Tens of thousands of cleanup workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station risk exploitation, UN human rights experts said in a statement on Thursday.
The three experts, who report to the UN Human Rights Council, warned that exposure to radiation remained a major risk for workers handling the cleanup of the plant.
“Workers hired to decontaminate Fukushima reportedly include migrant workers, asylum-seekers and people who are homeless,” said the three: Baskut Tuncak, an expert on hazardous substances, Dainius Puras, an expert on health, and Urmila Bhoola, an expert on contemporary slavery.
“We are deeply concerned about possible exploitation. The workers risk exposure to unhealthy levels of radiation not only because they work in places with high radiation but also because they work for longer hours than they should,” Tuncak told DW after the statement was released.
“They are not sufficiently trained, which exposes them to serious health risks. Also, most of them are economically vulnerable, who may not turn down the job despite hazardous working conditions,” he said.
Tuncak added that the team’s observations were based on “repeated and reliable” reports.
Poor working conditions
TEPCO, the owner of the nuclear power station, which was damaged by a tsunami in 2011, has faced criticism for its treatment of workers involved in the cleanup, which is expected to take decades.
In July, a survey conducted by the Japanese Justice Ministry showed that four construction companies had hired foreign trainees for radioactive decontamination work at the plant.
The survey found that one of the four companies paid only 2,000 yen ($18, €16) per day to the trainees, a fraction of the 6,600 yen provided by the government as a special allowance for decontamination work.
An investigation by Reuters news agency in 2013 also found widespread labor abuses, including workers who said their pay was skimmed.
Japan must act
The UN experts called on Japanese authorities to act urgently to protect the workers. “The government must conduct greater oversights. In cases of wrongdoing, it must prosecute the wrongdoers to set an example for others,” Tuncak said.
“The government must also allow independent experts to visit Fukushima to review the existing work conditions.” Tuncak said Japan has not responded to several of his and other experts’ requests to visit the damaged nuclear station.
The possibility of a shipment of spent nuclear fuel on Michigan highways to Port Huron and into Canada has members of a nuclear watchdog group concerned and asking questions.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received a request for approval of a highway shipment route for spent nuclear fuel from LaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station to Port Huron and Michigan’s port of exit.
A July 13 letter from the NRC indicates the agency received the application, dated May 13, 2018, and the NRC has a goal to complete the review within 45 days, by late August.
LaSalle County Generating Station, near Chicago, has two nuclear reactors that produce 2,320 megawatts of energy, or enough to power 2.3 million homes, according to Exelon Generation, the company that operates the plant.
The company said the proposed shipment is for nine fuel rods, weighing around five pounds each, that will be shipped to a testing facility in Canada after reaching Port Huron.
Beyond Nuclear, an advocacy group working to push for a future free of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons, found the letter posted online on July 23, among hundreds of documents on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s online library.
The group, along with other advocates, criticized the possible shipping route.
“We have serious concerns about shipping high-level radioactive waste from Exelon’s LaSalle reactors to a port city,” said David Kraft, director of the Chicago-based Nuclear Energy Information Service. “Except in cases of extreme emergency, we believe that irradiated fuel should only be moved once for permanent isolation.”
Kay Cumbow of Great Lakes Environmental Alliance in Port Huron said a spill, release or fire in the area or near waterways that flow into the St. Clair River could potentially ruin one of the largest fresh water deltas in the world, the St. Clair Flats. ………
Beyond Nuclear believes the application’s wording suggests a possible water route to the destination, according to a news release from the advocacy organization.
Michael Keegan, spokesperson for Don’t Waste Michigan and Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes, in Monroe, Michigan, said, “Why risk sending deadly radioactive wastes through our communities and Great Lakes watersheds?”
Even minor sea-level rise, by as much as a foot, poses greater risks VIRGINIA TECH 16 Aug 18
As sea levels rise due to climate change, so do the global hazards and potential devastating damages from tsunamis, according to a new study by a partnership that included Virginia Tech.
Even minor sea-level rise, by as much as a foot, poses greater risks of tsunamis for coastal communities worldwide.
