Government under pressure to abandon plans to construct UK’s first nuclear reactor for more than 20 years via The Independent

Posted on 2015/08/04 by yukimiyamotodepaul

Analysts at HSBC bank said in a report that the creation of the Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset was ‘becoming harder to justify’

The Government is under growing pressure to abandon plans to construct the UK’s first nuclear reactor for more than 20 years, after a damning report into the viability of the project by financial analysts was swiftly followed by data showing that the legal bill has already exceeded £1 million.

Analysts at HSBC bank said in a report published over the weekend that the creation of the Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset was “becoming harder to justify”, concluding that the energy produced by the reactor is likely to be too expensive and that there was “ample reason” for the Government to delay or cancel the £25 billion project.

[…]

Last month Amber Rudd, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said there was a “very good prospect” of the ultimate decision on the project being announced later this year. She told MPs on the energy select committee that the Government was still “very committed” to building new nuclear power stations.

But the former Conservative Energy Secretary Lord Howell of Guildford – who led Britain’s previous drive for nuclear energy under Margaret Thatcher – has urged the Government to reconsider the Hinkley project, which he described as “one of the worst deals ever for British households and British industry”.

He told the House of Lords that while he was personally “very pro-nuclear”, he would “shed no tears” if the “elephantine” scheme was to be abandoned “in favour of smaller and possibly cheaper nuclear plants a bit later on”.

[…]

Untested design: EDF shuns Japanese technology

If and when it is completed, Hinkley Point C will make use of two European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs), which are being built in France and are supposed to be safer and more efficient than older nuclear reactors. The problem is that none have yet been built, so their record for safety and reliability cannot be tested.

For this reason, some have argued that tried-and-tested Japanese technology in the form of Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWRs) should be used instead. Such reactors are already being developed for use at new  nuclear sites at Wylfa  Newydd on Anglesey and  Oldbury in Gloucestershire.

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Japan A-bomb survivors speak out against nuclear power, decry Abe’s view of war via Reuters

Posted on 2015/08/04 by yukimiyamotodepaul

When Atsushi Hoshino set out to revive a group representing atomic bomb survivors in the rural northeast Japanese prefecture of Fukushima 30 years ago, one topic was taboo – criticizing the nuclear power industry upon which many relied for jobs.

That changed dramatically after March 11, 2011, when a massive tsunami devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, triggering meltdowns, spewing radiation and forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee their homes.

“Until then …I felt somewhat uncomfortable about nuclear power, but not enough to oppose it. Rather, I was in a situation where it wasn’t possible to oppose it,” Hoshino, 87, told Reuters at his home in Fukushima City, about 60 km (37 miles)from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi plant, the country’s first commercial nuclear plant when it went online in 1971.

Now, Hoshino, a survivor of the Aug. 6, 1945, U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, is among the majority of Japanese who oppose Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to reboot reactors taken offline after the Fukushima disaster. Kyushu Electric Power Co’s Sendai plant in southwestern Japan is expected to resume operations on Aug. 10, the first to do so in nearly two years.

“I think that since the risk of nuclear power and the fact that human beings cannot control it has become clear, none of the reactors should be restarted,” Hoshino said.

Akira Yamada, chairman of Fukushima’s atomic bomb survivors group, says he reached a similar conclusion. Still, both men are wary of comparing the risks of nuclear power to the horror of atomic weapons.

“There is a difference between military use and peaceful use,” Yamada, who like Hoshino became a professor at Fukushima University after the war and later served as its president, told Reuters.

[…]

Like many “hibakusha” survivors, Yamada, Hoshino and Kohata are harsh critics of Abe, whose conservative agenda includes easing the constraints of Japan’s pacifist, post-war constitution on the military and adopting a less apologetic tone over the war.

Abe is set to mark the 70th anniversary of the war’s end with a statement that some fear will dilute past apologies.

“If you delve into the atomic bombings which had such inhumane results, it was because we fought that … war of aggression,” Yamada said, calling Japan’s wartime leaders “murderers”. “But Mr. Abe is not delving deeply.”

Hoshino was even blunter. “I don’t think Shinzo Abe … truly recognizes that the war was a criminal war of aggression.”

