Nuclear Fears v. Fears From Other Environmental Catastrophes
As Japan struggles to contain radiation from the nuclear reactors damaged in the double whammy of a massive earthquake followed by an even more devastating tsunami, the political consequences of the accident are already being felt around the globe. Germany has apparently put on hold, at least for now, plans to extend the operating lives of its nuclear power plants. Switzerland has suspended new plant building plans. And Austria is calling for a review of the e...
CONTINUE READINGJapan’s Nuclear Reactors, Risk Assessment & Accident Theory
In the wake of Japan's developing nuclear crisis, people have begun questioning the future of US nuclear policy. Here is Sen. Lieberman, cautiously arguing for a review of nuclear power safety: I think it calls on us here in the U.S., naturally, not to stop building nuclear power plants but to put the brakes on right now until we understand the ramifications of what’s happened in Japan. One somewhat obvious conclusion from the situation in Japan is that their risk as...
CONTINUE READINGJapan Nuclear Crisis Update
The situation continues to be very dangerous. How bad are things? From the NY Times: The risk of a meltdown spread to a third reactor at a stricken nuclear power plant in Japan on Monday as its cooling systems failed, exposing its fuel rods, only hours after a second explosion at a separate reactor blew the roof off a containment building.. . . Operators fear that if they cannot establish control, despite increasingly desperate measures to do so, the reactors could ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Year of Living Preemptively
Preemption is the question of whether a state's legal rule is invalid because it conflicts with a federal statute. Environmentalists have been particularly concerned about this issue in recent years because state laws are often "greener" these days than federal ones. The Supreme Court has an unusual number of preemption cases on its docket this year. There are five altogether, two of which have already been decided: Bruesewitz v. Wyeth The Court held that design-defe...
CONTINUE READINGToday in Japan
According to CNN, in addition to the loss of life (now confirmed at over 15oo but likely to rise considerably), the economic costs are huge: Losses from the quake, tsunami and fires will total at least $100 billion, including $20 billion in damage to residences and $40 billion in damage to infrastructure such as roads, rail and port facilities, catastrophe modeling firm Eqecat estimated. The Japanese were well-prepared for earthquakes -- much better than the U.S. -- bu...
CONTINUE READINGJapan Nuclear Update
The situation is continuing to deteriorate. The Washington Post's coverage seems to be exceptionally good. Here's their summary of the current situation: Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant haven't found a way to stabilize overheated reactors and feared the possibility of partial nuclear meltdown, which could potentially cause a further release of radioactive material, Japan's top government spokesman said Sunday. Engineers were having trouble, in particular...
CONTINUE READINGFrom the Department of Bad PR
From the Washington Post; "Obviously, any time you have an incident at a nuclear plant that involves any kind of damage or an explosion, it's not good," said Mitch Singer, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's lobbying arm. "But in the scheme of things, is it a disaster? We don't think so." It would be fair to argue that future nuclear policy should be not be determined by events at an aging plant faced with an unprecedented earthquake and tsunami. B...
CONTINUE READINGExplosion at Fukushima Daiichi No. 1
The Washington Post reports on an explosion at a Japanese nuclear reactor: In what may become the most serious nuclear power crisis since the Chernobyl disaster, the explosion followed large tremors at the Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 reactor Saturday afternoon, injuring four workers who were struggling to get the quake-stricken unit under control.... The full extent of the blast remained unclear, but footage on Japanese television showed that the walls of the building housi...
CONTINUE READINGPublic Policy and Those Pesky Smart Meters
The controversy over “smart” electric meters doesn’t want to go away. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the President of the California Public Utilities Commission has directed the Pacific Gas & Electric Company to come back within two weeks with a plan for allowing customers to pay some additional “reasonable” amount for the privilege of not using a meter that communicates with the utility wirelessly. Smart meters, wireless or otherwise, allow t...
CONTINUE READINGDim Bulbs (The Sequel)
I did a post last November about the surprising tea party anger regarding energy-efficient light bulbs. The furor seems to be continuing. Here are some quotes from Republican Senators courtesy of EE News: "People in Idaho are just astonished that the federal government is telling them what kind of light bulb to put in their home," Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said. "You busybodies always want to do something that tell us how to make our lives better," Sen. Rand Paul (R-K...
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