Monday, March 30, 2015

Nuclear Hero Wanted! The 2015 Nuclear-Free Future Award




– Last Call for Nominations for the 2015 Nuclear-Free Future Award - Friends around the world: Please, take a moment and consider a nomination for our award! In your world you might find a hero of the nuclear age. Do not hesitate to bring him/her to our attention.

International Uranium
Film Festival Rio de Janeiro
Rua Monte Alegre, 356 / 301
Santa Teresa
Rio de Janeiro / RJ
CEP 20240-194
Brasil
www.uraniumfilmfestival.org
info@uraniumfilmfestival.org




Nominierungen für den Nuclear-Free Future Award 2015 - Nuclear-Free Future Award Foundation


thanks to  Marcia Gomes de Oliveira of International Uranium Film Festival!

The Nuclear-Free Future Award on facebook –
facebook.com/.../The-Nuclear-Free-Future-Award/...

Sunday, March 29, 2015

26 of April is #Chernobyl 29º anniversary. see blog posts


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


SEARCH BLOG for "Chernobyl"


see also, on Wikipedia –en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Three Mile Island: Writing the Nuclear Accident Playbook



TMI Speech at Penn State


By Arnie Gundersen

– People today who are familiar with social media think that TMI means “Too Much Information”. But to me, and anyone listening to the news in 1979, TMI will always represent the disaster at Three Mile Island, when the public received too little information, not too much.

 At the time of the nuclear disaster at TMI, there were plans to build more than 200 nuclear plants in the US, with some projections topping 1,000.  Today, less than 100 nuclear plants are operating in the US.  During the 1970’s, the total amount invested in those early plants easily exceeded one trillion dollars.  If the public became fearful of nuclear power, then the nuclear industry, investors, and banks that had loaned money would face huge losses, so the nuclear industry and nuclear regulators tried desperately to minimize the significance of what was happening at the crippled reactor.

 The pattern of denial created by the nuclear industry during the TMI meltdown had at least five steps in its playbook:

1. Make it appear that “authorities” have the situation under control.

2. Delay any evacuation orders for as long as possible.

3. Claim radiation releases are much lower than they actually are.

4. Claim radiation exposures are acceptable and that no one will die.

5. And lastly, minimize conflicting information given to the press through paid off experts.

 The formula for damage control at TMI was designed by the nuclear industry composed a one size fits all “playbook” the industry has followed for all nuclear catastrophes since TMI.  Comments made during the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi by utility owner Tokyo Electric could easily mimic those made at Chernobyl and TMI!  When Maggie and I saw these old tricks being played again at Fukushima Daiichi, we dedicated ourselves to ensuring that the public has an accessible resource on which to rely that provides accurate information, and thus the Fairewinds videos were born.

 In this video posted to commemorate the TMI disaster, I discuss the pattern of denial regarding nuclear power plant failures and meltdowns, not just for TMI but also for Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi as well.  We at Fairewinds Energy Education hope you will watch it and think about sharing the true facts with others.


includes transcript & Arnie Gundersen's Expert Witness Report – Three Mile Island Litigation – Writing the Nuclear Meltdown Playbook



Wednesday, March 25, 2015

The 2015 Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act - Needs Support! | Tri-Valley CAREs




At Tri-Valley CAREs we appreciate all you do to help achieve a more peaceful, just and nuclear weapons free world. Today, we offer you a concrete opportunity to move the government in that direction by cutting the budget for nuclear weapons. Here's how...

As you know from our e-alerts, President Obama's recent budget request contains a double-digit increase for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and squanders billions on new nuclear weapons programs.

Right now, Congress is beginning the legislative process to decide what the actual budget for nuclear weapons will be. This is where you and your Senators and Representative enter the picture...

This month, companion bills will be introduced in the House and Senate that would save $100 billion over the next ten years by making targeted reductions to U.S nuclear weapons and the NNSA nuclear weapons complex. Both bills are called the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act.

Are your Senators cosponsors yet? How about your Representative?

Current Senate SANE Act cosponsors are: Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders.

Current House SANE Act cosponsors are: Earl Blumenauer, John Conyers, Donna Edwards, Sam Farr, Raul Grijalva, Barbara Lee, Jim McGovern, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jared Polis, Louise Slaughter, Jackie Speier.

If your members of Congress are on the list, call and tell them "thank you". If not, call your representatives and ask them to cosponsor the SANE Act. In the Senate, ask them to contact Sen. Ed Markey to sign up. In the House, ask them to contact Rep. Earl Blumenauer to sign up as a cosponsor.

