New Japan law "cleanses" bad nuclear news

"Friday, July 15, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (METI) – Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, opened a call for bids (tender) regarding the 'Nuclear Power Safety Regulation Publicity Project', for contractors to monitor blogs and tweets posted about nuclear power and radiation.

The project stipulates that the contractor shall '...monitor blogs on nuclear power and radiation issues as well as Twitter accounts (monitoring tweets is essential) around the clock, and conduct research and analysis on incorrect and inappropriate information that would lead to false rumors, and to report such internet accounts to the Agency. The Contractor is required to keep the Agency well informed on the internet accounts and keywords used in the blogs and Twitter accounts that are posting incorrect and inappropriate information.' " UK Progressive

Eisenhower quelled Japanese fears about nuclear weapons with "atoms for peace"

Eisenhower delivering "Atoms for Peace" speech at UNHow could it be that the only nation ever attacked with nuclear weapons would choose to embrace atomic energy just a decade later? The Japan Times Online has reported, based upon declassified U.S. federal government documents from the Eisenhower administration, that the American promotion of nuclear power in Japan in the mid-1950s was aimed at quelling Japanese fears about, and protests against, U.S. nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific region. The Eisenhower State Department recognized the Japanese outrage about the exposure of Japanese fishermen aboard the Lucky Dragon No. 5, downwind of the Bikini Atoll hydrogen bomb test in 1954, as the most severe strain between the U.S. and Japan since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 9 years earlier. President Eisenhower feared Japan's loss from the U.S. camp to the U.S.S.R.'s influence, and his State Dept. secretly recommended "It is important to our relations with Japan that we seek to remove the strong Japanese notion that atomic and nuclear energy is primarily destructive. We should accordingly attempt at an early point to include Japan in bilateral and multilateral actions intended to develop peaceful uses of atomic energy."

Eisenhower had delivered his famous (or is infamous a more appropriate word, given what it has led to?) "Atoms for Peace" speech at the United Nations General Assembly on December 8, 1953 (see photo at left). Dr. Arjun Makhijani and Scott Saleska, in their 1999 book The Nuclear Power Deception, documented that "Atoms for Peace" was a public relations ploy to calm American fears about the nuclear arms race, and justify the expansion of atomic enterprises in the name of societal benefit, when in fact the effort was more geared to U.S. nuclear weapons production, as well as to court foreign governments in the Cold War competition with the Soviets.

Update on August 2, 2011 by admin

In a related story, the Mainichi Daily News has reported that as early as the mid-1950s, the Eisenhower administration had the help of the highest level Japanese elected officials, including the Prime Minister, as well as Diet (federal parliamentary) leaders. By the mid-1970s, the Japanese federal government was offering lavish subsidies to local municipalities willing to host nuclear power plants, including in Fukushima Prefecture.

Yet another Iranian scientist linked to country's atomic program assassinated

BBC has reported that for the second time in less than two years, another Iranian scientist purportedly linked to the country's nuclear program has been assassinated. The Iranian regime blamed the Israeli Mossad for the 2010 assassination. The Iranian regime claims its uranium enrichment program is for electricity production. Iran, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), does have the legal right to develop atomic power. However, the U.S., Israeli, French, and certain other governments accuse the Iranian regime of instead pursuing expanded and accelerated uranium enrichment for nuclear weapons production purposes. Of course, the U.S., Israel, and France already have nuclear weapons arsenals of their own.

NRC keeps flooded Ft. Calhoun on close-watch list

The Wall Street Journal reports that due to past violations involving flood protections and automatic shutdown systems, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will keep Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant in Nebraska on a close-watch list. Most of the plant is under two feet of flood waters on the historically flooded Missouri River. There is currently about a ten foot safety margin between the flood waters and what the nuclear power plant is prepared to withstand -- but only because NRC busted them for their inadequate preparations late last year. "They are receiving heightened oversight because of inadequate procedures to protect their intake structure and auxiliary building from a flood...and other past performance issues," NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said.

Update on July 24, 2011 by admin

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) has re-installed the 2,000 foot long, 8 foot tall water-filled rubber berm called the "AquaDam" around vital areas of the Ft. Calhoun nuclear power plant. It collapsed on June 26th when a worker accidentally nicked it with a Bobcat bulldozer, causing two feet of flood waters to lap at the walls of the reactor containment and auxiliary buildings, which house safety-signficant systems, structures and components.

"Flirting with Catastrophe: Atomic Power in a Destabilized Climate"

An op-ed by Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps has been published by Counterpunch. Prompted by historic floods in Nebraska threatening atomic reactors on the Missouri River, as well as historic wildfires in New Mexico threatening plutonium-contaminated wastes at the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab, it describes how the location of atomic reactors on seacoasts, rivers, and the Great Lakes makes them vulnerable to worsening severe weather caused by the accelerating climate crisis. Beyond Nuclear has prepared two backgrounders on this issue: "Far from 'solving global warming,' atomic energy is too risky to operate in a destablizied climate," and "Climate chaos and nuclear power." Previously, Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter also wrote "Natural Disasters and Safety Risks at Nuclear Power Stations." The vulnerable locations of the 104 operating U.S. atomic reactors are mapped in Beyond Nuclear's pamphlet "Routine Radioactive Releases from Nuclear Power Plants in the United States: What are the Dangers?"

A recent op-ed in the New York Times by Heidi Cullen of Climate Central, "Sizzle Factor for a Restless Climate," reveals that extreme weather such as the current heat wave across most of the United States will become the norm if we don't solve the climate crisis. IEER's Insurmountable Risks: The Dangers of Using Nuclear Power to Combat Global Climate Change, written five years ago by Dr. Brice Smith, debunked the Nuclear Energy Institute's false myth that nuclear power is any kind of solution to the climate crisis.

Adding a one-two punch at Counterpunch, Beyond Nuclear board member Karl Grossman also published an article entitled "What Could Truly End the Space Program: A Nuclear Disaster Overhead" in the same weekend edition.