Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: 4/29/12

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Cesium exceeding new limit detected in 51 food items in 9 prefectures

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2012/05/155836.html

Cesium exceeding new limit detected in 51 food items in 9 prefectures
TOKYO, May 1, Kyodo
Radioactive cesium was detected in 51 food products from nine prefectures in excess of a new government-set limit in the first month since it was introduced on April 1, according to data released by the health ministry on Tuesday.
The limit was exceeded in 337 cases, or 2.4 percent of 13,867 food samples examined by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
Cesium exceeding the previous allowable limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram was detected in 55 cases, while the new limit of 100 becquerels was exceeded in 282 cases.

Japan Shuts Down Last Nuclear Reactor

Japan Shuts Down Last Nuclear Reactor
Voice of America
May 05, 2012 Japan Shuts Down Last Nuclear Reactor Miguel Quintana | Tokyo Nearly 14 months after a powerful earthquake and tsunami triggered the most severe nuclear accident since Chernobyl, Japan is shutting down the last of its nuclear reactors.

Japan without nuclear power for first time in 42 years
Fox News
3, are seen at the Tomari Nuclear Power Plant, operated by Hokkaido Electric Power Co., in Tomari in Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido.AP TOKYO – Thousands of Japanese marched to celebrate the switching off of the last of their nation's 50 ...

Last Reactor of 50 in Japan Is Shut Down
New York Times
TOKYO — Japan's last operating reactor was taken offline Saturday, as public distrust created by last year's nuclear disaster forced the nation to at least temporarily do without atomic power for the first time in 42 years. The reactor, at the Tomari ...

Japan nuclear power-free as last reactor shuts
Reuters
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese utility Hokkaido Electric Power Co began shutting the country's last active nuclear reactor on Saturday, leaving the world's third-biggest user of atomic energy with no nuclear-derived electricity for the first time since ...

Japan Nuclear Reactors Shut Off, Thousands March To Celebrate
Huffington Post
Japan will be without electricity from nuclear power for the first time in four decades when the reactor at Tomari nuclear plant on the northern island of Hokkaido goes offline for routine maintenance. After last year's March 11 quake and tsunami set ...

Thousands march as Japan switches off last nuclear reactor
USA TODAY
By Kazuhiro Nogi, AFP/Getty Images People gather at an anti-nuclear demonstration Saturday at a park in Tokyo. Japan was without electricity from nuclear power for the first time in four decades when the reactor at Tomari nuclear plant on the northern ...

USA TODAY

Japan's final nuclear reactor switches off
NECN
TOKYO (AP) — For the first time in four decades, Japan is without electricity from nuclear power. The last of the country's 50 nuclear reactors has been shut down for what's described as mandatory routine maintenance. But since last year's earthquake ...

Japan's last operating reactor to go offline
MarketWatch
By Tatsuo Ito TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Japan's last operating nuclear reactor was set to go offline Saturday evening for regular maintenance, leaving the country without nuclear power for the first time in more than four decades.

Tomari shutdown leaves Japan without nuclear power
BBC News
Japan is switching off its last working nuclear reactor, as part of the safety drive since the March 2011 tsunami triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima plant. The third reactor at the Tomari plant, in Hokkaido prefecture, is shutting down for routine ...

Nuclear Energy in Japan: May 4, 2012 NUCLEAR ENERGY IN JAPAN - UPDATE MAY 4, 2012

Nuclear Energy in Japan: May 4, 2012

NUCLEAR ENERGY IN JAPAN - UPDATE MAY 4, 2012
http://atomicpowerreview.blogspot.com/2012/05/nuclear-energy-in-japan-may-4-2012.html

The Worst Yet to Come? Why Nuclear Experts Are Calling Fukushima a Ticking ...

The Worst Yet to Come? Why Nuclear Experts Are Calling Fukushima a Ticking ...
AlterNet
More than a year after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, the Japanese government, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) present similar assurances of the site's current state: ...

NRC Reviews Its Own Procedures For Checking New Steam Generator Design

NRC Reviews Its Own Procedures For Checking New Steam Generator Design
KPBS
By Alison St John Southern California Edison plans to ask federal regulators later this month if it can restart the San Onofre nuclear power plant in June. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants a final conclusion on the cause of the problems in ...
See all stories on this topic »

NRC questions Savannah River Site radiation models

NRC questions Savannah River Site radiation models
The Augusta Chronicle
By Rob Pavey The Nuclear Regulatory Commission disagrees with models used by the US Energy Department to calculate radiation risks from Savannah River Site's saltstone low-level waste disposal site. Saltstone, a mixture of low-level radioactive waste ...

Coal to Natural Gas Switching- Is Coal On Its Way Out?

Coal to Natural Gas Switching- Is Coal On Its Way Out? bidurenergy.com

Coal to natural gas (NG) switching is when coal generation plants reduce their output while NG plants increase their output. This generally occurs when NG prices decrease to a point where it is more economically to run

San Onofre technology outmoded, O.C. congressman says

http://www.ocregister.com/news/onofre-352566-san-new.html

San Onofre technology outmoded, O.C. congressman says

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa, tours the troubled nuclear plant and says a new generation of nuclear plant is achievable that could address critics’ concerns.

By FRED SWEGLES / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Friday, May 4, 2012

Is Thorium A Magic Bullet For Our Energy Problems?

Is Thorium A Magic Bullet For Our Energy Problems?
NPR
As the search for cheap, safe and non-carbon emitting sources of energy continues, a band of scientists say the answer may be nuclear reactors fueled by thorium. Others caution that thorium reactors pose waste and proliferation risks.

Science Friday Archives: Is Thorium A Magic Bullet For Our Energy ...
Is Thorium A Magic Bullet For Our Energy Problems? Array.alttext. A map of thorium concentration in the US. USGS image. As the search for cheap, safe and ...
www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201205044

Progress reboots Florida reactors back to the future

by noreply@blogger.com (Dan Yurman)

Utility cites lower than expected customer demand, economic down turn, uncertainty over potential carbon regulation, and low natural gas prices

A segment of this blog post appeared in the News Briefs section of Fuel Cycle Week, V11:N471, 05/03/12 published by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DC.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies Blocking Clean Energy?

by namarchetti

A study just published in the journal Nature Climate Change suggests that fossil fuel subsidies in some developing nations stand most in the way of clean energy. For a livable climate, developing nations must bypass the fossil age as they grow their 21st century economies.

A Wealth of New Uranium Deposits Discovered around the World

by james@pokemoncard.info (Brian Westenhaus)

The Athabasca basin of Canada hosts some of the world’s largest and highest-grade uranium mines of similar aged rocks. Last week Fission Energy Corp. and its 50% joint venture partner ESO Uranium reported a significant anomalous radioactivity was encountered in the final hole of the companies’ Patterson Lake South property exploration program.Fission Energy Patterson Lake Uranium Prospect Property.The Fission exploration follows a find by Hathor Exploration Ltd.. But Fission has a much superior land holding and their find so close to…Read more...

Gunderson - Move South Of The Equator If SFP 4 Goes Dry

Gunderson - Move South Of The Equator If SFP 4 Goes Dry
DHS Study Coverup Of Fukushima Fallout Over US
US Seafood Co Now Testing For Radiation In N Pacific Fish
Over Limit Cesium In 51 More Food Items In 9 Prefectures
Decontaminating Japan Is 'Hopeless'
Japan Will No Longer Be A Developed Country By 2050
Expert - No Known Technology Can Resolve Fukushima Crisis

Japan Prof Extremely Worried That Reactor 4 SFP Might Fall

Japan Prof Extremely Worried That Reactor 4 SFP Might Fall

6 Days Straight Of 4.0 And Greater Fukushima Quakes
Japan Switches Off Last Nuclear Power Plant
Everyone Now Watching Reactor 4 SFP - Danger Grows
Gunderson - SFP Water Still Boiling And Throwing Off Radiation - Vid
Reactor 4 SFP Not Safe Even If It Survives More Quakes
Urgent Request For UN To Stabilize Reactor 4 SFP

Nuclear Expert on No. 4 Fuel Pool:

Nuclear Expert on No. 4 Fuel Pool: “They’re pumping water in and it’s draining out into basement, they suck it out of basement and put it back in at top” — “There is no containment” (VIDEO)

Water Pouring Out SFP 4 Bottom, Pumped Back Into Top - Vid

COLUMN-Efficiency can't replace nuclear power: Gerard Wynn

COLUMN-Efficiency can't replace nuclear power: Gerard Wynn
Reuters
By Gerard Wynn LONDON May 4 (Reuters) - Germany plans to phase out nuclear power and Japan may follow, but history shows that neither can make up the energy supply gap with efficiency alone. That will push them towards fossil fuels, putting climate ...

