Saturday, December 6, 2014

Updates on Nuclear Plant Disasters


Ukraine issued a very brief press release stating that reactor 3 is now up and running:

Unit number 3 Zaporizhia nuclear power plant connected to the network
December 5, 2014 at 21 hours 15 minutes unit number 3 Zaporizhia nuclear power plant taken out of maintenance and is connected to the network. At the moment, Zaporizhzhya NPP in is 5 units. The total capacity of 4670 MW generators. With strict adherence to the schedule runs planned average repair unit №1, works on reconstruction and modernization. Comments to the work of the main equipment operating units not. [end]
I have no way of verifying this news, which was repeated without details in the Kiev Post  http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/reactor-three-of-zaporizhia-nuclear-power-plant-connected-to-power-grid-374259.html. Ukraine's aging nuclear power plants located in the midst of violent civil war remain extraordinary VULNERABLE.


Fukushima Daiichi emissions from unit 1 are most definitely DOWN with the roof panel back in place. Unit 3 continues to emit visible radioactive steam/smoke/or whatever is coming out. I've cropped a screenshot from this morning dated Dec 7 00:46 (AM) today:

 
Radiation readings in Japan look pretty normal right now, except for the Sapporo area, which is reporting elevated levels according to Netc.

Radiation readings in the US remain elevated

There is a pretty good match up between the elevated radiation levels in the US and the Jet Stream pattern:
 
http://classic.wunderground.com/US/Region/US/JetStream.html

Radiation readings in Southern California and Phoenix are down because of the rain, THANKFULLY.

Yesterday I hiked my 6 mile trail and saw 3 flies, 2 butterflies, 2 grasshoppers and heard only a few birds over the 2 hour hike. I saw no beetles, kissing bugs, lizards, etc.  The stillness was eerie. Part of the decline in life is seasonal, but our night-time temperatures are still way above freezing and we've only dipped into the 40s at night one or two times.

Meanwhile in Japan and the Ukraine the nuclear show must go on!
Nuclear operators push to open new plant, extend life of aging reactors November 14, 2014 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201411140068
Across Japan, utilities are backing the Abe administration’s support of nuclear power generation by continuing construction of a new facility and seeking to extend the life of reactors that have been operating for about 40 years.



 

2 comments:

  1. In the following quote from an article by Peter Gøtzsche, MD whose latest book is Deadly Medicine and Organized Crime, we have an exact parallel to the nuclear power industry: "It is an unfortunate psychological fact that humans can get accustomed to even the most horrible atrocities, without even noticing that there could be a problem, particularly if they benefit from the crimes. The drug industry has learned that crimes pay, even those that cost the lives of thousands of patients and lead to huge fines. This is why the crimes have increased, and as in the mob, the greater the crime, the greater the advancement and earnings for the criminal. It is extremely rare that crimes committed by those at the top of drug companies have cost them their job."
    With respect to the nuclear area the consequences are far worse. And yet typical responses to the seriousness of the problem yield, Yes, that is terrible and let's switch topic. I believe it is the very nature of the People (i.e. corporations) to be psychopathic/sociopathic. The penalties for their crimes go like this: profit from criminal act = 5 billion dollars; fine = 1 billion; net gain = 4 billion -- the Person did very well. But then the gov is itself a Person and there is this corporate type sympathy between gov and corporations. Large institutions get in on this as well since they too are People. We have academic People, agriculture People. automobile People . . . People form a world wide community. Corporate Peoples dominate the planet now. They will not relinquish their control because a few thousand or a few million or even a few billion people die. They have no regrets, remorse or guilt. They are no more conscious than the Trojan Horse was conscious.

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