The Capitol Switchboard is: (202) 224-3121. Call as soon as possible.


more: Tri-Valley CAREs


4.15-25 URANIUM FILM FESTIVAL 2015 QUEBEC | International Uranium Film Festival




Press Releases
Feb 12, 2015
The 5th International Uranium Film Festival 2015 starts this year in Canada, Quebec. It is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Atomic Bomb and the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki in 1945. The festival runs from April 15 to 25 in Quebec City, (Film List) Concorde hotel, together with World Uranium Symposium. In addition special screenings are planned April 20 in Mistissini, the largest community of the James Bay Crees in Quebec, and April 22  in Montreal.



QUEBEC URANIUM FESTIVAL | International Uranium Film Festival


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Doomsday Clock Moves Closer to Midnight As California's Last Active Nuke Plant Puts Millions at Risk | EcoWatch




...Global climate change and the nuclear weapons industry were listed as the primary threats, but the Bulletin’s analysis also cited “the leadership failure on nuclear power.” The Bulletin noted that “the international community has not developed coordinated plans to meet the challenges that nuclear power faces in terms of cost, safety, radioactive waste management, and proliferation risk.” The triple meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant in 2011 brought the issue to global attention after an unpredictable earthquake stronger than the plant was built to withstand overwhelmed the reactors in conjunction with a massive tsunami. This unprecedented disaster even led the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to establish a Fukushima Lessons Learned Division. But the situation at California’s last remaining active nuclear plant has generated widespread concern about whether the NRC has learned anything at all from Fukushima.

Diablo Canyon—An American nuclear plant with troubling similarities to Fukushima
The Diablo Canyon Power Plant near scenic San Luis Obispo on the Golden State’s central coast sits in an area where several new fault lines have been discovered over the decades. Controversy flared in 2014 due to revelations about regulatory safety questions from the plant’s former senior resident inspector Michael Peck, who served in that role from 2007-12. Peck became concerned that new seismic data suggested the plant was operating outside the safety margins of its license. He issued a non-concurrence in 2012, a Dissenting Professional Opinion in 2013 and a DPO Appeal in 2014. Debate between Peck and his bosses at the NRC has centered around what methodology should be used to determine whether the plant could survive a massive quake it might not be built to withstand...

complete article: Doomsday Clock Moves Closer to Midnight As California's Last Active Nuke Plant Puts Millions at Risk | EcoWatch


Uranium Waste is Toxic & We Don't Want It

GO: Uranium Waste is Toxic & We Don't Want It



Really? Yes. We want you to send a note to the  EPA

Owe Aku is a grassroots organization of Lakota people and our allies founded to promote the protection of sacred water and preservation of our territorial lands.  Our actions for environmental justice rely upon cultural revitalization as our major tool in achieving our goals.  The principle location from which are operations are based are on Lakota territory along Wounded Knee Creek on what is called the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation .  More information on our work can be found at www.oweakuinternational.org
Greetings! I have copied and pasted below a letter to the EPA regarding its request for comments concerning the proposed regulations of In Situ Leach (ISL) uranium mining. You can copy, paste and email to the EPA, or write your own letter, but PLEASE do take action at this time. Deadline for comments is April 27. Thank you all so much!

Please send on to your friends who may do the same. Wopila.
Wioweya Najin Win
Air and Radiation Docket
Environmental Protection Agency
Mailcode: 2822T
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
Washington, DC 20460
email: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov

RE: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2012-0788

March 23, 2015

To whom it may concern:

Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on EPA’s proposed health and environmental  standards for uranium mill tailings under 40 C.F.R. part 192.

EPA’s current standards under part 192 are outdated and do not address in-situ leach (ISL) uranium recovery operations, which are now the largest kind of uranium mining and milling operations in the nation. It is high time for EPA to update its standards to protect groundwater during ISL operations.

As you know, water in the Western U.S. is a scarce resource and deserves a paramount level of protection. Many communities rely solely on groundwater and with dwindling supplies water resources that are not currently used may well be needed for drinking water in the future. The value of these water resources cannot be overstated. ISL uranium operations currently get a free pass to pollute these precious water supplies. No ISL mine has restored groundwater to pre-mining conditions and often pollution after mining is left at high levels. ISL facilities also have frequent spills, leaks, excursions, and other problems that leave groundwater resources at risk.

It is important for you to promptly finalize your proposed standards to better protect these groundwater resources.

I also urge you to contain more robust requirements for baseline water testing and long-term monitoring in your final rule. Additionally, please require operators to restore groundwater back to pre-mining conditions.

Please don’t let the uranium industry get a free pass to pollute our groundwater resources.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

--
Debra White Plume
Owe Aku, Bring Back the Way
605-455-2155
PO Box 325
Manderson, SD 57756
www.oweakuinternational.org
GO: Uranium Waste is Toxic & We Don't Want It


Tell Congress: Support informed consent, dump Yucca


What if your neighbors could dump their trash on your front yard under a law that allowed you to say “no,”--but which also allowed your neighbors to override  your opposition? The neighborhood could dump and keep dumping until decades of trash was piled up.

