A drone carrying a plastic bottle with trace amounts of cesium has landed on the roof of Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s office, evidently sending a message about strong citizen opposition to a restart of that country’s nuclear power plants. Japan remain…
Continue readingCategory Archives: Energy
In an episode entitled “The Danger of Nuclear Escalation,” Margaret Harrington, host of “Nuclear-Free Future Conversation” on CCTV in Burlington, Vermont, interviewed Beyond Nuclear’s Kevin Kamps about the related risks of nuclear power and nuclear w…
Continue readingvia reuters.com / April 22, 2015 / A drone marked with a radioactive sign was found on the roof of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s office on Wednesday and media said it tested positive for a “minuscule” amount of radiation. The radiation was so low it was not harmful to humans, media quoted police as saying. Public broadcaster NHK said the bomb squad was called in to take away the … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / April 21, 2015 / All the eight water transfer pumps (pictured) at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power station have been shut down due to a power outage, leading to a leak of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) reported a power outage on Tuesday, according to Kyodo news agency. It follows the line of the toxic leaks that … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Gizmodo.com / April 22, 2015 / The dangerous and unenviable task of cleaning up the Fukushima reactor has hit its latest snag: Two snake-like reconnaissance bots had to be abandoned inside the reactor—after one got stuck and another’s camera was damaged by radiation. The Fukushima cleanup relies almost entirely on robots because radiation levels inside the reactor are still too dangerous for humans. TEPCO, the company managing the efforts, … Continue reading →
Continue reading“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Socrates
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth‘s natural environment. Earth Day was founded by Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.It is celebrated in more than 175 countries.” Wikipedia reference
Just as we humans need to protect, nurture, and feed ourselves, we can offer to the planet, our Mother Earth, respect, protection, and nurturance. “Given the present rate of planetary pollution and destruction, we need to negotiate a detente with nature and ourselves.” Paul Hawken. There are many positive actions taking place all over the world. For instance, there are over six thousand different women’s groups in Africa planting trees and four thousand organizations in North America have adopted a river, creek, or stream. Organic agriculture is the fastest growing sector of farming in North America, Japan, Mexico and Europe. There are three thousand organizations that educate farmers, customers and legislators about sustainable and biological agriculture. The world is now understanding the need to move away from the dirty carbon based energies of the past 150 years into the clean and renewable energy future. Solar, wind and wave energy technologies are just a few of the bright stars this future will be based on.
Our indigenous first peoples of the Americas have given the long held wisdom that we should always be thinking of the next seven generations to come in our interactions with Mother Earth. It is said that we do not own the earth, we borrow it from our children. Many of us are just now coming to understand that the earth is taking care of us and not the other way around. Our actions have far reaching effects and consequences on our planet, climate, oceans and air. Droughts, flooding, super storms, melting of the glaciers and the ice caps in the north and south poles are just some indications of severe climate change.
“Great Spirit, whose dry lands thirst, help us to find the way to refresh your lands.
We pray for the power to refresh your lands.
Great Spirit, whose waters are choked with debris and pollution, help us to find the way to cleanse your waters.
We pray for your knowledge to find a way to cleanse the waters.
Great Spirit, whose beautiful earth grows ugly with misuse, help us to find the way to restore beauty to your handiwork.
We pray for your strength to restore the beauty of your handiwork.
Great Spirit, whose great creatures are being destroyed, help us to find a way to replenish them.
We pray for your power to replenish the earth.
Great Spirit, whose gifts to us are being lost in selfishness and corruption, help us to find the way to restore our humanity.
We pray for the wisdom to find the way to restore our humanity.” UN Environmental Sabbath Program
It was our honor yesterday to help the Cub Scouts of troop 714 of San Clemente Las Palmas school to plant eight California Laurel Bay trees for their Earth Day celebration in their new camping area at Oso Lake. This was the first experience planting trees for this troop. They worked hard digging the holes, preparing the soil and placing the trees in the ground. As we worked together, we had the opportunity to share the value of planting trees and how this action helps the future of the planet. The scouts were amazed to learn that trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. As the work continued, their understanding of the cycle of life deepened. As we finished placing the last tree in the ground, a red tail hawk flew directly over our heads making her voice known to all of us. It was clear that this sign was a good one and the spirit of the hawk was saying thank you.
