Archive for the 'Energy' Category
U.S. to Release Oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve
June 23rd, 2011Spit balls. Noise level. Clown antics. Via: CNBC: But enough on oil, because that’s not what this is really about anyway. It’s about the White House finally recognizing what millions of American families already know: the economy is still too weak, the recovery too slow, and they need to try something new. That’s bad news, […]
Radioactive Tritium Has Leaked from Three-Quarters of U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Sites, Often Into Groundwater
June 21st, 2011Via: AP: Radioactive tritium has leaked from three-quarters of U.S. commercial nuclear power sites, often into groundwater from corroded, buried piping, an Associated Press investigation shows. The number and severity of the leaks has been escalating, even as federal regulators extend the licenses of more and more reactors across the nation. Tritium, which is a […]
Federal Judge Dismisses Third Party Environmental Claims Against Transocean and BP
June 19th, 2011Via: Courthouse News Service: Ruling in favor of Transocean and BP, a federal judge on Thursday dismissed third-party environmental claims in a giant pleading bundle in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation, saying the fact that the oil flow has stopped makes those lawsuits irrelevant. “The injunction at this stage would be useless, as not […]
‘Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind’
June 16th, 2011Via: Al Jazeera: Scientific experts believe Japan’s nuclear disaster to be far worse than governments are revealing to the public. “Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind,” Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, told Al Jazeera. Japan’s 9.0 earthquake on March 11 caused a massive tsunami that crippled […]
Airspace Over Flooded Nebraska Nuclear Power Plant Still Closed
June 16th, 2011Via: Business Insider: A fire in Nebraska’s Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant briefly knocked out the cooling process for spent nuclear fuel rods, ProPublica reports. The fire occurred on June 7th, and knocked out cooling for approximately 90 minutes. After 88 hours, the cooling pool would boil dry and highly radioactive materials would be exposed. […]
Europe Braces for Serious Crop Losses and Blackouts
June 14th, 2011Via: Scientific American: One of the driest spring seasons on record in northern Europe has sucked soils dry and sharply reduced river levels to the point that governments are starting to fear crop losses and France, in particular, is bracing for blackouts as its river-cooled nuclear power plants may be forced to shut down. French […]
Fukushima: 34,000 Children to Wear Radiation Dosimeters Around the Clock for Three Months
June 14th, 2011This is a giant, open air radiation experiment. Human subjects, in vivo, in situ. Government issued dosimeters? Oh sure. I wonder what will happen to the data… Via: AFP: Japan’s Fukushima city said on Tuesday it would hand radiation dosimeters to 34,000 children to gauge their exposure from the crippled nuclear power plant about 60 […]
Japanese Schools Asked to Map Fallout Contamination
June 14th, 2011Via: Reuters: Fukushima is estimated to have released just 15 percent of the radiation at Chernobyl, but a complicated software modeling system created by the government to predict where the radiation would drift proved useless. Under pressure to provide a more accurate picture of the contamination, the Ministry of Education has promised to complete a […]
Saudi Oil Spare Capacity Shrinking Fast
June 14th, 2011Via: Reuters: Saudi Arabia’s cushion of spare oil capacity is thinning far faster than widely believed, threatening to trigger price spikes in the months ahead, energy industry experts warned at the Reuters Global Energy and Climate Summit on Monday. Concerns are growing over the kingdom’s ability to pump more oil beyond an anticipated summer boost, […]
Vietnam Holds Live-Fire Exercises as Territorial Dispute with China Escalates
June 14th, 2011Via: Guardian: China has warned other countries not to become involved in an escalating sea border dispute with Vietnam that reflects concern over Beijing’s increasing international power and confidence. Experts say the stand-off between China and Vietnam – two of the six powers laying claim to a number of islands and their surrounding waters in […]