The threat of rising sea levels to coastal cities and communities throughout the world is well known, but new findings show the likely increase of flooding farther inland from tsunamis following earthquakes. Think of the tsunami that devasted a portion of northern Japan after the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, causing a nuclear plant to melt down and spread radioactive contamination.
These findings are at the center of a new Science Advances study, headed by a multi-university team of scientists from the Earth Observatory of Singapore, the Asian School of the Environment at Nanyang Technological University, and National Taiwan University, with critical support from Virginia Tech’s Robert Weiss, an associate professor in the Department of Geosciences, part of the College of Science.
“Our research shows that sea-level rise can significantly increase the tsunami hazard, which means that smaller tsunamis in the future can have the same adverse impacts as big tsunamis would today,” Weiss said, adding that smaller tsunamis generated by earthquakes with smaller magnitudes occur frequently and regularly around the world. For the study, Weiss was critical in helping create computational models and data analytics frameworks.
At Virginia Tech, Weiss serves as director of the National Science Foundation-funded Disaster Resilience and Risk Management graduate education program and is co-lead of Coastal@VT, comprised of 45 Virginia Tech faculty from 13 departments focusing on contemporary and emerging coastal zone issues, such as disaster resilience, migration, sensitive ecosystems, hazard assessment, and natural infrastructure.
For the study, Weiss and his partners, including Lin Lin Li, a senior research fellow, and Adam Switzer, an associate professor, at the Earth Observatory of Singapore, created computer-simulated tsunamis at current sea level and with sea-level increases of 1.5 feet and 3 feet in the Chinese territory of Macau. Macau is a densely populated coastal region located in South China that is generally safe from current tsunami risks.
At current sea level, an earthquake would need to tip past a magnitude of 8.8 to cause widespread tsunami inundation in Macau. But with the simulated sea-level rises, the results surprised the team.
The sea-level rise dramatically increased the frequency of tsunami-induced flooding by 1.2 to 2.4 times for the 1.5-foot increase and from 1.5 to 4.7 times for the 3-foot increase. “We found that the increased inundation frequency was contributed by earthquakes of smaller magnitudes, which posed no threat at current sea level, but could cause significant inundation at higher sea-level conditions,” Li said.
n the simulated study of Macau – population 613,000 – Switzer said, “We produced a series of tsunami inundation maps for Macau using more than 5,000 tsunami simulations generated from synthetic earthquakes prepared for the Manila Trench.” It is estimated that sea levels in the Macau region will increase by 1.5 feet by 2060 and 3 feet by 2100, according to the team of U.S.-Chinese scientists.
The hazard of large tsunamis in the South China Sea region primarily comes from the Manila Trench, a megathrust system that stretches from offshore Luzon in the Philippines to southern Taiwan. The Manila Trench megathrust has not experienced an earthquake larger than a magnitude 7.8 since the 1560s. Yet, study co-author Wang Yu, from the National Taiwan University, cautioned that the region shares many of the characteristics of the source areas that resulted in the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, as well as the 2011 earthquake in northern Japan, both causing massive loss of life.
These increased dangers from tsunamis build on already known difficulties facing coastal communities worldwide: The gradual loss of land directly near coasts and increased chances of flooding even during high tides, as sea levels increase as the Earth warms.
“The South China Sea is an excellent starting point for such a study because it is an ocean with rapid sea-level rise and also the location of many mega cities with significant worldwide consequences if impacted. The study is the first if its kind on the level of detail, and many will follow our example,” Weiss said.
Policymakers, town planners, emergency services, and insurance firms must work together to create or insure safer coastlines, Weiss added.
“Sea-level rise needs to be taken into account for planning purposes, for example for reclamation efforts but also for designing protective measures, such as seawalls or green infrastructure.”
He added, “What we assumed to be the absolute worst case a few years ago now appears to be modest for what is predicted in some locations. We need to study local sea-level change more comprehensively in order to create better predictive models that help to make investments in infrastructure that are or near sustainable.”
Paul Richards 17 Aug 18 ‘The San Onofre’ transport/storage cask, was, and remain placed next to the ocean, in a high-risk area for a Tsunami. In a state that has over 75% of the seismic activity in North America, within close proximity of the well-known earthquake fault line in California.
