読み解く＝原発回帰　曇る視界　高浜差し止め仮処分　政府「粛々と」強調　識者「決定無視できぬ」 via 西日本新聞

Posted on 2015/04/15 by

[…]

　「科学的、技術的に適正に判断した」。再稼働の前提となる審査を担う原子力規制委員会の事務局に当たる原子力規制庁幹部は同日午後、想定外の厳しい司法判断に戸惑いつつも、こう反論した。

　再稼働を認めないばかりか、政府が「世界で最も厳しい」と評価する新規制基準も「合理性を欠く」と指摘。政府や電力会社が、再稼働の根拠にする審査そのものを否定するような判断といえる。別の規制庁幹部は「（福井地裁の）判断には事実誤認も多い」と不満をあらわにする。
[…]
政府は平静を装っている。

　菅官房長官は１４日午後の記者会見で「世界最高水準の新規制基準に適合しているとする、規制委の判断を尊重し再稼働を進めていく」と述べ、従来の方針をあらためて強調した。
[…]
政府は、年末にパリである会議に向けて、国際社会に温室効果ガス削減目標を示す必要もある。二酸化炭素などを排出しない原発を活用する方針は、地裁レベルの判断では「揺らがない」（官邸筋）。

　「国は（訴訟の）当事者ではない」。国策への司法判断に対し、局外者を装う菅官房長官を、千葉大の新藤宗幸名誉教授（行政学）は批判する。「三権分立の意味を示す具体的な決定が出た。安倍政権はいつまでも司法の判断を無視することはできない」　

もっと読む。

Posted in *日本語 | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 読み解く＝原発回帰　曇る視界　高浜差し止め仮処分　政府「粛々と」強調　識者「決定無視できぬ」 via 西日本新聞

高浜原発「再稼働差し止め」の波紋 via MBS News

Posted on 2015/04/15 by

　
[…]
野瀬豊町長は地元経済への影響をこう話しました。

　「動いていた原発があす止まるという話ではないが、町民には心理的なインパクトがある」（野瀬豊町長）

　１９７４年に営業運転を始めた関西電力の高浜原発。

　大きな産業のない町では、原発は町民の暮らしと切っても切れない関係なのです。

　高浜町で約６０年にわたって続く老舗旅館「菊水」。

　経営者の海透麗子さん（７１）です。

　「今さっき聞いてびっくりした。どうしようかと思いながら買い物していた」（海透麗子さん）

　１９７０年に原発の建設工事が始まって以降、原発で働く作業員の宿泊先としてにぎわっていました。

　「原発作業員だけです。うちはそれしか泊めていない。定期検査のときは、１，２，３，４号機と順番にあって作業員が泊まっていました」（海透麗子さん）

　しかし、原発が運転を停止してから宿泊客は激減。

　海透さんは１１月の再稼働を期待していましたが、今回の決定で先が見えなくなったと話します。

　「（影響は）めっちゃ大きいと思います。（原発関連の会社に）勤めている人もいるから、店もはやるし、水商売もはやる。どうなるんやろ」（海透麗子さん）
[…]

もっと読み、ビデオを見る。

Posted in *日本語 | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 高浜原発「再稼働差し止め」の波紋 via MBS News

Robot sent to Fukushima reactor core records fatal radiation levels (VIDEO) via RT

Posted on 2015/04/14 by

Delivering on its promise to release all new Fukushima radiation data, TEPCO has announced that spending an hour in the epicenter will kill you. Robot readings from inside the contaminated area of the No. 1 reactor showed a deadly 9.7 sieverts per hour.

The nuclear operator TEPCO released a two and a half minute video of the robotic mission that was sent in on Friday inside the melted reactor to get radiation readings. However, the robot went out of order just three hours into a planned 10-hour walk-through.

Read more and watch video.

Posted in *English | Tagged , | Comments Off on Robot sent to Fukushima reactor core records fatal radiation levels (VIDEO) via RT

Maine Governor Wants Nuclear Power Back on Energy Table via MPBN News

Posted on 2015/04/14 by yukimiyamotodepaul

AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine Gov. Paul LePage has submitted legislation that would make it easier to site a small nuclear plant in Maine. The administration says it’s time to update the law that governs siting of nuclear plants in the state.

The proposal is drawing sharp opposition from environmentalists and other nuclear opponents.

The governor’s bill comes in two sections. One removes language saying that “investments in nuclear power plants have caused severe financial strain on consumers.” Energy Office Director Pat Woodcock says that’s not true, and that nuclear power plays an important role in Maine’s mix of energy sources.

[…]

“With the retirement of Vermont Yankee, the whole region is kind of scrambling to come up with, how do you replace a clean and stable power generating facility that is 650 megawatts?” Woodcock says.

