福島第一原子力発電所の事故処理費用の一部を新電力に負担させる案が１６年１２月、政府の会議で示された。原発で作った電気を購入していない新電力が処理費用を負担するというなら、電気を選べる電力自由化との整合性はどうなるのか。
[…]
そもそも事故処理の負担と、再生エネの普及のための負担、どちらが支払う価値があるのか。再生エネの賦課金は１３年から６倍に膨らんだ。事故処理の費用はこれ以上増えないのだろうか。もし世界最大級の柏崎刈羽原発で重大事故が起きると住民４０万人の避難が必要と試算されている。米作に被害が及ぶと、新潟県にとって大打撃だ。事故処理費用は巨額になるだろう。再生エネはコスト低減が進んでいる。その証拠に電力会社が買い取る価格が下がっている。賦課金の上昇も抑えられるだろう。
原発事故の処理費用は、原発の運転であがった収益からの負担するのが、わかりやすいのは確かだ。安全に万全を期して再稼働させるというが、もっとも安全なのは再生エネ。
エネルギー問題をめぐる疑問を並べてみた。国民負担や安全性を考えて再生エネを普及させた方が良いと、あらためて思った。
全文を読む。
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is poised to issue guidelines that would set radiation limits for drinking water during the “intermediate period” after the releases from a radioactive emergency, such as an accident at a nuclear power plant, have been brought under control. The emergency limits would allow the public to be exposed to radiation levels hundreds and even thousands of times higher than typically allowed by federal law.
Opponents say that under the proposed guidelines, concentration limits for several types of radionuclides would allow a lifetime permissible dose in a week or a month, or the equivalent of 250 chest x-rays a year, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a watchdog group that represents government employees.
The EPA has stressed that the proposal is aimed at guiding state and local leaders during a crisis and would not change existing federal radiation limits for the water we drink every day, which are much more stringent, and assume there may be decades of regular consumption. Critics of the new proposal say the emergency guidelines are a public relations ploy to play down the dangers of radiation and provide cover for an agency that fumbled during the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
The emergency limits are even higher than those proposed by the EPA during the final days of the Bush administration, which withdrew the proposal after facing public scrutiny and left the Obama administration with the job of finalizing the guidelines.
Now, in the twilight of the Obama administration, the EPA’s “Protective Action Guidelines” for drinking water are once again drawing fire from nuclear watchdogs and public officials.
“The message here is that the American public should learn to love radiation, and that much higher levels than what are set by the statutory limits are OK,” said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a watchdog group that represents government employees.
[…]
EPA Caught With Its “Pants Down” During Fukushima
As Truthout reported at the time, the EPA told the public that radiation from the disaster would not reach the US at levels high enough to pose a public health concern, even as the agency’s own data showed concentrations of radionuclides in rain water far exceeding federal drinking water standards. As Japan struggled with a major nuclear crisis and the media debated the relative danger of radioactive plumes blowing about the world’s atmosphere, the EPA quietly stopped running extra tests for radiation less than two months after the disaster began.
By then, samples of cow’s milk, rain and drinking water from across the country tested positive for radiation from the Fukushima plant, and nuclear critics warned that it was difficult to tell whether there could be impacts on human health in the absence of enhanced radiation monitoring.
The EPA’s radiation division is now on the verge of approving a long-awaited update to its Protective Action Guidelines for responding to such a “large-scale emergency.” Ruch said employees from other divisions of the EPA were cut out of the decision-making process, and internal EPA documents indicate that the concentration limits were set higher than those detected during Fukushima to cover for the EPA’s embarrassing performance.
[…]
No Safe Dose of Radiation
[…]
In June, the EPA put the proposal up for public comment, but only made limits for four types of radionuclides publicly available. Critics say the agency still received 60,000 comments opposing the guidelines, including statements from 65 environmental groups. PEER sued the agency under the Freedom of Information Act in October, and the EPA released the proposed limits for dozens of other radionuclides just days before the Christmas holiday.
Dan Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a nuclear watchdog group, attended a briefing with EPA officials on Thursday and told Truthout that the agency intends to finalize the guidelines despite ongoing protests.
[…]
MIKE LUDWIG
Read more.
