Showing posts with label nuclear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nuclear. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

North Korean Radioactive Gases Cloud Japanese Skies





The Guardian posted this story yesterday.  It basically says that scientific studies prove that North Korea detonated nuclear bombs in a test, and the nuclear radiation spread with the wind to Japan.  The question is, is that considered a nuclear attack? Do you have to have an explosion to negatively impact the civilian population of another sovereign nation? Only time will tell and it will be difficult to determine if any cancer symptoms from nuclear radiation exposure are from the North Korean tests, or from Fukushima's nuclear reactor meltdown following the tsunami of 2011 that hit the northern coast of Japan.  Either way, ignorance is NOT bliss, right?

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A nuclear monitoring station in Japan has recorded what could be the first radioactive noble gases from February's nuclear test in North Korea.
The station in Takasaki, about 1,000km from North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, is operated by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, which made the announcement yesterday.
Radioactive isotopes of the noble gas xenon – xenon-131m and xenon-133 – were detected, something the organisation called "rather unusual."
The measurements, almost two months after Pyongyang said it had carried out the underground detonation, gave no indication of whether plutonium or highly enriched uranium was used, the organisation said.
The time that had passed before the so-called noble gases were picked up made it "very difficult" to distinguish between the two fissile materials, said spokeswoman Annika Thunborg.
Noble gases are one of four things the organisation looks out for in its nuclear monitoring process, because the gases can be released by either slowly seeping through rock and sediment from underground to the surface after a nuclear test or come from activity at a test site.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization said the ratio of the detected xenon isotopes is consistent with a nuclear fission event occurring more than 50 days before the detection, matching the timeframe for the North Korean nuclear test. Further, atmospheric modeling indicates the isotopes could be carried from Punggye-ri to Takasaki.
But the organisation isn't quite ready yet to say the detection is definitely linked to the February test in North Korea. "We are in the process of eliminating other possible sources that could explain the observations; the radionuclides could have come from a nuclear reactor or other nuclear activity under certain specific conditions, but so far we do not have information on such a release," Mika Nikkinen said in a statement.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization's monitoring system was one of the first to indicat that North Korea had conducted its nuclear test. The organisation maintains almost 100 stations monitoring the tell-tale seismic activity that occurs with a nuclear test. On 12 February those stations recorded the event at 2:57:51 UTC (11:57:51 local time). The test was measured at magnitude 4.9 and located at latitude 41.313 degrees north and longitude 129.101 degrees east.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Source of Electricity: Nuclear, Natural Gas, Shale, Fracking, Unocal, Water, & War @nprnews @planetmoney @ezraklein @collapsenet, #collapse

This NPR article ignores the war in Eurasia for natural gas, the war in Iraq for oil, the poisonous side affects of fracking, the amount of time it takes for nuclear power to come online, the cost of waste disposal for nuclear, the WATER cost of fracking, etc....

The WAR in Afghanistan is all about increasing our presence in Eurasia as Unocal builds a pipeline from the Caspian sea through Afghanistan, through Pakistan (expect more ware there) through to the Arabian Sea.

Clipped from www.npr.org

Nuclear Nations Turn To Natural Gas And Renewables

Protesters ride their bikes and hold flags reading

Engineers probing the ruined nuclear reactors at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi plant are finding yet more damage. Not only did fuel melt in three reactors, they've just discovered a hole in one reactor vessel. And radioactive water continues to leak at the site. That mess in Fukushima has led several governments to reassess nuclear power.

Read more at www.npr.org
 

Friday, May 6, 2011

Where are the worlds nuclear waste dumps? #peakoil

...While making electricity, nuclear power plants produce two types of radioactive waste: low- and high-level waste.

Low-level waste can include contaminated rags, papers, filters, tools, equipment, discarded protective clothing and construction rubble. It is generally buried in shallow trenches at one of three U.S. facilities...

Clipped from www.pplweb.com

Benefits and Byproducts


Nuclear energy is safely used in many beneficial ways, including administering medical treatments, controlling crop-destroying insects and exploring space. The electricity produced by nuclear power plants like Susquehanna allows us to enjoy many everyday lifestyle conveniences.


More than 100 nuclear power plants provide about 20 percent of America's electricity, second only to coal. Worldwide, 30 countries operate more than 430 nuclear plants for electricity generation, currently providing about 16 percent of the world's energy production.


Of all energy sources, nuclear energy has perhaps the lowest impact on the environment, including water, land, habitat, species and air resources. Because it does not emit harmful air pollutants, the use of nuclear energy helps to keep the air clean, preserve the Earth's climate, avoid ground-level ozone formation and prevent acid rain.


A nuclear fuel pellet contains a lot of energy. One uranium nuclear fuel pellet the size of the tip of your little finger is equivalent to the energy provided by 1,000 pounds of coal, or 100 gallons of gasoline.


Nuclear energy also is efficient and cost-effective. Unlike some other energy sources, nuclear energy is not subject to weather or climate conditions, unpredictable cost fluctuations or dependence on foreign suppliers.


While making electricity, nuclear power plants produce two types of radioactive waste: low- and high-level waste.


Low-level waste can include contaminated rags, papers, filters, tools, equipment, discarded protective clothing and construction rubble. It is generally buried in shallow trenches at one of three U.S. facilities.


High-level waste, also called used nuclear fuel, is uranium that is too weak to power a nuclear reactor economically, but it is more radioactive than new fuel. Used nuclear fuel looks the same as when it was new, and as with new fuel, it cannot explode and does not burn. All the used fuel produced to date by the U.S. nuclear energy industry would cover an area the size of a football field to a depth of about five yards.


Used fuel is being stored at nuclear power plants in water-filled pools or in above-ground concrete-and-steel containers until the federal government opens a permanent repository. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission considers both methods of onsite storage to be safe. The United States does not reprocess and recycle used nuclear fuel, although other countries do.


The nuclear energy industry is the only industry established since the industrial revolution that has managed and accounted for all of its waste, preventing adverse impacts to the environment.

Read more at www.pplweb.com
 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Decentralized Utility Better Thn Nuclear

It would seem that decentralized solar power at the individual building or small community grid level would be a lot less risky than any grander scale power supply, whether it be fossil fuel based or nuclear.

Decentralized utilities have another advantage - they decentralize power and wealth generated from the capitalistic activities. This will promote entrepreneurship and redistribute the wealth from the Fortune 400 to the less fortunate 150,000,000 American Middle Class that have suffered throughout the last 20 years.

This will also improve the US Govt budget deficit problem by pulling wealth away from the Fortune 400 wealthiest individuals ho pay an average of 16% taxes back to the middle class who pay an average of 25% taxes. Not aht that's fair at all either.


Japan's Quake to Shake the Solar Market?


As Japan grapples with the likelihood of a nuclear power disaster as a result of the huge earthquake and tsunami, investors are betting on solar as a more benign form of alternative energy. While solar stocks are going up and up, the impact of Japan's crisis may not be so sunny for the solar market in the coming year.

Read more at www.renewableenergyworld.com