Fund started to help Fukushima thyroid cancer patients cover expenses
A group comprising medical and legal experts announced Friday it has launched a fund to provide financial support to children who were diagnosed with thyroid cancer after the 2011 nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima Prefecture.
The group, named 3/11 Children’s Fund for Thyroid Cancer, will start accepting donations from Sept. 20, aiming to raise at least ¥20 million. The amount could provide at least ¥50,000 each for 200 to 400 people, it said.
Donated funds will be used primarily to cover medical expenses for thyroid cancer patients in Fukushima and neighboring prefectures, it said. The group will announce more details in November on the criteria that will be used to determine who is eligible to receive the aid before it starts accepting applications.
“They are struggling to pay medical bills,” Hiroyuki Kawai, a lawyer and one of the founding members of the group, said at a news conference in Tokyo…
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Kagoshima governor once again requests nuclear reactor halt
Governor again requests reactor suspension
Satoshi Mitazono, governor of the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kagoshima, meets with reporters on Sept. 7, 2016, in the city of Fukuoka after issuing a second request to Kyushu Electric Power Co. to suspend operations of two reactors at its Sendai nuclear plant. The utility rejected the initial request issued on Aug. 26.
Kagoshima Gov. Satoshi Mitazono once again requested Wednesday that Kyushu Electric Power Co. immediately suspend the operation of two reactors at its nuclear power plant in the southwestern prefecture after the utility rejected his earlier call.
Following a meeting with Mitazono in Fukuoka, Kyushu Electric President Michiaki Uriu indicated to the press that the operator is likely to reject the request, saying he wants the company to be “spared of” the suspension as it will conduct “special safety checkups” thoroughly on the Sendai nuclear plant reactors — two of only three nuclear…
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Ex-PM Koizumi backs sick U.S. sailors who blame radiation
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is raising money for the hundreds of American sailors who say they got sick from radiation after taking part in relief operations for the 2011 tsunami that set off the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Koizumi, prime minister from 2001 to 2006, told reporters Wednesday he recently visited San Diego to meet with former military service members, who have begun a class-action lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that operates the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Some 70,000 sailors and Marines took part in “Operation Tomodachi,” flying in aid from an aircraft carrier and other warships off the coast of northeastern Japan.
Some got seriously sick with cancer and leukemia and blame radiation. TEPCO denies any link between the illness and radiation.
The week in Climate and Nuclear News- Australia
NUCLEAR The world was jolted into a renewed awareness of nuclear war danger, today, as North Korea conducted another nuclear bomb test. It may also be miniaturising nuclear warheads, to fit on a missile. President Obama has stated that America will stick to the principle of being willing to make a pre-emptive nuclear strike. However, the “Red Button” nuclear war system can be reformed: Donald Trump’s rise illustrates the need for this. Nuclear war risks lessened by Iran nuclear deal, which should continue in USA’s next administration. Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty has enduring value.
CLIMATE. The world had better pay attention NOW – to soaring ocean temperatures. Effect of Global Warming on World’s Ocean Circulation is an unknown quantity. More frequent, more powerful Super Typhoons, with climate change. Flooding – a dire hazard to nuclear power stations. USA and China formally ratify Paris climate agreement. Coal lobby is urged to copy tactics of the tobacco lobby!
AUSTRALIA
French anti-nuclear activists force Australian delegation to leave National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA).
Australian govt uses out-dated terminology, to disguise reality of High Level Nuclear waste. Confusion about the two South Australian nuclear waste dump plans.
Australia’s nuclear lobby wants waste dump as a prelude to setting up ‘new nuclear’ in South Asia
Australian uranium companies notorious for exploitation of African communities.
South Australia. Hawker in the middle of the earthquake hazard zone, close to federal govt’s planned nuclear waste dump site.
CLIMATE High Profile Members of Climate Change Authority slam ‘Untrue and Dangerous’ report. Climate Change Authority Special Review: Minority Report. Meaningless climate weasel words from Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg. Australia the Pacific Pariah as it idolises coal. Australia an international pariah? as other nations ratify Paris Climate Agreement.
