Hundreds Of Thousands Turn Out For People’s Climate March In New York City via Huffington Post

Posted on 2014/09/21 by

NEW YORK — More than 400,000 people turned out for the People’s Climate March in New York City on Sunday, just days before many of the world’s leaders are expected to debate environmental action at the United Nations climate summit.

Early reports from event organizers are hailing the turnout as the largest climate march in history, far bigger than the Forward on Climate rally held in Washington, D.C., last year. High-profile environmentalists including Bill McKibben, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jane Goodall and Vandana Shiva marched alongside policymakers such as Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former Vice President Al Gore were also there, and more than 550 buses carried in people from around the country.
[…]
The rally comes at an opportune time as 120 world leaders, including President Barack Obama, are expected to convene Tuesday at the United Nations in New York to discuss ways to tackle the growing threat of carbon pollution.

The White House has pledged to “show the world that the U.S. is leading on climate change, and to call on other leaders to step up to the plate,” John Podesta, who serves as a counselor to the president, told reporters on Thursday. However, a recent study found that the world spewed more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere last year than ever before, primarily driven by China, India and the United States. And the top leaders of China and India announced earlier this month that they won’t be attending Tuesday’s summit.
[…]
“Today I march because I want to behold a brighter future. We have destroyed ourselves. We have destroyed our health and I’m here because our political leaders have failed us,” Stanley Sturgill, a retired coal miner from Kentucky now suffering from black lung, said at a press conference before the march. “We know together we can build our bright future.”

[…]
“We need to act now … We only have one atmosphere and we of the Marshall Islands only have one land to call ‘home,'” Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, a young mother from the island nation, said before the march. “We don’t want to move and we shouldn’t have to move.”

Follow along for live updates below.

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被災地にも実りの秋 via 河北新報

Posted on 2014/09/21 by yukimiyamotodepaul

◎セシウム飛散乗り越え収穫　南相馬

南相馬市で２０１４年産米の稲刈りが進んでいる。昨年、市内の一部で生産されたコメから国の基準値を超える放射性セシウムが検出され、作付面積は福島第１原発事故前の２％にとどまるが、稲は順調に育った。
同市原町区下高平では１８日、地元の農業法人「泉ニューワールド」がひとめぼれの刈り取りを始めた。作付面積は約２１ヘクタールと市内最大規模で、全量を政府備蓄米に出す。
同法人の作付け地域からは昨年、基準値超の放射性セシウムは検出されなかった。佐藤幸信代表（５９）は「コメの出来はいいが、作付け農家が少ない。環境が整い、来年は多くの農家が作ってくれればいい」と話した。
昨年、市内では原町区太田地区と小高区で収穫されたコメの一部から基準値を超す放射性セシウムが検出された。福島第１原発のがれき解体現場から昨年夏飛散した粉じんが原因の可能性もあると指摘されている。
基準値超のコメを産出した地区でも試験栽培が行われており、市は放射性セシウムの検査結果などを踏まえ、来年産米の作付け方針を決める。

続きは被災地にも実りの秋

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「原発持たない選択は難しい」…小渕経産相 via Yomiuri online

Posted on 2014/09/21 by yukimiyamotodepaul

　小渕経済産業相は、２１日のＮＨＫの番組で、今後のエネルギー政策について、「資源を持たない日本はエネルギーのバランスが大事だ。原子力発電所を持たない選択をするということはなかなか難しい判断だ」と述べた。

 (略）

　国内の全原発が停止している現状については、化石燃料の輸入が増えて電気料金が上昇し、中小企業などの経営に悪影響を及ぼしていることを指摘。「古い火力発電所をフルに使っていて決して安心できる状況ではない」と強調した。

全文は 「原発持たない選択は難しい」…小渕経産相

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放射線教育の実践に理解　推進校で教師ら研究会via福島民友

Posted on 2014/09/20 by

福島市の清水中は本年度、放射線の正しい知識を身に付けて適切に判断し、地域復興に貢献できる人材育成を目的とした「放射線教育推進校」として、生徒たちが放射線について学んでいる。市教委は１９日、同校で授業研究会を開き、市内の教育関係者が同校の取り組みに理解を深めた。
　同校は東京電力福島第１原発事故が発生した２０１１（平成２３）年から学校の教育テーマとして、学級活動などの時間を活用し、放射線学習に取り組んでいる。生徒らは、放射線の基礎知識を学んだり、校舎や校庭の空間放射線量を測定している。また、活動の成果を全国生徒会サミットで発表している。
[…]
３年生は放射線教育で学んだことを踏まえ、地域復興に向けての方策を話し合った。「県外で産品のＰＲイベント開催」や「放射能検定の実施」で風評被害払拭（ふっしょく）につなげるなど、多様な意見が出された。また、震災報道の新聞記事を読んだ感想を発表し、災害時に取るべき行動を考えた。

もっと読む。

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Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant is powering down via 22WWLP.com

Posted on 2014/09/20 by

Vermont Yankee provided about 70% of electricity generated in Vermont

GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant reactors will gradually power down until they’re completely shut down by the end of this year.