Administration issues new fracking rules

Kansas City Star -

By NEELA BANERJEE WASHINGTON - The Obama administration proposed updated rules for oil and gas development on federal lands - an effort to catch up with the boom in use of the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing - but struck a compromise ...

Federal government sets new rules for fracking on public land

Dallas Morning News (subscription) - ‎

AP WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration said Friday that it will for the first time require companies drilling for oil and natural gas on public and Indian lands to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations.

New US Proposal on Fracking Gives Ground to Industry

New York Times - ‎

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday issued a proposed rule governing hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on public lands that will for the first time require disclosure of the chemicals used in the process. But in a significant concession ...

Interior Sets New Drilling Rules on Public Land

ABC News - ‎

The Obama administration said Friday it will for the first time require companies drilling for oil and natural gas on public and Indian lands to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations. The proposed "fracking" rules also set ...

US proposes new rules for fracking on federal lands

Baltimore Sun - ‎

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration unveiled long-awaited rules on Friday to bolster oversight on public lands of oil and natural gas drilling using fracking technology that has ushered in a boom in drilling but also triggered environmental ...

Obama proposes fracking companies disclose chemicals

USA TODAY -

By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY As oil and gas drilling explodes nationwide, the Obama administration today proposed rules requiring the disclosure of chemicals used to extract deposits on public and Indian lands. Environmentalists say the rules don't go far ...

New Federal Fracking Rules Look Reasonable; Enviros Not Satisfied

Forbes -

Today the Department of Interior released its proposed rules governing oil and gas fracking on federal lands. If finalized they would be the first new fracking rules for federal lands since 1988. Drilling has changed a lot since then.

US proposes more fracking disclosure

AFP -

WASHINGTON — US regulators proposed Friday that companies using fracking to explore for natural gas must disclose the chemicals they use, but only after they drill -- sparking more ire from environmental activists. Under pressure to tighten regulation ...

"The end of an era, or, the onset of Japan’s economic and energy collapse"

"The end of an era, or, the onset of Japan’s economic and energy collapse"

http://www.hiroshimasyndrome.com/fukushima-accident-updates.html

Liquid Metal Battery

Q1
ElectroIQ
Liquid Metal Battery - Smart Grid (Wait and See) With its entirely liquid electrodes and electrolyte, this early-stage MIT spin-out could enable drastic cost reductions for numerous grid-scale energy storage applications. Encap's all-round capabilities ...

The most innovative companies so far this year
SmartPlanet.com (blog)
The startup is working to commercialize liquid metal battery technology it invented at MIT for cheap, grid-scale energy storage. The secret to the high-temperature batteries are its liquid components that naturally settle into distinct layers because ...

Sandia's heat-producing turbine boosts small nuclear reactor efficiency

Sandia's heat-producing turbine boosts small nuclear reactor efficiency
New Mexico Business Weekly
Sandia National Laboratories is seeking an industry partner to market a turbine system that could substantially improve energy efficiency in small modular nuclear reactors. The system uses carbon dioxide in a closed-loop “Brayton-cycle” turbine to ...

Atomic Rate Rigging and the New China Syndrome

Atomic Rate Rigging and the New China Syndrome

Huffington Post (blog)
Two reactors proposed for Florida will now, say its would-be builders, cost $24 billion or more... up from their original maximum guess of $4 billion each... far beyond comparable renewables and efficiency. Two Georgia nukes still wanting tax-funded ...

Last Japanese reactor in outage

04 May 2012

Japan will find itself without nuclear power for the first time since 1970 as the last of its currently operating nuclear reactors prepares to go offline.

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Last_Japanese_reactor_in_outage-0405127.html

Japan's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Efforts Eroded By Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Huffington Post - ‎

AP | By MALCOLM FOSTER Posted: 05/04/2012 2:46 am Updated: 05/04/2012 10:02 am TOKYO (AP) — The Fukushima crisis is eroding years of Japanese efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming, as power plants running on oil and ...