ENERGY
South Australian govt makes a change- to purchase 75 per cent of its long-term electricity needs.
Queensland. Renewable energy future – Hybrid Solar and Wind Systems ? Queensland is getting one. Queensland University of Technology to divest its fossil fuel shares.
ENERGY Sharp falls predicted for Australia’s thermal coal exports.
Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) funding 12 large scale solar projects. Australian Renewable Energy Agency negotiating with govt, trying to save its funding. Farmers get economic safety net, thanks to wind farms. Solar power in Australia working better than expected. Geothermal energy – not necessarily renewable, nor environmentally benign.
Australian business leaders support UN Sustainable Development Goals. Poll shows broad support for green groups using ‘lawfare’ to challenge mining ventures.lems.
Nuclear reactor seller SNC-Lavalin’s illegal donations to politicians
South Australia’s Nuclear Fuel Chain Royal Commission does not divulge which companies have been sending in submissions, or which companies the Commission dealt with inits overseas jaunt last year. However, it is likely that Canada’s SNC Lavalin is one of them
Liberals, Conservatives reimburse illegal SNC-Lavalin donations, ROBERT FIFE AND DANIEL LEBLANC OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail, Sep. 08, 2016 The federal Liberal and Conservative parties were forced to reimburse the government after the commissioner of elections found they had received $117,803 in illegal donations from SNC-Lavalin’s political slush fund.
The unlawful contributions span from March, 2004, to May, 2011, and showcase how dirty money that funded Quebec political parties also found a home in the federal arena.
The Liberal Party received the bulk of the illegal donations from the Quebec engineering giant, amounting to $109,615, while the Conservatives got $8,187. As part of its reimbursement, the Liberal Party covered $12,529 in donations that SNC-Lavalin gave in 2006 to the leadership campaigns of Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae, Stéphane Dion and Gerard Kennedy.
The Commissioner of Canada Elections, Yves Côté, announced Thursday morning that the company had signed a compliance agreement with the federal agency and committed to put in place a series of steps to ensure it does not make illegal donations in the future.
SNC-Lavalin has already admitted it made more than $1-million in illegal donations to Quebec political parties during the 2000s. Like other engineering firms in the province, managers and family members made personal donations to parties, which were then reimbursed with salary bonuses.
A commission of inquiry found that officials inside the Quebec Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois were aware of SNC-Lavalin’s political slush fund, although there is no evidence the federal political parties knew the donations were illegal…….
An elections commissioner investigation found that senior SNC-Lavalin executives illegally donated $83,534 to the Liberal Party of Canada; $13,552 to various Liberal riding associations; $12,529 to contestants involved in the 2006 Liberal leadership race; $3,137 to the Conservative Party; and $5,050 to Conservative riding associations.
In the compliance agreement, SNC-Lavalin “acknowledges that, in offering to reimburse its employees for federal political contributions, and in reimbursing such contributions, it was in fact making those contributions itself.”……..
SNC-Lavalin, or former officials of the company, have in the past been accused of bribery in Algeria, Bangladesh and Libya, as well as in connection with major projects in Canada.
In March, 2012, then-CEO Pierre Duhaime, who oversaw the illegal donations and was involved in other scandals, abruptly resigned after an independent review found he had signed off on $56-million in payments to undisclosed agents to win contracts.
