I need to speak to you, not as a reporter, but in my former capacity as lead investigator in several government nuclear plant fraud and racketeering investigations. I don't know the law in Japan, so I can't tell you if Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) can plead insanity to the homicides about to happen. But what will Obama plead? The administration, just months ago, asked Congress to provide a $4 billion loan guarantee for two new nuclear reactors to be built and operated on the Gulf Coast of Texas - by TEPCO and local partners. As if the Gulf hasn't suffered enough. Here are the facts about TEPCO and the industry you haven't heard on CNN: The failure of emergency systems at Japan's nuclear plants comes as no surprise to those of us who have worked in the field. Nuclear plants the world over must be certified for what is called "SQ" or "Seismic Qualification." That is, the owners swear that all components are designed for the maximum conceivable shaking event, be it from an earthquake or an exploding Christmas card from al-Qaeda. The most inexpensive way to meet your SQ is to lie. The industry does it all the time. The government team I worked with caught them once, in 1988, at the Shoreham plant in New York. Correcting the SQ problem at Shoreham would have cost a cool billion, so engineers were told to change the tests from "failed" to "passed." Complete article: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23710
Chernobyl reactor had 190 tonnes of uranium. Japan has 6 reactors with 100 tonnes each/ 600 tonnes. 100 nukes is just 10 tonnes, if that.
I hope it won't put the kibosh on nuke power. I believe in it. I believe in deep water drilling too, with the proper precautions. That's what's important. Americans are very reactionary. Look how well the played our fiddle after 911. We sold our freedom and invaded an non aggressor killing a bunch of Iraqis under the guise of freedom and safety. Let's learn from what the Japanese did wrong. Let's build state of the art nuke facilities with objective third party research and testing. Global warming is mostly a scam by Al Gore, whom I like for most part, to make big $$$. Everything runs in cycles to some degree. Bring on LPG and keep your wind farm and solar panels. They work as well a corn ethanol, bumpkiss.
Yip and you know that when a 30ft hurricane storm surge comes ashore across Long Island sounds like the 1938 hurricane and takes out all the cooling for Millstone Power station we will be looking at the same problem. In this case all of Long Island , NYC and southern New England is at risk. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...276,-72.165048&spn=0.013475,0.027874&t=h&z=16
That's something to ponder for sure. I grew up just north of San Onofre nuke plant. Heck we surfed there, good waves.
China halts new nuclear build as Japan crisis worsens China has become the latest country to suspend its nuclear programme in response to the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant, announcing that new projects will not be approved until improved safety rules are ready. China has 25 new plants under construction as part of plans to expand its nuclear capacity from 10.8GW to 86GW by 2020. But the State Council issued a statement today confirming it would indefinitely suspend safety approvals for new plants until new safety rules are in place, and step up inspections on existing plants. However, it gave no indication on when improved safety rules would be in place. India and South Korea have already put the brakes on new nuclear build programmes for safety reasons, while in Europe, Switzerland and Germany are reassessing their nuclear plans as the situation continues to worsen in Japan. http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2034460/china-halts-nuclear-build-asjapan-crisis-worsens
2 days back somebody had said to me there has been a underground explosion. Nuclear weapons are stored underground. There is a possibility that a nuclear bomb has exploded in Japan. Maybe somebody is hiding some information.
Nevertheless, Lochbaum and the Union of Concerned Scientists found 14 "near misses" at nuclear plants in 2010. And there were 56 serious violations at nuclear power plants from 2007 to 2011, according the ABC News review of NRC records. At the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant in Illinois, for instance, which is located within 50 miles of the 7 million people who live in and around Chicago, nuclear material went missing in 2007. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the operator -- Exelon Corp. -- after discovering the facility had failed to "keep complete records showing the inventory [and] disposal of all special nuclear material in its possession." http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-nuclear-power-plants-safe/story?id=13246490