Fault near Shiga nuclear power plant said probably active

Fault near Shiga nuclear power plant said probably active
The Japan Times
s Shiga nuclear plant may be active and the utility should consider bolstering the facility's quake-resistance, a study found Thursday. The study by professors Mitsuhisa Watanabe of Toyo University and Yasuhiro Suzuki of Nagoya University found that ...
See all stories on this topic »

Fault near Shiga nuclear power plant likely active: survey
Mainichi Daily News
s Shiga nuclear plant is likely to be active and may require the utility to review the plant's quake-resistance standard, a survey found Thursday. The survey by Toyo University professor Mitsuhisa Watanabe and Nagoya University professor Yasuhiro ...

New Worries at Fukushima

New Worries at Fukushima
Birmingham Weekly
Reactors 1 and 3, both of which melted down after the earthquake and tsunami last year, are currently sealed and impossible to enter, even by robots. So we don't know what is going on inside those crippled structures. But nuclear experts say their ...

Playing Out Our Absurd National Debates at the Local Level: The Case of Fracking

Popping liberal bubbles at school board meetings.

A Wealth of New Uranium Deposits Discovered around the World

OilPrice.com Daily News Update

A Wealth of New Uranium Deposits Discovered around the World

Japan to shut down remaining reactor on Saturday

Japan to shut down remaining reactor on Saturday
Japan is scheduled to take its remaining reactor offline on Saturday, a move that would leave the country without nuclear energy for the first time since 1966. It is not clear how long Japan will remain without such facilities, observers say. Japanese authorities are working to restart two reactors in western Japan to avoid power shortages before summer, when energy demand surges. The Wall Street Journal

Iran nuclear plant to switch to 100% capacity this month

Iran nuclear plant to switch to 100% capacity this month
Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant will begin switching to full capacity on May 23, according to Russia's Atomstroyexport. "Currently, the plant is operating at a lower capacity. The stage of further increasing the capacity of the Bushehr nuclear power plant [from 75% to 100%] is scheduled to commence on May 23, 2012," the company said in a statement. RIA Novosti (Russia)

i-Nuclear Update: US NRC will review evacuation zone expansion, but separate from Fukushima review

i-NUCLEAR

US NRC will review evacuation zone expansion, but separate from Fukushima review

by I-Nuclear

One of the most controversial proposals to follow the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accident – expanding emergency planning zones around US reactors – will not be incorporated into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s ongoing review and implementation of post-Fukushima fixes, an agency official said May 3. It will be dealt with separately, according to Kevin Williams NRC branch chief for the division of preparedness.

The Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and 37 co-petitioners, have filed a petition for rulemaking with the NRC to expand emergency evacuation zones and improve emergency response planning around U.S. nuclear reactors.

The NRC this week published the petition for rulemaking – PRM 50-104 -- for public comment. Comments are due by July 16.

In its petition, NIRS and the co-petitioners have asked the NRC to amend its rules under 10 C.F.R. 50.47(c)(2) to create a three-tiered emergency planning zone.

The proposal would expand the current 10 mile EPZ to include an area within a 25-mile radius of a reactor site, establish an emergency evacuation zone of a 50-mile radius within a reactor site, and expand the radius of the ingestion pathway to a 100-mile radius within a reactor site.

ANS Update: Nuclear Matinee: Alphas and Neutrons Meet the Atomic Nucleus

Nuclear Matinee: Alphas and Neutrons Meet the Atomic Nucleus

By pbowersox on May 04, 2012 01:00 am

Decades of nuclear science in just two minutes! This dramatic video takes the viewer inside the world of atomic particles, describing a rather important difference between the encounters of alpha particles and neutrons when scientists direct them at heavy atomic … Continue reading →
Read in browser »

Our Country Is Being Fracked by the Merger of Government and Big Business

by WashingtonsBlog

The Government Is Using Its Police Powers to Protect Fracking

TVA Throws Good Money After Bad on Nukes

by Stephen Smith, CleanEnergy

Stephen Smith, CleanEnergy
Under the leadership duo ofÂ Bill Sansom's tenure asÂ the Tennessee Valley Authority's Board Chairman and Tom Kilgore's years as CEO, we have witnessed some of the largest financial mistakes ever made in the history of the agency. The Kingston Coal Ash Disaster in 2008 will end up costing TVA more than $1 billion in clean-up and corrective actions as a result of that energy disaster. And now we've learned that this TVA leadership "missed" the ever-increasing cost of completing the second reactor at the Watts Bar nuclear plant in Tennessee by about $2...

