Friday, August 1, 2014

N. Korea may be closer to full ICBM test: US think-tank

N. Korea may be closer to full ICBM test: US think-tank
Seoul (AFP) July 30, 2014 - Fresh satellite images suggest North Korea might be wrapping up engine trials on an intercontinental ballistic missile, fuelling speculation of a full-scale flight test to come, a US think-tank said Wednesday. Development of a working ICBM would be a game-changing step, bringing the continental United States into range and adding a whole new threat level to the North's regular nuclear-strike ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/N_Korea_may_be_closer_to_full_ICBM_test_US_think-tank_999.html

N.Korea fires four short-range 'projectiles'
Seoul (AFP) July 30, 2014 - North Korea fired four short-range projectiles towards the sea Wednesday in the latest of a series of missile, rocket and artillery tests, the South's defence ministry said. The latest launches began at 07:30 am (2230 GMT) at a site near Mount Myohyang, northeast of Pyongyang, with two fired in the morning and another two in the afternoon, all towards the Sea of Japan (East Sea), the ministr ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/NKorea_fires_four_short-range_projectiles_999.html

Humanity May Face Choice By 2040: Conventional Energy or Drinking Water

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/08/humanity-may-face-choice-2040-conventional-energy-drinking-water.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Power Plant Bombed In Gaza Is Insured By U.S. Government

gaza-power-plant_n_5634723.html

Fukushima Updates 7/31/14

Fukushima Updates 7/31/14 -

It seems Tepco’s shoreline barriers are working quite well... The advanced nuclide removal system (ALPS) should be fully operational later this year... Surveys of the unit #2 Torus (suppression pool) room wall penetrations show no leakage... Oregon researchers say no Fukushima contamination has reached the coast... Tepco is dumping ice into contaminated equipment tunnels... Tokyo has set policy to obtain land rights for rural contaminated waste sites... The government will raise the limits for their decontamination “target”... Japan’s regulators are creating a roadmap for economic destruction... Ex-Tepco officials may be indicted for nuke accident culpability.

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

More Evidence Global Surface Temperatures Poised To Rise Rapidly

http://theenergycollective.com/josephromm/441726/faux-pause-3-more-evidence-global-surface-temperatures-poised-rise-rapidly?utm_source=tec_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&inf_contact_key=27cc33afebc6f1791d6d9663b4d348e2f86caccca67f7cba80b9e42a0893e21f

Radioactive: Is nuclear power needed to counteract climate change or simply too dangerous?

http://www.humanmedia.org/catalog/program.php?products_id=374&search=radioactive

FERC: EPA emissions cuts may require 'complete redesign' of electricity markets

http://www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-epa-emissions-cuts-may-require-complete-redesign-of-electricity-mar/292367/

What are the top utilities for renewables and efficiency?

There is a wide range of performance even amongst companies in similar operating environments and market structures.

http://www.utilitydive.com/news/what-are-the-top-utilities-for-renewables-and-efficiency/291730/

EEI: Utilities need electric vehicles to 'remain viable'

http://www.utilitydive.com/news/eei-utilities-need-electric-vehicles-to-remain-viable/292477/

A High-Energy, Low-Footprint Planet

Why We Can Expect Peak Impact by the End of this Century

http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/dialogue/a-high-energy-low-footprint-planet

US NRC Blog Update: Like a Good Boy Scout, We’re Always Prepared

Like a Good Boy Scout, We’re Always Prepared

Leave a comment Posted by Moderator on July 31, 2014

Diane Screnci

Senior Public Affairs Officer

Region I

Because emergency preparedness is so important to the agency’s mission, the NRC has requirements to ensure nuclear power plant operators — and the NRC staff — are prepared to respond to events. And our rules require plants to have up-to-date emergency plans.
The NRC shares federal oversight of nuclear power plant emergency preparedness with FEMA. States have the overall authority for making protective action decisions for residents in the area, such as sheltering and evacuation, if there is an event at a plant. Local emergency responders also have an important role in protecting the public.

Region I incident response personnel participate in an exercise.

Plants must practice their emergency plans periodically to make sure plant staff is prepared to deal with a radiological emergency. Every other year, both the NRC and FEMA evaluate emergency response exercises at each operating plant, with both the state and local emergency responders participating.
NRC inspectors monitor the on-site response. They watch over the shoulders of operators and emergency responders to assure they’re correctly evaluating conditions, taking appropriate steps to deal with the reactor conditions and communicating well with off-site agencies, including the NRC. FEMA evaluates the efforts of state and local governments, and emergency responders.
The NRC staff must also be prepared to respond to an emergency. So several times a year, we participate in exercises, too. For example, the NRC’s region I recently participated in an emergency exercise for which we sent a site team to participate alongside plant emergency responders, and state and local emergency response agencies. We had staff in the various emergency facilities, including the simulator, the plant’s emergency operations facility, the joint news center and the state operations center. We also staffed our own incident response center in the Regional Office.
Participating in exercises gives us a chance to practice how we’d respond in an actual event. That means the NRC staff monitors and independently assesses reactor conditions, performs dose calculations, and reviews protective action recommendations. We also “issue” press releases, participate in mock news conferences, and interact with federal and state officials, and local emergency management agencies.
Afterwards, we take a look at what worked, and what didn’t go so well, and make changes to our procedures so that we’re continually improving.
We also learn from real events, like Hurricane Sandy, and put those lessons into place, so that the next time, we’re even better prepared.

Three Reasons Iran Won't Give up Its Nuclear Program

07/30/14

Albert B. Wolf

Nuclear Weapons, Iran

From his 2009 inaugural address to the unprecedented Nowruz greeting, Barack Obama made clear early in his tenure that cutting a deal with Iran over its nuclear program was one of his top foreign policy priorities. Despite the President’s meticulous attention to details from cyber warfare to sanctions relief, the skeptics are right: Iran is not going to give up its nuclear program. Here are a few reasons as to why:

1. States that (could) have had nuclear weapons programs and gave them up had close ties to the U.S.

Most states with close military and economic ties to the U.S. forego the pursuit of nuclear weapons in the first place. Their leaders are savvy enough to realize that a nuclear weapons program would jeopardize their ties with America. Many of the U.S.’ allies benefit from unhindered access to the global economy. Furthermore, each of these states hides behind America’s nuclear umbrella. In exchange for free riding on the U.S.’ extended deterrent guarantees, these states agree to forego nuclear weapons programs.

Pursuing a nuclear weapon is certainly a time intensive affair. It would automatically trigger sanctions, isolating them from the American hegemon upon which they depend for domestic prosperity and international security. States like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan could have pursued the bomb after China crossed the nuclear rubicon but didn’t because it would have endangered their access to world markets and American protection.

Since 1979, America has not guaranteed Iran’s safety from external aggression, nor has Tehran sought access to the global economy. According to Trita Parsi in, A Single Throw of The Dice, for some mullahs a rapprochement with the U.S. could undermine the legitimacy of the regime.

2. Once a nuclear program is in motion it tends to stay in motion

States pursue nuclear weapons for a variety of reasons: insecurity, prestige, bureaucratic politics, and easy access to sensitive materials. However, once a nuclear program has been started, absent regime change, it is hard to unwind.

Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/three-reasons-iran-wont-give-its-nuclear-program-10982