How can we help to make Earth Day everyday? Here are some ideas:
Plant trees
Conserve water
Walk or ride your bike to school or work
Use public transportation
Recycle
Compost
Make your home energy efficient
To learn more visit the websites below:
http://www.wattlesswednesday.org/
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/save-earth-top-ten.htm
http://www.plant-for-the-planet-billiontreecampaign.org/
Remember, on Earth Day and everyday, we are all part of the earth.
Love, Joyce and Gene
Aging Nuke Dumps On Fault Lines In Tsunami Hazard Zones = Fukushimas… Any Questions?
PLEASE Turn off a light for Fukushima USA / San Onofre
PLEASE Turn off a light for Fukushima USA / San Onofre
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Socrates
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth‘s natural environment. Earth Day was founded by Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.It is celebrated in more than 175 countries.” Wikipedia reference
Just as we humans need to protect, nurture, and feed ourselves, we can offer to the planet, our Mother Earth, respect, protection, and nurturance. “Given the present rate of planetary pollution and destruction, we need to negotiate a detente with nature and ourselves.” Paul Hawken. There are many positive actions taking place all over the world. For instance, there are over six thousand different women’s groups in Africa planting trees and four thousand organizations in North America have adopted a river, creek, or stream. Organic agriculture is the fastest growing sector of farming in North America, Japan, Mexico and Europe. There are three thousand organizations that educate farmers, customers and legislators about sustainable and biological agriculture. The world is now understanding the need to move away from the dirty carbon based energies of the past 150 years into the clean and renewable energy future. Solar, wind and wave energy technologies are just a few of the bright stars this future will be based on.
Our indigenous first peoples of the Americas have given the long held wisdom that we should always be thinking of the next seven generations to come in our interactions with Mother Earth. It is said that we do not own the earth, we borrow it from our children. Many of us are just now coming to understand that the earth is taking care of us and not the other way around. Our actions have far reaching effects and consequences on our planet, climate, oceans and air. Droughts, flooding, super storms, melting of the glaciers and the ice caps in the north and south poles are just some indications of severe climate change.
“Great Spirit, whose dry lands thirst, help us to find the way to refresh your lands.
We pray for the power to refresh your lands.
Great Spirit, whose waters are choked with debris and pollution, help us to find the way to cleanse your waters.
We pray for your knowledge to find a way to cleanse the waters.
Great Spirit, whose beautiful earth grows ugly with misuse, help us to find the way to restore beauty to your handiwork.
We pray for your strength to restore the beauty of your handiwork.
Great Spirit, whose great creatures are being destroyed, help us to find a way to replenish them.
We pray for your power to replenish the earth.
Great Spirit, whose gifts to us are being lost in selfishness and corruption, help us to find the way to restore our humanity.
We pray for the wisdom to find the way to restore our humanity.” UN Environmental Sabbath Program
It was our honor yesterday to help the Cub Scouts of troop 714 of San Clemente Las Palmas school to plant eight California Laurel Bay trees for their Earth Day celebration in their new camping area at Oso Lake. This was the first experience planting trees for this troop. They worked hard digging the holes, preparing the soil and placing the trees in the ground. As we worked together, we had the opportunity to share the value of planting trees and how this action helps the future of the planet. The scouts were amazed to learn that trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. As the work continued, their understanding of the cycle of life deepened. As we finished placing the last tree in the ground, a red tail hawk flew directly over our heads making her voice known to all of us. It was clear that this sign was a good one and the spirit of the hawk was saying thank you.
How can we help to make Earth Day everyday? Here are some ideas:
Plant trees
Conserve water
Walk or ride your bike to school or work
Use public transportation
Recycle
Compost
Make your home energy efficient
To learn more visit the websites below:
http://www.wattlesswednesday.org/
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/save-earth-top-ten.htm
http://www.plant-for-the-planet-billiontreecampaign.org/
Remember, on Earth Day and everyday, we are all part of the earth.
Love, Joyce and Gene
Aging Nuke Plants On Fault Lines In Tsunami Hazard Zones = Fukushimas… Any Questions?
