Typhoon triggers alarm at Fukushima plant. enenews.com
Uranium projects in Australia and Canada have moved a step nearer to production by submitting environmental impact statements (EIS) for regulatory approval. world-nuclear-news.org
Blog
-
Geiger Readings for October 07, 2014
Ambient office = 96 nanosieverts per hourAmbient outside = 92 nanosieverts per hourSoil exposed to rain water = 96 nanosieverts per hourRomaine lettuce from Central Market = 106 nanosieverts per hourTap water = 99 nanosieverts per hourFiltered water = 85 nanosieverts per hour -
Nuclear Reactors 171 – Spikes of Radiation Release During Refueling of Nuclear Reactors May Contribute to Infant Leukemia
The proponents of nuclear power like to say that a properly functioning nuclear power plant is no threat to public health. Dangerous radiation from materials in a nuclear reactor is invisible. Part of the problem with verifying the safety of a reactor is that fact the biological damage from radiation can take decades to reveal itself in the form of cancer. In serious accidents, we know that dangerous radiation can be released but what damage it may cause to public health is very hard to pin down. Recent research has indicated that perhaps properly functioning nuclear power plants are not as safe as has been claimed.
When numbers are given for radiation released from a properly functioning nuclear power plant, they are usually based on the average release over a year of operation. The daily or hourly emissions are not shared with the public. The problem with this measurement system is that fact that different amounts of radiation are released at different times. While the annual average release from a nuclear power plant may be within the limit set by the NRC, there are times during normal operation when radiation releases from a nuclear plant may exceed what are considered to be safe levels.
When a nuclear power reactor is opened for refueling every twelve to eighteen months, a large volume of radioactive gas is released into the atmosphere and forms a plume downwind of the reactor that can last up to twelve hours. This spike of radioactivity is above the normal and accepted level of radiation release. However, the released radiation is invisible and the public in the vicinity wis not warned of when the radioactive gas is going to be released.
In late 2011, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War began tracking the radioactive gas released from the Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant in South Germany at half hour intervals. This research showed that while the daily emission of radioactive gases is usually very low and well within the mandated maximum levels, when the reactor was refueled, the release of radioactive gases including noble gases, tritium, carbon-14, iodine-131 increased sharply to more than five hundred times the usual daily release.
After this study, the German government compelled the nuclear regulators to release the non-averaged data for radiation release from Germany’s nuclear power plant. It appears that the public exposure during the refueling spikes can be from twenty to one hundred times the small averaged annual exposure that has been reported in the past. While there are many factors that contribute to the exact dose that any particular person living near a nuclear power plant may experience, in general, it can be said that some members of the public may be exposed to dangerous level of radioactivity during normal nuclear power plant operation.
Statistical analysis of the health of the public living near a nuclear power plant has sometimes shown an increase in infant leukemia. Because of uncertainties about radiation release and exposure dose levels, causation of the increase in leukemia cases has been difficult to identify. It turns out that fetuses of pregnant women are especially vulnerable to radiation exposure during part of the pregnancy. If a pregnant woman is downwind of a refueling nuclear power plant, it may be that the radiation spike causes infant leukemia. With the reluctance of the nuclear industry to provide detailed information on the hourly release of radioactive materials, it is difficult to assess just how dangerous a normally operating nuclear power plant may be to the people living near it.
-
Geiger Readings for October 06, 2014
Ambient office = 117 nanosieverts per hourAmbient outside = 116 nanosieverts per hourSoil exposed to rain water = 101 nanosieverts per hourRedleaf lettuce from Central Market = 90 nanosieverts per hourTap water = 123 nanosieverts per hourFiltered water = 112 nanosieverts per hour -
Geiger Readings for October 05, 2014
Ambient office = 133 nanosieverts per hourAmbient outside = 83 nanosieverts per hourSoil exposed to rain water = 91 nanosieverts per hourIceberg lettuce from Central Market = 82 nanosieverts per hourTap water = 88 nanosieverts per hourFiltered water = 77 nanosieverts per hour -
Geiger Readings for October 04, 2014
Ambient office = 102 nanosieverts per hourAmbient outside = 88 nanosieverts per hourSoil exposed to rain water = 90 nanosieverts per hourCrimini mushroom from Central Market = 79 nanosieverts per hourTap water = 136 nanosieverts per hourFiltered water = 119 nanosieverts per hourPacific Cod – Caught in USA = 96 nanosieverts per hour -
Nuclear Reactors 170 – Russia Offers Early Bird Special to Investors in Its Fast Breeder Research Reactor
I have blogged in the past about the Russian dedication to the creation of fast breeder reactors for the production of nuclear fuel to compete with mined and refined or recovered uranium nuclear fuel. Russia is working on exporting nuclear reactors to developing countries. Control of the actual nuclear fuel required to fuel the exported Russian reactors would give Russia total control over the energy generated by the reactors. It is obvious from past behavior that Russia would consider using that control to leverage political support from their clients.Rosatom, the Russian government corporation that oversees nuclear power generation in Russia, was represented by its deputy director, Vyacheslav Pershukov at the International Atomic Agency’s General Conference that convened in Vienna last week. Pershukov took the opportunity to discuss the Russian plans for its International Research Center (IRC) which will be based on the multipurpose sodium-cooled fast neutron research reactor (the Russian acronym for this reactor is MBIR). The IRC will be located at the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad and the estimated price of the project is one billion dollars. The Russian government has already dedicated three hundred million dollars to the project.Rosatom is seeking investors for the IRC project. In addition to just getting the extra money needed, getting other countries or nuclear companies to join their research project will increase the global support for the idea of fast breeder reactors supplying nuclear fuel. Russia needs foreign markets to justify its massive investment in fast breeder technology. The “early bird” special that Russia is running for investment in the IRC is valued in percentages of the MBIR’s flux. Ten million dollars will equal one percent of the MBIR project. That one percent will be set equivalent to twelve displacements per atom in a cube about four inches on a side. This has to do with the effect of neutron bombardment on the atoms in a material. After 2020, the cost of a one percent share of MBIR will be thirty six million dollars. In return for not only money but also in-kind contributions such as supplying equipment and involvement in the creation and operation of the research program, investors will receive access to the equipment and research programs at the IRC. If enough investors cannot be found, then the Russian government will make up the difference.The IRC will probably have to be run as a not-for-profit organization. The Rosatom representatives at the conference conceded that research reactors have never turned a profit or even broke even on covering expenses. They pointed out that the international nuclear community has been able to put competition aside and cooperate on huge projects such as the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) for nuclear fusion research. They feel that smaller projects such as MBIR also deserve to be the focus of international cooperation. Investors in the project will be able to work on designing reactors to their own specifications and will be able to sell or share their research with non-member companies and countries.Russia has a bad record of dealing with safety in its pursuit of nuclear technology. Given the rampant corruption in Russia, it is virtually certain that sooner or later there will be major accidents in Russia’s pursuit of fast breeders reactors and nuclear fuel generation. Russia is currently heading in a totalitarian direction. If the hard-liners such as Putin dispense with the fiction of democracy and openly seize control, then there is a danger that, just as Chernobyl, the Russian government will lie and try to cover up any major nuclear accident. It is doubtful that their response to such an accident will be adequate.Artists concept of the Russian International Research Center:
