Category Archives: industry apologists

Fukushima Heats Up Again – Are these the reactors that refuse to go away

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I have my doubts about what this actually means. A cold shutdown is considered to be 93 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit. So the reactor is still technically cool, and I doubt if it would mean much if it went up to even 500 degree Fahrenheit because that is a factor of three below its operating temps of 2,300 degrees or the 5,500 degrees in their operation range. Still there is an “ooga booga” factor in there somewhere.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9066687/Rising-temperatures-trigger-concern-at-Japans-Fukushima-nuclear-plant.html

Rising temperatures trigger concern at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant

By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo

3:28PM GMT 07 Feb 2012

Water temperatures at Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant have risen more than 20 degrees Celsius over the past week.

Concerns are growing in relation to conditions at the plant, in northeast Japan, which was declared in a state of cold shutdown in December last year.

Temperatures at the bottom of the No. 2 reactor have climbed to over 70 degrees Celsius, marking a rise of more than 20 degrees since the start of February.

Boric acid has been injected into the reactor by workers of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operators of the plant, in order to prevent an accidental chain reaction.

The rate of cooling water injected into the unit was also increased as part of the plant workers’ attempts to stem the surge in temperatures in the reactor.

The government declared that the power plant was in a state of cold shutdown on December 16, nine months after a major earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear crisis.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Senate Trys To Pass Keystone – Dems can be environmentally unsound too

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This really needs no introduction nor comment by me. It is so sad though.

 

View a web version of this email.
Sierra Club - Explore, enjoy and protect the planet
Republican senators are trying to revive the Keystone XL oil pipeline proposal. Stop the Pipeline
Your senators have heard from Big Oil — now make sure they hear from you. Write them today to stop the Keystone XL pipeline!
Take Action

Dear Diane,

There’s breaking — and disturbing — news about the Keystone XL pipeline. Big Oil is bringing it back, and with a vengeance.

The Senate may vote as early as this week to force construction of the dirty tar sands oil pipeline — and once again, it’s up to you to stop this bill.

Last month, President Obama rejected the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which TransCanada spent $1.3 million lobbying for in 2011.  We knew Big Oil wouldn’t give up, and sure enough, they’re still at it, using their money to force the pipeline down our throats, thwart the President, and pass this bill.

Email your senators today and tell them to oppose any legislation that would approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

With Big Oil and the lawmakers they’ve bought and paid for allied against us, we face a tough fight. This bill could pass. But by standing together, we beat their millions in round one, and we can do it again in round two.

It’s obvious that Big Oil will do almost anything to buy influence and get their way on Capitol Hill — they have to, since no project as dangerous as Keystone XL could ever pass on the merits alone.

This pipeline would carry the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel, tar sands oil, from Canada to Texas, where it would be shipped overseas. To build the pipeline, TransCanada has to seize private land from ranchers and farmers, and then expose what’s left to the threat of oil spills and leaks. Clean water, clean air, agriculture, and our shared climate would all be put at risk for what have been greatly exaggerated benefits.

There’s no reason the public should sacrifice so much just so Big Oil can increase their already-record profits. We may not have $1.3 million to lobby Congress — but we do have 1.4 million members and supporters like you.

Take thirty seconds to tell Sen. Durbin and Sen. Kirk — put our public health before Big Oil profits. Oppose this and any other attempt to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

Big Oil is used to getting their way, no matter what that means for the rest of us. But together, we can send a powerful message — write your senators today.

Thanks for all that you do to protect the environment,
Sarah Hodgdon

Sarah Hodgdon
Sierra Club Conservation Director

P.S. Our senators need to hear from as many of us as possible. Please forward this email to your friends and family!

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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2 Nuclear Power Plant failures in 2 Days – So nuclear power is still safe right

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So in the Illinois case an INSULATOR fell off a transformer and shut down the plant. This is a little bit more than a missed inspection. This is more like they ignored the problem until it broke. Not very encouraging if you ask me. In the case of the California plant, it sprung a little leak. I mean really it leaks. Shouldn’t someone stick their finger in it till they get it fixed.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/31/146137547/illinois-nuclear-power-plant-shuts-down-unit-after-power-loss

Illinois Nuclear Power Plant Shuts Down Unit After Power Loss

by

Backup diesel generators are powering one of the two nuclear reactors at the Byron Station facility in northern Illinois. Unit Two came offline yesterday after it inexplicably lost power. The facility’s operator, Exelon, declared the incident an “unusual event” – the lowest of four emergency status declarations set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Fire crews were called to the site, about 25 miles outside of Rockford, as smoke was seen from the top of the facility building, according to WREX-TV. But the NRC told the Chicago Tribune the smoke was from a transformer and fire crews didn’t find a fire.

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/unit-shut-down-at-san-onofre-nuclear-plant.html

San Onofre nuclear power plant unit shut down after potential leak

January 31, 2012 |  6:54 pm

L.A. NOW

Southern California — this just in

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San Onofre nuclear power plant unit shut down after potential leak

January 31, 2012 |  6:54 pm
Officials at the San Onofre nuclear power plant shut down one of the facility’s two units Tuesday evening after a sensor detected a possible leak in a steam generator tube.

The potential leak was detected about 4:30 p.m., and the unit was completely shut down about an hour later, Southern California Edison said.

“The potential leak poses no imminent danger to the plant workers or the public,” utility spokeswoman Jennifer Manfre told The Times.

 

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Ameren’s Plan For A Smart Grid – What a joke

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You wonder why I go on about all the things you can do in your house to save power. Well the following article tells the whole story. As I said this a joke and the joke is on you. They will never get to the “smart” meters and once they do, so what. Then all you become is a part of the utilities load flattening program. Big whoop. Who wants to do laundry at 2 o’clock in the morning. Nice piece of writing though.

http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-9550-ameren-illinois-launches-10-year-modernization-plan.html

Thursday, January 12,2012

Ameren Illinois launches 10-year modernization plan

Proposed new rates could mean a decrease for some customers

By Neil Schneider

Ameren Illinois, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation, took its first step in implementing its Modernization Action Plan (MAP) on Tuesday, Jan.3. The plan will provide customers with a more reliable and modernized electric distribution system.

In a press release, Ameren said that over the next decade an additional $625 million will be invested in updating the Ameren Illinois electric delivery system, while also creating 450 new jobs during the program’s peak year. Ameren Illinois serves 20,767 customers in Sangamon County.

“Today’s filing with the Illinois Commerce Commission marks the beginning of an initiative that will enable Ameren Illinois to modernize its electric distribution system over the next 10 years in order to meet the service expectations of our customers in the 21st century,” said Craig Nelson, senior vice president of Ameren Illinois.

The filing includes the deployment of about 750,000 automated “smart” meters, greater use of advanced distribution system automation, the modernization and expansion of electric substations and the installation of new transformers.

Smart meters allow consumers and utility companies to monitor electricity more closely during the day through the usage of wireless transmitters, while also allowing a utility company to “talk” to the meters and adjust power usage and distribution throughout the day.

Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris said that a major advantage of the “smart” meters is Ameren customers will be able to take advantage of a “time-of-use service.”

Morris said that there is the potential, for people who choose to use the “time-of-use service” to save money.

“Customers can choose to buy electricity at a certain time of the day, at the certain price it is offered at during that time,” Morris said. “You can imagine that electricity is typically going to cost more at three in the afternoon than at seven in the morning. Like anything else, it is about supply and demand.”

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Go there and read. More next week.

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Aral Sea Shrinks To A River – More damage from the Soviet Union

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You can read either article below. The facts stay pretty much the same but  each has one of my favorite pictures of the horrible damage. The overhead shot is the most compelling:

http://www.global-adventures.us/2010/04/05/aral-sea-shocking-disaster/

Then there is the “boats and camels” shot:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/07/16/the_world_s_worst_ongoing_disasters?page=0,3

The World’s Ongoing Ecological Disasters

While it’s probably still too soon to celebrate, BP appears to finally be getting the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico under control. But many of the world’s greatest environmental catastrophes continue, with no end in sight.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | JULY 16, 2010

UZBEKISTAN/KAZAKHSTAN

Disaster: The shrinking of the Aral Sea

Going since: The 1960s

Damage done: Straddling the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Aral Sea was once the world’s fourth-largest inland water body and home to at least 20 species of fish and a thriving coastal economy in the surrounding towns. In the early 1960s, the Soviet government built more than 45 dams and 20,000 miles of canals in an effort to create a cotton industry on the desert plains of Uzbekistan, depriving the sea of its main sources.

Over the next three decades, the sea shrank to two-fifths its original size, turning fishing villages into barren desert outposts. Thanks to the high salt content in the remaining water, all 20 fish species are now extinct. Drinking water supplies in the area are dangerously low and the ground contains dangerous pesticides from the cotton farms. When the wind sweeps across the now-dry sea bed, it spreads up to 75 million tons of toxic dust and salt across Central Asia every year.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Nigeria – Oil spills and bombs

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OK, yesterday was a feel good day. Maybe a feel good weekend, but now back to the environmental disasters. This latest oil spill in Nigeria is not like the one in the Gulf of Mexico or the Exxon Valdez in Alaska. Still it was from a fixed well to a fixed vessel. This is ineptitude of huge proportions. It is in a country that has a history of destroying the environment and its own people. On the day when the Pope preaches against violence, they blow up a Catholic Church. Nice.

http://www.advisorone.com/2011/12/26/bombs-oil-spill-shake-nigeria

Bombs, Oil Spill Shake Nigeria

Offshore leak stems from flexible export line to tanker

By

December 26, 2011

Nigeria was hit with a double whammy over the past few days: first an oil spill that could develop into its worst since January of 1998, and then a series of Christmas Day bombings that escalated the strife in the oil-rich country.

