Tag: nuclear power

Deadly Silence on Fukushima (via Udolicko’s Blog)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

This post discusses the defacto censorship by the Japanese government and TEPCO, the Japanese utility that owns the plants. There are also charges that dangerous levels of plutonium exist around the plant. Since No. 4 reactor ran hotter than any of the other nuclear plants because it was using a hybrid fuel of regular uranium and plutonium, it would only stand to reason that there must be some contamination.

There are also fairly lengthy discussions of Chernobyl, independent journalism and government censorship. It’s lengthy but it has to be to provide so much information.

James Pilant

Deadly Silence on Fukushima I received the following email a few days ago from a Russian nuclear physicist friend who is an expert on the kinds of gases being released at Fukushima. Here is what he wrote: “About Japan: the problem is that the reactor uses “dirty” fuel. It is a combination of plutonium and uranium (MOX). I suspect that the old fuel rods have bean spread out due to the explosion and the surrounding area is contaminated with plutonium which mean … Read More

via Udolicko’s Blog

New fire at Fukushima..pools run dry? (via Follow The Money)

On By southwerkIn business ethics2 Comments

It appears that Fukushima will be generating stories for some time. It seems our old favorite No. 4 reactor is trying out a new crisis on the world.

One of the more interesting parts of the story is that the Japanese government has decided that children living near the plant can have the same exposure as a nuclear plant worker. That’s right, the local children are in the same boat as nuclear workers when it comes to radiation exposure.

Time marches on and as the disaster becomes more and more boring to the public, it slips away from view. But radiation and nuclear disaster don’t depend on publicity to function.

James Pilant

New fire at Fukushima..pools run dry? From March 15 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/asia/16fuel.html?_r=1 Even as workers race to prevent the radioactive cores of the damaged nuclear reactors in Japan from melting down, concerns are growing that nearby pools holding spent fuel rods could pose an even greater danger. The pools, which sit on the top level of the reactor buildings and keep spent fuel submerged in water, have lost their cooling systems and the Japanese have been … Read More

via Follow The Money

Rio Tinto shareholders not convinced on nuclear future (via Antinuclear)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

A nuclear future is inevitable? I don’t think so.

Apparently the actual owners are not so sure it’s a great idea.

The cost of a nuclear plant is staggering and other kinds are cheaper, sometimes  a lot cheaper.

James Pilant

Tom Albanese, Rio’s chiefexecutive, said uranium from the Ranger mine had been exported to Japan, although commercial confidence prevented him from confirming whether it was being used at Fukushima… ”Even before the Fukushima disaster, investors and insurers in the US, for example, could not be coaxed to back nuclear power.” – Scott Ludlam A nuclear Australia is inevitable: Rio chairman, Sydney Morning Herald, Courtney Trenwith, May 6, 2011,  A … Read More

via Antinuclear

Chernobyl Stalkers (via L’appel de Fukushima)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I had heard that the Titanic disaster and the First World War were both predicted by novels, but this is the first that I’ve heard that Chernobyl was predicted by a film.

I pity the poor souls who feel obligated to make a living by stealing high radiation scrap from a nuclear dead zone.

On the other hand, the future may hold that kind of existence for many millions.

James Pilant

Chernobyl Stalkers The people most affected by the explosion of Reactor Number Four on the morning of April 26,1986, soon learned that the event known as Chernobyl was predicted by a feature film made seven years earlier. Stalker, by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, explored the limits of our technical explanatory power against the backdrop of a mysterious force that can only be approached on foot, by forest “stalkers” who have learned to accept its risky gifts. … Read More

via L’appel de Fukushima

Media has moved on, but not Japanese (via News and Brews)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

This is the only beer related post having to do with the disasters in Japan that I have found. It’s not bad.

I do agree the Japanese have not moved on. The disaster continues there as recovery is handicapped by the ongoing nuclear problems. American media has a tawdry interest in current events however inconsequential. So, in America, it may well appear that the crisis is over.

No, not for quite some time.

James Pilant

Media has moved on, but not Japanese The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan on Mar. 11 has mostly disappeared from the collective conscious of American mainstream media. Many news outlets have shifted focus to Syria or Yemen–both very important stories in their own right. However, Japan is still recovering from the natural disasters that struck their shores over a month and a half ago. It severely damaged nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Power P … Read More

via News and Brews

TVA plant’s old design brings fresh worries | The Tennessean | tennessean.com (via In Frog Pond Holler)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

It’s definitely true that the old designs need a new look in the aftermath of Fukushima. I’m curious to see how the utility is going to handle this.

James Pilant

Critics argue that safety and reliability issues are raised by the old design, the deterioration of work already done, the cannibalizing of plant parts and a failure to keep tight controls over the site. Some also question the need for another TVA nuclear plant. In the wake of Japan’s nuclear crisis, TVA staff delayed asking for a board vote for funding to complete Bellefonte. Still, more than 500 workers are busy on the site with engineering, as … Read More

via In Frog Pond Holler

Fukushima: Japan’s meta-tragedy – Sandhya Jain (via Bharata Bharati)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I very much enjoyed this and, in particular, I want to call attention to Wikileaks participation in the continuing controversy over both nuclear power and corruption. This story hardly exists in the United States but has generated considerable press in India.

This backstory is fitted into its place in the larger story of nuclear power in this article. I appreciate that.

However, there is a lot of other material here. This is not the kind of material that the pronuclear press likes to see, they prefer the squishy soft claims of possible radiation damage down the road. These claims they can dismiss as ill founded because it takes years to manifest. This article cites facts and history. That gives it some heft. I hope it gets wider circulation.

James Pilant

Fukushima: Japan’s meta-tragedy - Sandhya Jain Fukushima reinforces the threat posed by the scientific arrogance that the Human Race can create structures more powerful than Nature; Chernobyl was a loud warning after nearly 150 significant radiation leaks at n-stations throughout the world were hidden by the secretive nuclear power industry. – Sandhya Jain The tragedy of the earthquake-tsunami induced failure at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, eerily close to the 25th anniversary of th … Read More

via Bharata Bharati

The True Battle of Chernobyl Uncensored (92 min) (via Picasso Dreams)

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

This documentary is chilling look at the Chernobyl disaster with all the benefits of hindsight. I was familiar with the original coverage – this is way beyond this. Fron just a serious nuclear incident in the popular press, this documentary shows you a cataclysm that Gorbachav explains was one of the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Please watch it!

James Pilant

You can get this video at –

Fukushima update for today 4/20/11 (MsMilkytheclown)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

This is a very good summary of the situation as of today. This is, however, a “gotcha” video where they veer off into obscenity laden rants. There is no problem – just click out a little after three minutes into the video.

James Pilant

US power company abandons reactor construction (via hisatomijapan)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I am utterly astonished. I can’t figure this one out. The government is in the industry’s pocket. The American press really isn’t interested. The American public is opposed but if you have lived here any length of time, you know how little public opinion means. So, a utility is giving up builing a plant with loan guarantees from the federal government and indemnification if there were a crisis or future meltdown? I don’t get it.

Did some official in the company decided to exercise some judgment? Did somebody grow a backbone? Or did someone take out a calculator and figure out how much the building costs would increase if all the cures for the safety problems at the Fukushima plant were incorporated into the new plant’s design?

James Pilant