That is a picture of what the people in Nevada and the Western Shoshone Nation members face--only instead of neighborhood trash, it is our nation’s lethal high-level radioactive wastes. Nuclear waste that is a deadly hazard for more than a million years.

This month Nevada Senators Reid (D) and Heller (R) signed a letter with Nevada Governor Sandoval (R), vowing to continue to block highly radioactive wastes from coming to Yucca. In addition, the two Senators introduced a new bill, known as the “Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act” that would mandate that any permanent radioactive waste site be subject to the written approval of the Governor as well as impacted local jurisdictions, to include the current contested site at Yucca Mountain. In the Senate, the bill is S. 691. A companion bill in the House, introduced by Nevada representatives Titus (D) and Heck (R), is HR 1364. It's important: next time it could be your state.
 
Take Action below: Urge your Congressmembers to co-sponsor the Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act and Dump Yucca now!

> SIGN NOW: Tell Congress: Support informed consent, dump Yucca


ILLINOIS :: Act now: Support clean energy; oppose Exelon's nuclear bailout!

Act now: Support clean energy; oppose Exelon's nuclear bailout!: Exelon is threatening to close up to five of its nuclear reactors in the state because they are losing money. The electricity they generate is simply more expensive than the competition--especially from wind power. So Exelon wants you to bail them out. They want to increase your electric bills to pay more for nuclear power because, well, just because it's nuclear.

▶ VIDEO: The Hottest Particle | Fairewinds Energy Education (April 3rd, 2014)




The Hottest Particle | Fairewinds Energy Education

April 3rd, 2014 Three years ago, Fairewinds was one of the first organizations to talk about “hot particles” that are scattered all over Japan and North America’s west coast. Hot particles are dangerous and difficult to detect. In this video Mr. Kaltofen discusses the hottest hot particle he has ever found, and it was discovered more than 300 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi site. If Fairewinds Energy Education was a Japanese website, the State Secrets Law would likely prevent us from issuing this video. Arnie Gundersen provides a brief introduction and summary to the video.


Monday, March 16, 2015

Washington State, Act now: nuclear power is not "renewable" | NIRS


Washington State, Act now: nuclear power is not "renewable"

March 14, 2015 (updated and corrected)

The Washington State Senate this week passed several bills to bolster nuclear power in the state, especially "small modular reactors" that don't exist in reality and that have not been approved by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The most egregious bills are is S.5089 and 5090, sponsored by Republican Sen. Sharon Brown. They would redefine the state's Renewable Energy Standard to include nuclear power--a technology that is in no way "renewable" or clean. These bills are currently in the Senate Rules Committee waiting further action.

In the meantime several other bills have passed the Senate and are now in the House, including S 5091, which would "would add nuclear to the energy sources that electric utilities offer to customers who volunteer to buy green power," while S 5113 would require the state department of commerce coordinate siting and manufacturing of nuclear plants, S 5114 would give tax breaks to companies in the small modular reactor industry, and S 5093 would set up establish a curriculum using the American Nuclear Society to “support programs that will educate Washington students in nuclear energy and the necessary role that it will play in meeting clean energy needs.”

Take action below: Tell the Washington House to reject these measures and urge Governor Inslee to veto them if they reach his desk.

Notes: you must have a Washington State address to participate in this action. Please share this action page on Facebook, Twitter and the like using the icons above before sending your e-mails.


SIGN NOW > Washington State, Act now: nuclear power is not "renewable"


Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Fukushima's 4th Anniversary Brings Hope Amidst Radioactive Ruins as Renewable Energy Revolution Soars | EcoWatch



The catastrophe that began at Fukushima four years ago today is worse than ever.

But the good news can ultimately transcend the bad—if we make it so.

An angry grassroots movement has kept shut all 54 reactors that once operated in Japan. It’s the largest on-going nuke closure in history. Big industrial windmills installed off the Fukushima coast are now thriving.



Five U.S. reactors have shut since March 11, 2011. The operable fleet is under 100 for the first time in decades.

Ohio’s Davis-Besse, New York’s Ginna, five reactors in Illinois and other decrepit American nukes could shut soon without huge ratepayer bailouts.

Diablo Canyon was retrofitted—probably illegally—with $842 million in replacement parts untested for seismic impact. Already under fire for illegal license manipulations and an avoidable gas explosion that killed eight in San Bruno in 2010, Pacific Gas & Electric has plunged into a legal, economic and political abyss that could soon doom California’s last reactors.

Meanwhile, Germany is amping up its renewable energy generation with a goal of 80 percent or more by 2050.

