Fukushima radiation levels rebound as snow melts
April 03, 2012 By HIROSHI ISHIZUKA/ Staff Writer

Air radiation levels have risen in Namie and other areas around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant because the spring thaw has increased exposure to contaminated soil, the science ministry said.

Ministry officials said other locations may show similar rises in radiation levels as the snow melts....

Chevy Volt Gets New Support From Rogue Conservatives, Could Be Too Late To Save Car's Image

Conservatives love to hate the Chevy Volt. The plug-in advanced hybrid car seems to annoy Republicans, Tea Partiers and Libertarians alike.

Then this week, one conservative went rogue. Lee Spieckerman, owner of SpieckermanMedia in Fort Worth, Texas, went on Fox News to say the Volt could be an important tool in boosting U.S. energy production and foreign policy efforts.

"There are probably 10 inventions over the past 150 years that were life changing for Americans, and I think the Volt has the potential to be one of those things," he told The Huffington Post. "I mean, a car that runs on American electricity derived from American sources. What will those crazy lefties think of next?"

He joined a wave of backlash within conservative groups against those in their political party who despise the Chevy Volt because of its perceived ties to President Barack Obama. The pushback started with a column a few weeks ago in Forbes magazine written by former General Motors board member and climate-change denier Bob Lutz, who said,"."I am, sadly, coming to the conclusion that all the icons of conservatism are ... deliberately not telling the truth...

Osaka panel drafts anti-nuclear demand for Kansai Electric
April 02, 2012

OSAKA--A local government panel has drafted specific demands for Kansai Electric Power Co. to abolish all nuclear power plants, setting up a showdown at the company’s shareholders meeting in June.

The energy strategy council, under the Osaka municipal and prefectural governments, said April 1 that Osaka city, the top shareholder of Kansai Electric, should propose that the company amend its articles of incorporation to specify a policy that ends dependence on nuclear power and secures transparency of management.

...Kansai Electric has vehemently opposed Hashimoto’s call for abolishing all nuclear power plants....

Fukushima publisher mailed radioactive soil to send message
April 03, 2012 By SHUNSUKE KIMURA / Staff Writer

FUKUSHIMA--The first package arrived at the Environment Ministry on Nov. 8, immediately drawing looks of bewilderment and concern, especially after the contents were revealed.

Inside were a plastic bag filled with dirt and a typed letter that ended with the name of the sender and his address.

The package was from Fukushima city.

“This is soil I took from my garden,” the letter read. “I am giving this to the Environment Ministry, which is primarily responsible (for the radioactive contamination) and for storing waste.”

Tadashi Okudaira, a 63-year-old publisher, acknowledged ...

'O.J. Is Innocent And I Can Prove It':
In New Book, P.I. William Dear Claims O.J. Simpson's Son Was The Killer

The latest installment in the Simpson library is not another "If I Did It," in which the former gridiron great speculated on how he might have killed his former wife. Instead, the new book points the finger of guilt away from Simpson and lays the blame on his son, Jason Simpson.

"Everything we have in the book is documented. It is not theory or hypothesis. It is fact," renowned private investigator William C. Dear told The Huffington Post about his book, "O.J. Is Innocent and I Can Prove It."

..."When I tell you we have the weapon -- we found the weapon in Jason's storage facility that he failed to make payments on. We know he carried it -- his initials were carved in the leather sheath," Dear said.

"..."I recently did a speech in front of 533 law enforcement investigators and prosecutors," he said. "The first statement I made was 'How many of you believe O.J. was guilty?' and everyone raised their hand. When [my speech] was over, I asked the same thing and only three people voted guilty. So when you get law enforcement and all these people to take that position, that's a pretty strong position."

AARP, MidAmerican spar over nuclear legislation
By Rod Boshart Gazette Des Moines Bureau


DES MOINES – AARP Iowa leaders on Monday accused MidAmerican Energy of engaging in a campaign of misinformation aimed at confusing Iowans about legislation they claim attempts to have company ratepayers – rather than shareholders -- bear the unknown cost and risks associated with building a proposed nuclear power plant somewhere in Iowa.

Anthony Carroll, AARP Iowa associate state director for advocacy, told a Statehouse news conference that MidAmerican’s paid newspaper advertisement last week misrepresented and “lied about our position” on House File 561 – a bill that would allow MidAmerican Energy to seek permission from state regulators to move forward with a proposed nuclear power plant estimated to cost up to $2 billion to build.

