Saturday, June 27, 2015

Petition: Don't Nuke the Climate | Wise International | #BustTheMyth • #DontNuketheClimate



#DontNuketheClimate!

Pro-nuclear lobbies and countries want us to believe that the support for nuclear energy - in society and among environmental groups - is growing. In reality that is clearly not the case. But our common position needs to be more outspoken and visible. This petition shows: hundreds of organisations, representing millions of people, saying that nuclear power is a false solution. We will take this petition to Paris, and make sure the negotiators hear our voice!


Sign the petition | Wise International


also:


"We do not support construction of new nuclear reactors as a means of addressing the climate crisis. Available renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are faster, cheaper, safer and cleaner strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions than nuclear power."
SIGN NOW





whats up: #BustTheMyth
you can't nuke global warming!



Feds Finalize $8.3 Billion in Taxpayer-Backed Loan Guarantees for Over Budget, Significantly Delayed Vogtle Nuclear Reactors as Alleged “Benefits” to Georgia Power’s Customers Have Eroded, Experts Say | SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy



Atlanta, Ga. (June 24, 2015) ///PRESS RELEASE/// On the heels of Tuesday’s all-day public hearing on the 12th semi-annual Vogtle Construction Monitoring (VCM) report (Docket 29849) at the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), which underscored more schedule delays and at least $1.4 billion in cost increases just for Georgia Power’s share of the two Toshiba-Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors under construction at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro along the Savannah River, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued the remaining $1.8 billion in federal loan guarantees to MEAG, a utility partner in the project. Despite testimony from the PSC Public Interest Advocacy (PIA) staff expert witnesses that identified at least an additional 3-month delay, constituting a 3 1/2 year overall project delay, and stressed that significant obstacles remain that could further derail the schedule, the DOE finalized the remaining portion of the $8.3 billion loan guarantee.

more: Feds Finalize $8.3 Billion in Taxpayer-Backed Loan Guarantees for Over Budget, Significantly Delayed Vogtle Nuclear Reactors as Alleged “Benefits” to Georgia Power’s Customers Have Eroded, Experts Say | SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Pope Francis' Encyclical on nuclear power and climate (and much more on nukes/climate) | Background Information on Climate Change and Nuclear Power @NIRS




Background Information on Climate Change and Nuclear Power - NIRS

June 22, 2015. Pope Francis' Encyclical on climate includes several passages highly skeptical of nuclear power as a technology, and thus as a climate solution. Excerpts here.

June 17, 2015. Important new report from Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School's Mark Cooper: Power Shift: The Deployment of a 21st Century Electricity Sector and the Nuclear War to Stop It. Describes how the nuclear power industry is seeking consumer bailouts for its uneconomic reactors while working to undermine adoption of clean renewable energy.

December 1, 2014. 148 groups, thousands of individuals, tell EPA to remove nuclear power support from Clean Power Plan Proposal. CommentsPress ReleaseAdditional technical commentssubmitted by NIRS.
32 organizations submitted additional substantive comments on legal and technical deficiencies in the Clean Power Plan proposal.
Exhibit A: Supporting comments from Dr. Arjun Mahkijani of Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
Exhibit B: Supporting comments from Mark Cooper, Vermont Law School
Exhibit C: Literature survey of health effects of uranium mining from Chris Shuey, Southwest Research and Information Center

October 7, 2014. Naomi Klein: Dr. James Hansen is wrong on nuclear power. 


July 16, 2014. Flyer: Talking Points on nuclear power in EPA's proposed carbon reduction rule. pdf versionjpg version.

June 19, 2014. Recording of last night's NIRS national telebriefing on nuclear power and climate, featuring Michael Mariotte, Hunter Lovins and Tim Judson. mp3 format.

June 18, 2014. Conversation between Professor Benjamin Sovacool and NIRS' Executive Director Tim Judson on nuclear power and climate. Prepared for June 18, 2014 national teleconference on nukes and climate. mp3 file.

June 4, 2014. NIRS factsheet: Nuclear Power and Climate: Why Nukes Can't Save the Planet. Two-page sheet suitable for downloading/printing on the basic reasons nuclear power is not a global warming solution and, in fact, would be counterproductive at addressing the climate crisis.

June 2, 2014. EPA carbon rule offers misguided subsidies for uneconomic, aging and dangerous nuclear reactors; carbon reductions would be greater and costs lower if such reactors were replaced with renewables and efficiency. NIRS press release.

February 5, 2014. Important new post on GreenWorld. Japanese scientists/diplomat respond to Dr. Hansen et al: Nuclear power is not the answer to climate change mitigation.

February 4, 2014. Civil Society Institute (CSI): The Renewable Energy Transition Has Begun. Reply in Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to an article in support of nuclear as a climate change strategy, which itself was a response to Hansen et al letter and NIRS/CSI grassroots statement in opposition to nuclear.