France—once nuke power’s poster child—has turned away from new reactor construction and is moving strongly toward renewables.

Worldwide the Solartopian revolution is ahead of schedule and under budget. Predictions about its technological and economic potential are being everywhere exceeded...



MORE: Fukushima's 4th Anniversary Brings Hope Amidst Radioactive Ruins as Renewable Energy Revolution Soars | EcoWatch


Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Higher radiation doses could be ruled "acceptable" after nuclear disaster | Beyond Nuclear




Beyond Nuclear has released a press release, looking to tomorrow's fourth anniversary since the Fukushima, Japan nuclear disater began. Read and redistribute the full press release here: http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/japan/March10_2105-FUKUSHIMA_AT_4.pdf

Headlined: "Higher radiation doses could be ruled "acceptable" after nuclear disaster: "Fukushima" in the U.S. an ever-present danger," the release sounded the alarm over the potential for the Environmental Protection Agency to weaken radiation exposure standards that could see affected populations forced to accept higher “allowable” doses of radiation to make severe nuclear accidents appear tolerable.




“There is every reason to believe the Environmental Protection Agency could simply increase the ‘permissible’ dose of radiation as authorities did in Japan,” said Cindy Folkers, radiation and health specialist at Beyond Nuclear. "You just have to look at the EPA guidelines for state and local governments during a nuclear disaster to see that they are planning on allowing 5-20 times the radiation dose recommended internationally.








"The industry and government shouldn't be allowed to make a nuclear catastrophe appear more survivable than it is by inflating allowable radiation exposure levels, " Folkers continued.

The release also examined the continued potential for a Fukushima-style nuclear disaster on U.S. soil due to an industry-compliant regulator that has declined to mandate essential safety retrofits for U.S. "Fukushima" reactors.



http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/japan/March10_2105-FUKUSHIMA_AT_4.pdf

Monday, March 9, 2015

Jim Blankenhorn's Radioactive Banana - YouTube






nukes are not safe! - period. (comparing bananas to [man-made nuclear isotopes & industrial fallout] is "like comparing a stick of dynamite to an atomic bomb")


Published on Mar 9, 2015 by Myla Reson
– Army Brigadier General James A. Blankenhorn works for civilian contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership LLC as the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Recovery Manager and Deputy Project Manager. The video "Jim Blankenhorn's Radioactive Banana" begins with an excerpt from the Thursday, March 5, 2015 WIPP townhall meeting held in the City of Carlsbad, New Mexico during which General Blankenhorn downplays the adverse consequences of ionizing radiation and blurs the lines between natural, background, and man-made radiation. Once again we hear about one of the standard components in the nuclear village's favorite list of false equivalencies - radioactive bananas - being trotted out in yet another WIPP dog and pony show.

Next Physicians for Social Responsibility Senior Scientist Steven Starr demystifies the significance of potassium-40 and eating bananas. Starr delivered his presentation on March 11, 2013 during the Helen Caldicott Foundation symposium titled "The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident"

The video concludes with brief comments from journalist Harvey Wasserman recorded at a March 11, 2014 Fukushima remembrance event in Laguna Beach, California.

Special thanks to EON3 for the recording of Harvey Wasserman at his talk on 3.11.2014:

Watch Harvey's full talk here: http://youtu.be/1XElzI1hfS4

Watch Steven Starr's full talk here: http://youtu.be/nDgnBqBJZNc

Thanks for watching!



Sunday, March 8, 2015

3.14-15 MONTREAL: REPENSER LES ÉCOLOGIES D’IRRADIATION / RETHINKING RADIATION ECOLOGIES




FRENCH / ENGLISH / JAPANESE FOLLOW


Repenser les écologies d’irradiation : Nouvelles approches de l’histoire, esthétique, épistémologie et politique des environnements radioactifs/

Rethinking Radiation Ecologies : New Approaches to the History, Aesthetics, Epistemology, and Politics of Radioactive Environments

Colloque international avec projection de films/ An International Conference with Film Screenings

14-15 mars 2015/March 14-15, 2015 – 9am-8pm

Auditorium B-0215, Pav. 3200 Jean Brillant Building

Université de Montréal/University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada

Événement gratuit et ouvert au public/The event is free and open to the public

Sous la direction de/Organizer : Livia Monnet, Littérature comparée/Comparative Literature, Université de Montréal

Avec l’appui financier de/Funded by : L’Université de Montréal (Vice-rectorat à la recherche, création et innovation; Vice-décanat à la recherche, FAS; Centre d’études et relations internationales (CERIUM); Centre d’études sur l’Asie de l’est (CETASE); Département de littérature comparée/The University of Montreal (Vice-President’s Office for Research-Creation; Faculty of Arts and Science’s Vice-Dean’s Office for Research-Creation; Center for International Relations; Center for East Asian Studies; Department of Comparative Literature)

