2011-03-26

Why earthquake-prone Japan relies on nuclear power

The Christian Science Monitor
Global News Blog


Why earthquake-prone Japan relies on nuclear power
Nuclear power is increasingly seen as a way for Japan, and other nations including the United States, to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.


Fukushima Daiichi power plant's Unit 1 is seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, on Friday, March 11. The nuclear power plant affected by a massive earthquake is facing a possible meltdown, an official with Japan's nuclear safety commission said Saturday. 


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(Yasushi Kann/The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP)
By Stephen Kurczy, Staff writer
posted March 14, 2011 


Nuclear energy provides an estimated 30 percent of electricity in Japan, despite it being one of the world's most seismically volatile nations.


Why? Nuclear power is increasingly seen as a way for Japan to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. That's the same reason why President Obama has also been pushing the US to build its first nuclear power plant in almost three decades. In his 2010 State of the Union address, he called for "a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants."


But as shown by the unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan, with two reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station suffering explosions since Friday's massive earthquake knocked out cooling systems at the plant, there is simply no easy solution to humanity's need for energy. While fossil fuel raises concerns of climate change, nuclear energy raises the specter of radioactive contamination.


"Japan's debate closely mirrors those worldwide, as governments highlight nuclear power as an easier way to cut carbon emissions than boosting wind and solar power," the Monitor wrote a year ago in the article "Earthquake prone Japan sees green in new nuclear power plants."


Nuclear role in cutting carbon


Japan has touted nuclear power as key to reducing carbon emissions to 75 percent of 1990 levels by 2020. The public remains wary about the push, with one poll showing that 54 percent of the population feels anxious or uneasy about nuclear power. Shunsuke Kondo, chairman of Japan's Atomic Energy Commission, told the Monitor then that his nation's nuclear power plants were built to withstand all but a "once in 10,000 year" earthquake.


Tragically, that's exactly what hit Friday when an 8.9-magnitude temblor rocked the nation's northeast coast and sent a 30-foot high tsunami crashing inland, knocking out electricity at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and causing cooling systems to fail in at least three reactors.


Nuclear plants also provide an estimated 20 percent of US power, with Obama recently pledging $8 billion in loan guarantees for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in the US since 1979, the year of the Three Mile Island meltdown. Proposals are currently being heard for 20 new reactors to be built over the next 15 to 20 years.


According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there are currently 104 licensed nuclear power plants, with eight sitting in the earthquake-prone West Coast states of Washington, California, and Arizona. (Here's a map of reactors across the US.) Two of those plants in California sit especially close to fault lines.


The New York Times today reports that "most of the nuclear plants in the United States share some or all of the risk factors that played a role at Fukushima Daiichi: locations on tsunami-prone coastlines or near earthquake faults, aging plants and backup electrical systems that rely on diesel generators and batteries that could fail in extreme circumstances."


Overreacting to the nuclear crisis?


Even a year ago, as the Monitor reported, Japan's earthquake-prone geology caused concern among activists and raised the specter of a quake-induced Chernobyl. Comparisons to Ukraine's 1986 disaster have been stated repeatedly in recent days, despite officials downplaying such a scenario.


The Wall Street Journal's Op-Ed page has criticized American media for "overreacting" to the nuclear crisis in Japan. "Unlike the Soviets at Chernobyl, the Japanese have been taking sensible precautions like evacuating people near the plants and handing out iodine pills even if they may never be needed. These precautions increase public worry, but better to take them even if they prove to be unnecessary," the WSJ said.


"We should learn from the Japanese nuclear crisis, not let it feed a political panic over nuclear power in general," the Journal said.
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2011-03-24

別讓醫生殺了你 - 醫生都不說的醫學真相


西醫危害健康 - 袁大明 周兆祥 醫療風暴

What to Know if You Ever Want to Eat Chicken Again…
It's still standard practice on chicken AFOs (Animal Feeding Operations) to dose the birds with arsenic 砷; 砒霜 .
Arsenic makes the birds grow faster and helps control a common intestinal disease of chickens.

More than 2,000 vaccinated babies died: The cost of doing business

Study: 700,000 people, mostly children, end up in emergency rooms ER every year for pharmaceutical drug poisoning.
Forty-three percent of all these poisonings are caused by antidepressant drugs and common painkillers, many of which are available without a prescription.