But Woodcock’s assertion that nuclear power is clean is sharply disputed by Dylan Voorhees of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Voorhees points out that spent fuel from the long closed Maine Yankee is still stored on the site, and that waste from any new plant would also have to have a safe place to be warehoused long after the plant stops operating.

Read more at Maine Governor Wants Nuclear Power Back on Energy Table 

Posted in *English | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Maine Governor Wants Nuclear Power Back on Energy Table via MPBN News

Fukui court forbids Takahama nuclear plant restart via The Japan Times

Posted on 2015/04/14 by yukimiyamotodepaul

Plans to bring Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama No. 3 and 4 nuclear reactors back online were dealt a severe setback Tuesday when the Fukui District Court approved an injunction against restarting them, citing safety concerns.

It marks the first time in Japan’s nearly half-century of commercial atomic power operations that a court has ordered an injunction against firing up reactors.

The decision comes despite the Nuclear Regulation Authority appraising the reactors against technical and safety criteria and clearing them for restart last November.

The injunction, which took effect immediately, is expected to push back Kepco’s schedule — it originally envisaged restarting the reactors this November — but the longer term impact is unclear.

[…]

Part of the reason for the lack of complete surprise was that Nishimura and those seeking the injunctions felt that Higuchi, at least, might be on their side. So did Kepco, which undertook legal efforts to remove him. Those attempts failed last week when a high court rejected an appeal to overturn a lower court’s dismissal of a move to unseat them.

In a statement, Kepco expressed regret over the decision but said it remained determined to restart the Takahama reactors.

“We’re preparing to file the necessary papers to get the injunction lifted at the earliest possible date and will make efforts to stress the safety of the reactors,” the utility said.

Pro-nuclear Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa, who was elected to a fourth term on Sunday, had no comment on the ruling and only addressed the safety issue in a written statement.

[…]

Kyoto-based anti-nuclear activist Aileen Mioko Smith said the ruling would likely have a huge political impact on restart plans elsewhere. But she added that she hoped the injunction will also influence nuclear safety policy at the NRA.

“The (injunction) ruling is a preventative measure. Seismologists have warned this area could see another big earthquake. To have an injunction will, hopefully, prevent another nuclear disaster like Fukushima, or worse,” she said.

Read more at Fukui court forbids Takahama nuclear plant restart 

Posted in *English | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Fukui court forbids Takahama nuclear plant restart via The Japan Times

高浜原発再稼働を差し止め　福井地裁が仮処分決定　via 朝日新聞

Posted on 2015/04/14 by

　関西電力高浜原発３、４号機（福井県高浜町、定期検査中）について、福井地裁の樋口英明裁判長は１４日、再稼働を差し止める仮処分決定を出した。原発の運転をただちに禁じる司法判断は初めて。２基の原発は当面動かせず、関電がめざす１１月の再稼働も難しくなる可能性がある。
[…]
住民側は、高浜原発の使用済み核燃料プールは原子炉のように堅固な施設に囲われていないなどとして、その安全性は「確たる根拠がない脆弱（ぜいじゃく）なものだ」と主張。「重大事故が起きれば、生存権を基礎とする住民らの人格権が侵害される」と訴えていた。

　一方、関電側は、津波の被害を受けても原子炉の冷却ができるよう発電装置を準備していることなどを挙げ、安全性を強調。「具体的な危険はない」と申し立ての却下を求めていた。

　樋口裁判長は昨年５月、関電大飯原発３、４号機（福井県おおい町）の運転をめぐる訴訟で差し止めを命じる判決を出した。だが、関電が控訴して判決は確定せず、原子力規制委員会が新規制基準にすべて適合すると判断すれば再稼働できる状態にある。

　このため住民らは昨年１２月、より法的な即効力がある仮処分の手続きをとり、大飯、高浜両原発の再稼働差し止めを求めて訴えた。樋口裁判長は、再稼働に向けた規制委の審査に今年２月に合格した高浜原発についての判断を先行させる考えを表明。慎重な検討を求める関電側の主張を退け、３月に審理を打ち切っていた。（室矢英樹、太田航）

全文を読む。

Posted in *日本語 | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on 高浜原発再稼働を差し止め　福井地裁が仮処分決定　via 朝日新聞

Taiwan toughens rules on food imports from Japan, including on labeling, radiation checks via The Japan Times

Posted on 2015/04/13 by yukimiyamotodepaul

TAIPEI – Taiwan, one of the major importers of Japanese produce, is tightening regulations on food products arriving from Japan possibly in mid-May in addition to an existing ban imposed on food items from a region close to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

Taiwan will be requiring all food products from Japan to carry prefecture-specific labels of origin and some items, such as products for infants, to undergo radiation checks, according to the new regulations.

Japan has expressed opposition to the new measure that was initially unveiled last year.