Production on the deepwater oil project was shut down as Royal Dutch Shell worked to contain the spill, which it said resulted from a leak in the flexible line between a tanker and the production facility.

Thus far neither disaster has had much effect on the price of oil, but with many markets closed, in the U.S. and U.K. for the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays, that could change on Tuesday. Prices were up a bit in Asian markets over supply concerns.

Bloomberg reported that the spill, which began last week, originated at the Bonga deepwater project, which produces 200,000 barrels a day. Production was shut down before the leak reached 40,000 barrels, Shell said in the report. Mutiu Sunmonu, Shell’s chairman for Nigeria, said in a statement last week, “The sheen has thinned considerably due to a combination of natural factors and dispersant application, and in places is breaking up, all of which should aid further dissipation.”

Bonga is the first deepwater discovery of oil for Nigeria, and it produces nearly 10% of the nation’s crude oil. It is located approximately 75 miles off the Nigerian coast. Nigeria is the fifth largest supplier of oil to the U.S., having provided 826,000 barrels from the beginning of this year through September, the latest month for which figures are available from the U.S. Energy Administration.

Five ships were deployed by Shell to spray dispersants; the company also brought in experts to combat the spill, which could be the worst since an Exxon Mobil Corp. spill in January of 1998 lost approximately 40,000 barrels from the Idoho platform on the southeastern coast of the country. At that time, oil slicks were reported as far west as Lagos.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Turkey Is Not Much Better Off Than Russia – Seems like everyone wants to throw stuff away

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I did not know which article to go with today. They were both about environmental destruction in Turkey printed within the last 2 days. One was about the 1,600 hydro projects in Turkey to generate just 8 percent of their electricity, but flooding hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat and farmland. Also probably denying drinking water and irrigation to those downstream. OR the article about the cyanide leak from a mining tailings pond. Oh what the heck, cyanide is so much more fun.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-243375-environmental-disaster-looms-in-kutahya-after-tailings-failure.html

Environmental disaster looms in Kütahya after tailings failure

9 May 2011 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, ?STANBUL
Immediate measures are needed to avert what could be an environmental disaster in Kütahya, where the collapse of a tailings dam in a silver mining and refining facility has led to concern, according to environmentalists and scientists who continued to issue warnings on Monday.

However, officials have said all the necessary measures have been taken to prevent leakage.

A crisis desk was established in the province following the collapse of the dam’s embankment on Saturday. The governor’s office has announced that nearby villages could be evacuated. The facility, owned by the Eti Silver Corporation, reportedly contains 15 million cubic meters of cyanide. It is located 34 kilometers from the provincial capital, near the village of Gümü?.

“We are calling for urgent measures,” said Mustafa Sat?lm??, the Kütahya representative of the Turkish Foundation for Reforestation, Protection of Natural Habitats and Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA). “If not, it is certain that we’ll be faced with an environmental disaster that will cause irreparable damage.” He said TEMA had grave concerns about the situation. “The amount of disinformation [on a possible cyanide leak in Kütahya] is enormous. We expect officials to make a satisfactory statement on this. We feel that not making statements on the issue won’t get us anywhere.”

Company workers continued work started on Saturday to prevent the cyanide from flowing into the first stage of the dam, from where it could leak outside, while work was also under way to strengthen the embankments.

Sat?lm?? said although TEMA had been unable to acquire official information from technical professionals, they had been able to ascertain that a “severe risk” had formed in the tailing dam’s stages. “The embankment between the second and third stages collapsed, and now the entire burden is on the third stage. Immediate action is needed.”

The Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects’ Chambers (TMMOB) released a statement on Sunday saying that a possible leak would lead to a disaster much worse than a spill of industrial waste in October at an aluminum plant in western Hungary.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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This Is Exactly What The Global Warming Models Predict – It is just 10 years early

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While the world has seen a lot of human suffering since we emerged from the tree, this is getting ridiculous. All the deniers and decriers better get ready for a rough ride.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-weather-costs-20111208,0,4813011.story

2011 saw record number of high-cost weather disasters

The U.S. experienced a dozen natural disasters that each caused at least $1 billion in damages this year.

By Mara Lee, Hartford CourantDecember 8, 2011
Reporting from Hartford, Conn.—

The United States had a dozen weather disasters that each caused at least $1 billion in damages in 2011, the greatest frequency of severe weather that caused costly losses in more than 30 years of federal government tracking.

