geoharvey

Japan:

¶   The massive reports of the Diet’s Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission and the Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident have both sold in large numbers to the Japanese public. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   Twenty-two scientists from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences are in Japan, pursuing an independent investigation of the Fukushima Disaster. They hope to learn lessons to reduce dangers from nuclear reactors in the US. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   A new political party, led by Governor Yukiko Kada of Shiga Prefecture, will pledge to phase out nuclear power within 10 years, aiming to make energy a key issue in the Dec. 16 election. [The Japan Times]

World:

¶   The International Atomic Energy Agency said one of its servers has been hacked by a group critical of a supposed Israel nuclear weapons program. [Huffington Post]

US:

¶   Hurricane Sandy demonstrated the superiority of decentralized power systems for energy security. [AOL Energy]

¶   The DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has released an updated version of the U.S. National Solar Radiation Database, which provides critical information about solar and meteorological data for 1,454 locations in the U.S. [Nanowerk LLC]

¶   A study from the Rocky Mountain Institute says California could replace San Onofre with renewable power and conservation. [KCET]

¶   A pinhole leak has been found in the reactor head at Oyster Creek. The leak allowed two or three drops of cooling water to escape each minute. The unit is under repair. [The Star-Ledger – NJ.com]

¶   Six elderly women who chained the Vermont Yankee gate shut and chained themselves to the fence have been convicted of unlawful trespass at the Vermont Yankee. They asked to go to jail, but were fined. They say they will not pay the fines. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

¶   Cleanup of nuclear waste at a Superfund site in Parks Township, Pennsylvania was projected to cost $45 million. That has expanded to $500 million. [Tribune-Review]

Japan:

¶   Municipalities where nuclear plants are located realize now, 1½ years after the Fukushima Disaster, how much their finances depend on the nuclear power-induced money. “They’re like drug addicts cut off from supplies.” [The Japan Times]

¶   Nuclear policy is an important issue in the upcoming Japanese elections. Pro-nuclear people have hopes of seeing a change in their favor. [Asahi Shimbun]
… Anti-nuclear sentiment remains very strong in much of Japan. [BBC News]

¶   Governments of two municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture have decided to resume planting rice next year. [AsiaOne]

World:

¶   Germany’s Energiewende or energy transition, was set in motion by many factors, but it was reinvigorated by the Fukushima Disaster. It is not easy, but it is working. [The Market Oracle]

¶   In a recent interview, Australian Climate Change Commissioner Tim Flannery said, “What we can now see is the emerging inevitability that renewables are going to be running the economy at some point in the future.” He added that they give people independence. [RenewEconomy]

¶   The Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People’s Party) is deeply involved in protests at Kolar Gold Fields and Robertsonpet against dumping nuclear waste. They blocked the Marikuppam-Bangalore Swarna Express train for more than 20 minutes to mark their protest. [Waste Management World]

US:

¶   Harvard students overwhelmingly passed a referendum on the Undergraduate Council election ballot calling on Harvard to divest its endowment from the fossil fuel industry. [Harvard Crimson]
… The university, however, is not considering divestment. [Harvard Crimson]
… Students at McGill University are among this pushing their colleges and universities to divest also. [McGill Daily]

¶   Conservatives and Libertarians are working with fossil fuel companies to reverse the laws most states have supporting renewable power. [Examiner.com]

Japan:

¶   Japan needs both to maintain a diverse energy mix and to diversify fuel sources. [The Japan Times]

¶   The upcoming elections in Japan have political parties arguing over energy in general, and nuclear energy in particular. [Utility Products]

World:

¶   A Scottish company selling solar panels has reported a ten-fold growth in sales over the past year. [Herald Scotland]

¶   The UK is bringing its energy plant to parliament. It will provide for the renewable energy legally required to meet 2050 carbon targets, but does not specify the shorter-term targets. It will add to the tariff on consumers’ bills, providing a modicum of support for renewable energy. [Wall Street Journal]
… Media prognosticators talk about effects from their own points of view. The actual cost to consumers may go down because of renewable additions. [The Week UK]
… Various environmental organizations are not happy with the bill. [Financial Times]

¶   Two days after the Indian Solicitor General told the Supreme Court that nuclear waste from Kudankulam would be dumped in abandoned mines at Kolar Gold Fields, an Indian cabinet minister clarified that there are no plans to put the waste anywhere in India. [Times of India]

US:

¶   Connecting the dots from different articles, ENEnews shows recent articles on inland tsunamis on lakes should be taken as warnings that Fukushima-like disasters could hit nuclear reactors on lake banks. There are 33 such reactors on the banks of the Great Lakes. [ENEnews]

¶   Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is urging Congress to enact legislation to prevent the NRC from relicensing nuclear plants more than ten years before their current licenses expire. [Worcester Telegram]

¶   Bechtel, which is building a plant in Hanford, Washington to treat high-level radioactive waste from nuclear weapons production, may have committed safety and health violations, an investigation found. [Big News Network.com]

Japan:

¶   Disagreement remains over whether the fault Japan’s only operating nuclear plant is sitting on is active. One geologist on the governing panel investigating the issue insists the fault is active, and says it is “very silly” to allow the plant to continue operating. [Hindu Business Line]

¶   The Japanese government’s support of TEPCO has problems because the program was poorly thought out. There are growing fears about business performance, leaving many concerned about the future of the company.

World:

¶   After shutting down half its nuclear power plants, Germany is exporting more power than ever before. The sources of that power are renewable, but the switch over is not entirely painless. [Deutsche Welle]

¶   With two reactors shut down because of falsified documentation for parts safety, and one for cracks, South Korea may be facing power outages. The country may also be beginning to rethink its energy portfolio. [Alaska Dispatch]

US:

¶   Twelve days after Hurricane Sandy hit, the end of the power outage is finally in sight. Yesterday, there were still 225,000 customers without power, down from 2,400,000 at the peak. [CNN]

¶   NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane talked in an interview about the importance of studying the geological status and other natural conditions of nuclear plants. [Laramie Boomerang]

Technology:

¶   Amonix Inc., based in Seal Beach, California, achieved a 33.5% outdoor efficiency rating with its concentrating photovoltaic modules. [solarserver.com]

Japan:

¶   The Nuclear Regulation Authority issued new guidelines to establish 30-kilometer-radius zones around nuclear plants for special disaster preparations. [The Daily Yomiuri]

¶   A Fukushima cleanup worker filed a legal complaint against TEPCO, saying the company sent crews in without proper protection or radiation risk warnings. [The Japan Daily Press]

World:

¶   According to the UK’s Office of Nuclear Regulation, a third of the US’s post-Fukushima nuclear concerns remain unresolved. [Businessweek]

¶   Tokelau, a tiny collection of atolls in the South Pacific, has become the first nation to support itself entirely with solar energy. [Wired.co.uk]

US:

¶   Between refueling outages and the hurricane, nuclear plant outages were at the second highest level since 1999. [Reuters]

¶   Oyster Creek is no long on alert status. [Press of Atlantic City]

¶   The US Department of Energy released a state-by-state status report on conditions after Hurricane Sandy. [Electric Light & Power]

¶    During a hearing of the Atomic Safety Licensing Board, the NRC and the owners of the proposed the Levy nuclear site admitted that they had not performed tests on the area where supply wells on the south side of the nuclear plant site will be dug. [Tampabay.com]
… Expert witnesses warned that construction and operation of the proposed dual reactors would deplete the region’s already endangered aquifer, cause saltwater intrusions. [Sacramento Bee]