Later that year, Mr. Duhaime and former SNC-Lavalin vice-president Riadh Ben Aissa were charged with fraud for $22.5-million in alleged bribes paid to win SNC-Lavalin the contract to build Montreal’s super hospital. Mr. Ben Aissa served 2 1/2 years in jail in Switzerland for involvement in corruption and money laundering tied to SNC-Lavalin projects in Libya. http://www.theglobeandmail.com//news/politics/snc-lavalin-violated-elections-act-with-contributions-to-liberals-tories/article31762290/?cmpid=rss1&click=sf_globe
Hawker in the middle of the earthquake hazard zone south Australia
Greg Wurn to Nuclear Fuel Cycle Watch South Australia Earthquake Hazard Zones of South Australia. Hawker in the middle of the earthquake hazard zone, well the proposed nuclear fuel waste dump is just a little to the west of Hawker at a place called Wallerberdina, a station near Barndioota, this property just happens to be under a long term lease to ex SA liberal senator Grant Chapman, he also while in politics served on several Senate Select Committees to do with uranium mining and milling, and another on the Lucas Heights Reactor.I will never know if he acquired that property with some sort of insider knowledge, but I do know the land is not geologicaly stable, and it also appears to drain into lake Torrens, which seams to drain south towards Port August and the Spencer Gulf.
David Noonan bad siting for national waste dump and shows that proposed Inter waste dump will be sited somewhere west of Port Augusta… https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021186047913052/
Australian uranium companies notorious for exploitation of African communities
Paladin Energy’scontaminating uranium operations, controversy over Anvil and state repression in Congo, MRC’s exit from its Xolobeni titanium project on South Africa’s Wild Coast following the murder of anti-mining advocateBazooka Rhadebe earlier this year.
The list goes ever on and the details – some of which are documented in a powerful report by the International Consortium of Independent Journalists – are deeply disturbing.
The absence of a robust regulatory regime in many African countries can see situations where Australian companies are engaged in activities that would not be acceptable practise at home
Africa Down Under: Tales Of Australian Woe On The ‘Dark Continent’, New Matilda, By Dave Sweeney on September 7, 2016 A mining conference underway in Perth states its aim is to help boost the fortunes of one of the poorest regions on earth. But boost the fortunes for whom, asks Dave Sweeney from ACF.Stories of corruption, dirty dealing and corner cutting are not uncommon in the world of mining and resource extraction, especially in the developing or majority world. It is a tough trade where the high-visibility clothing is often in stark contrast to the lack of transparency surrounding payments and practises.
But as a major industry gathering takes place this week in Perth it is time for a genuine look at whether Australian resource companies are supporting the growth of fledgling democracies or literally undermining them.
No doubt the tall tales will flow along with the cocktails at the Africa Down Under mining conference, an annual event that sees Australian politicians join their African counterparts alongside a melange of miners, merchants and media. Continue reading
Early nuclear decommissioning recommended, as nuclear costs rise
US operators urged to decommission immediately 
to prevent cost hikes, Nuclear Energy Insider, Sep 7, 2016 Nuclear plant operators should start decommissioning activities of shutdown reactors as early as possible as the deferral of decontamination and dismantling (D&D) exposes operators to delay-related costs, investment risks and loss of crucial expertise as workers leave the industry, Geoffrey Rothwell, Principal Economist at the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency, told Nuclear Energy Insider.
There are currently 17 U.S. nuclear power plants being decommissioned and this will soon increase following a recent spate of plant closure announcements due to sustained low power prices.
Operators have announced the early closures of California’s Diabolo Canyon, Nebraska’s Fort Calhoun and Illinois’ Clinton and Quad Cities plants in recent months as low gas prices, rising renewable energy capacity and energy efficiency measures pressure electricity prices.
The majority of current U.S. decommissioning projects are being carried out under the deferred “SAFSTOR” method of deferred decontamination, but this process incurs the risk of cost hikes, Rothwell said. Continue reading
Japan to try to prevent nuclear terrorism, by background checks on nuclear workers
Japan to check background of nuclear workers to prevent terrorism, Kyodo News, TOKYO, Sept. 7, Kyodo Japan’s nuclear watchdog decided Wednesday to make operators of 
nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities check the background of their workers to prevent terror attacks.
Following the recommendation of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Nuclear Regulation Authority will introduce the new regulation in late September, although the actual implementation is expected to be from next year or later due to necessary procedures, such a revision of the rules regarding the handling of nuclear materials.
