Nuclear option: US critics balk at Canadian plan to bury radioactive waste near Lake Huron via Fox News

Posted on 2015/05/08 by

Cristina Corbin

A Canadian power company’s plan to bury nuclear waste 150 miles from Detroit and less than a mile from Lake Huron has Americans fearful the Great Lakes – and some 40 million people who get their drinking water from them – could be put at risk.

A Canadian advisory panel submitted a report Wednesday that concluded the project would cause no significant environmental harm — despite strong opposition by Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., and several other lawmakers, who argue the waste plan is a major safety threat to the Great Lakes. The plan, if approved by Canada’s Minister of the Environment, would allow millions of gallons of low-level nuclear waste to be stored 2,200 feet below the earth’s surface.

[…]
Kildee roundly criticized the advisory panel, claiming it failed to fully examine other potential sites to bury nuclear waste in Canada.

“It’s hard for me to accept the joint review panel’s conclusion that a site less than a mile from Lake Huron is the safest and most appropriate place to store millions of gallons of nuclear waste when they failed to even consider other potential sites,” Kildee said in a statement. “Surely in the vast landmass that comprises Canada, there has to be a more sensible place to bury nuclear waste than right next to the world’s largest freshwater source, the Great Lakes.”

“Nuclear waste is hazardous material that will remain radioactive for generations, and no person, panel or country can ever say with absolute certainty that there is no environmental risks,” he said. “…if an accident were to happen on the shores of the Great Lakes, a nuclear radiation release could endanger the freshwater supply for over 40 million people, both in the U.S. and Canada.”

Kildee also seized on Canada’s past objection to a similar plan proposed by the U.S. decades ago.
[…]

Read more.

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Opposition Mounts as Taiwan Plans to Ship Nuclear Waste Offshore via Voice of America

Posted on 2015/05/08 by yukimiyamotodepaul

TAIPEI—

Taiwanese officials want to ship the island’s nuclear waste offshore as spent fuel accumulates at two older power plants, but the plan faces opposition from activists and the legislature, putting it on hold.

The two oldest of Taiwan’s three nuclear power plants are running out of space for spent fuel. The build-up of waste prompted government-run Taiwan Power Company to call in February for bids from companies overseas capable of removing the fuel, neutralizing radioactive material and helping to dispose what’s left. Firms in France, Japan, Russia and Britain are technically able to do the work, though none had tendered bids.

A month later the power company retracted its call for bids to process 1,200 bundles of spent fuel because parliament declined to approve a $367 million disposal budget. Taiwan Power spokesman Lin Te-fu said the company will try to persuade legislators again to allocate the money or risk a storage crisis at the island’s first nuclear plant.

[…]

Opposition to Taiwan’s nuclear power crested last year after more than 200,000 activists marched in the streets, leading the government later to call off plans to open a $9.3 billion fourth plant. Taiwan’s other plants date to the 1970s and contribute 12 percent of the industrialized island’s power generation. Fossil fuel imports are the chief source of power, but the government calls those costly and polluting.

Opponents of nuclear power are now asking that Taiwan not send nuclear waste overseas. Hsu Hsin-hsin, spokeswoman for the Central Taiwan Antinuclear Action Alliance, said the plan would cost too much without answering calls to end nuclear power.

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原発被害者:初の全国組織を設立 via 毎日新聞

Posted on 2015/05/08 by yukimiyamotodepaul

東京電力福島第１原発事故で国や東電に被害救済を求め提訴した原告団や、国の原子力損害賠償紛争解決センターに裁判外紛争解決手続き（原発ＡＤＲ） を申し立てた住民らが、連携を図るための全国組織「原発事故被害者団体連絡会」を設立することを決めた。連絡会に参加する原告団らが８日、福島県庁で記者 会見し明らかにした。