PLEASE Turn off a light for Fukushima USA / San Onofre
PLEASE Turn off a light for Fukushima USA / San Onofre
Entergy’s Palisades atomic reactor, located in Covert, MI on the Lake Michigan shoreOn April 19, a fund- and awareness-raiser, “Pull the Plug on Palisades for Earth Day,” was held at the Old Dog Tavern in downtown Kalamazoo, MI.
The e…
Such serious flaws have now been found in the French prototype EPR reactor still under construction at Flamanville in France (pictured) that the project may have to be scrapped. Authorities have found that the project has a faulty steel reactor vessel …
Continue readingBeyond Nuclear’s Kevin Kamps was interviewed by RT International regarding current developments at Fukushima Daiichi, Japan. The interview includes footage of the large mounds of radioactive waste being transferred to Okuma and Futaba, the two “host” t…
Continue readingThe Ginna atomic reactor, on the Lake Ontario shoreline in upstate New YorkAs reported by William Opalka in RTO Insider, “The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday rejected the rate schedule proposed for a struggling nuclear power plant ne…
Continue readingfrom FIS.com / April 13, 2015 / An investigation carried out by The Independent newspaper reveals that there is a risk that food manufactured around the Fukushima nuclear disaster site may be entering the United Kingdom, raising the prospect of mildly carcinogenic ingredients entering the food system. According to the report issued by the media source, products contaminated by radiation, which include tea, noodles and chocolate bars, have already been … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia digitaljournal.com / April 15, 2015 / Pro-nuclear proponents suffered a serious setback today after Fukui District Court’s three-judge panel handed down a ruling forbidding the restart of two of the 13 nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture. Fukui Prefecture has a total of 13 commercial nuclear reactors clustered in a line along the region’s short coastline. The prefecture has earned the rather notorious nickname “Genpatsu Ginza,” or Nuclear Alley, not … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia the-japan-news.com / April 11, 2105 / The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are studying three different plans to remove melted nuclear fuel from reactors at the crippled Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, it has been learned. The Yomiuri Shimbun obtained a draft outline of an operation road map as well as a strategic plan on technical methods concerning the removal of melted fuel rods in reactors Nos. 1 … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Times / April 11, 2015 / A remote-controlled robot inserted to survey the inside of the No. 1 reactor at the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has stopped functioning, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. As a first step in the utility’s effort to remove melted nuclear fuel from the bottom of the unit’s primary containment vessel, the shape-shifting robot was sent in Friday morning to find … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / April 8, 2015 / Tainted water from Fukushima nuclear plant storage may be evaporated or stored underground instead of following earlier plans to release it into the ocean. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which is responsible for cleaning up the crippled power plant, planned to release the tritium-laced water into the ocean. However, it suffered a setback following protests by local fishermen who are already struggling with … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Goddard’s Journal / Published February 17, 2015 / What will be the impact of Fukushima on the North American coast? This video covers the key science you need to know to reasonably answer that question. Studies cited in order presented… – Behrens et al (2012). Model simulations on the long-term dispersal of 137Cs released into the Pacific Ocean off Fukushima. Environ Res Lett 7:034004. – Folsom & Mohanrao (1962). … Continue reading →
Continue readingIn case you’re interested. A brief explanation of how seawater samples to monitor for Fukushima contamination are processed when they arrive at the University of Victoria. More details about sample analysis can be found at our partner organization’s website Our Radioactive Ocean. The project website is http://fukushimainform.ca. source: Daily Kos
Continue readingIt’s official. Radiation from trace amounts of cesium-134 and cesium-137 isotopes originating from the Fukushima disaster have now been detected on the coast of British Columbia. This comes as no surprise and as Dan Dicks of Press For Truth reports those of us in the alternative media have been warning about this for years and yet the msm is still taking the “nothing to see here” position even when the … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Times / April 5, 2015 / The central government has not been able to identify half of some 2,400 owners of land in Fukushima Prefecture where it plans to build storage facilities for contaminated soil from the nuclear crisis, sources said. The government intends to build the complex on around 16 sq. km of land in the towns of Okuma and Futaba that is designated as uninhabitable due … Continue reading →