Quatre ans après l’accident nucléaire de Fukushima, la question de la nocivité des rayonnements ionisants dues à l’industrie nucléaire, aux rejets et au stockage des déchets radioactifs provenant des centrales et autres installations nucléaires, ainsi qu’aux déchets des mines d’uranium demeure controversée. Ce colloque propose de repenser l’histoire, l’épistémologie, l’esthétique et la politique des écologies d’irradiation telles qu’elles ont été imaginées et théorisées dans les sciences humaines et sociales ainsi que dans la littérature et les arts. L’hypothèse émise ici a deux volets principaux : d’une part il s’agit de voir les écologies exposées à des radiations ionisantes « artificielles » (rayonnements provenant des essais nucléaires et de l’industrie nucléaire) comme des processus ou devenirs instables, en constante mutation et fluctuation dont les effets sont en général détectables à long terme. D’autre part il s’agira de contester la séparation entre le nucléaire militaire et le nucléaire civil qui, depuis les années 1950 et 1960 a servi à occulter le fait que les technologies nucléaires peuvent être utilisées indifféremment dans des applications civiles ou militaires (Chantal Bourry, La vérité scientifique sur le nucléaire (en 10 questions), 2012, p.33)

Dans le contexte actuel de développement de nouveaux programmes nucléaires en Asie et ailleurs dans le monde, il faut interroger non seulement la continuité entre la condition nucléaire de la guerre froide et l’ordre nucléaire mondial contemporain, mais aussi l’ontologie du nucléaire, ou la « nucléarité » (Gabrielle Hecht). Les communications du colloque se penchent également sur des questions telles que les spécificités socioculturelles, politiques, et économiques de l’histoire (trans)nationale du nucléaire, la politique des nouvelles normes de protection radiologique au Japon et aux États Unis après l’accident nucléaire de Fukushima, le défi conceptuel, philosophique et épistémologique posé par cette catastrophe, la relation entre immunité, souveraineté et irradiation, et l’esthétique transversale des rayonnements ionisants dans le cinéma et la photographie. Autres questions abordées par les conférenciers – qui viennent des États Unis, du Canada, du Japon, de l’Australie, de la Belgique, de la Grande Bretagne, de la France, et de l’Allemagne – comprennent l’articulation de l’ère nucléaire comme fondement épistémologique et scientifique de l’Anthropocène, la réécriture du Projet Manhattan dans la littérature et le discours muséologique contemporains, et la représentation artistique et littéraire de l’expérience des populations vivant dans les zones exposées aux retombées radioactives des catastrophes nucléaires de Tchernobyl et Fukushima. Les interventions du colloque conjuguent des perspectives inter- et transdisciplinaires avec des nouvelles approches et analyses provenant des champs d’étude en plein essor des humanités environnementales et/ou nucléaires (environmental/nuclear humanities), des études des sciences et technologies (STS, Science and Technology Studies), et des études comparées de l’histoire et de la critique littéraire du nucléaire.

Le colloque a lieu à l’Université de Montréal le 14-15 mars 2015. Il comprend 4 séances se divisant en 10 sections ou panels. Les communications ont chacune une durée de 30 minutes, chaque panel comprend des commentaires de répondants et des périodes de questions ouvertes au public. Deux séances de projection de documentaires récents sur les problématiques abordées dans le cadre du colloque font également partie du programme. Trois artistes et un cinéaste qui travaillent sur le nucléaire (Japon, Grande-Bretagne, Belgique) sont parmi les conférenciers invités. Les interventions des conférenciers feront l’objet d’une publication de collectif par une maison d’édition universitaire. Le colloque est gratuit et ouvert au public.

Information :

Livia Monnet, rodica-livia.monnet@umontreal.ca

Acknowledgements :

Livia Monnet would like to thank the following departments at the University of Montreal for their generous support of the conference : the Vice-President’s Office for Research, Creation, and Innovation; the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Vice-Dean’s Office for Research-Creation; the Centre of International Relations (Cerium); the Centre for East Asian Studies (Cetase); and the Department of Comparative Literature.

Remerciements :

Livia Monnet remercie le Vice-rectorat à la recherche, à la création, et à l’innovation, le Vice-décanat à la recherche et à la création de la FAS, le Cérium et le Cetase, et le Département de littérature comparée de l’Université de Montréal pour leur généreuse contribution à l’organisation de ce colloque.