It is also unclear how the new measure will be effective in preventing terrorism as the operators will conduct the background checks based on information workers provide themselves, rather than by referrals to police or other law enforcement authorities….. (subscribers only) http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2016/09/432517.html
South Australian govt makes a change- to purchase 75 per cent of its long-term electricity needs
SA Government to purchase 75 per cent of its long-term electricity needs, ABC News, 7 Sept 16 By Nick Harmsen and staff The South Australian Government says it will launch a tender to buy 75 per cent of its long-term electricity needs in an effort to increase competition.
SA has been hit hard by spiralling electricity costs over recent years and the Government wants to introduce a new competitor to the market.
Premier Jay Weatherill said current rules allowed private electricity companies to drive “prices higher by withholding supply”. “A small number of energy suppliers in South Australia have too much power,” he said. “If we increase competition, we will put the power back into the hands of consumers.”
South Australia’s electricity provider, the Electricity Trust of South Australia, was privatised in 1999.It changed its name to SA Power Networks in 2012……..
Carbon emissions scheme on the cards The SA Government also wants to “explore” an Emissions Intensity Scheme (EIS) that would trade credits between energy companies at a national level…….
“[This] means no coal-fired power generation and the only way you’re going to do that is through an emissions trading scheme or an emissions intensity scheme,” he said.
Independent senator for SA Nick Xenophon said an EIS was a “breakthrough” that would increase power reliability, reduce costs and bring about good environmental outcomes. He said that under an EIS, “dirty generators” that emit above a baseline emission rate would have to pay for the pollution while those below it would be credited.
Senator Xenophon said he proposed it at a federal level with the then opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull in 2009. “It seems that after seven long years of skyrocketing power prices that the ‘mongrel scheme’ that I proposed with Malcolm Turnbull has now become the ‘top dog’,” he said.
Yesterday, Port Augusta residents lobbied Mr Weatherill to commit to purchase the power from a proposed solar thermal project in the state’s north.
Mr Weatherill said the tender would not specify which power plant technology should be used…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-08/sa-government-to-purchase-75pc-of-electricity-needs/7825852
Renewable energy future – Hybrid Solar and Wind Systems ?
Canberra-based Windlab Systems Pty Ltd. and Japan’s Eurus Energy Holdings Cop. are building a large-scale hybrid solar-wind plant in the state of Queensland.
Hybrid Solar and Wind Systems Attract Turbine Makers in India http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-05/hybrid-solar-and-wind-systems-attract-turbine-makers-in-india Anindya Upadhyay September 6, 2016
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Gamesa planning 50-megawatt wind-solar hybrid project
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Combined power generation can boost a project’s reliabilityWind turbine makers in India are looking at building more renewable energy projects that would combine solar and wind in a bid to provide a reliable and cost-effective power supply.Gamesa Corp. Tecnologica SA, the largest wind-turbine maker in India by market share, is preparing to announce its first wind-solar project within the next two months. Suzlon Energy Ltd., India’s largest domestic manufacturer of wind turbines, says it expects to focus on hybrids starting next year. Continue reading
Uncertain effect of global warming on World’s Ocean Circulation
A single Atlantic Ocean current system accounts for up to a quarter of the planet’s heat flux.
For now, everyone awaits more data to see whether the AMOC is slowing down and, if so, what that will mean for the planet
How Climate Change Could Jam The World’s Ocean Circulation, 06 SEP 2016: ANALYSIS
Scientists are closely monitoring a key current in the North Atlantic to see if rising sea temperatures and increased freshwater from melting ice are altering the “ocean conveyor belt” — a vast oceanic stream that plays a major role in the global climate system.
Environment 360, by nicola jones Susan Lozier is having a busy year. From May to September, her oceanographic team is making five research cruises across the North Atlantic, hauling up dozens of moored instruments that track currents far beneath the surface. The data they retrieve will be the first complete set documenting how North Atlantic waters are shifting — and should help solve the mystery of whether there is a long-term slowdown in ocean circulation. “We have a lot of people very interested in the data,” says Lozier, a physical oceanographer at Duke University.