Continue readingWe are very sad to report that our dear friend and colleague, Bill Hirt, has passed on. He died surrounded by his loving family on Monday, March 30, 2015, more than eight years after being diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), more common…
Continue readingvia abcnews.com / March 27, 2015 / The cutting-edge technology was billed as a way to decipher where exactly the morass of nuclear fuel might sit at the bottom of reactors in the Japanese power plant that went into multiple meltdowns four years ago. But what went wrong, even in a simple demonstration for reporters Friday for the 500 million yen ($5 million) project, was a sobering reminder of the … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / March 31, 2015 / The nuclear operator of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has announced that it plans to disclose all data on radiation levels recorded at the site in response to criticism of lack of transparency following the catastrophe. Tokyo Electric Power Co. TEPCO will start disclosing all data sets “as soon as they become available” for release, President Naomi Hirose (pictured right) told a press … Continue reading →
Continue reading“Burning money” graphic art by Gene Case and Avenging Angels appeared on the cover of the Nation Magazine, accompanying an article about the nuclear relapse by Christian ParentiNuclear utilities, like Exelon of Chicago and FirstEnergy of Ohio, are seek…
Continue readingvia CNIC.jp / March 31, 2015 / The Complainants for Criminal Prosecution of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster (CCFN) filed a criminal accusation in June 2012 inquiring into the responsibility for the nuclear accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, but the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office dropped the case in September 2013, and the complainants therefore petitioned the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution. In July 2014, the Tokyo Fifth … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Hajime Matsukubo / CNIC.jp / March 31, 2015 / Many of the measuring instruments installed in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) measuring system continue to malfunction as a result of the accident. Although there is no guarantee of the accuracy of values being measured, if the values from the measuring instruments are taken as the premise, from the water temperature in the containment vessels and the spent … Continue reading →
Continue readingTwo op-eds published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer advocate that FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) should not be allowed to saddle Ohio ratepayers with a $3 billion surcharge over the next 15 years, a subsidy to keep two dirty, dangerous, a…
Continue readingBy Hiroshi Hoshi / Asahi Shimbun / March 30, 2015 / FUTABA, Fukushima Prefecture — A daily calendar pad on a living room wall in a private home in this northeastern community still showed the fateful date: “March 11, 2011.” All of Futaba’s 7,000 or so residents left the town after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, which struck on that date, triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia japantimes.com / March 27, 2015 / Tokyo Electric Power Co. has disclosed that a 35-ton piece of machinery debris might be resting on the inner gate of the spent fuel pool for reactor 3 of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and that the gate is slightly out of position. TEPCO said Thursday that a fuel-handling machine dislodged during the March 2011 quake, tsunami and meltdown-triggered hydrogen explosions is … Continue reading →
Continue readingHarvey Wasserman has written in commeration of the meltdown at Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit 2 on March 29, 1979. He writes:
“The lies that killed people at Three Mile Island 36 years ago tomorrow are still being told at Chernobyl, Fukushima, Diabl…
Logo courtesy of Public Citizen Energy ProgramAs reported by UtilityDIVE and Argus Media, the Maryland Public Service Commission (MD PSC) has given itself till May 8th to decide whether or not to approve the proposed $6.8 billion merger between Exel…
Continue readingTim Judson, Executive Director of NIRS. Photo courtesy of NIRS.As just announced by the University of the District of Columbia’s (UDC) David A. Clarke School of Law, two panels of experts will examine the question of whether or not the proposed purch…
Continue readingU.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of NevadaU.S. Senator Harry Reid (Democrat from Nevada, photo left) has announced he won’t seek re-election, and will retire 22 months from now. Reid, who has long served as either the U.S. Senate Majority or Mi…
Continue readingNRC file photo of Entergy Nuclear’s Palisades atomic reactor on the Lake Michigan shore in Covert, MIAs reported by a press release, a coalition of environmental groups, including Beyond Nuclear, today testified before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Com…
Continue readingSmith amidst the 2012 “Occupy METI” (Ministry for Economy, Trade, and Industry) anti-nuclear protests in Tokyo in 2012Heidi Hutner, Director of the Stony Brook University Sustainability Program, has honored Aileen Mioko Smith, Executive Director of Gre…
Continue readingNRC file photo of PG&E’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, on the Pacific Coast near San Luis Obispo, CAAs reported by David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) …