（略）

原告団の弁護士によると、国や東電を相手取った集団訴訟は全国２０地裁・支部で原告数が約１万人に上るといい、連絡会への参加を広く呼びかける。

会見した原告団らによると、連絡会への参加を既に決めているのは福島県内のほか、避難先で提訴した宮城、神奈川、京都、岡山の原告団などオブザー バー参加を含め１１団体・約２万２７００人。原発ＡＤＲを申し立てた福島県飯舘村の住民団体や、東電幹部を業務上過失致死傷容疑で告訴・告発した団体も 入っている。

連絡会は統一目標として、国と東電に対し▽被害者への謝罪▽被害の完全賠償▽詳細な健康診断と医療保障、被ばく低減策の実施▽事故の責任追及−−の４点を 掲げる。目標達成に向け各団体の情報を共有するための研究会を定期的に開催する予定で、今月２４日に福島県内で設立集会を開く。

全文は原発被害者:初の全国組織を設立

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Canada Approves Nuclear Waste Site on Great Lakes Shore via Sputniknews

Posted on 2015/05/08 by yukimiyamotodepaul

A Canadian advisory panel on Wednesday approved a plan to bury nuclear waste at a site just steps away from Lake Huron, saying it had concluded the project would pose no danger to the environment.

The Joint Review Panel made its recommendation in a report to Canada’s environment minister, Leona Aglukkaq, who is expected to issue a decision within 120 days.

“The Panel concludes that the project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects” given the measures contemplated to curb them, says the 457-page report.

Despite 152 communities voicing opposition to the project, the panel endorsed the Deep Geologic Repository (DGR), which would see nuclear waste buried some 2,000 feet underground near the shore of Lake Huron.

The panel said the project would be the first of its kind in North America.

[…]

Publicly owned OPG wants to bury 7.1 million cubic feet of waste from nuclear plants about 2,230 feet below the earth’s surface at the Bruce Power generating station near Kincardine, Ontario.

Read more at Canada Approves Nuclear Waste Site on Great Lakes Shore

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台湾 日本食品の規制強化 方針変わらず via NHK News Web

Posted on 2015/05/07 by yukimiyamotodepaul
台湾当局が日本からの食品輸入に関する規制を強化すると表明したことに対し、日本側は撤回を求めていますが、台湾の高官は今月１５日から規制強化を実施する方針に変わりはないと説明しました。
台湾当局は東京電力福島第一原子力発電所の事故のあと、福島など日本の５つの県からの食品輸入を停止しています。
それに加えて今月１５日からは規制を強化すると表明し、具体的には、日本からのすべての輸入食品に都道府県ごとの産地証明の添付を義務づけ、特定の地域の一部の食品は放射性物質の検査を義務づけるとしています。
これに対し、日本の農林水産省は「科学的な根拠がなく、一方的だ」として撤回するよう申し入れています。
こうしたなか、台湾の衛生福利部の許銘能次長は７日、記者会見し、輸入を停止している日本の５つの県で作られた加工食品がことし３月に一部流通していたことや、これまでに日本からの輸入食品から微量ながら放射性物質が検出されたケースがあると指摘しました。
そのうえで、許次長は「住民の食の安全を守るために措置を取る必要がある」と述べ、今月１５日から規制を強化する方針に変わりはないと説明しました。
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Kincardine nuclear waste site gets federal seal of approval via The Star.com

Posted on 2015/05/07 by yukimiyamotodepaul

Deep Geologic Repository proposed by Ontario Power Generation at its Bruce site is “not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects,” report concludes.

A federal panel has given an overall seal of approval to the controversial nuclear waste disposal site proposed for a subterranean crypt below the Bruce nuclear station near Kincardine, Ont.

“The Panel concludes that the project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects” given the measures contemplated to curb them, says the report by the Joint Review Panel.

The panel’s favourable view of the project, proposed by Ontario Power Generation, overcomes a major regulatory hurdle in the construction of the Deep Geologic Repository, or DGR in industry jargon, which would see nuclear waste buried hundreds of metres underground near the shore of Lake Huron.