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長崎の被爆者が中学校で「原発よくない」と話し始めたら、校長が遮った via The Huffington Post

Posted on 2015/08/04 by yukimiyamotodepaul

長崎県の公立中学校で行われた被爆者の講話を、校長が「やめてください」と制止した――。講話を行った男性が被爆体験を語った後に日本のアジアへの加害責任や原発の問題に触れたところ、校長が中止させようとしたという。

毎日新聞によると、講話を行ったのは長崎県に住む末永浩さん（79）。2014年7月1日に島原市の中学校で行った講話でのことだった。

末 永さんは長崎で被爆した自身の体験を話したあと、「アジアで原爆を語ろうとすれば、日本がしてきたことを反省して語らなければならない」と説明しながら、 中国や韓国の博物館が旧日本軍による侵略に関するものとして展示している写真を生徒に見せ、日本の戦争責任について話した。

さらに、「原爆と同じように核分裂によって放射線を出す」と考える末永さんが、福島第一原発の事故など原発問題について語り出したところ、校長が「やめてください」と大声で遮ったため、末永さんは「原発についてもみんなでよく勉強し考えて下さい」と述べて話を終えた。

NHKニュースに よると、講話の後、校長は末永さんに対して「写真はでっちあげだ」とか「自虐史観だ」などと校長室で述べたという。講話を遮ったのは、事前に被爆体験だけ を話すよう要請していたにもかかわらず、末永さんが「原発は良くない」などと話したため、「教育現場で政治的な発言をしてはいけない」と考えたためだと話した。

続きは 長崎の被爆者が中学校で「原発よくない」と話し始めたら、校長が遮った

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Atomic bomb survivors nominated for Nobel prize via The Japan Times

Posted on 2015/08/04 by yukimiyamotodepaul

In this 70th year anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Swiss-based International Peace Bureau (IPB) nominated Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations) for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize. This is Hidankyo’s third such nomination by the IPB, following earlier bids in 1985 and 1994. There are about 60,000 survivors of the atomic bombings and their average age is nearly 80 years old.

“Over these 70 years they have made the choice of activism,” the IPB wrote in its nominating letter, “unceasingly recounting their experiences and struggles, and working constantly for a total ban and the elimination of nuclear weapons, appealing to governments and peoples all over the world.”

Hidankyo demands that the government admit the Japanese state’s responsibility for launching a war of aggression that eventually led to the atomic bombings, and argues that it should therefore provide state compensation to the bereaved families, as well as the survivors. It was not until 1957 that the government established medical services for the hibakusha and in 1994, the Hibakusha Aid Law was adopted, but Hidankyo says this law is inadequate because it doesn’t provide state compensation or admit the state’s war responsibility.

Hidankyo members also participate in the annual Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) review conferences, speaking of their experiences in order to remind participating countries what is at stake. This past May at the NPT review conference in New York, the Japanese government proposed that world leaders visit the A-bombed cities so they could better understand the effects of nuclear weapons. This proposal was dropped at China’s request as Beijing claimed Japan was trying to portray itself as a victim of World War II while downplaying its role as victimizer. Yet again, Tokyo found that festering issues relating to its wartime conduct in the 1930s and ’40s hampers its diplomacy in the 21st century.

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核融合研で火災、１人心肺停止…放射性物質なし via Yomiuri online

Posted on 2015/08/04 by yukimiyamotodepaul

４日午後３時１０分頃、岐阜県土岐市の自然科学研究機構核融合科学研究所から出火し、作業員の男性（６１）が心肺停止の状態で見つかり、ほかに作業員の男性（３２）が首にやけどを負った。

　県警多治見署や土岐市消防本部によると、作業員４人で大型ヘリカル装置の実験棟内にある冷却パイプの交換作業をしていたところ、溶接作業の火花がパイプに巻いてあった断熱材に引火し、出火したという。火事は約１時間後に鎮火した。

(略）

施設には、放射性物質はないという。

全文は核融合研で火災、１人心肺停止…放射性物質なし

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BBC Four Goes Nuclear via BBC

Posted on 2015/08/03 by yukimiyamotodepaul
The BBC has today announced BBC Four Goes Nuclear – a season of programmes around the 70th anniversary of Hiroshima. The season leads with the one-off documentary, Britain’s Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield, giving audiences unprecedented access to one of Britain’s most iconic nuclear facilities.

Other programmes in the season include the film War Book, a chilling story of a war game between government officials, exposing the fragility of our everyday life and those who govern it in the face of nuclear attack; the documentary The Race For The World’s First Atomic Bomb: A Thousand Days Of Fear, which is an inside-the-barbed-wire story of the men and women who worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos; while Storyville explores the complexity of nuclear power – from Chernobyl to Fukishima, to X-Rays and MRI scans – and the dread and the promise it can bring.

Cassian Harrison, Channel Editor for BBC Four, says: “BBC Four Goes Nuclear will give our audiences a chance to contemplate the history and the extraordinary potential of our nuclear age. We have unique access to Britain’s most renowned nuclear facility with the documentary Britain’s Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield, alongside other captivating new and archive programmes for the channel. BBC Four Goes Nuclear will consider the nuclear age from all sides – its groundbreaking opportunities as well as its terrifying dangers. With BBC Four Goes Slow, Goes Pop and now Goes Nuclear, BBC Four is the destination for brave and surprising seasons.”