Continue readingNRC file photo of Entergy Nuclear’s Palisades atomic reactor on the Lake Michigan shore in Covert, MIAs reported by a press release, a coalition of environmental groups, including Beyond Nuclear, today testified before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commi…
Continue readingMarch 24, 2015 / by Mari Yamaguchi / AP / Japanese government auditors say the operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant has wasted more than a third of the 190 billion yen ($1.6 billion) in taxpayer money allocated for cleaning up the plant after it was destroyed by a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. A Board of Audit report describes various expensive machines and untested measures that ended in … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Stephanie Chao / chinapost.com More than 283 Japanese food products imported from the radiation-stricken areas near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster were found to be relabeled as having come from other areas of Japan and sold to local customers, authorities said yesterday. Officials from New Taipei City’s Department of Health, as well as the Food and Drug Administration and other law-enforcement authorities, seized the mislabeled products, although a substantial … Continue reading →
Continue readingAn infrared photo showing the thermal heat of a German CASTOR cask filled with irradiated nuclear fuel being transported by rail to Gorleben. The high-level radioactivity, not the thermal heat, is the hazard to human health, safety, and the env…
Continue readingvia phys.org / March 20, 2015 / Researchers in Japan have jointly developed a robot with four arms and four crawlers which can perform multiple tasks simultaneously to help clean up the rubble left after the 2011 quake-tsunami disasters in Minamisoma, Fukushima. On March 13th, a remote controlled four-armed, four-wheeled crawler robot designed to clear rubble and save lives in areas with complex terrain was unveiled at the Kikuchi plant … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Daily Kos / March 19, 2015 / “Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, destroyed 4 years ago in explosions and meltdowns triggered by an earthquake and tsunami, won’t be truly safe until engineers can remove the reactors’ nuclear fuel. But first, they have to find it.“ So begins an in-depth article in the March 6th edition of the Journal Science entitled Muons probe Fukushima’s ruins. In February of this … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / March 22, 2015 / Japan plans to build a 400-kilometer chain of sea walls to fend off any future natural disasters. Some parts of the $6.8 billion project will reach a height of five stories, but critics say it could damage marine life and won’t guarantee residents safety. Some 440 sea walls will be built in the north east of the country. The project is aimed at … Continue reading →
Continue readingInvestigative journalist and Beyond Nuclear board member, Karl GrossmanMatt Wald, the New York Times’ decades-long nuclear power reporter, recently retired from the newspaper. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the nuclear power industry’s lobbying an…
Continue readingEntergy’s problem-plagued Palisades atomic reactor in Covert, MI, on the Lake Michigan shoreline.A U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) will hold an oral argument pre-hearing on Wednesday, March 25th beginni…
Continue readingBy Julie Makinen / via latimes.com / March 11, 2015 / Neon pink and yellow banners flutter along the roadsides, their gentle flapping breaking an eerie stillness. The houses here are shut tight, the streets are nearly deserted, the fields that once sprouted rice, tomatoes and cucumbers are fallow. Shigeo Karimata dons a hard hat and a mask and prepares to get out of his car. “Some people say, ‘Oh, … Continue reading →
Continue readingfrom japan-focus.org / December 26, 2011 / By Nishioka Nobuyuki I: Fukushima and Okinawa At midnight on April 22, 2011, the Japanese government designated the zone within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima nuclear power plant a controlled area under the Basic Law for Disaster Countermeasures. As a result, all entry into the zone was prohibited without special government permission. Some 78,000 people were separated from their homes, without knowing … Continue reading →
Continue readingLogo compliments of Public Citizen’s Energy ProgramThe two counties comprising Pepco’s residential customer base in Maryland — Montgomery and Prince George’s — have just agreed to the merger of the electric utilities Exelon and Pepco, according…
Continue readingvia The Japan News / March 13, 2015 The transfer of soil, contaminated four years ago with radioactive materials from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, to an interim storage facility began in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Friday. The Environment Ministry plans to move the contaminated soil — currently being kept at more than 75,000 locations in the prefecture’s 43 villages, towns and cities — to the facility gradually. … Continue reading →
Continue readingDOE imageAs by reported by Joby Warrick in the Washington Post, the first such study by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in seven years predicts that easily a third of U.S. energy needs could be supplied by wind power by 2050.
The DOE report is e…