Supporters and opponents — there are 152 communities opposed to the project, including Toronto and Chicago — were poring over the report after it was released late Wednesday, examining closely the conditions that the panel says should be imposed before the project can proceed.

[…]

However, environmentalists in Canada and the U.S. are likely to step up their opposition. Dozens of municipal councils around the Great Lakes are on record against it. Resolutions have also been presented in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

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Japan’s renewable revolution at risk via BBC News

Posted on 2015/05/07 by yukimiyamotodepaul

Could Japan survive without nuclear power? The short answer to that question is yes.

Japan has been surviving surprisingly well without nuclear power for the last four years. Following the Fukushima disaster in March 2011 all of Japan’s 48 other nuclear reactors were shut down. The predicted blackouts did not happen, the country kept running just fine.

But there has been a cost. Prior to the Fukushima disaster nearly 30% of power came from nuclear. That has been replaced by burning lots more coal and gas – Japan is now the world’s biggest importer of liquefied natural gas.

[…]

But desperate times called for desperate measures. Following the Fukushima disaster, the Democratic Party government enacted a “feed-in tariff”.

Anyone could put solar panels on their roof, connect up to the grid and the power companies would be required to pay them a generous 40 Yen per kilowatt.

The response was dramatic. Money poured in to solar, and not just on people’s rooftops. In 2011 Japan had just 4.9 gigawatts of installed solar capacity. Just three years later, at the end of 2014, that had leapt to 23GW. It put Japan ahead of Italy as the number three solar energy producer in the world.

In November 2013 electronics giant Kyocera began producing power from Japan’s biggest solar array so far, nearly 1.5 square kilometres of panels built on the site an old shipyard in Kagoshima bay. It can produce 70MW of power, enough to power more than 20,000 homes.

That is just the beginning. The company has plans to build a 430MW plant on one of Japan’s many offshore islands, big enough to power 130,000 homes.

It’s all great news, except it has all suddenly ground to a halt.

At the end of last year Japan’s big power companies began telling solar producers they could take no more electricity from them. At the same time the government dropped the price utilities would have to pay for electricity from new solar to 27 Yen per kilowatt.

Suddenly the calculus for building more solar has been put in serious doubt.

No-one is suggesting a conspiracy. But the timing is significant.

In the face of widespread opposition, the Abe government is pushing ahead with a return to nuclear power. His most persuasive argument for doing so is that Japan needs the cheap reliable “base load” power that only nuclear can provide.

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九電、種子島で太陽光発電抑制　再生エネで全国初 via 47 News

Posted on 2015/05/07 by yukimiyamotodepaul

　九州電力は７日、鹿児島県・種子島で太陽光発電を展開する１事業者に対し、５日に千キロワットの発電抑制を要請したと発表した。大手電力会社に買い取りが義務付けられている太陽光など再生可能エネルギーで、発電を抑制するのは全国初。

九電によると、種子島で、再生可能エネの発電設備の出力は３月末時点で計１万１３９９キロワットに上り、島内の 接続可能量の８５００キロワットを大きく上回っている。５日は好天で太陽光の発電量が増え、抑制しなければ島内の電力需給のバランスが崩れ、停電する可能 性があった。

続きは九電、種子島で太陽光発電抑制　再生エネで全国初

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Turkey’s Energy Ministry refuses to deliver int’l report on Akkuyu nuclear plant to court via Today’s Zaman

Posted on 2015/05/07 by yukimiyamotodepaul

Turkey’s Energy Ministry has refused to deliver an international infrastructure report on the country’s much-debated Akkuyu nuclear power plant on which construction has started in the country’s southern province of Mersin to a court, saying the report concerns the security or interests of the state, a Turkish daily reported.