January 8, 2014. 300+ environmental and clean energy organizations urge Dr. James Hansen and three other climate scientists to rethink embrace of nuclear power--it's no solution to the climate crisis. Press release from NIRS and Civil Society Institute. Text of letter, including signers...

AND MUCH MORE at:
Background Information on Climate Change and Nuclear Power - NIRS

Nuclear Information and Resource Service - NIRS



whats up: #BustTheMyth
you can't nuke global warming!


Monday, June 22, 2015

Aging Nuclear Power Plant Must Close Before It Closes Us



We must face facts regarding the Indian Point nuclear plant. It’s infrastructure is aging, its safety is dubious and most everyone knows it. What many people don’t know is that it can be replaced at little cost to ratepayers—and energy technologies taking its place would create new economic opportunities for New York.
Indian Point—just 38 miles north of New York City—is vulnerable to terrorism, has 2,000 tons of radioactive waste packed into leaking pools and relies on an unworkable evacuation plan. While some argue that transformer accidents—such as the one that occurred last month—can happen at any power facility, they happen with astonishing frequency at Indian Point. Its age is problematic: You wouldn’t rely on a 40-year-old appliance, why extend this trust to a nuclear plant? Moreover, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) says Indian Point 3 has the highest risk of earthquake damage of all the nation’s reactors. About 20 million people live within 50 miles of Indian Point. If a catastrophic accident occurred, the consequences would be unimaginable...


more: Aging Nuclear Power Plant Must Close Before It Closes Us


Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Don't Nuke the Climate!


Don't Nuke the Climate!

Today, seven international clean energy organizations launched a major new campaign in support of a nuclear-free, carbon-free energy system and to prevent nuclear power from being considered as a climate solution when the world's governments meet at the COP 21 conference in Paris in December 2015.

A press release announcing the campaign is available here.

The groups are organizing a large and highly visible nuclear-free, carbon-free contingent to participate and demonstrate in events in Paris, much as we did at the People's Climate March in September 2014 in New York City.

At the COP 6 conference in The Hague in 2000, we successfully kept nuclear power out of global carbon trading mechanisms. In Paris in 2015, we will keep nuclear power out of all new climate initiatives. Nuclear power is not a solution to the climate crisis--in fact, its use is counterproductive and prevents deployment of the clean energy technologies that can and will power our world cleanly, safely and affordably.

As a first step, we will be presenting the petition below to world leaders in December. 
All Organizations: please sign the petition here.

Individuals: if you are signing on behalf of yourself and not an organization, please sign the petition below and then help us spead the word.

Use the icons above to share this action page via e-mail and on social media before signing the petition. You can also send this url to your friends and colleagues:

The text of the petition is also available in FrenchSpanish, and German. But no matter your language, please sign below.
U.S campaign page is here. International campaign page is here.
The climate crisis belongs to the defining issues of our time.

In December 2015, we will join movements for climate action, sustainable energy, and environmental, gender and social justice in Paris. As a Nuclear-Free and Carbon-Free Contingent, we demand immediate action from all of the governments of the world at the COP21 Climate Conference.

Under the expiring Kyoto Protocol, nuclear energy is rightly excluded from the possible solutions available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the nuclear industry, in collaboration with certain nations, is lobbying for their dangerous and polluting technology to be seen as a climate-friendly option. This would obstruct real progress in protecting the climate.

The solutions to the climate crisis are evident and can be brought to scale through international cooperation and investment now. We must transition to an energy system that no longer depends on antiquated energy models of the 20th century and their polluting nuclear power and fossil fuel technologies, but instead rely on safe, clean, affordable and sustainable renewable energy, energy efficiency, conservation and modern grid technologies of the 21st century.

Nuclear power manifests a wide range of human rights violations, from the rights to life and health, to disproportionate impacts on indigenous peoples, women, children, and future generations. In addition, nuclear power is unacceptable because it is:

• Too dangerous: the use of nuclear power will inevitably lead to more Fukushimas and Chernobyls. The technology and materials needed to generate nuclear energy can be diverted to nuclear weapons programs. These risks remain with any new reactor designs.

• Too dirty: nuclear reactors and the nuclear fuel chain produce vast amounts of lethal radioactive waste, which grow whenever nuclear power is used. The nuclear fuel chain is responsible for far more carbon emissions than renewable energy generation and improved energy efficiency. All reactors routinely emit toxic radiation.

• Too expensive: building new reactors is the costliest means possible of reducing carbon emissions. The world’s existing reactor fleets are aging and becoming economically uncompetitive; and the continued use of nuclear power crowds out investment in clean energy sources.

• Too slow: use of nuclear power to reduce fossil fuel emissions would require an unprecedented nuclear construction program, beyond the capability of the world’s manufacturers within an acceptable time frame. Existing reactors should be phased out consistent with climate action imperatives.

