The text of the speech is below.
(Translated from French for DiaNuke.org by Dalel Benbabaali)
Jaitapur, no thank you!
Mr. President,
Mr. Minister,
Dear colleagues,
I thank my colleagues in the opposition who, at our request, made this debate possible.
Indeed, nothing about nukes is trivial. The Court of Auditors recently agreed with the environmentalists on the hidden costs of this industry.
We are now asked to facilitate intellectual exchange on civil nuclear energy between France and India.
In fact, we fear that the agreement is linked to the installation by Areva of EPR nuclear power plants in Jaitapur, an area rich in biodiversity and a seismic zone, 400 kilometers from Bombay, the Indian economic metropolis.
A few days before the anniversary of Fukushima, after the report of the Nuclear Safety Authority showing that power plants are not infallible, our Indian friends themselves have doubts: they asked Areva to strengthen the security of computer systems.
Indeed, in a country ranked fourth as a terrorist target, the risk of attacks adds to the risk of accidents.
But the EPR is particularly dangerous. It produces plutonium and uses MOX, whose radioactivity is 5 to 7 times superior to that of uranium fuel.
Through this agreement, we are asked therefore to take the risk of a new Fukushima and another Hiroshima.
No, I’m not exaggerating.
You know it, India and Pakistan have developed nuclear weapons. These two rivals have not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
You also know that France is selling weapons to both countries – let us remember the case of Karachi or the recent sale of over a hundred fighter jets to India.
The agreement on intellectual property could open the door to the transfer of technology which could be used for military purposes, whether uranium processing and enrichment or plutonium production .
Yet, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, last June, banned the export of sensitive equipments to countries that have not signed the nonproliferation treaty.
So we are asked to take the risk of breaking international laws.
The French government is ready to do anything to sell plants!
I say here solemnly: I hope that negotiations with India on nuclear power will fail.
Democracy requires it: the local population is opposed to the installation of Areva power plants. A protester has already paid with his life!
Scientific and economic reasons require it as well.
Five years of delay for the EPR in Finland! Four years of delay in Flamanville! An addition that never ceases to grow!
Why offer our Indian friends such a poisoned gift?
Our cooperation should be around peaceful activities such as the fight against global warming, instead of focusing on the energies of death, arms sales and nukes!
“We must safeguard the jobs created by Areva!”, my pro-nuclear colleagues will say.
But technology transfers, whose patents India does not recognize, does nothing to protect employees of the French nuclear sector. The Indians have excellent scientists and excellent engineers!
As for the excuse of economic development, it does not stand. Local people do not get the jobs generated by nukes, studies in Tamil Nadu have shown.
The people of Jaitapur understood it: they refuse to be expropriated, they do not want these plants.
Neither do we!
I’ll try to say it in Hindi: Jaitapur, ji nahi!
Jaitapur no thank you!
The French government showed a criminal bad faith. On the one hand it proclaims that there is no risk with nuclear power, on the other it pressurizes its Indian counterparts to change their legislation.
Indian provisions state that the manufacturer is responsible in case of disaster.
After Bhopal, we understand the wisdom of the Indian government vis-à-vis unscrupulous Western industrial partners.
Now the President of the French Republic himself asked the Indian Prime Minister of India to relax the law. Why? Because Areva does not want to be liable for a nuclear accident in Jaitapur?
Neither do we, we do not want to bear this responsibility.
But the best way to avoid another Fukushima is to give up the building these plants, which are located, I repeat, in a seismic zone … like Fessenheim!
French environmentalists have expressed their solidarity with the protests of Indian civil society.
I request you, dear colleagues, to do the same, and to vote against this text.
In France as in India, future generations must be protected from disasters and nuclear waste.
DIALOGUES and RESOURCES on Nuclear, Nature and Society — DiaNuke.org
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