Monday, April 23, 2012

World Economic Forum Warns Japan: Don't Leave Nuclear Energy

From Kyodo News English (4/23/2012; emphasis is mine):

World Economic Forum warns Japan about shift from nuclear power

GENEVA, April 23, Kyodo

The World Economic Forum warned Monday that if Japan turns away from nuclear power rapidly, the country would put its energy security at risk, calling instead for efforts to strengthen the safety of its nuclear power plants over the long term.

In a report, the organization known for its annual gathering of political and business leaders in the Swiss resort of Davos called for transparency in relevant information by ensuring the independence of nuclear regulators in Japan, while advocating the need for greater involvement by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The forum noted that the disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami has heightened public concern over the safety of nuclear power and led the public and policymakers to question the country's energy policy.


Full article for subscribers only at Kyodo News.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

The sky is falling! In fact, 1/53th of the sky has already fallen!

Anonymous said...

This is not an economic issue. Above all, it is an issue of human dignity. This deadly, land-destroying technology should never again be allowed to inflict the kind of harm it has inflicted on the people of Fukushima and Japan.

As for "security," forget energy security (wind, geothermal, and solar can provide that anyway and they are all available options in Japan).

Think instead about miltiary security. Haven't we seen how the 50 nuclear power plants make tiny Japan so much more vulnerable to a military attack using even conventional weapons. It would be laughingly easy to bring Japan to its knees with even a small arsenal. Japan should be shutting these plants and burying the waste deep to prevent someone from using these plants as weapon yield escalators in the next war.

No. Davos folks have it all wrong again. Wrong problem. Wrong solution. Wrong advice.

Anonymous said...

People thruout the northern hemisphere need to protect their families from Fukushima fall out. Altho it neglects to warn readers to avoid using products or foods from contaminated areas, here's advice re mitigating radiation health risks:
http://www.radiationdetoxification.com/radiation-detox-articles.htm
It cites studies. It links to purchasing option for supplements where you can price compare numerous brands. Headings: Fighting Radiation with Foods, with Vitamins & Minerals, with Herbs, Miscellaneous Substances, Other Radiation Detox Recommendations.

Also "Fighting Radiation and Chemical Pollutants w/ Foods, Herbs & Vitamins" by Steven Schechter, N.D. 1991 has well-researched info. For example, per a German experiment (which he footnotes):
With contaminated potatoes, hand or machine peeling removed 100 percent of the surface strontium-85 and cesium-137. Washing and brushing removed 70 to 98 percent of these isotopes. Soaking in water removed only 15 to 20 percent of contamination from carrots. Cooking removed 41 to 58 percent, while scraping and washing removed 98 percent of the radioisotopes. Washing and brushing removed 60 to 65 percent of the radioisotopes from cucumbers, and peeling removed 100 percent. Spinach and leeks were difficult to clean by these methods. Washing and brushing of apples removed 65 to 80 percent of the contamination, and peeling removed 100 percent.

Easy Checklist for a Shelter in Place Box
Radiation Removal Methods
How to interpret Geiger counter data.
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/p/radiation-preparation-resources.html
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/p/radiation-decorporation-resources.html
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2012/04/geiger-counter-interpretation.html

Anonymous said...

All they have to do, Davos folks, is DE-contaminate the areas of the earth already covered by Fukushima radiation--the soil, air, oceans/water --and be able to handle all the nuclear waste by removing ALL radioactivity (nulify it) without any storage needed. Cure the cancers and heart disease in people who have been exposed to low-level radiation (thats all of us). Simple? If they can do THAT--and successfully execute--then sure, we can re-think nuclear. Until then, NO NUCLEAR.
Conserve,conserve conserve. Or go live on a sailboat with only a few electric devices...

Chibabuy said...

Seriously, the most "intelligent" people in the world come to this conclusion? Japan had 54 rabid dogs and 4 bit them!

The only way Japan survives is by keeping all reactors offline and changing the power grid. Going with renewables and non-monopolies would allow Japan to make a huge change. They have the tech but just just not the subsidies.

All decisions or opinions re NPPs in Japan should be made within the 10 km radius of daiichi after a month of talks.

Anonymous said...

Masuda's article from the WEF site

http://forumblog.org/2012/04/japans-energy-challenge-from-sustainability-to-survivability/

Anonymous said...

The World Economic Forum consists of some of the most vile/destructive entities in the world: Goldman Sachs, Carlyle Group, Monsanto, Merck, Exxon, Bill & Melinda Gates, etc. When they say, as they do on their website, that their goal is to "find sustainable solutions to improve the world", you know they are lying through their nasty, crooked little teeth.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

It's amusing to read many Japanese sites and blogs and tweets that seem to think the Davos confab is something that's authoritative and wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Agree with 3:27

If you add the cost of loss of land, and cost of ongoing need for resources to fight this disaster then even first year economic students wouldn't agree to encourage Japan to keep its nuclear power. The World Economic Forum are just scared THERE investments might blow up too.

Shame about Bill Gates though, hero no longer.

Anonymous said...

Bill Gates will never be forgiven for creating the crappy OS and the buggy Office Suite.

Anonymous said...

I predict the next hijacked plane will not be headed for a skyscraper, but instead a spent fuel pool living near you.

Anonymous said...

From a so-called intellectual and book author:

"Japan will become the first advanced industrial nation to bid sayonara to modernity and return to a neo-medieval socio-economic model of daily life."

http://kunstler.com/blog/2012/04/as-if-nothing-matters.html

Anonymous said...

All I could say to the book author in regards to the above quote (not having read the book or knowing anything about it): Even if true that saying goodbye to modernity meant returning to something "medieval," it doesn't automatically mean it's a bad thing. Generally, mankind with its never ending striving for new technologies and "modernity" has turned away from a lot of old and even ancient things that were actually good and in the process forgot in too many ways what it actually means to be and act human.
*mscharisma*

Anonymous said...

Someone has posted on this blog a link (many thanks!) to a film called "Chernobyl - 25 Years Later," which revolves around the younger generation(s) dealing with the nuclear disaster and aftermath there. Very good film describing a reality that, imho, should be taken into account in decision-making and opinion-building involving the use of nuclear power.

Quoted from the movie:
"MAN MAY HAVE A SHORT MEMORY, BUT THE LIFE OF AN ATOM IS LONG - VERY LONG."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Ts18dxuH0

*mscharisma*

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