The citizens of Orange, & San Diego County along with Los Angeles were assured these casks were guaranteed for a hundred years. As opposed to the many thousands of years needed in guarantee for future generations, yet there were and still are signs of cask breakdown in under twenty years.
Let that sink in, U N D E R 2 0 Y E A R S.
It was the typical, nuclear industry message when this plant was phased out as economically and environmentally unviable, demonstrating the nuclear energy experiment had failed:
“Trust us, we know best, these casks are world best practice…”
What are the probabilities after over 70 years of using the same line of logic others in the Nuclear State have;
* that this industry has solved its spent nuclear fuel cask containment problem, or ever will?
Even without going into the long-term storage issues, of a final dump site, as a repository for the indefinite cost of backdoor waste, the IAEA acknowledges has no solution; the whole concept of nuclear energy looks far more trouble, in terms of cost, wasted development and risk to life on earth be relied on.
However, that’s subjective, to whether an individual or group actually considers emerging and future generations life of value.
A premise where a win at all cost, tailors into the mantra of efficiencies, and ROI – profit, for senior executives, shareholders, stakeholders, and financiers, is put before ‘social responsibility’.
Dump clarity Letter to the Editor, The Advertiser, 17 August 2018
IT is little wonder that the Barngala group is using legal action on the Kimba and Hawker vote on nuclear waste.
The Federal minister misrepresents fully what is happening by telling us that it is a low-level waste dump, when it is also a dump to receive intermediate waste “temporarily” for 100 years.
We were told more than three years ago it was a low-level dump until the Government reluctantly admitted that it was about intermediate waste as well. The local federal MP has said it was about more money. Last month, the Government boosted the employment numbers from 15 to 45 and the money from $2 million to $31 million just before the vote due to start on Monday.
It is vital that we have the full truth on this issue.
BARRY WAKELIN, Kimba
Hydrogen could be Australia’s next multibillion dollar export opportunity, according to a panel of energy, technology and policy leaders who presented their findings to the COAG Energy Council last week., 17 Aug 18
Dr Alan Finkel, Chair of the Hydrogen Strategy Group and Australia’s Chief Scientist, said that hydrogen’s time has come.
“Hydrogen produces only water vapour and heat when burned. When produced from water using renewable electricity, or from coal or methane combined with carbon capture and storage, it’s a close to zero-emissions fuel. With appropriate safeguards, it’s just as safe as natural gas, and just as convenient for consumers.
“In Australia, we have all the necessary resources to make hydrogen at scale: wind, sun, coal, methane, carbon sequestration sites and expertise.
“It’s simply never been commercially viable. Now, the economics are changing.”
Dr Finkel explained that the key developments were the falling costs for renewable energy and Japan’s commitment to be a long-term, large-scale customer for hydrogen produced through low-emissions methods.
“Japan currently imports 94% of its energy in the form of fossil fuels. To reduce its emissions, government and industry have put ambitious hydrogen uptake targets at the heart of a comprehensive energy transition plan,” Dr Finkel said.
“We’re not alone in this race. Norway, Brunei and Saudi Arabia are all boosting their credentials as future hydrogen suppliers. This is the time for Australia to stake its claim as supplier of choice not just to Japan, but to other nations like South Korea, hungry for a twenty-first century fuel.”
With the right policy settings, Australian hydrogen exports could contribute $1.7 billion and provide 2,800 jobs by 2030, according to a recent report from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Many of the opportunities will be concentrated in regional communities, where proof-of-concept hydrogen trials are already underway.
Hydrogen could also be introduced in the near-term into Australia’s existing gas network for heating and cooking, and as a low-emissions alternative to diesel for long-distance heavy transport.
The COAG Energy Council agreed that Dr Finkel, in close consultation with officials, will bring back a proposal for the development of a national hydrogen strategy to its December 2018 meeting.
Dr Finkel thanked the members of the Hydrogen Strategy Group and taskforce for their work in developing the briefing paper.
State lawmakers maintained they will have a say in a proposed facility to store high-level nuclear waste near Carlsbad and Hobbs, despite an opinion issued by New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas suggesting New Mexico will have a limited role in licensing the project.
New Mexico Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-36), who chairs the New Mexico Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Committee said Balderas’ opinion was informative but did not preclude lawmakers from preventing the facility from operating.
The committee convened in May to study the project proposed by New Jersey-based Holtec International, and held its third meeting on Wednesday at University of New Mexico-Los Alamos.
Opposed to the project, Steinborn said state lawmakers owe their constituents a full review of the proposal.
More: Who is Holtec? International company touts experience in nuclear storage
“I think it’s kind of a troubling deficiency in the government if the state doesn’t have to give consent to have something like this foisted upon it,” he said. “The State of New Mexico owes it to the people to look at every aspect of it.”
In Balderas’ response to multiple questions asked by Steinborn, he cited numerous past cases that Balderas said created a precedent that state governments have almost no role in federal licensing for nuclear facilities.
More: Attorney general: New Mexico has little say in Holtec proposal
He said the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has the sole authority to license the facility, and the state’s authority would likely begin once it went into operation, providing some recourse if something goes wrong.
“While it is abundantly clear that the state cannot license or otherwise directly regulate interim storage facilities, the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that state tort law can provide a remedy for injuries suffered as a result of nuclear plant operation,” Balderas wrote.
But Steinborn said he and the committee intended to make their voices heard well before the plant could go into operation.
He said even if the federal NRC does issue Holtec the needed license, the state could fight back by blocking utilities and infrastructure such as water and transportation access – cutting off the facility’s ability to operate. Continue reading →
Kim Mavromatis No Nuclear Waste Dump Anywhere in South Australia, 16 Aug 18
Transporting Radioactive Nuclear Waste from all over Australia (upto 10,000 times more radioactive than uranium ore), thousands of kms several times a week thru Spencer Gulf cities, roads and ports (Port Pirie, Whyalla and Port Augusta) and dumping it on farmland or floodplain in one of the most seismically active regions in Australia, is pure insanity.
25 million people will be effected as our national highways become Nuclear Waste superhighways and the fate of the whole nation is confined to just 600 people (living within 50km radius of the proposed sites) in Kimba and Hawker who will vote this month FOR or AGAINST a Nuclear Waste Dump in our backyard. When a Nuclear Waste accident happens (and it will happen), don’t expect insurance companies to cover you for Nuclear Waste exposure. When is the next federal election? https://www.facebook.com/groups/1314655315214929/?multi_permalinks=2495669147113534%2C2494037980609984¬if_id=1534319355546488¬if_t=group_activity
‘The Aboriginal burial ground at Moree Cemetery now stands completed,
after the final stones were laid at the site on Tuesday.
‘“I finally feel like it’s a job done. It has taken me nearly 34 years
to see this part of the cemetery come to fruition,”
Aunty Noeline Briggs-Smith OAM said.
‘The sandstone blocks were placed at the foot of the Ngindi Baababili Tubbiabri sign,
followed with a carpet of pebbles. Aunty Noeline said
the sandstone matched the type of rocks at the Tranquility Area.
‘The laying of the stones closes off more than a three-decade saga,
during which time Aunty Noeline has sought to restore identities
to more than 200 previously unmarked Aboriginal grave sites.
South Autralia is likely to reach 80 per cent renewables by 2022 and the equivalent of 100 per cent renewables by 2025 as its major “baseload” gas fired power stations exit the market. The post South Australia will be at 100% renewables by 2025 – market operator appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Opinion: ¶ “The message of a scorching 2018: We’re not prepared for global warming” • This summer of fire and swelter looks a lot like the future that scientists are warning about for the era of climate change, and it is revealing in real time how unprepared much of the world remains for life on […]
Presented by the EEC and now in its seventh year running, the National Energy Efficiency Awards are s a fantastic opportunity to be recognised for your efforts and celebrate your commitment to energy efficiency. The post National Energy Efficiency awards – only 2 weeks left to nominate! appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Gupta says the proposed government underwriting of a new “dispatchable power plant, will favour solar and could help bring solar costs down to half current market costs, even with back-up. The post Gupta: ACCC underwriting idea may help slash solar costs to $20s/MWh appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Anything deviating from transitioning to a reliable, firmed renewable grid will end up costing Australians and Australian business more in the long run. The post Any new coal generator will force the early closure of another appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Huron and into Canada has members of a nuclear watchdog group concerned and asking questions.
Antinuclear 