Jim Al-Khalili, pictured, on presenting Britain’s Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield, says: “As a nuclear physicist, I found gaining such amazing access to somewhere as huge and important as Sellafield a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Little is known about Britain’s nuclear industry so it’s no wonder that the general public have tended to be so suspicious of it, sometimes with good reason. So telling the story of Britain’s nuclear history, both the past failures and the recent successes, is vital.”

Storyville: Atomic – Living in Dread and Promise
1 x 70, BBC Four
Tx: 9 August, 9pm TBC

[…]

Britain’s Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield
1 x 60, BBC Four
Tx: 10 August, 9pm TBC

[…]

War Book
1 x 95, BBC Four
Tx: 10 August, 10pm TBC

[…]

The Race For The World’s First Atomic Bomb: A Thousand Days Of Fear
1 x 60, BBC Four
Tx TBC

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Fukushima Daiichi One Worker Dead, Radiation Spike on August 1 via Simply Info

Posted on 2015/08/03 by yukimiyamotodepaul

A worker reported to the onsite office saying he felt unwell. He was transported to Iwaki hospital and died soon after arriving. TEPCO has given no further details about what kind of work he was doing or his cause of death.

On the same day dust monitoring at monitoring post 2 alarmed then went back down to normal. TEPCO is trying to dismiss it as being caused by “noise”. They also reported no work at unit 1 was underway at the time and that monitoring posts 1 and 3 did not alarm. Other incidents later found to be significant included brief and isolated monitoring alarms.

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30代の作業員が死亡　福島第１原発、死因不明 via 日本経済新聞

Posted on 2015/08/03 by yukimiyamotodepaul

　東京電力は３日、福島第１原子力発電所で協力企業の30代の男性作業員が１日に死亡したと発表した。死因は不明で、作業との因果関係はわかっていないという。

（略）

終了後、約20キロメートル離れた作業拠点のＪヴィレッジで体調不良を訴え、いわき市内の病院に運ばれたが死亡した。

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Survey: 55% of hibakusha stressed over health impact of 1945 radiation exposure via The Asahi Shimbun

Posted on 2015/08/03 by yukimiyamotodepaul

More than 55 percent of survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings still feel anxiety over the impact of radiation exposure on their health, and nearly half fear their descendants may also be affected, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.

To mark the 70th anniversary of the Aug. 6 bombing of Hiroshima and the Aug. 9 bombing of Nagasaki at the end of World War II, The Asahi Shimbun sent questionnaires to about 22,000 hibakusha.

Of the 5,762 people who gave valid responses, 3,193, or 55.4 percent, said that whenever they become ill or feel subpar, they fear their conditions could be a result of their exposure to radiation from the atomic bombs.

In addition, 2,801 respondents, or 48.6 percent, said they feel anxiety over whether their exposure to radiation may have affected the health of their children and grandchildren, although such genetic effects have not been scientifically confirmed.

The questionnaires were sent to atomic bomb survivors around Japan through organizations under the umbrella of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo).

The respondents are from 46 prefectures, including 1,542 in Hiroshima Prefecture, 1,244 in Tokyo, 550 in Kanagawa Prefecture and 243 in Nagasaki Prefecture. Their average age is 81.1, up 8.7 years from the previous survey a decade ago.

Many survivors have grown alarmed by the threat of nuclear warfare in the current international situation, including heightening diplomatic tensions between the United States and Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent statement that the country was prepared to use nuclear weapons.

As many as 3,656 respondents, or 63.5 percent, said the risk of nuclear weapons being used in warfare has increased over the past decade.

More than a quarter of the respondents, or 1,474, said it is unreasonable for Japan’s national security to rely on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, while 2,519 people, or 43.7 percent, said such a policy is inevitable.

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低レベル廃棄物も発生＝規制委、１０万年隔離の方向－川内原発再稼働 via 時事ドットコム

Posted on 2015/08/03 by yukimiyamotodepaul

再稼働が間近に迫った九州電力川内原発（鹿児島県）。だが、未解決のごみ問題は、使用済み核燃料以外にもある。再稼働で発生する低レベル放射性廃棄物の一部も処分場が決まっておらず、原発敷地内で増え続けることになる。

低レベル廃棄物のうち処分場が課題となっているのは、「Ｌ１」と呼ばれる放射性物質濃度が高いごみ。核分裂反応を抑える制御棒や、冷却水から放射性物質をこし取るための樹脂などが該当する。

原子力規制委員会がまとめた資料によると、川内原発には２０１３年度末時点で、使い終わった制御棒や燃料を長期使用するための器具などが、使用済み燃料 プールに４６０本保管されている。タンクなどに詰められた樹脂は１５０立方メートルに上り、２００リットルのドラム缶７５０本分に相当する。

続きは低レベル廃棄物も発生＝規制委、１０万年隔離の方向－川内原発再稼働

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