All that is lacking is the political will! In Paris, we will march, demonstrate and rally to break the gridlock and show the world the necessity to leave the unsustainable path of nuclear energy now. 

Don't Nuke the Climate!

Nuclear Information and Resource Service - NIRS






"We do not support construction of new nuclear reactors as a means of addressing the climate crisis. Available renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are faster, cheaper, safer and cleaner strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions than nuclear power."
SIGN NOW -



whats up: #BustTheMyth
you can't nuke global warming!





Monday, June 15, 2015

7.24 :: ★安倍政権NO! ☆ 0724 首相官邸包囲 | 首都圏反原発連合






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*首都圏反原発連合は実行委員会事務局として参画しています。

▼情報拡散にご協力下さい!
【安倍政権NO! ☆ 0724 首相官邸包囲】7月24日(金) 18:30〜日比谷野音集会/19:00〜首相官邸包囲 #安倍政権NO #首相官邸を包囲せよ →pic.twitter.com/8SYGtryYk6 http://coalitionagainstnukes.jp/?p=6674



★安倍政権NO! ☆ 0724 首相官邸包囲 | 首都圏反原発連合

Friday, June 12, 2015

UBS: Solar will be the default technology, and will replace nukes and coal | GreenWorld


Global solar growth as projected by UBS. Solar has barely even begun its growth spurt...
Global solar growth as projected by UBS. Solar has barely even begun its growth spurt…
A key factor in our belief that a nuclear-free, carbon-free energy system is not only inevitable but will be here sooner than nearly everyone currently believes, is not just the factual evidence of its mind-boggling, rocketing growth. Renewables are growing from a very small percentage of generating capacity–it would take many years of expansion at even their present staggering rate for them to play a major role in providing the world’s electricity. But that well-documented growth is the necessary starting point.

more: UBS: Solar will be the default technology, and will replace nukes and coal | GreenWorld


whats up: #BustTheMyth
you can't nuke global warming!


Thursday, June 11, 2015

Solartopia or Fukushima, USA – California’s Choice | VIDEO



▶ VIDEO: California can be Solartopia - Harvey Wasserman https://youtu.be/4HM-VloabV8

The ‘Bellwether Sunshine State’ At the Crossroads
With one of its last two remaining nuclear plants now shutdown, and one more under growing public and legal pressure to follow soon, California now has the opportunity to once again take the lead in the inevitable global transition to renewable energy. The alternative is to risk following Japan into nuclear energy catastrophe brinksmanship.
That was the urgent and empowering take-home message of a community meeting held May 9, 2015 in Malibu, CA, just north of Los Angeles. The meeting was sponsored by the Malibu Democratic Club, and emceed by Solartopia author Harvey Wasserman – whose declared life purpose is to shutdown America’s fleet of aging nuclear power plants, and foster the switch to renewable energy...
more: Solartopia or Fukushima, USA – California’s Choice | PlanetarianPerspectives.net


Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Four Years Since Fukushima, Calls Grow for Nuclear-Free World




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By Lauren McAuley. 