Pecans promote heart health, lower cholesterol levels

How Cell-phone Radiation Works
Ionizing radiation & Non-ionizing radiation



iHerb $5 Discount Off First Order




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輻射菜殺到香港 超標9倍 日本5縣農產今無限期禁入口

輻射菜殺到香港 超標9倍 日本5縣農產今無限期禁入口
 (明報)2011年3月24日 星期四

【明報專訊】日本    輻射    污染蔬菜差點流入本港，昨日兩批共3個樣本的日本空運抵港蘿蔔和菠菜，被驗出放射物質碘-131含量達260至1000貝克/公斤，超出本港安全標準1.6至9倍，全部來自鄰近東京    的千葉縣。港府緊急宣布，今日正午起無限期禁止日本千葉、櫪木、茨城、群馬及福島縣5個縣的奶類及蔬果等農產及相關加工、包裝食品入口。

被驗出輻射超標的兩個批次樣本，包括同一批次的一個白蘿蔔樣本、一個蘿蔔樣本，和另一批次的菠菜樣本，碘-131含量分別為每公斤260貝克、800貝克和1000貝克，較本港安全標準100貝克分別高出1.6倍、7倍和9倍，其中蘿蔔和菠菜樣本亦驗出含放射物質銫-134和銫-137，每公斤含量由8.5貝克至26貝克不等，但未有超標。

Drugstores Online 

菠菜蘿蔔來自千葉縣

有關超標蔬菜並非產自福島及鄰近櫪木、茨城、群馬3個重災區縣，全部來自毗鄰東京的千葉縣，其中碘超標9倍的菠菜樣本，更獲日本當地的JAS有機認證，此認證制度由日本農林水產省制定。兩款蘿蔔樣本入口商是Tukiji Nakagai Hong Kong Sodairi Hogami Suisan Co. Ltd和菠菜樣本入口商Pronet(Asia) Ltd。

食物及衛生局副局長梁卓偉強調，上述輻射超標蔬菜全被扣檢沒有流入本港市面，若真的有人食用了，最嚴重者相等於照了10張X光肺片（見FAQ）。中大生命科學院副教授何永成則說，是次超標以倍計，反映污染非常嚴重，市民吃下肚後未必能即時排出體外，或會損害人體細胞，甚至令其他腸胃組織受破壞，市民切勿冒險進食。

昨空運抵港沒流出市面

政府將於今日刊憲，由即日中午12時起，禁止出售於3月11日（地震發生當日）或以後在上述5縣收穫、製造、加工或包裝的食品進口，分別為奶、奶類飲品、奶粉、蔬果。冷凍或冷藏野味肉類和家禽、禽蛋，以及鮮活、冷凍或冷藏海鮮，若有日本官方發出的衛生證明書，可獲豁免。當局解釋，禁令今天才生效，是給予業界時間作運貨準備。立法會議員李華明和王國興批評寬鬆做法不恰當，理應一刀切全面禁止有關地區所有農產來港。食物及衛生局強調，會繼續抽檢，且貨品有衛生證明書，雙重保障。

議員批太遲生效不恰當

對於福島對開海水輻射污染，天文台    強調當地水流向東，不會流入本港，當局與專家研究後，亦確認本港漁民不會到有關水域捕魚。漁護署昨日到本港5個漁場抽魚化驗輻射，結果正常。至於其他日本進口的加工食品，如餅乾、糖果、蛋糕和冰凍甜點，以及以水和植物製造的日本進口消費品，包括洗頭水、護髮素、皂液、牙膏、化妝品等，港府未有發現輻射超標。

日本厚生勞動省昨宣布，福島縣露天栽種的西蘭花（青花菜）、椰菜等11種蔬菜檢測到輻射物質，美國    隨即宣布，即時停止進口福島、茨城、櫪木、群馬4縣生產的牛奶、奶製品、新鮮蔬果；韓國也表示「積極」考慮禁止入口日本食品。法國    除了自行檢測日本進口食品，也呼籲歐盟對日本輸入歐陸的新鮮食品，實施「系統管制」，防範核污染，一些入口商已停止輸入日本食品，預料禁止入口日本食品的國家將陸續增加。
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