———-


The question of environmental radiation is today more pressing than ever. While the global radiation ecologies produced by Cold War nuclear testing have been generally acknowledged, radiation hazards resulting from nuclear power plants, catastrophic nuclear accidents such as those of Chernobyl and Fukushima, uranium mining, and nuclear waste storage and disposal sites still constitute a controversial subject. This conference proposes to reassess the history, aesthetics, epistemology, and politics of radiation ecologies as imagined and theorized by the contemporary arts, humanities, and social sciences. The presentations at this event will build on a twofold premise: on the one hand the recognition that radiation ecologies (which include natural and artificial radiation) are unbounded, non-linear, constantly mutating processes. On the other hand the understanding that the radiation ecologies produced by Cold War nuclear weapons tests and those produced by the nuclear power industry cannot be separated from one another, but belong to the same historical and material-discursive continuum.

In the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, and in the face of an increasingly unstable and tense global nuclear order, questions need to be asked not only about the continuity between the Cold War and the post-Cold War nuclear condition, but also about « nuclearity » or the ontology of the nuclear (Gabrielle Hecht). What are the historical, cultural, technoscientific, and technopolitical criteria that distinguish a specific radiation ecology – say, that produced by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster – from other highly radioactive environments (say, those of the Exclusion Zone around Chernobyl or of the Marshall Islands, where the US conducted 67 hydrogen and atomic bomb tests between 1946 and 1958)? What is the relationship between sovereignty, immunity and radiation? How do radiation ecologies impact the production of subjectivity? Is the relationship between nuclear exceptionalism (i.e. the exceptionalism of nuclear technologies, of nuclear weapons, and of their risks and hazards, as well as national nuclear exceptionalism) and radiation ecologies in Japan similar to that in France and the US?

Focusing on these and other issues such as the in/visibility of radiation, the politics of radiation health protection in Japan and the US in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, everyday life in the plutonium-producing atomic cities of Richland, Washington, US and Ozersk in Russia in the early nuclear age, and the aesthetic of films produced in close proximity to nuclear testing sites in the US, presentations at the workshop approach the question of radiation ecologies from a variety of angles. Privileging a transnational, interdisciplinary perspective, speakers – who come from the US, Canada, Japan, the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, and Australia – engage with recent discourses from the fields of environmental/nuclear humanities, philosophies of sovereignty and governmentality, the anthropology of biological citizenship, STS (Science and Technology Studies), comparative nuclear history and contemporary nuclear criticism. The result is a multifaceted, fascinating narrative on the global nuclear order and its radiation legacies from the early days of the Manhattan Project to the Fukushima nuclear disaster and beyond.

The conference consists of four sessions and 10 panels. Film screenings are scheduled after the afternoon session on March 14 and March 15, 2015. The event will close with a roundtable with all conference participants. Panels feature 30-minute presentations, comments by discussants, and a Q&A slot for audience interventions. Several visual artists and a filmmaker (Japan, Belgium, UK) are among the invited speakers. A volume of essays based on the conference papers will be submitted to an academic publisher in 2015. The workshop is free and open to the public.

———-


放射線生態学および環境放射能除染の再考

国際カンファレンスおよび映画上映会

一般公開・入場料無料

日時:2015年3月14日(土)、15日(日)終日、午前9時ー午後20時

会場:モントリオール大学 3200 ジャン・ブリヤンビルB-0215号室ホール

コーディネーター:リヴィア・モネ・モントリオール大学比較文学教授

主催: モントリオール大学 (教養・理学部 研究・創作副総長、研究副学部長、国際関係論研究所(CERIUM)、東アジア研究所(CETASE)、比較文学科)



現代社会において環境放射線の問題は以前にも増して大きな課題である。冷戦時の核実験によって放出された大気放射能は一般的に認識されている。しかし原子力発電所やウラン鉱山、チェルノブイリや福島などの原発事故や核廃棄物から出る放射能が人体や環境に及ぼす影響については依然として議論が分かれたままだ。今回のカンファレンスは現代アートや文学、社会学、文化人類学、歴史、哲学、政治などあらゆる観点から放射線および環境放射能除染を見直すことを目的とする。カンファレンスで行われるプレゼンテーションは二つの前提に基づいている。まず一つ目は、いわゆる自然放射線も原発その他原子力をベースにするテクノロジーが放出する放射能は常に変化を続けているという考え。またもう一つは、環境放射線の中で核兵器実験による放射能や原発産業による放射能は切り離せないものであり、もっと厳密に言うと核と原子力は一つの連続体をなすという思考である。

福島第一原発事故を受け、ますます世界の核秩序が揺さぶられている現在、冷戦からポスト冷戦時まで続いてきた歴史的背景のみならず、「核性」、すなわち核の存在論(Gabrielle Hecht)について問う必要がある。どのような歴史的、技術的、文化的基準で福島の状況は、チェルノブイリの立ち入り禁止区域や1946年から1958年の間にアメリカが67発の水素・核爆弾の実験をしたマーシャル諸島などに比較されているのだろうか。国家主権免責と放射能との関連性とは何か。放射線生態系はその中に住む人々の歴史をどのように書き換えていくのか。日本の放射線生態系と核例外主義(核技術の例外性、核兵器とそれらの危険性そして国家としての核例外性)との関係は、アメリカやフランスのそれに類似しているのであろうか。