「東芝ショック」米原子力事業で巨額減損
日立製作所、東芝、三菱重工業の国内原子力「御三家」が原子力事業の存続に向けた岐路に立たされている。福島第1原子力発電所の事故を契機に国内は先細りし、頼みの綱の海外も東芝が米国の原発事業で数千億円規模の減損損失を出すなど不確実性を強め、出口は遠退くばかりだ。
3社は原発の燃料事業の統合で打開策を探るものの、さらに踏み込んだ原子力事業全体の統合への足並みは揃わない。昨年12月、海外原子力事業で3社はそれぞれ慌ただしい動きをみせた。三菱重工は16日、提携先で実質経営破綻に陥ったフランス原子力大手アレバの出資要請に応じた。日立、東芝がそれぞれ英国で手掛ける新規原発建設については、日英両政府は22日、資金支援などを含めて原子力分野での包括協力で覚え書きを交わした。
さらに、暮れも押し迫った27日には、東芝が米原発事業で数千億円もの巨額な減損損失が発生する可能性があると発表し、原子力関係者や株式市場に「東芝ショック」が走った。明暗の分かれる事案とはいえ、3社が今後の原子力事業を託す海外の厳しい環境が背景にあった点は共通する。
三菱重工の場合、フランス政府の強い要請を受け、日本原燃（青森県六ヶ所村）とともにアレバに5億ユーロの出資を提案したとされる。出資規模からして、大型客船事業での巨額損失や米原発をめぐる賠償問題など難問を抱える三菱重工にとって、「沈みかけた船」に相乗りするようなアレバへの出資は苦渋の選択だったはずだ。
[…]
もっと読む。
千年に一度と言われる未曾有の東日本大震災に伴い、人災である東京電力福島第一原発事故が起きてから間もなく丸6年。この間、演者は福島を拠点にしたジャーナリズム活動の中で、様々な出来事を見て、体験し、あるいは考え、行動し、議論してきた。しかしその一方で、周辺化された人々、不可視化された状況への照射の不十分さを率直に認めなければならない。しかもその問題—避難、損害、被ばく、環境汚染、人権など—は、その様相を変えながらも、いまだに継続し、解決したとは言い難い。
そうした問題に、名もなき人々、ごくごく「普通の」「平凡な」市民が、今もなお、日々営む生活の場で、どのように立ち向かっているのか。何を見て、何を語っているのか。大手メディアや公式な書面には一切記録されない「もう一つの福島」の姿を紹介するとともに、棄民から起民（Upstanders）への動きとして捉え、世界最悪の原発事故に数えられることになった福島原発事故の深層を考える一助にしたい。
講師 藍原寛子 ジャーナリスト（元・福島民友新聞社記者） 日時 2017年1月18日（水） 17:30～19:00 場所 町田キャンパス太平館A303 参加費 無料 お問い合わせ
桜美林大学国際学研究所
Email : iis@obirin.ac.jp
URL : 研究所ホームページ
東京電力福島第１原発事故後、福島県から東京都に自主避難した被災者ら約５０人が東電と国に損害賠償を求めた訴訟の口頭弁論が１１日、東京地裁（水野有子裁判長）であり、避難者であることを理由に千代田区立中学でいじめを受けたと訴えている生徒の母親が、本人尋問で「小学校の時からいじめを受けていた」と証言した。（略）母親は「転入直後に子供が同級生の男の子から『福島から来たら白血病ですぐ死んじゃうだろう』と言われ、先生にも冗談交じりだったが『中学生くらいで死ぬかもね』と言われた」と証言した。また、同級生から「どうせ死んじゃうなら一緒でしょ」と言われて階段から突き落とされたこともあったと主張。「原発避難者というだけでいじめられ、避難者だと公にできないことが心の傷になっている」と訴えた。
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原発の町で生れ育ち、原発で働き、そして原発事故ですべてを失った。
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The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Tuesday unveiled a letter showing that 17 of the country’s nuclear reactors have parts from Areva SA’s Le Creusot forge in France, which is under investigation for allegedly falsifying documents on the quality of its parts.
The number of reactors was more than the nine the NRC had previously disclosed.
Last month authorities in France opened an investigation into decades of alleged forgery of documents relating to the quality of parts produced at Le Creusot and used in power plants around the world.
[…]
The parts at reactors include a reactor head at Xcel Energy Inc’s Prairie Island reactor in Minnesota, reactor vessel heads at two of Dominion Resources Inc’s reactors at the North Anna plant in Virginia, and another vessel head at Dominion’s reactor in Surry, Virginia. Some of the components were made by other companies but include parts from the Le Creusot.
[…]
Anti-nuclear power groups such as Greenpeace had urged the NRC to release the information. The NRC has maintained that the parts and the reactors were completely safe. Areva told the NRC that a review of paperwork anomalies “has not found any safety concerns.”
French nuclear regulator ASN said Areva told it of evidence of irregularities in about 400 components produced at Le Creusot since 1965.