Exxon Is Betting Clean Energy Won't Scale

by Mike Casey, REW

Mike Casey, REW
For several years now, we've been making the case that the clean energy industry has to dramatically scale its advocacy investment to meet an aggressive disinformation campaign trained against it by the fossil lobby. We've found increasing receptiveness to that message, but we still run into people who think we've got tin foil on our heads. The refrain goes something like this: "Who'd want to do such a thing to wind, solar and geothermal power?"

Partisan Politics Wrecking American Energy

by Shea Laverty, OilPrice

Shea Laverty, OilPrice
Partisan politics rule the day in America. As much as anyone can try to deny that, the rhetoric coming from either side of the aisle tells a very different story. In one corner, the ever-emboldening Left, who after several years. . .

Kalinin 4 in late commissioning

by Jeremy Gordon

Engineers at Kalinin 4 (Rosenergoatom) 72x48

Engineers bringing a new reactor into service at the Kalinin nuclear power plant have successfully completed most of their tests. The unit is slated for commercial operation in September.

Canadian new build getting nearer

by Jeremy Gordon

The Canadian government has accepted the environmental assessment report for the possible construction of new nuclear capacity at Darlington, clearing the way for the issuance of a site preparation licence.

Japan to shut down its last nuclear reactor

by Lee Gliddon

The No. 3 reactor at the Tomari nuclear plant, on the northern island of Hokkaido, will be shut down for a regular safety inspection, the operator said.

The national government has warned that major cities, including Tokyo and Osaka, face blackouts during the months of peak energy demand – in Japan's notoriously hot and muggy summer – unless local authorities grant permission for utilities to restart the 54 reactors.

Nuclear power previously provided fully one-third of Japan's energy.

But public opinion has turned fiercely against nuclear power since the Great East Japan Earthquake and the massive tsunami that it triggered which destroyed the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, 150 miles north-east of Tokyo.

Progress Energy says plan to fix nuclear plant coming soon

by Lee Gliddon

Progress Energy plans to release by the end of the month its engineering proposal to repair the Crystal River nuclear plant. But the utility cannot yet answer a far bigger question: Where will it get the $1.3 billion to actually fix the facility?
Bill Johnson, Progress Energy's president and chief executive, said during a quarterly conference call with investors Thursday that he is "very confident that we will start (repairs) by the end of the year, if the decision is to repair.''

San Onofre Repair Cost Estimated at Upward of $65 Million

by Nuclear Street News Team

While reporting first-quarter earnings, Edison International indicated repairs at California’s San Onofre nuclear plant are expected to cost between $55 million and $65 million.

The estimate addresses prematurely thinning tubes within steam generators that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries delivered in 2009 and 2011. In a call with analysts, executives said Edison will try to recoup costs from its warrantee with MHI.

Darlington Nuclear Project Granted Federal Clearance

by Nuclear Street News

Canada's natural resources minister Joe Oliver said Wednesday that he has approved Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) plans for the multibillion-dollar expansion of the Darlington nuclear power station near Toronto, saying the project is not likely to cause adverse environmental impact.
"Nuclear energy is a safe, reliable and virtually emissions-free option for addressing Canada's energy and environmental needs." said Minister Oliver. "The Government will take the necessary steps to address the recommendations under its jurisdiction."

South Africa Attracts Global Nuclear Investors; Wants to Build Local Capacity

by Nuclear Street News

South Africa, which currently hosts Africa’s only nuclear power plant at Koeberg power station, has developed an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that sees it building at least six more reactors at three or four sites by 2030 and spending a minimum of $38 billion on the project.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Weekly Review

by Nuclear Street News Team

The last several days at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant included a video-recorded tour of unit 4 by a deputy cabinet minister and further debate over the manuals that guided reactor operators during the crisis.

Developments at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant blacked out by last year’s earthquake and tsunami include:

PennEnergy: Top Oil & Gas News

Top Oil & Gas News

Field trial to safely extract steady flow of natural gas from methane hydrates successful
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the completion of a successful, unprecedented test of technology in the North Slope of Alaska that was able to safely extract a steady flow of natural gas from methane hydrates.
Full Article

Energy Transfer Partners buys Sunoco for $5.3 billion
Energy Transfer Partners - a natural gas pipeline company - recently acquired Sunoco in a deal reported to be worth about $5.3 billion.
Full Article

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