According to a Hürriyet daily main story published on Thursday, the Turkish government asked the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to prepare a report on Turkey’s planned first nuclear power plant. Turkey Atomic Energy Agency head Zafer Alper and Energy Ministry Undersecretary Metin Kilci received the “Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review” report prepared by the IAEA in February 2014; however, the Turkish government did not make the report public as is common practice in other states such as Poland, the United Arab Emirates and Belarus. The report, which only Turkey is authorized to publicize as part of the agreement between Turkey and the IAEA, reportedly contains 24 pieces of advice and 15 suggestions for the Turkish government on the controversial nuclear project.

The report on Akkuyu, which has been called a “nuclear secret,” came to the public’s attention when the Mersin 1st Administrative Court asked for the report from the Energy Ministry as part of a case involving an environmental impact report (ÇED) for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant that was approved by the Ministry of the Environment. The lawyers for 86 natural and legal persons, including Mersin’s Chamber of Medical Doctors, the Ecology Collective and the Mersin Bar Association, who appealed a file against the ÇED report and asked the court to impose a stay on the implementation of the plant, also asked that the IAEA report to be reviewed by the court. In its interim report issued on March 23, the Mersin court asked the infrastructure report from the Energy Ministry in addition to other documents from various institutions.

However, in an answer prepared by the Energy Ministry’s Nuclear Project Implementation Department deputy head Sibel Gezer on April 27 and delivered to court on May 4, the ministry refused to send the report, citing an article of the law concerning an administrative procedure code.

Continue reading at Turkey’s Energy Ministry refuses to deliver int’l report on Akkuyu nuclear plant to court

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原発被災地・南相馬市に1000年続く重要無形民俗文化財「野馬追」から考える廃炉作業 via メディアゴン

Posted on 2015/05/06 by yukimiyamotodepaul

（抜粋）

筆者がお世話になっているライディング・センターには、こうした『野馬追』好きの人たちが集うのだが、ある朝にひとりの見知らぬ男性がやってきた。ご挨拶を済ませた後に、

「自分は地元の人間だけれど、福島第一原発で働いている東電職員です」

と身分を明かしてくれた。そして、次のようにも続けた。

「震災前は、乗馬を楽しみに毎日ここに通っていた。『野馬追』にも毎年出陣していたのですが・・・」

埼玉県から来た筆者には何のしがらみもない。だから、当たり前のように、

「それほど好きでしたら、お続けになられたらいいではないですか？」

という反応を示したのだが、彼からの回答は、筆者には想像もできないことであった。

「とてもではないけれど、そんな資格はいまの自分にはないです。でも懐かしいから、ときどきここに足が向く」

のだという。また、「夫は東電の管理職社員です」という立場を隠して瓦礫撤去や片付け作業などのボランティアに参加している家族が、いまだにここにはいる。皆さん共通して明かしてくれることは、「せめてできることをしているだけです」と。

現地に踏み留まって奮闘されている東電社員に、おもてだって文句を言う人はいない。それは事実だ。

だが、「家には戻れない」、「稲作を再開できない」などという声を聞かされれば、気持ちのうえでは、まだまだ立ち直れない。沈黙を保つしかないのだろう、寂しいことだけれど。

廃炉作業は、これからも30～40年は続く。その間、近隣の住民は、そうした技術員や作業員と共に暮らすことになる。彼らを理解し、共存していかなけれ ば、作業に携わる人たちも集まらず、結果として除染や廃炉も遅れてしまう。それは地元にとってもマイナスだ。逆にうまく共生することで、若者や人材を地域 に定着させることができるかもしれない。

乗馬クラブにフラっと現れた男性の願いはひとつだった。

「身体がもつ限り、微力ではあるが頑張りたい。そして、もしお許しがいただけるなら、いつかまた馬に乗れることを夢見ている」

ということ。
新たな展開を迎える被災地にとってのひとつの命題は、廃炉作業員の状況、立場、考えを理解し、共生を図っていくことである。

全文は原発被災地・南相馬市に1000年続く重要無形民俗文化財「野馬追」から考える廃炉作業

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