Entergy Corporation announced last year that it would be shutting down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, because it’s too costly to operate.

Marsha Staples-Love of Greenfield said, “Alternative energy is a positive thing I do feel bad for the people that are losing jobs. I have friends that are a part of that.” There were more than 600 employees but they have been slowly cutting back.

Local business owners say they are already seeing a difference. Corinne Burnham of Rooster’s Bistro told 22News, “The income of not having all the people that work at the nuclear power plant is going to affect all the small businesses around here. They’re all moving away looking for other jobs because they have to.”

Vermont Yankee says it’s begun the planned reduction of the plants energy output or “coastdown” period, which typically occurs at the end of every 18 months of the plants operating cycle. This will culminate with the shutdown targeted for December.

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Nuclear power is not the best option: Brundtland via Taipei Times

Posted on 2014/09/20 by

Former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, the winner of the first Tang Prize in Sustainable Development, on Friday said that nuclear power is not her preferred source of new energy due to the complexities involved.
Brundtland, who chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) from 1984 to 1987, said the assessment and analysis of nuclear energy was one of the most difficult issues to agree on among the members of the commission.
“In the end, having analyzed and described the risks and potential of nuclear energy, we agreed on a conclusion that nuclear energy in the future is only sustainable and acceptable if the still-unsolved problems with regard to storage of the waste have been solved,” she said at a press conference in Taipei in response to questions on her views about Taiwan’s nuclear controversy.
Brundtland said that nuclear power needs to be made safer because it still accounts for about 20 percent of the energy use in the world.
It means that any government responsible for nuclear energy, or planning to adopt nuclear energy, has to take that responsibility seriously, she said.
Given that countries cannot immediately stop using nuclear power, they are advised to move toward solar energy, renewable energy and other solutions while gradually reducing the use of fossil fuels, Brundtland said.
She said that although nuclear power could become safer in the future, it is not her “preferred new energy source” because she thinks it entails too many complexities.
The question was raised at the press conference in view of an ongoing controversy about the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) amid public concerns over safety.
The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project began in 1999 and is near completion, but the fuel rods have not yet been installed due to widespread opposition to nuclear power. The plant is located in New Taipei City, Taiwan’s most populous municipality.
Meanwhile, when speaking at a forum at Greater Kaohsiung’s National Sun Yat-sen University on Wednesday as part of a week of lectures and other activities in celebration of the first Tang Prize, she said the world is facing the challenge of transforming itself into a green economy.
However, she said there was a problem with tax systems, saying that the richest should be more heavily taxed and that subsidies for chemical fuels should be scrapped.
She said Taiwan has a big problem of low taxation and urged the implementation of a more reasonable tax system.

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“Level 8” Nuclear Disaster Campaign Launched　via Fukushima Response

Posted on 2014/09/20 by

Urgent Demand for International Response to Ongoing Nuclear Reactor
Meltdowns in Fukushima Kicks Off at NYC Climate March
[…]
The “Level 8” Nuclear Disaster campaign is focused on mobilizing governments and organizations in every country
to demand modification of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s current 7-level scale that indicates the severity
of nuclear accidents. This newly proposed “Level 8” would firmly classify the gravity of the situation in Fukushima
as a crisis calling for an unprecedented, internationally coordinated response of resources and aid in answer to a
global nuclear emergency.
John Bertucci, press contact for FukushimaResponse.org, said, “Everyone on earth ought to agree on one thing:
There should be a full on international response to any nuclear accident that rises above a certain level or category,
and threatens the environment of the entire planet.” The present lack of informed public understanding and official
urgency is an epic failure to respond, with dire consequences for future generations.
WHAT: Official kickoff of campaign to declare Fukushima a new “Level 8” nuclear disaster, requiring international
assistance and monitoring—online petitions can be signed at MoveOn.org, Avaaz.org, and 350.org. Draft resolutions
for organizations and various levels of government (city, state, and national) can be found at both
FukushimaResponse.org and FixFukushima.info.

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Energy Dept. faces major hurdles to reopen New Mexico nuclear dump via Los Angeles Times

Posted on 2014/09/20 by yukimiyamotodepaul

7,000 steps are needed to reopen damaged nuclear waste dump in N.M., officials say

Cost of N.M. nuclear waste dump accident could approach $1 billion

The Energy Department has identified 7,000 steps needed to reopen its badly damaged nuclear waste dump in New Mexico, but cannot say how long it will take or how much it will cost.

The agency was expected to release a written recovery plan Thursday, but instead provided a few details about the plan, which awaits formal approval by the department.

Outside experts say that the dump will probably not reopen until well after the start of 2016 and that the cost of the accident will approach $1 billion.

[…]

The dump experienced two accidents earlier this year. First, a large fire broke out on a mining truck inside the mine, 2,150 feet below the surface. Shortly thereafter, a waste drum ruptured, releasing radioactivity that contaminated a significant part of the mine. Some material traveled up ventilation shafts to the surface, where 21 workers were exposed, according to an accident investigation.

