Tag Archives: unemployment

Fukushima, U.S.

Government & Corporate Incompetence: U.S. Nuclear Reactors disasters waiting to happen

The Associated Press spent a year going over government documents concerning the safety of U.S. nuke plants; the conclusion is that a disaster of epic proportions is very likely.

The reason is that U.S. officials, like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, have been relaxing safety standards just so the aging nuclear reactors could be re-licensed.  In other words, what the AP found was that if today’s U.S. nuclear reactors were required to meet 1970s safety standards, most would fail.  The most common problem at the nuclear plants are leaking valves.

Recently, one Senator from Tennessee, Lamar Alexander, tried to say the U.S. nuclear industry had a record of safe operations.  However, the NRC, even with it’s relaxed safety standards, has filed more than 200 safety alerts since 2005.  In 2008 the NRC admitted that 70% of potentially dangerous situations resulted from relaxing of standards in order to get the plants re-licensed.

Another surprising find, the Associated Press noted that not a single serious investigation into the safety of nuclear plants has been officially undertaken, not even by the NRC.  It appears what government, and the nuke industry corporations have been doing, is trying to find ways to re-license reactors without meeting safety standards!

Here’s the modus operandi of U.S. government, and the corporations running the nuke plants:  Old parts fail causing accidents, or jeopardizing re-licensing.  Instead of ‘coming up to compliance’, corporations work with government agencies to ‘dumb down’ existing safety regulations.

Another revelation: Most U.S. nuclear plants were supposed to be replaced with brand new plants, once their original 40 year licenses expired.  That never happened.

What’s the motivation behind the scandal?  Billions and billions of dollars being made by providing almost 20% of the United State’s electricity, using outdated and cheaply maintained nuke plants.

There is so much more in the AP report.  Everyone living near nuclear reactors in the United States should make plans to get away.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho’s May employment performance, by sector

Payrolls for Idaho’s manufacturing sector remain stuck at 1991 levels, for the 6th month in a row.

Total construction employment for May was at 1994 levels.

Idaho’s business services sector remained constant, for the third year in a row.

The health care sector created jobs in May, but at only half the pace of the past five years.

The retail sector actually added jobs, surprising some Idaho analysts.

Employment agencies also added jobs.

Overall, most sectors are stuck in 1990s employment/payroll levels.

Source: Idaho Department of Labor

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho’s Unemployment rate goes down, but not because of job creation

The Idaho Department of Labor reported a slight drop in Idaho’s unemployment, now at 9.4%, but they also reported a drop in job creation.

The Department of Labor says seasonal hiring for May was below normal levels, and that job creation was weak.  So why the drop in the unemployment rate?  Officials say it’s due to workers retiring, workers dieing, and unemployed people who have stopped looking for work!

Idaho labor officials say that so far 2011 is lagging behind 2010, when it comes to job creation.

 

Fukushima, U.S.

Missouri River causes “unusual event” at U.S. Nuclear Plants

The Cooper Nuclear Station, in Nebraska, is flooded.  The Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, also in Nebraska, has been shut down.

By Sunday, 19 June 2011, several levees failed along the Missouri River, causing nuke plant operators to issue a “Notification of unusual event.” A ‘notification’ is the lowest of four emergency classifications developed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Reuters reported that officials will shut down the Cooper nuclear plant if flood levels hit 13.9 meters (45.5 feet).  Other reports say the Fort Calhoun plant was shut down.  Heavy rain in the Rocky Mountains could keep the Missouri River high until August.

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: 125 exposed workers still not tested for radiation!

The Japanese Health and Labor Ministry reports that Tokyo Electric Power Company still has 125 workers that are waiting to be tested for radiation.  Those workers were present when reactor buildings exploded after the 11 March 2011 disasters.

Despite the government’s complaints about TEPCo dragging its feet on testing employees, TEPCo claims they’ve tested 1,100 workers, so far.  My experience in the military tells me TEPCo could have gotten that many workers tested in a day, so why has it taken them three plus months?

TEPCo is reporting that several more workers have tested positive for levels of radiation exposure above government limits.  The latest worker, to test positive for contamination, was exposed to 335 millisieverts per hour of radiation.

 

Fukushima

Mystery radiation coming from reactor 4!

20 June 2011, NHK reporting that Tokyo Electric Power Company is now scrambling to find out why extreme radiation levels are coming from Reactor 4 building, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuke plant.

Reactor 4 was shut down for maintenance when the 11 March 2011 natural disasters hit.  Early on most concerns were with the spent fuel pool above the reactor.  TEPCo officials thought they had that under control.

Over the weekend, workers had to be moved out of Reactor 4 building due to a sudden jump in radiation levels.

TEPCo was using the fuel pool to store large contaminated objects found around the nuclear plant’s compound.  After the jump in radiation emissions they discovered that water levels in the pool had dropped by 1/3.  They are now injecting water, hoping that will stop the radiation emissions.  Workers were in the process of strengthening the structure of Reactor 4 building.

Fukushima

Tokyo revises Liquefaction Zone Map

The 11 March 2011 9.0 earthquake near Fukushima, Japan, caused liquefaction as far away as Tokyo.

Tokyo officials say they are now revising their current liquefaction zone map, because the 11 March quake revealed a potentially larger liquefaction zone.

The new map will affect future construction in Tokyo.

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: TEPCo stops radiation decontamination; too much radiation!

On 17 June 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company turned on a water decontamination unit, recently installed at its damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  It failed.

Just five hours after turning the unit on, they had to shut it down.  The radiation was far higher than what the decontamination unit was meant to handle.

TEPCo ran the unit on Sunday, 19 June, to try and figure out where the spike in radioactive water was coming from.  That lasted four hours.  They concluded that the radiation contamination must be far higher than what they first thought (replace that with “wild ass guessed”).

TEPCo will try adding additional water decon units in the hopes of dealing with the radioactive water.  It’s estimated that 500 tons of water is being contaminated everyday (most of which is ending up in the Pacific Ocean).  Like Bill Nye the Science Guy said: “Why don’t they just dump concrete on it?”

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Parents decontaminate Japanese school contaminated with radiation

In an obvious sign of government incompetence, parents and teachers decontaminated a local elementary school, on their own.

In Date City, about 80 people worked together to wash down a school contaminated with radiation.  The national government said the radiation levels at the school were below the official safe limits, so they felt no reason to do anything.

Parents are concerned because the radiation levels remained constant, and were found in the soil as well as on the buildings.  Tired of a government that didn’t want to respond they took matters into their own hands.  I wonder how they feel about continuing to pay their taxes?

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: No standardized airborne radiation monitoring in Japan, radiation levels higher than officially reported

After many citizens complained of faulty radiation readings by local governments, Japan is now testing for airborne radiation at one meter (3.2 feet) high, and at more than one location per city/town.

What happened was that citizens groups were conducting radiation readings on their own (you see; never trust the government).  Their readings were much worse than many official readings by local governments.  The citizens were taking readings closer to the ground.  In Tokyo, air borne radiation readings were being taken at only one location, on top of a 19 meter (62 feet) tall building.  Many cities across Japan varied their testing height from 1.5 meters to as high as 80 meters off the ground.

Today, 15 June 2011, Japan’s science ministry started taking readings at one meter high, in 100 locations across Japan.  The results are important: Already they’ve found, in several prefectures, that radiation levels, taken at one meter in height, are twice the levels taken at higher sampling sites.

Citizen groups pointed out that air borne radiation testing should be done at a height where humans activity takes place.  Looks like the People are correct.