Under the House-passed measure currently eligible for Senate debate, the Iowa Utilities Board would not be required to follow traditional rate rules or the usual cost recovery methods in deciding issues pertaining to the permitting, licensing, and building of MidAmerican’s proposal to construct a nuclear-powered facility using new modular technology.

“The (MidAmerican) ads stated that AARP is an opponent of nuclear power. That is an outright lie, just the beginning a new campaign by MidAmerican to fool Iowans into favoring H.F. 561. Iowans deserve better than to be fooled,” he said. Carroll contended the MidAmerican ad offered a “false portrayal” of AARP’s position in an attempt to hide the truth and shift the focus away from what the proposed legislation actually does.

“AARP is fighting for...

84 percent say government stress tests for nuclear plant restarts inadequate: survey

Despite the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) of Japan's conclusion that the idled Oi Nuclear Power Plant clears safety standards required for resuming operations, 84 percent of the public do not believe that the government's safety tests are sufficient, a Mainichi opinion poll has found.

The Mainichi survey was conducted on March 31 and April 1 via phone, using phone numbers that were chosen randomly by computer. Phone numbers in municipalities that have been deemed no-go zones due to the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant were excluded. The response rate was 60 percent, with 905 people responding from 1,499 households with qualified voters.

Of the 905 respondents, 62 percent said they were against resuming operations of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO)'s Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, far outnumbering the 33 percent who said they supported the reactors' restart. Meanwhile, only 10 percent considered the NSC's so-called stress tests to be sufficient, while 84 percent said that they were not.

Discussions over a bill that would allow the launch of a new nuclear regulatory agency have stalled in the Diet, postponing its April 1 inauguration date. Because of this, oversight of nuclear power will remain under the jurisdiction of existing government bodies for the time being, even though the public carries a great distrust toward how government bodies have handled the disaster thus far. Even among survey respondents who said that they agreed with the restart of the two Oi reactors, 67 percent said the government's stress tests were insufficient.

The public's views for and against ...

Nuclear industry dreams dashed by current economic reality
It was the financing model and rates of return that prompted German nuclear giants RWC and E.ON to pull out of UK energy plans
Martin Cohen
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 April 2012 05.58 EDT



Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant was built just above sea-level, with cliffs bulldozed – a risky plan forced by economic necessity. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters


The news that nuclear giants RWE and E.ON are dropping plans to build any new UK reactors has sent a toxic cloud not only over Wales, but over the nuclear industry itself.

Of course, everyone knows nowadays, post-Chernobyl, post-Fukushima, that nuclear power plants are not really safe. Even if there are a few noisy die-hards, arguing that the resulting radiation is harmless, and that "hardly anyone" dies as a direct consequence of atomic meltdown, that old canard just won't wash any more.

Other nuclear myths, though, have lingered on. Atomic energy, unveiled by Her Majesty with grand aplomb at Calder Hall half a century ago, still has a hi-tech glamour, an aura of somehow being "the future". The reality that atomic plants are basically steam engines staffed by thousands of casual workers who would otherwise be picking strawberries or digging up roads somehow never impinges. Perhaps one of the most shocking images post-Fukushima, was of unskilled workers hosing sea water onto the smouldering wreckage. Not here the calm, fatherly figures in their white lab-coats in front of consoles worthy of the Starship Enterprise.

But there are solid, practical reasons why nuclear power relies on casual staff using dustpans and brushes to sweep up radioactive dust, or hoses to cool down spent fuel. Best of which is that it's cheaper. An enlightening fact about Fukushima, where the tsunami swept over the safety wall, was that at this point on the coast, the land is well above the level of any waves, tsunami or otherwise. It required considerable ingenuity to bulldoze the cliffs down to sea-level to construct a plant that was then potentially at risk. However, the plant operators knew that nuclear electricity is not actually "too cheap to meter", whatever Eisenhower may have said, and the additional cost of pumping seawater up to the top of the cliffs would have eaten into their bottom line. Hence, the small, if ever so slightly risky, strategy of situating the complex at sea-level.

So the torpedo that has just been launched at the majestic British nuclear ship by the sneaky German energy corporations has...