A similar string of moorings across the middle of the Atlantic, delving as deep as 3.7 miles from the Canary Islands to the Bahamas, has already detected a disturbing drop in this ocean’s massive circulation pattern. Since those moorings were installed in 2004, they have seen the Atlantic current wobble and weaken by as much as 30 percent, turning down the dial on a dramatic heat pump that transports warmth toward northern Europe. Turn that dial down too much and Europe will go into a deep chill. Continue reading
Renewables to replace nuclear power in Switzerland
Study pushes Swiss post-nuclear power potential, Swiss Info Ch. 8 Sep 16 Wind farms and solar installations already produce almost 50% of the energy that Switzerland gets from nuclear power plants, a new study finds.
Renewable energy sources could replace all of the power that Switzerland gets from nuclear plants sooner than people think, according to the study released on Thursday by Energy Future Switzerland.
That’s because of the fast pace of investment in renewable energy, the Swiss association says.
“At this pace of investment all the Swiss nuclear power plants can be replaced by renewable energy within about six years,” said the nonprofit’s director, Aeneas Wanner, in a statement. The association partners with utilities and others to promote energy efficiency and develop renewable energy sources…….
On November 27, Switzerland will hold a nationwide vote on its nuclear power plants. The Swiss popular initiative calls for amending the Constitution to prohibit getting electricity or heat from nuclear power. It also would set times for when the five plants must be shut down…….http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/renewable-energy_study-pushes-swiss-post-nuclear-power-potential/42430574
Sharp falls predicted for Australia’s thermal coal exports
Australia’s thermal coal exports face 20 years of sharp falls, The Australian, September 8, 2016, BARRY FITZGERALD
Australia’s thermal coal exports are facing a sharp reduction over the next 20 years as the world steps up its attack on carbon emissions.
Leading industry consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimates Australia’s exports of the power generating fuel could slump from 210 million tonnes this year to 135 million tonnes by 2035
Key markets in Asia, Europe, and the Americas are all expected to record sharp falls in demand as the switch to meeting energy demand through energy efficiencies, nuclear power and a growth in renewables/battery storage alternatives steps up.
the next 20 years as the world steps up its attack on carbon emissions…….http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/australias-thermal-coal-exports-face-20-years-of-sharp-falls/news-story/e059ac40237ef59ccc2889a61d68284b
Australian business leaders support UN Sustainable Development Goals
Australian CEOs Sign Statement of Support for UN Sustainable Development Goals
More than 30 business leaders from some of Australia’s largest companies have publicly signed a statement to support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, Pro Bono Australia, Ellie Cooper, 7 Sept 16 In the statement, CEOs agreed to incorporate the SDGs into their strategies, invest in those priority areas, and collaborate with governments, civil society and academia to achieve the goals.
“We are a diverse group of companies with footprints across Australia and the globe. We agree that business has a critical contribution to make towards achievement of the SDGs – both domestically and internationally – through responsible business operations, new business models, investment, innovation, technology and collaboration,” the statement said
“Our businesses are already contributing to the SDG agenda in many ways… we can do more.
“The SDGs provide points of focus around which we can innovate and collaborate in the search for solutions to critical global and local sustainability challenges, while at the same time positioning competitively for the future.”
The SDGs – agreed by all 193 United Nations member states – are a global agenda laying out a roadmap over the next 15 years to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice and protect the planet.
The CEO statement was led by the Global Compact Network Australia (GCNA), the Australian chapter of the UN Global Compact, which is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.
“The statement is a really significant development in the corporate sustainability space,” GCNA executive manager Alice Cope told Pro Bono Australia News……..https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2016/09/australian-ceos-sign-statement-support-un-sustainable-development-goals/
1 This month
15 April – Zoom –Nuclear Power is Not the Solution
Apr 15, 2026 01:00 AM in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Join the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) on Tuesday, April 14th for a timely webinar exploring the risks associated with nuclear power and challenging the myth that it offers a simple, safe, carbon-free solution to the climate crisis
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 