これらの問題に焦点を置き、放射線の不可視性や、日米政府がそれぞれ福島原発事故後に取った健康被害対策、核時代初期のプルトニウム生産地である米ワシントン州のリッチランドやロシア・オジョルスクでの日常生活、核実験施行現場の映像描写など、ワークショップのプレゼンテーションでは様々な側面から環境放射線や放射能生態系に迫ります。アメリカ、カナダ、日本、イギリス、フランス、ベルギー、ドイツ、オーストラリアから研究者や作家、アーティストを招き現代の環境問題・核や原子力に関する文学やアート、主権・統治性などの哲学的概念、人類学における生物学的市民権、STS(Science and Technology Studies 科学技術社会論)、比較核や原子力文化の歴史学、現代核批評(nuclear criticism)や原子力想像力に対する批評などのアプローチを用いて、世界的核秩序およびマンハッタン計画から福島原発事故に至るまで放射能が残してきた負の遺産を追求します。

映画上映は14日、15日の午後のセッションのあとに予定されています。イベントは、アーティストや映画監督(日本、ベルギー、イギリス)など発表者全員参加のパネルディスカッションをもって閉会します。



Repenser les Écologies d’irradiation / Rethinking Radiation Ecologies | Colloque avec projection de films/An International Conference With Film Screenings



PICTURE OF THE DAY MAR. 09, 2015 • No nukes ‹ Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

Friday, March 6, 2015

VIDEO :: Fukushima Meltdown 4 Years Later | Fairewinds Energy Education


Four years have passed since the tragic triple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants, and the hits keep on coming as massive amounts of radioactively contaminated water continue to flow into the Pacific Ocean and no solution exists for safely containing the ongoing accumulation of radioactive debris contaminating the prefecture. Created in two parts, Fairewinds Energy Education presents you with a 5-minute retrospective followed by a 25-minute in-depth reflection on Fukushima Meltdown 4 Years Later...

Fairewinds Energy Education Board Member Chiho Kaneko and Arnie Gundersen discuss Chiho’s recent visit to her homeland of Japan. Born and raised in the neighboring prefecture of Iwate, she traveled to the evacuated and decimated area near the plant and met with displaced victims of this nuclear travesty.

As she shares heartbreaking stories, Chiho describes her trip through the ruined Fukushima Prefecture. She observed rusting vehicles flipped over on the side of the road, destroyed homes waiting to be cared for amidst a string of empty towns marked by devastation from the 2011 tsunami and resulting nuclear power catastrophe. Despite Prime Minister Abe’s assurances to the contrary, everything remains too contaminated by radiation for residents to return home. Warning signs along the radiation contaminated roadways instruct drivers not to leave their vehicles, not to roll down any windows, and not expose themselves to the outside air.

Attempts to clean up the once fertile farmland surrounding the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear site are seen along road after road in huge trash bag bundles stacked like fortresses. These bundles contain the radioactive top layer of soil, branches, bushes, and other land debris slowly being cleared in a futile effort to decontaminate the soil and possibly make the prefecture habitable again. More than 70,000 of these debris-laden sites are spread throughout the Fukushima Prefecture with no permanent method for disposal of this waste that is temporarily stuffed into deteriorating trash bags littering the once fertile and pristine countryside.

The catastrophic nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi decimated communities and dislocated an entire population from their homes and families. It exposed innocent people to extreme doses of toxic radiation that cause cancer and carry a death sentence,, and it forcibly removed those people from the mountains, ocean, rivers, forests, and land that they loved. “No disaster like this should ever be allowed to happen,”a victim told Chiho. “But, as long as nuclear power plants are allowed to operate, we cannot guarantee that a disaster like this will never happen. You cannot guarantee.”


Fukushima Meltdown 4 Years Later (Full) on Vimeo


more / transcription: Fukushima Meltdown 4 Years Later


Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Five Groups Mount "Epic" Push To Enlist More Americans To Join Movement For A Fossil-Free, Nuclear-Free Clean Energy Future




As Fukushima Anniversary Nears, Interactive Video at www.MakeNuclearHistory.org Allows Visitors to Experience 3 Very Different Energy Futures, Get Involved in Groups' Pushes on Nuclear, Wind Power Initiatives.