The investigation so far has not explained why the drum ruptured, nor what chemicals were inside. The drum was packaged at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

The mine has been shut since early February, causing a backup of nuclear waste at Energy Department weapons labs and cleanup sites across the nation.

[…]

In addition, the Energy Department must drill a new ventilation shaft, repair a broken waste hoist, clean up debris and soot, stabilize the mine walls that have gone unattended for nine months, put new batteries in vehicles, install a new ventilation system, erect a bulkhead to seal off the room with the ruptured drum and seal surfaces that are contamined with radioactive dust, Blankenhorn said.

Once recovery operations begin underground, the existing damaged ventilation system will allow only two diesel-powered vehicles to operate at the same time in the mine. That will limit how fast work can proceed.

The sealing plan involves spraying the surfaces with water so that the salt melts and encapsulates the waste. Then the surface must be covered with two layers of material and, atop that, another layer of clean salt.

[…]

Even if the dump reopens by then, the two-year shutdown would have consumed two years’ worth of the annual budget for the operation, amounting to about $400 million, and at least another $300 million of additional appropriations that have been discussed for repairs.

But that is unlikely to cover the full cost of the repairs, Hancock said. In addition, tons of waste are backing up across the nation, forcing laboratories and other cleanup sites to store radioactive material longer, at an unspecified cost.

Read more at Energy Dept. faces major hurdles to reopen New Mexico nuclear dump

Related article: Concern over another WIPP drum via Albuquerque Journal

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「川内の次は高浜」の思いも…不透明な原発再稼働に廃炉問題も、苦悩深まる関電 via msn.産経ニュース

Posted on 2014/09/20 by yukimiyamotodepaul

（抜粋）

焦る関電

　川内の次に、原子力規制委員会の審査を通過しそうな２番手の原発がいまだ定まらない。

とりあえず現在、有力視されているのは、審査合格の必要条件となる「基準地震動（想定される最大の揺れ）」が了承されている高浜原発と九電玄海原発（佐賀県）の２原発。ただ、高浜は玄海より約３カ月も前に地震動が認められただけに、関電の２番手への期待感は強い。

「川内を追い抜くとは言わないが、間髪いれずに高浜を再稼働できるようにしたい」

関電幹部は、強い口調で訴える。高浜原発の再稼働が遅れれば、財務状況の悪化は避けられず、遠からず申請が検討される電気料金の再値上げの幅にも影響しか ねない。関電は、何とか今年度中に高浜を再稼働させたい考えで、川内原発の審査合格が決まった１０日、関電の森詳介会長も「高浜の審査を進めてほしい」と 規制委に注文をつけることを忘れなかった。

だが、現実は思うように進まない。トップを走る川内原発でさえ、地元同意が必要で、再稼働は越 年する見通しだ。川内のすぐ後に審査合格できなければ、高浜原発の年度内の再稼働は厳しい。しかも高浜原発は事実上の合格証となる「審査書案」の作成作業 にも入れていない段階だ。

（略）

悩ましい課題も

　大飯、高浜原発の早期再稼働を目指す一方で、老朽化した原発の廃炉を検討する課題が関電にのしかかっている。政府は近く、稼働４０年超の原発を廃炉するかの判断を年内に示すよう電力各社に求める方針だ。

関電で対象となる美浜原発１、２号機（福井県）の運転を延長する場合、原子炉圧力容器などの劣化を調べる「特別点検」が必要だ。特別点検や安全対策には数 千億円規模の追加費用がかかるにもかかわらず、美浜１号機の出力は３４万キロワット、２号機は５０万キロワットで、合計しても大飯原発の１基分にも満たな い。このため「廃炉の決断も視野に入れざるえない」（関電幹部）のが実情だ。

半面、廃炉にするとしても、建物などの資産価値が減るため、大幅な損失計上が求められるため、経営への影響を見極める必要がある。関電幹部は「廃炉か運転継続の選択は、社運を左右する重大な決断。結論は来年まで持ち越す恐れもある」と話す。

先行きがいまだ不透明な再稼働と、避けられない廃炉の問題。赤字脱却の鍵を握る原発をめぐる関電の苦悩は今後も続きそうだ。

全文は「川内の次は高浜」の思いも…不透明な原発再稼働に廃炉問題も、苦悩深まる関電

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あやまれ　つぐなえ　なくせ原発・放射能汚染　DVDダイジェスト版 via福島原発被害弁護団

Posted on 2014/09/19 by

DVD「あやまれ　つぐなえ　なくせ原発・放射能汚染」ダイジェスト版です。最近、なかなか伝えられなくなった原発­事故被害の現状、それと戦う人々の姿を福島発で伝えます。本編は４８分。制作は、原発­事故の完全賠償をさせる会、元の生活を返せ・原発事故被害市民訴訟原告団、ふるさとを­返せ・福島原発避難者訴訟原告団。ディレクター大小田直貴　プロデューサー後藤秀典。２０１４年８月。

DVDご注文はこちら☞DVD第1弾、DVD第2弾

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