This article first appeared at Common Dreams on March 11, 2015
Crisis lives on as 250,000 Japanese still reside in temporary housing while struggle to contain hundreds of thousands of tons of radioactive water continues.
Four years since disaster struck the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on March 11, 2011—with nightmare yet to abate—the call for a future beyond nuclear power also continues.
In the wake of the three reactor core meltdowns, which were triggered when the plant was hit by a tsunami stemming from a 9.0 earthquake, widespread nuclear contamination remains. Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, continues to wrestle with how to contain increasing amounts of radioactive water, which was pumped in to cool the melted fuel rods within the reactors.
Roughly 500,000 tons of tainted water needs to be disposed of, threatening unknown environmental impacts in the region, while radioactive water continues to seep, and is dumped, into the Pacific Ocean.
Meanwhile, 250,000 Japanese citizens remain in temporary housing. Despite this, Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe continues to insist that nuclear energy is an essential part of the country’s energy future.
Kendra Ulrich, global energy campaigner at Greenpeace Japan, argues that instead of pushing to restart its reactors, the Japanese government should look to its own country as an example of how “we do not need to accept this dirty, dangerous, and outdated technology—neither to keep the lights on nor to meet carbon reduction targets.”
“Those who created the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe know that their nuclear power plants have no place in a modern Japan. And they are fighting as hard as they can to stop clean energy progress and shore up their dirty-energy-based profits.” —Kendra Ulrich, Greenpeace Japan”
“As of the fourth Fukushima Daiichi disaster anniversary, the country will be nearly a year and a half without a single reactor online—and not a single blackout or brownout as a result,” Ulrich notes.
On Wednesday, members of the Japanese and European Greens Parties released a joint statement addressing the myriad ways the crisis continues to unfold. They write:
The number of evacuated persons who cannot return to their homes is in the hundreds of thousands, many of who still live in difficult conditions. Whole families were torn apart, yet the subsequent processing of financial compensation and reparation has been severely delayed and is not even sufficient to ensure people a decent living, let alone set up a new life.
Concern about the long-term health risks is also growing. A rise in the incidents of thyroid cancer among children, who lived close to the power plant at the time of the accident, is striking. Since radiation exposure is more prevalent in the young, 370,000 children and adolescents, who used to live in the prefecture, will be regularly screened for thyroid cancer throughout their lives. Sadly, every year the number of ill children is rising.
The statement notes that Japan also faces a contaminated water crisis, which is further exacerbated by TEPCO’s infamous secrecy. Calling for a global ban on nuclear energy, the statement says world governments must instead “actualize a transition to a sustainable energy policy and society.”
Similar messages were echoed in statements across the world, as civilians, environmental groups and others marked the anniversary by warning against a nuclear future.
In Tokyo on Sunday, 23,000 Japanese marked the anniversary by protesting the country’s efforts to restart the beleaguered nuclear power industry. Rallying in front of Japan’s parliament, the demonstrators called decommissioning all nuclear plants across the country and Asia.
“The recovery effort in Fukushima Daiichi is making no progress as they keep contaminating the ocean and fail to bring the situation under control,” Arirang News quoted a protester as saying. “In fact, it’s getting worse in many respects. We want to tell the world that the Fukushima nuclear accident has never ended, and it continues to affect all of us.”
The ongoing plant closures and growing global rejection of nuclear energy have been credited to a strong grassroots push. As anti-nuclear activist Harvey Wasserman noted in a post on Wednesday, the shutdown of all 54 Japanese reactors is the “largest on-going nuke closer in history.” Meanwhile, in the U.S. five reactors have shut down since March 11, 2011 and many European nations, where nuclear plays a large role, are also committing to phase out their reactors.
As Ulrich adds: “Those who created the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe know that their nuclear power plants have no place in a modern Japan. And they are fighting as hard as they can to stop clean energy progress and shore up their dirty-energy-based profits.”
Also Wednesday, U.S. nuclear engineer and whistleblower Arnie Gundersen published a searing attack on the nuclear industry.
“Let’s be clear, the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi was manmade,” Gundersen wrote. “Tokyo Electric (TEPCO) and indeed the entire nuclear industry worldwide act as if they are the victims of a natural disaster, but in fact the nuclear industry is the perpetrator of this travesty.”
“At each nuclear catastrophe: Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and again at Fukushima Daiichi, the companies, governments, and agencies responding to these disasters were not working to protect people, but worked instead to protect the ongoing operation and potential future of nuclear power,” Gundersen continued.
“Of all the ways electricity is produced, nuclear technology is the only one that can destroy the fabric of a country overnight,” he added.

Four Years Since Fukushima, Calls Grow for Nuclear-Free World




whats up: #BustTheMyth
you can't nuke global warming!


Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Petition: Japan, Don't Restart Nuclear Plant Near Active Volcano!




In hopes of reviving Japan’s atomic energy industry, its Nuclear Agency just gave the go-ahead to restart two reactors at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant. But these are located in Satsumasendai, an earthquake and active volcano area.
Authorities claim the plants meet new standards put in place since the Fukushima disaster, but it appears pressure from the rising costs of gas and oil imports is rushing the country into reopening plants that may not be ready to withstand another natural disaster.

Although Chairman Tanaka says safety inspections are now more prevention-focused, protestors plan to voice clear opposition to reopening the Sendai reactors in the upcoming month of public consultation.

Of greatest concern is that an active Level 3 volcano, Sakurajima, is only about 30 miles from the Sendai plant. Another worry is that restarting a plant in such a high-risk zone will expedite the opening of five more similar plants.

Although there would be economic gain from reopening the Sendai plant, the enormous long-term risks posed by it‘s proximity to an active volcano, just don’t seem to justify the short-term benefits.
Ask Japan not to turn on nuclear reactors near an active volcano.

SIGN NOW > Petition: Japan, Don't Restart Nuclear Plant Near Active Volcano!


Monday, June 1, 2015

6.5 NL: From Media to Manga, How Japan’s Pop Culture Changed After Fukushima � Global Voices



Leiden University in the Netherlands will host Safety and Disaster in Japanese Popular Culture after Fukushima, a one-day workshop on Friday, June 5 featuring panel discussions that is open to the public...



Screenshot of Psycho-Pass website. Pyscho-Pass is a dystopic anime inspired by the 3.11 disasters.


more: From Media to Manga, How Japan’s Pop Culture Changed After Fukushima | Global Voices