The planned implementation of the new measure comes after the revelation in March that some foods were imported to Taiwan from the area subject to the ban, which was placed after the 2011 nuclear disaster struck.

Continue reading at Taiwan toughens rules on food imports from Japan, including on labeling, radiation checks

Posted in *English | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Taiwan toughens rules on food imports from Japan, including on labeling, radiation checks via The Japan Times

５月にも日本食品に新規則　台湾、放射性物質警戒で via 北海道新聞

Posted on 2015/04/13 by yukimiyamotodepaul

【台北共同】台湾衛生福利部（衛生省）は１３日、東京電力福島第１原発事故で汚染された食品の日本からの輸入を防ぐための新規則を５月中旬にも導入することを決めたと明らかにした。

既に実施している福島、茨城、群馬、栃木、千葉の５県からの食品輸入禁止に加え、都道府県ごとの産地証明の添付や乳幼児向けなど一部食品の放射性物質の検査を義務付ける。

日本側は「科学的でない」として導入に反対していたが、３月に５県産の一部食品が違法に輸入されていたことが発覚、新規則導入を後押しする形となった。

続きは５月にも日本食品に新規則　台湾、放射性物質警戒で

Posted in *日本語 | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on ５月にも日本食品に新規則　台湾、放射性物質警戒で via 北海道新聞

Cold War Flashback: Great Britain’s Plan to Save Its Art from Nuclear War via Hyperallergic

Posted on 2015/04/13 by yukimiyamotodepaul

The threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union reached new heights in the early 1980s, prompting authorities in Great Britain to devise a plan for saving its greatest art treasures, Bloomberg reports. Declassified documents released by the National Archives in London on December 29 show internal discord and uncertainty over where all those Turners and Gainsboroughs should go — and whether the rescue effort was worth it if no one might be around to see the rescued art.

The effort seemed doomed from the start. The Department for Education and Sciences (DES) first sent a plea to the Ministry of Defense (MoD) asking for a safe place to store the nation’s art. On receiving it, an MoD official sent a memo to the Home Office ridiculing the request. “If DES is asking for a safe hole guaranteed to survive nuclear war, they cannot be thinking straight,” the official wrote. “I cannot see what advantage the anonymous director of a national institution imagines he will derive from having a deposit readily accessible from London…”

Yet it wasn’t the first time that Great Britain had drawn up a strategy for safeguarding art against nuclear war. An earlier plan known as “Operation Methodical” had been developed during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. At that time, authorities hoped to save paintings including Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers,” Monet’s “Waterlilies,” Constable’s “The Hay Wayne,” and the 14th-century “Wilton Diptych” by storing them primarily at the Manod slate quarry in north Wales. The quarry had been used during World War II by the National Gallery, though it had since been reopened as a mine, making it impossible to use for protecting art by the 1980s.

Continue reading at Cold War Flashback: Great Britain’s Plan to Save Its Art from Nuclear War 

Posted in *English | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Cold War Flashback: Great Britain’s Plan to Save Its Art from Nuclear War via Hyperallergic

Unfinished Nuclear Plants Raise Safety Doubts via Climate News Network

Posted on 2015/04/13 by yukimiyamotodepaul

A new generation of giant reactors, meant to provide fresh hope for nuclear power in Europe, has been found to have a serious safety problem.

LONDON, 13 April, 2015 − The future of the world’s biggest nuclear reactor, under construction at Flamanville in northern France, is now in doubt after a serious flaw was found in its steel pressure vessel.

Examination has shown that the steel contains too much carbon, which can weaken the vessel’s structure and breaches safety rules. The Chinese, who have two similar 1,600 megawatt European Pressurised Reactors under construction, have been warned that they too may share the potentially catastrophic problem.

Investigations are continuing to check whether the problem can be rectified, but whatever happens it will add more delays and greater costs to the already troubled projects.

The problem also casts doubt on the much-heralded nuclear renaissance in Europe, where EPR reactors are being built not only in France but also in Finland.

[…]

It is understood that the parts of the pressure vessel found with excess carbon were manufactured in France at the Creusot Forge, in Burgundy, owned by Areva. It was this same company that made parts for the two Chinese reactors, hence the fears that they too will contain carbon above safety limits.

Large subsidies

One problem is the pressure vessel’s sheer size and the fact that it was already in place when the fault was detected. The vessel weighs 410 tonnes and cannot now be removed, and it is hard to see how it could be repaired or modified.

The problem was discovered in December but made public in a low-key website announcement only on 7 April.

One knock-on effect might be to seriously damage the British government’s own energy policy, which relies on building four similar reactors in England. Work has already been completed on preparatory works for two at Hinkley Point, in the west of England, using the Flamanville design.

Read more at Unfinished Nuclear Plants Raise Safety Doubts

Posted in *English | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Unfinished Nuclear Plants Raise Safety Doubts via Climate News Network