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Archive for March 17th, 2011
China suspends nuclear building
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 17th, 2011
BBC: China has suspended approval for new nuclear power stations following the accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant.
It will also carry out checks at existing reactors and those under construction.
China is currently building 27 new reactors - about 40% of the total number being built around the world.
The news comes as China grows increasingly worried about the nuclear accident in Japan.
'Top priority'
The decision to temporarily halt approval for nuclear plants came at a meeting...
Posted in 
Japan begins water drop on stricken reactor
Posted by Guardian: Justin McCurry on March 17th, 2011
Guardian: Attempts to cool down a stricken reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan have suffered an early setback after seawater dumped from the air failed to bring down radiation levels.
Radiation readings taken 20 minutes after self-defence force helicopters doused the plant's No 3 reactor on Thursday remained unchanged, Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco] said, according to Kyodo news agcncy.
The use of Japanese military helicopters to drop seawater onto the plant's reactor marked the opening...
Arkansas ‘Fracking’ Site Closures Extended As Earthquake Link Studied
Posted by Associated Press: Paula Scully on March 17th, 2011
Associated Press: Two natural gas exploration companies agreed Thursday to extend the shutdowns of two injection wells in Arkansas as researchers continue to study whether the operations are linked to a recent increase in earthquake activity, a state commission said. Chesapeake Energy and Clarita Operating asked to postpone a hearing on the shutdowns before the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission until April 26, said Shane Khoury, deputy director and general counsel for the commission. The companies had been expected...
United Kingdom: Scientist: Moving species could save them
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 17th, 2011
United Press International: A radical program of "assisted colonization" could save species endangered by climate change, a U.K. researcher says, proposing Britain as one destination.
Chris Thomas, a professor of conservation biology at the University of York, says the strategy is applicable across the world. He suggests Britain as a potential haven for species such as the Iberian lynx, the Spanish Imperial Eagle, the Pyrenean Desman and the Provence Chalkhill Blue butterfly, a university release said Thursday.
Each species...
Climate change is real, humans cause it, and we must act
Posted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Julia Gillard on March 17th, 2011
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Today we must embrace another moment of decision for the future of our nation: a decision to cut carbon pollution and build a clean energy economy for the 21st century.
Neither of the extremes in Australian politics can deliver this reform. The Coalition has surrendered itself to fear-mongering and denying the power of markets. The Greens are not a party of government and have no tradition of striking the balance required to deliver major reform.
Like the economic transformation of the 1980s,...
Vulnerable Arab Region Slow to Prepare for Climate Change
Posted by Reuters: Chhavi Ghuliani on March 17th, 2011
Reuters: Recent uprisings across the Arab world, from Tunisia to Egypt and Libya, reveal how politically fragile many of these states are. In the last few months, hundreds of thousands of citizens have taken to the streets to protest decades of autocratic rule, high rates of unemployment and corruption. But the grievances are in part fueled by the rising price of food, which World Bank President Robert Zoellick called an "aggravating factor" for unrest in the region. That has made the link between climate...
Scientists Project Path of Radiation Plume
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 17th, 2011
New York Times: A United Nations forecast of the possible movement of the radioactive plume coming from crippled Japanese reactors shows it churning across the Pacific, and touching the Aleutian Islands on Thursday before hitting Southern California late Friday.
Health and nuclear experts emphasize that radiation in the plume will be diluted as it travels and, at worst, would have extremely minor health consequences in the United States, even if hints of it are ultimately detectable. In a similar way, radiation...
Canada: Pickering nuclear plant ‘leaked radioactive water’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 17th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Thousands of liters of radioactive water have been released into Lake Ontario as a result of an accident at a Canadian nuclear power plant, according to authorities.
"The event was a low level regulatory event with only negligible effect to the environment and no public health implications," Ontario Power said in a statement on Wednesday.
The power company, which is owned by the Ontario provincial government, said 73,000 liters (19,280 gallons) of radioactive water was released into Lake Ontario...