Nuke Your Guts Out (MakeNuclearHistory.org) - YouTube – There is a way to power our lives without dirty energy. There is a solution to climate change without nuclear reactors. We can solve the climate crisis and power our lives with 100% renewable sources and energy efficiency. 
"Our Epic Future: Create It With Clean Energy" is a project of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Public Citizen and the Sierra Club. 
Visit our website to find out more!
http://makenuclearhistory.org
Published on Mar 3, 2015 by Our Epic Future: Create It with Clean Energy
http://youtu.be/Pi_kRXrYNSs

PRESS RELEASE ------
WASHINGTONMarch 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A week ahead of the fourth anniversary of the Fukushima reactor disaster, five leading organizations fighting for America's clean-energy future – Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Public Citizen, and the Sierra Club – are unveiling an interactive online video, "Our Epic Future: Create It With Clean Energy."
Available at www.MakeNuclearHistory.org, the entertaining, fact-filled video allows visitors to explore three scenarios in the "Epic Energy Labs" with very different future outcomes:  one dominated by fossil fuels, another in which nuclear power is the focus, and a third relying on renewable energy.
After viewing the video, visitors can get involved in clean energy campaigns of the five groups, including urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to put in place post-Fukushima safety measures at U.S. reactors and petitioning Congress to reinstate the Production Tax Credit support for the wind energy.
The Make Nuclear History Web site explains: "There is a better way. There is a way to power our lives without fossil fuels.  There is a solution to climate change without nuclear energy. There is a future where we can solve the climate crisis and power our lives from 100 percent renewable sources and energy efficiency. Now is the time to create our fossil and nuclear-free future … A fossil and nuclear-free future powered by renewable sources is possible and the transition is happening now.  The benefits of clean, affordable and renewable energy compared with the dirty, expensive legacy of fossil fuels and nuclear reactors are obvious."
"The Fukushima disaster shows us exactly why we cannot and should not try to rely on nuclear energy to solve the climate crisis," said Tim Judson, Executive Director of NIRS. "Japan's decision to invest in nuclear rather than renewables left the country totally unprepared when calamity struck. Clean, renewable energy sources are abundant, affordable, and ready to go. They can replace nuclear and fossil fuels, which are two sides of the dirty, extreme energy coin."
"We no longer need to be shackled to dirty and dangerous energy," said Robert Weissman, Executive Director of Public Citizen, "A sustainable energy economy is not only possible but necessary if we are to avoid irreversible climate disruption and safeguard our communities against radioactive contamination."
"While the nuclear industry continues to grasp at straws for relevance, it is more apparent than ever that the clean energy revolution has taken hold in communities across the country," said Greenpeace Executive Director Annie Leonard. "The Fukushima disaster is a constant reminder that nuclear energy is a dirty and dangerous distraction from real solutions like wind and solar. We should commit to rejecting costly nuclear pipe dreams and supporting the renewable efforts that can help avert our climate crisis." 
"Choosing between clean energy and dangerous fuels like coal and nuclear isn't difficult. Nuclear has proven time and time again to be too expensive, too slow to build, and far too dangerous. Meanwhile, burning fossil fuels is making our families sick and making the climate crisis worse. That's a huge part of the reason our clean energy economy is growing by leaps and bounds, creating jobs while keeping pollution out of our air, our water, and our communities." - Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club
"Fukushima was a global water shed moment illustrating the potential for catastrophic nuclear accidents to occur," said Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica. "This video contributes to a growing people's movement demanding a fossil free, nuclear free future."
ABOUT THE GROUPS
Friends of the Earth strives for a more healthy and just world. We understand that the challenges facing our planet call for more than half measures, so we push for the reforms that are needed, not merely the ones that are politically easy. Sometimes, this involves speaking uncomfortable truths to power and demanding more than people think is possible. It's hard work. But the pressures facing our planet and its people are too important for us to compromise. http://www.foe.org/
Greenpeace is the leading independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful direct action and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. www.greenpeace.org
2014 marked the 36th anniversary of Nuclear Information and Resource Service. We were founded to be the national information and networking center for citizens and environmental activists concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues. www.nirs.org
Public Citizen serves as the people's voice in the nation's capital. Since our founding in 1971, we have delved into an array of areas, but our work on each issue shares an overarching goal: To ensure that all citizens are represented in the halls of power. www.citizen.org
The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 2.4 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. www.sierraclub.org


SOURCE Sierra Club, Washington, D.C.; Greenpeace, Washington, D.C.; Friends of the Earth, Washington, D.C.; Public Citizen, Washington, D.C.; Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Takoma Park, MD


RELATED LINKS
http://www.foe.org
http://www.greenpeace.org
http://www.nirs.org
http://www.citizen.org
http://www.sierraclub.org


Five Groups Mount 'Epic' Push To Enlist More Americans To Join Movement For... -- WASHINGTON, March 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --