Tsunami warning, injuries in Japan quake

[Bob Molloy]

During construction of the Koeberg power station I naively ran a newspaper campaign opposing it. I say naively because I wasn't aware then that the station's main purpose was to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. For that reason no campaigning journo was ever going to stop it.

Nevertheless the articles attracted a considerable amount of support in the Western Cape though as it turned out later largely from wine-growers and other Nimbys who didn't seem to understand the big issue.
 
One of my pieces mentioned the fault line, whereupon I had an invitation from the station PR officer to view a series of rock cores drilling on the sites before construction began. They showed no signs of rock fractures for several thousand years.  Some months later the Tulbagh quake struck. The rest is history, the exceedingly well paid French construction company ran a cartoon in their on-site staff magazine showing a hard-hatted engineer staring at a cracked container housing. The one word caption read: "merde". Then they carried on building as if it nothing had happened.

But quakes aside, nuclear power as an energy source is not a renewable energy. Sorry to burst your balloon Mike, but I think in the long term Oranjemunders would benefit more from tourism. Apart from being extremely uneconomical and unsafe, nuclear energy is highly unsustainable in terms of savings on energy and greenhouse emissions; in fact, worse than a gas-fired electricity generating plant (see source at end of this piece).

A report published in 2008 shows that in order to replace fossil-fuel energy use and meet the future energy demands, nuclear energy must increase by 10.5 percent each year from 2010 to 2050. This large growth rate creates a "cannibalistic effect", where nuclear energy must be used to supply the energy for future nuclear power plants.

Joshua Pearce, a physicist at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, finds he cannot balance the books if nuclear power option is taken in preference to renewable energy sources. The enormous amounts of energy needed for mining and processing uranium ore, building and operating the power plant simply cannot be offset in a high growth scenario. In particular, growth limits are set by the grade of uranium ore available.

For safety reasons and scale of operation, nuclear plants are usually situated far away from users. This means that transmission over long distances incur a loss of at least 6 percent of the electricity generated. For the same reasons, most of the heat produced, 60 percent or more, is also wasted. This waste heat, Pearce reminds us, directly warms the earth.

The lifecycle assessment (LCA) Pearce carried out shows that nuclear energy costs between 16 to 55 g CO2e/kWh, based on current practice in the United States with regard to mining and enrichment of uranium ore, and does not include reprocessing or decommissioning, but includes spent-fuel disposal and the deconversion of depleted uranium (back to U3O8). It falls short of a genuine "cradle-to-grave" LCA.

The 'reactor' processes include construction of the power plant and operation where the fuel is burnt and the heat produced used to drive a turbine/generator to produce electricity. Operation costs includes controlling the fission process so it doesn't go 'critical' as in an atom bomb, and making up materials and chemical and non-radioactive waste management.

The 'back end' processes are the most demanding, and also often ignored. They include first of all retrieving spent fuel, de-conversion, and storing it at the reactor site for further reprocessing or disposal. Nuclear wastes from power stations will remain dangerous to humans for generations, which is why they have to be stored permanently. Also included is the cost of decommissioning the power plant once its useful and safe lifetime is over.

The nuclear industry is effectively ignoring decommissioning, which involves a long drawn-out and demanding series of step. First, the reactor has to be cleaned up and safeguarded for a cooling period of 30-100 years after closedown. The radioactive parts of the nuclear island have to be dismantled after cooling, and the radioactive scrap and rubble packaged to prevent the illegal trade in radioactive scrap, which is already a problem today.

The spent fuel removed from the reactor has to be stored for at least 30 years in heavily protected and safeguarded facilities, bearing in mind that one reactor produces during its lifetime an amount of radioactivity equal to about 10 000 exploded nuclear weapons. Corrosion and leaking fuel pins may pose a problem in addition to protection against terrorist attacks. The spent fuel then has to be packaged in containers able to last for many thousands of years in contact with hot and salty water under continuous nuclear radiation.

A stable geological repository has to be constructed to isolate the spent fuel from the biosphere for hundreds of thousands of years. Over a period of decades, the canisters with the spent fuel will be placed into boreholes in the floors of the numerous galleries in the repository, and when fully occupied, the galleries and access tunnels have to be filled up with bentonite and closed forever.

Even if exceedingly large repositories are constructed, larger than the planned Yucca Mountain repository in the USA, a new repository has to be opened every ten years, and a full one closed up.

In addition, each uranium mine has to be reclaimed, an area which could be up to about 100 km2. The tailings, containing large amounts of chemically and physically mobilized radioactive species, have to be isolated from the groundwater and the air. Existing reprocessing plants such as Sellafield in the UK and La Hague in France will have to cleaned up and dismantled. This activity will be extremely demanding. In the UK alone, the estimated costs are about £73 billion and rising.


http://www.i-sis.org.uk/TheNuclearBlackHole.php

[Ian Smith]

Henk,

Thanks for your response. Your position on cetaceans is now bloody clear. The annual Iki cetacean slaughter is not news to me. I edited an article about it approximately 30 years ago for a Tokyo newspaper.

With regard to your statement, I fell into my own trap. I tiptoed around the issue instead of facing it head on, because I really, really did not want to get into religious issues on this or any other forum. However, since I opened this can of worms let me try to close it quickly. My understanding of your quote goes like this: Since you invoke karma in relation to the earthquake/tsunami disaster you are presumably either Hindu or Buddhist.  If your religion leads you to believe that the disaster is karma for centuries of cetacean slaughter by the Japanese, that is your right. Being neither Hindu nor Buddhist, I do not share that opinion. If you are not Buddhist or Hindu, and still invoke karma, you are on a very slippery slope. Anyone can invoke karma for anything, good or bad, to suit any position. Basically, my plea is for a more considered use of language, especially in times of suffering, on this forum. Again, if you believe that the Japanese had it coming to them, that is your right. I beg to differ. Hope this clarifies my concerns about the statement.
Ian

[Henk Coetzee]

Bob,
Thanks, this explains in layman's terms so many things I did not know, and yes you are 100% correct, Nuclear is NOT the way to go. It sounds like it contributes much more to harm than good over a period of time, and we all know that we are looking out fro the generations to follow.

Ian,

Here is what I said:

Some would say karma at work...considering the inhumane ritual slaughter of dolphins by the Japanese, the whale hunting they still carry out, etc. etc.  I can understand that, but this must be a USA blog , calling the Japanese in a derogatory fashion, that is actually meant for the Chinese.

Never saw a blog pop up, calling out karma to all the (insert 121 known derogatory terms for US citizens here) when Hurricane Katrina hit them.

I had no intention of trapping you, at all, I used the words "some say" as that statement started to  pop up everywhere, specially from the Green activists,1000's of Animal anti Cruelty sites,Anti whaling campaigners etc. I am not a follower of either Hindu or Buddhist, and would not know how to evoke Karma even if I tried. I dont believe this tragedy has anything to do with cetacean ritual  killings, if it had, Norway should have been worse off. 

The Japanese, in my opinion, are the most sophisticated, educated,well mannered, civilized and  behaved people on this planet today. Their past wrong doings, against China, the Philippians and other Countries and people during the 2nd Word War, cannot be held against them, and I dont view it in that sense, just like  the people of Germany/Russia today can not be blamed for WW2 .

I truly feel sorry for them, as, in again my opinion, they are the last nation on earth that deserved this tragedy. Even now, faced with the most terrifying ordeal, the cold, the shortages of all the basics,they are still civilized, and are not rioting against their Government, like most other nations would have done by now. I have been there in Osaka in 1994, been to the Konosuke Matsushita museum and factory, I worked for  Matsushita  Electrical Company for 5 years and I have a good understanding of the Japanese Culture.

That said, I still think the slaughtering of Dolphins and anything else in the nets during their "culling season" is a barbaric annual ritual, that needs to be stopped,most Japanese citizens dont even know about it, and as one video shows, how horrified and disgusted they were themselves, after seeing the footage of the culling .


I would love to hear hear more from you Ian, and I am sure other Forums members will want to as well, you have a brilliant insight on what is going on there, and I would rather listen to what you have to say, than the  spiced up Hollywood style news we get to hear and see.  Please share your thoughts on the headline stories,  is the  Japanese Governmental agencies not telling the whole truth on the Nuclear disaster, what is the impact on Tokyo, as we get reports of thousands fleeing the city. How are you managing with the power cuts, and how much is that affecting the productivity and economy were you are.  Seeing that the busiest fishing port is destroyed, what impact does that have on the availably of food in the near future for the Japanese Citizens .

I will cherish your opinions on the above, Thanks for the time you put in to chat to us Ian.                         

[Ian Smith]

Have just read your response Henk, and also reread the other posts related to the quake on the forum. I owe you all an apology; firstly for not acknowledging the many expressions of sympathy for the tragedy taking place here. Thank you all for caring.  The expressions of sympathy from around the world are taken to heart here. People of many nationalities have been killed, not only Japanese, some of whom may never be identified, or even found. I must also apologize for joining the forum in the worst state of mind imaginable.  My coming on this forum at the time I did was an impulsive reaction, and inexcusable for someone who should have known better. My apologies especially to Henk for this. However, yesterday was the Spring Equinox, a public holiday in Japan, and in the south of the country where I live the cherry blossoms have started to bloom. Spring is a time of renewal and hope for Japanese people, among whom I should probably be counted, and so for the first time in 11 days, I woke up this morning feeling "normal".

