Blog
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Geiger Readings for June 19, 2013
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 18, 2013
Ambient office = .075 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .084 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .100 microsieverts per hour
Banana from local grocery store = .054 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .117 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .097 microsieverts per hour
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Geiger Readings for June 19, 2013
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 18, 2013
Ambient office = .075 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .084 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .100 microsieverts per hour
Banana from local grocery store = .054 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .117 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .097 microsieverts per hour
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Nulcear Reactors 32 – Japan’s Push for Nulcear Exports Encounters Problems
My last blog post deal with the efforts of the new Abe administration in Japan to restart the Japanese nuclear reactors and expand the export of nuclear reactor technologies to other countries. Since taking power six months ago, Abe has signed a number of agreements with other countries to build nuclear reactors for them. There are currently massive demonstrations in Japan by citizens who not only are against restarting the idle Japanese reactors but also against exporting reactors to the rest of the world.
I mentioned the conference that Abe attended in Eastern Europe to push nuclear exports. Agreement was reached at the Visegrad Group summit between Japan and the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to cooperate on the development of nuclear power technology in the four Eastern European countries. Japan media discussed the possibility that Abe would sign a memorandum of agreement with the Czech Republic to have Japanese companies involved in the construction of two new reactors in the Czech Republic at Temelin. Nuclear energy currently provides about one third of the electricity in the Republic.
Unfortunately for Mr. Abe, during the conference, Petr Necas, the Czech Prime Minister, stated that he would be resigning his office immediately following scandals involving charges of bribery and the abuse of his power. The press release from the bilateral summit between Abe and Necas just made vague reference to a potential for cooperation on technology and energy. Japanese officials refused to speculate whether the resignation of Mr. Necas would have an impact on the Japanese bid for Czech nuclear projects. On the other hand, Czech officials have admitted that the resignation of Mr. Necas might delay final decisions on suppliers for currently planned nuclear project.
There has been intense competition for the Czech nuclear projects. Rosatom, a Russian company was working hard to secure at least part of the estimated ten billion dollars involved in the Czech project. Russia is already supplying oil, gas and nuclear fuel to the Czech Republic. The Japanese company, Toshiba was pushing its U.S. subsidiary Westinghouse’s nuclear technology. Areva, a French company had been involved in the bidding but was disqualified last December because it “failed to meet important criteria” required in the bid process according to CEZ, the Czech power company. Areva is contesting the ruling and is trying to get back into the running.
Abe is aggressively traveling around the world pushing Japan’s nuclear technology. In addition to the deals mentioned my previous post involving collaborating on new reactors for Turkey and an new relationship with the French nuclear industry, Abe has also signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates for nuclear cooperation. Abe is also working on facilitating talks with India about nuclear cooperation.
In addition to the opposition at home and the competition from other countries exporting nuclear technology, Abe also has to contend with political complexities such as the resignation of the Prime Minister in the Czech Republic. It is interesting to note that in 2010, Toshiba was embroiled in a bribery scandal in Russia. Now the Prime Minister of a country that Toshiba is trying to do business with has resigned over bribery charges and the scandal may derail the deal that Toshiba was trying to cement. I am not saying that Toshiba bribed the Czech Prime Minister to help get Czech business but it is not outside the realm of possibility.
Temelin nuclear power station in the Czech Republic:
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Geiger Readings for June 18, 2013
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 18, 2013
Ambient office = .085 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .069 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .068 microsieverts per hour
Vine ripened tomato from Costco = .118 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .102 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .088 microsieverts per hour
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Nulcear Reactors 31 – Japan is Working to Expand Nuclear Component Exports
The new administration of Prime Minister Abe in Japan is bullish on nuclear power. Although the majority of the Japanese people do not want to restart the Japanese nuclear reactor fleet that has been shut down since the Fukushima disaster in 2011, the Abe government has been very insistent that nuclear power has got to part of the Japanese energy mix if they are going to expand the Japanese economy in the coming years. Abe has purged a lot of nuclear energy opponents for the inner circles of the Japanese national government. Abe’s focus on nuclear power is not restricted to Japan. He is traveling outside of Japan to other countries to advertise Japan’s interest in increasing exports of Japanese nuclear technology. Abe has pledged to triple Japanese infrastructure exports to three hundred billio, partly with nuclear components.
In May, it was announced that Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and France’s Areva are expected to win a twenty two billion dollar contract to construct a nuclear power plant in Turkey. The plan is for four pressurized water reactors to be constructed at Sinop on the Black Sea. The four reactors will produce over four million kilowatts of electricity. This will be the second nuclear power plant for Turkey and the first rector is expected to start producing electricity in 2023.
Last week, Japan and France announced that they were entering into a partnership to capture a bigger share of the global marked for nuclear technology. France gets eighty percent of its electricity from nuclear power and it is very important for them to support a thriving global nuclear technology industry. Japan is hoping to substantially expand their economy with nuclear exports. In addition, France has said that it will assist Japan with their spent fuel reprocessing and fast breeder projects that have been plagued by problems.
Recently Japan attended a conference with the leaders of four ex-communist countries in Poland to push Japanese nuclear products. The Visegrad Group consists of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. At Japan’s first summit with the Visegrad Group, Abe called for increase cooperation, especially in energy policies. Following the meeting, a joint statement was issued that said that there was interest by private parties on both sides in cooperating on nuclear power.
The Japanese Atomic Energy Commission has been criticized for being a victim of regulatory capture by the private Japanese nuclear companies. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is one of the leading Japanese nuclear technology companies at the forefront of efforts to expand nuclear exports. They manufactured two new steam turbines for the San Onofre reactors near San Diego. The new turbines failed in two years due to design flaws. Japan has a lot of problems with their nuclear industry which tends to motivate skepticism about their ability to successfully export safe and reliable nuclear reactors. While the Japanese government is working hard to convince the people of Japan that their future prosperity depends on nuclear power, there are tens of thousands of anti-nuclear protestors expressing their disagreement in major Japanese cities.
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Radiation News Roundup for June 17, 2013
20 million tons of Fukushima debris is getting closer to the west coast of the United States. rense.com
Official to reveal “new concerns” about landfill fire near a nuclear dump outside of St. Louis, Missouri. enenews.com
There has been a radioactive leak at the Perry nuclear reactor in Ohio. enenews.com
Sellafield Ltd in the U.K has been fined $1.1 million for mistakenly sending four bags of low-level waste to a conventional landfill instead of the correct facility. world-nuclear-news.org
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Geiger Readings for June 17, 2013
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 17, 2013
Ambient office = .096 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .060 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .081 microsieverts per hour
Romaine lettuce from Costco = .100 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .085 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .058 microsieverts per hour