David Lochbaum, an expert on nuclear energy at the Union of Concerned scientists, said the Le Creusot issue was “troubling from both trust and public safety perspectives” because to a large degree both the NRC and U.S. nuclear power plants depended on vendors to certify their work.
Read more at U.S. lists 17 nuclear reactors with parts from forge under probe
TAIPEI–In a rare move for power-hungry Asia, the Taiwanese government has decided to abolish nuclear power generation by 2025 to meet the public’s demand for a nuclear-free society following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Taiwan’s Executive Yuan, equivalent to the Cabinet in Japan, approved revisions to the electricity business law, which aim to promote the private-sector’s participation in renewable energy projects, on Oct. 20.
[…]
The government plans to start deliberations on the revised bill in the Legislative Yuan, or the parliament, in the near future, with the goal of passing it within this year.
Movements toward a nuclear-free society are active in Europe. For example, Germany has decided to abolish nuclear power generation by 2022.
On the other hand, China and India are increasing nuclear power generation to meet the growing demand for electricity. In Taiwan, nuclear power accounted for 14.1 percent of all the electricity generated in 2015. At present, three nuclear power plants are operating.
However, the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant heightened public opinion against nuclear power generation. In response to the sentiment, Tsai, who assumed the presidency in May with a vow of establishing a nuclear-free society, led the government’s effort to abolish nuclear power.
Like Japan, Taiwan is hit by many earthquakes. The three nuclear power plants currently in operation will reach their service lives of 40 years by 2025. The revised bill will clearly stipulate that operations of all the nuclear plants will be suspended by that year. The stipulation will close the possible extension of their operations.
Read more at Taiwan to end nuclear power generation in 2025
【台北共同】台湾の立法院（国会）は１１日、２０２５年までに、３原発６基の原子炉を事実上、全て廃炉にすることを盛り込んだ電気事業法の改正案を可決した。
(略）
代替の再生エネルギー拡大を進める内容で、東京電力福島第１原発事故後、欧州ではドイツなど脱原発にかじを切った例があるが、日本のＮＰＯ法人「環境エネルギー政策研究所」によると、アジアでは台湾が初めて。
民主進歩党（民進党）の蔡英文総統は昨年１月の総統選で、２５年までの脱原発を公約に掲げて当選した。
改正法は「原子力発電設備は２５年までに全て運転を停止すべきだ」と明記。
関連記事：
The new documentary “Command and Control” digs into the forgotten near-miss and premieres January 10th on PBS
Here in the US, we like to think that our nuclear weapons exist to prevent our enemies from detonating a nuclear explosion on US soil — that is, when we think about them at all. The thing is, nuclear weapons are just machines. And like all machines, sometimes they break, and sometimes, there’s user error. When the system that controls these civilization-ending weapons isn’t prepared for the inevitable technological and human screw ups, then we’re in real trouble.
Because the consequences for a mistake are enormous. We’re reminded of that by Robert Kenner, the producer and director of Command and Control, a spectacularly gripping documentary premiering tonight at 9:00PM ET on the PBS series American Experience (cord cutters can also watch it online at pbs.org and purchase it on iTunes). The film documents a series of events that almost led to a catastrophic nuclear accident in Damascus, Arkansas that would have spread radiation along the eastern seaboard. And it places this single accident into an alarmingly vast landscape of close-calls involving our aging nuclear infrastructure.
[…]
Kenner’s documentary about human error and human bravery is based on the nonfiction book also called Command and Control by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser. The film starts in September, 1980, when a 21-year-old missile technician named Dave Powell dropped the socket from a socket-wrench. Dropping a socket isn’t that unusual, but what followed was.
[…]
Were there any reactions to the film that surprised you?
We’ve been invited into the halls of power to screen this film, I think that’s been a big surprise. The woman who was the assistant undersecretary of the Air Force at that time wanted to publicly apologize to the men. Numbers of secretaries of defense have gone up to the men to offer their support. But I was surprised at the level of interest in military circles to discuss these issues. Having made Food, Inc., there was a lot of blow back, that has not been the case with this film whatsoever.
Why do you think that is?
I think the people who are in charge of these weapons are concerned by them. And no one is thinking about them and as former Secretary of Defense Harold Brown said, on the one hand these weapons are safer today. On the other hand, we pay far less attention to them, so it’s made them more dangerous.
I think this is a story about human error, that human beings make mistakes, and that we’ve built this incredible technology, but it’s still dependent on us. But we do make mistakes and the consequences are so large.
Read more at Human error in a nuclear facility nearly destroyed Arkansas
A nuclear power plant in Byron, Illinois. Taken by photographer Joseph Pobereskin (http://pobereskin.com).