Japanese people are used to dealing with disaster, and will pull through this one too. Quite frankly, it may be the kick in the butt that they have been needing. For twenty years the country has stagnated in self-satisfaction and with appallingly weak political and economic leadership. Where I live, we face no hardships but I will be going to Tokyo this weekend for a few days, if the reactors keep their cool. My long-suffering spouse thinks I am insane to even think of going, but go I must to my home of 25 years. Our daughter will also be going back this week.  Will post if there is anything interesting to report.

Ian

[Henk Coetzee]

Thanks Ian!

Apologies were not expected at all, I think it was all a misunderstanding, and I would have reacted the same way, thinking that my people are being attacked and even degraded while they are down and out.

Its sad to see the mass graves that are being prepared now, I know its an impossible task to keep all the deceased in mortuaries until they are identified,the sheer volume of victims of this disaster does not make it remotely possible. Its also sad that the words attention has been grabbed now by the happenings in Libya, and the Japanese Disaster is been moved to page 3 news. Japan will stand up, rebuild, the resilience of the Japanese population must never be underestimated.

Have a safe journey, and give us your insight and opinion, its hard to follow the news, to many inconsistencies,  etc.

[Bertie Horak]

Thanx again Henk and Ian for great posts.
Yes, it's amazing how one tragedy caused by MAN (or shall I say A man), can replace another great tragedy caused by mother nature.  The current situation in Libya makes me angry, disgusted and confused. However, the Japanese disaster still fills me with sorrow, empathy and heartache, and I'm sure they will rise again to remain on the top of my list of hard-working, efficient, most modern/evolved societies on this planet.
Here's my wish that the sorrow will be transformed into remembrance of souls lost, and a new bloom like the cherry blossoms will signify rebirth, a new cycle, and life.

[SandyB]

THANKS FOR  PUTTING  IN WORDS  WHAT YOU  FEEL BERTIE AND THANKS FOR  THE SHARING , THOSE THOUGHTS ARE ECHOED BY MYSELF ... 

[Paul (Pepe) Freemantle]

Thanks Bertie and I say AMEN!!!!

[SandyB]

An interesting on  what I  mentioned before ..  I  attach a  doc copy of  facebook comments  from the same friend that engaged the highly  prejudiced ...  note the slant toward pearl harbour .. note  when the quakes hit california   did the  Japanese do the same ,,, actually dont know ,, they  could have thrown in Hiroshima , nakasaki ..  the horror  pics of flattened wasteland etc ...
Then  in the following post  I put the words of someone that replied ... his words  humble those of us that
harbour prejudice  toward anyone ... trust me not an easy path ... seems he has travelled it and yes most probably does it but still tries to warn  against it ...
You  will have to scroll into the document .. 

[SandyB]

HERE THE RESPONSE SENT  TO ALL BY CHARL ... READ ... BY THE  WAY NOTE  I  DISCREETLY  REMOVED THE AMERICANS ASSHOLES  FROM THE  DOC ..

I absolutely agree that the people that wrote those revolting anti-Japanese diatribes on FaceBook are truly disgusting specimens of 'humanity'.


However, I also find it incredibly offensive, as an American that cares, supports and helps people in need, that the person who compiled this list is being just as narrow and bigoted towards the American people in general with that last nasty tagline: "Americans - Assholes of the World". Really?


The author of the piece is no better than those anti-Japanese Americans he quoted, by being so sweepingly judgmental against all Americans. In effect, he/she is exactly the same as those they revile, by slandering an entire nation because of the actions of some. Does this not sound sort of like what he/she released their vitriol about?


Hint to the original author of the piece: think about HOW and WHAT you write before you do. I do believe you owe civil and decent Americans an apology!


- Charl
WE  SHOULD  ALWAYS THINK BEFORE WE  WRITE ESPECIALLY ON THE NET ...  TRUST ME  I HAVE BEEN THERE ,..










On Mar 24, 2011, at 8:09 AM, David Calthorp wrote:


This is so sad ...the human race does just not appear to  make any spiritual  progress in the light of what these people are saying !!!!! Understanding ,empathy , compassion and humility are obviously foreign to the hearts and minds of these and.... I would presume many more lurking in the undergrowth of so called civilized society ! ........