However, even with the number of events, the total losses this year from the storms, flooding and droughts is $52 billion, not even close to the most expensive year on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina alone cost $145 billion in today’s dollars. It was the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history and, with more than 1,800 deaths, the highest fatality toll since a 1928 hurricane in south Florida.

The disasters in 2011 caused more than 600 deaths, the agency said. The Groundhog Day blizzard, Hurricane Irene, many tornadoes and drought-fueled wildfires in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona crossed the $1-billion threshold.

The increase in losses from hurricanes has more to do with population growth and increased home building near beaches than it does with climate change, scientists from NOAA say.

But, they added, “there is evidence that climate change may affect the frequency of certain extreme weather events. An increase in population and development in flood plains, along with an increase in heavy rain events in the U.S. during the past 50 years, have gradually increased the economic losses due to flooding. If the climate continues to warm, the increase in heavy rain events is likely to continue. There are projections that the incidence of extreme droughts will increase if the climate warms throughout the 21st century.”

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More tomorrow.

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Australia To Help India Walk Away From Nonproliferation – That’s too damn bad

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This piece dithers on a bit before getting to the heart of the matter and offers few solutions. But, that may be because there are not any. Russia has sold uranium to India before and probably will again. I do not know whether China has sold uranium to India or not. I know they would in a heart beat.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/can-we-talk-reversal-on-uranium-sales-to-india-opens-up-a-whole-new-world/story-e6frg7ax-1226212701769

Can we talk? Reversal on uranium sales to India opens up a whole new world

WE should be thankful for small mercies. Before delivering a triumph to Julia Gillard on selling uranium to India, Labor’s national conference this weekend is having a debate on the issue.

That will be a change because so far we’ve heard little more than applause for the Prime Minister’s announcement three weeks ago that she would seek to change party policy to allow sales to a country that has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

She says it is time to modernise the party platform. Those who agree present the change as little more than tidying up a diplomatic anomaly.

There is a case for a change in policy, including the contribution nuclear power can make to reducing India’s carbon emissions, the practical reality that other countries are willing to sell uranium to India and that we already sell to countries like China and Russia.

But there is more to it than that.

“I am horrified that the media have not explained the enormity of this proposal,” says Ron Walker, a former diplomat.

As a head of the nuclear division in the Department of Foreign Affairs in the 1990s and chairman of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1993, his views are worth considering.

No anti-nuke activist, he subscribes to the policy first adopted by the Fraser government: that we should use our position as a major uranium supplier to demand strict safeguards against nuclear non-proliferation.

Leaving aside its surreptitious development of the nuclear bomb, India has been presented as the model nuclear citizen. Unlike China, Russia and Pakistan, it has not exported its nuclear weapons technology and expertise, at least on any significant scale.

Therefore, so the argument goes, India deserves to be made the exception to the rule that we do not sell uranium to countries that do not sign the NPT.

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He writes plenty more. Go read it. More next week.

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Atrazine Peaks In Illinois Waters In April And May – Still getting the word out never hurts

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I got this from my buddy Darryl Malek-Wiley. At:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001252051472

He has been a very active environmentalist in Southern Louisiana for 30 years. He got it here:

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2011/2011-1123atrazine-tied-to-menstrual-irregularities

Atrazine in water tied to menstrual irregularities, low hormones

Women who drink water contaminated with low levels of the weed-killer atrazine may be more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles and low estrogen levels, scientists concluded in a new study. The most widely used herbicide in the United States, atrazine is frequently detected in surface and ground water, particularly in agricultural areas of the Midwest. The newest research, which compared women in Illinois farm towns to women in Vermont, adds to the growing scientific evidence linking atrazine to altered hormones.

2011-1129cropspray
University of Georgia
The herbicide atrazine is frequently detected in surface and groundwater, especially near cornfields in the Midwest.
By Lindsey Konkel
Environmental Health News
Nov. 28, 2011

Women who drink water contaminated with low levels of the weed-killer atrazine may be more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles and low estrogen levels, scientists concluded in a new study.

The most widely used herbicide in the United States, atrazine is frequently detected in surface and ground water, particularly in agricultural areas of the Midwest. Approximately 75 percent of all U.S. cornfields are treated with atrazine each year.

The newest research, which compared women in Illinois to women in Vermont, adds to the growing scientific evidence linking atrazine to altered hormones.

The women from Illinois farm towns were nearly five times more likely to report irregular periods than the Vermont women, and more than six times as likely to go more than six weeks between periods. In addition, the Illinois women had significantly lower levels of estrogen during an important part of the menstrual cycle.

Tap water in the Illinois communities had double the concentration of atrazine in the Vermont communities’ water. Nevertheless, the water in both states was far below the federal drinking water standard currently enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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It is a long article. I stopped at the mention of Illinois. Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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