Category Archives: Nuclear

They will never learn, will they?

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A full sized nuclear power plant that has been running for a few months has enough radioactive material in it to kill all life on Earth.   It’s also a very complicated and sensitive piece of technical equipment. It’s also, basically, a glorified steam engine, with intense heat and pressure forces balancing on a fine edge of containment.

In other words, a nuclear power plant is a catastrophe  waiting to happen, and a PERFECT magnet for someone who would want to cause major damage to the society. Continue reading →

South Korea can’t deny the risks of nuclear power forever

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I am at a detention centre at South Korea’s airport, quickly writing these few words as best I can on a mobile phone. Together with my colleague, Dr. Rianne Teule, I have been denied entry to South Korea.

We have done nothing wrong. That is, unless you agree with the government in Seoul that exposing the risks of nuclear power and calling for better protection of people from radiation is wrong. Continue reading →

Happy whales have sanctuaries

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My Greenpeace colleagues aboard our new flagship the Rainbow Warrior in the Indian Ocean shared a heartwarming experience when a frolicking group of humpback and minke whales put on quite a show. The excitement of their encounter just reverberated through their email and I can see from these photos why they were so pumped. It’s not a stretch to say these whales were happy and playful. Why wouldn’t they be as the entire Indian Ocean is a whale sanctuary where they can live in peace? What a contrast this is to other parts of the world where whales not only don’t have protections but face a myriad of direct threats from humans. One huge emerging threat to whales, dolphins and other marine wildlife is happening now in the coastal waters of California. Continue reading →

Duke CEO doesn’t deliver on his clean energy talk

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Greenpeace thermal airship sends a message to Duke Energy's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Yesterday morning, Greenpeace activists Madhura Deshpande, Mike Karnosky, Holly Hanks and I attended the Triangle Business Journal’s Power Breakfast with Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, the largest electric utility in the country.

Greenpeace activists confront Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers

This was Mr. Rogers’ first public appearance in the Triangle since the completion of the massive merger with Progress Energy.   We asked  Mr. Rogers directly about how he could justify asking North Carolina families to pay much more than they do to fund Duke Energy building new dirty coal and nuclear plants.  He avoided the question and tried to make it sound like they were doing more than they are with renewable energy. Continue reading →

Phasing out, cracking up and shutting down – a bad week for nuclear power

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Historic news that Japan will phase out nuclear power has rounded off yet another terrible week for the global nuclear industry.

Japan’s decision to end its reliance on nuclear power by the 2030s means it will join countries such as Germany and Switzerland in turning away from nuclear power after last year’s Fukushima disaster. Continue reading →

Remembering the Warrior

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by Bunny McDiarmid

Today is the 27th anniversary of the 1985 bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by French secret service agents here in Auckland harbor.

That is a long time ago now, but every year at this time I am reminded in crystal clear detail of the day and the times, and of Fernando.

I’m reminded of what happened to New Zealand and to Greenpeace and of how important what happened then is still today. Continue reading →

Greenpeace Radio: Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Continued

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As debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami and nuclear disaster washes ashore in Pacific Northwest, and the Japanese investigation continues to try to uncover among other things, the reasons for delays in notification of the failed nuclear plant’s neighboring residents. The investigation committee’s report is due out sometime this month (June).

All of Japan’s nuclear power plants are now shut down temporarily (as of May 6), pending a full safety review. Asked about the importance of this moment, the head of Greenpeace Japan commented on the risk and the path ahead:

 ”There is an increased chance of earthquakes in Japan, so that has a significant risk to the Japanese people and the Japanese economy. The only way forward is to rapidly shift the energy source from nuclear to other sources of energy.” said Greenpeace Japan’s Junichi Shimizu.

In our latest Greenpeace Radio segment, Jim Riccio, discusses U.S. nuclear industry foot dragging after Fukushima, as reported well on by Tom Zeller on Huffington Post. The industry wants to protect their investment by venting the waste containment structures on General Electric plants like the Fukushima design, but they continue to put public and workers at risk by not requiring simple radiation filters. Continue reading →

Infographic: Japan Switches off Nuclear

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The Fiasco at Fukushima in Japan has reminded the planet that despite the blithe assurances of the nuclear industry, nuclear power is never safe. Over a year after the meltdowns and explosions of three General Electric designed reactors the disaster is far from under control. The so called experts still don’t know where the radioactive cores of these reactors even are. As a result of Fukushima, Japan has shut down every one of its nuclear reactors. They should NEVER split another atom!

Continue reading →

What’s on ALEC’s polluter agenda tomorrow?

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Tomorrow, the American Legislative Exchange Council–known as ALEC–will host their 2012 Spring Task Force summit in Charlotte, NC. At tomorrow’s meeting, the corporate front group will round up its various committees and prepare to peddle new state-level legislation to attack clean energy laws, protect polluting industries, privatize education, and suppress voters, among other big business schemes.

Need a refresher on ALEC? It’s the group that brings state legislators to the table with representatives from major corporations in the sectors of energy, healthcare, tobacco, private prisons, and other groups to manipulate state politics to maximize their profits and limit their liabilities. These companies help craft template bills for state legislators to bring home and introduce in their respective statehouses.

Documents obtained and published by Common Cause now give us a roster of specific attendees at ALEC’s environmental meetings, a consortium of state legislators and a who’s who of the most offensive polluting political heavyweights including: Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Duke Energy and Peabody.  Participating legislators know well they’re walking into a dirty party, sometimes using state taxpayer money to foot the bill.

The corporations that fund ALEC are well known for their political spending on both sides of the aisle. ALEC funders include Koch Industries, known for its coordinated political spending against President Obama, and Duke Energy, which is laying down a ten million dollar line of credit to host the Democratic National Convention in their hometown of Charlotte, NC. But these polluting companies are co-conspirators under the banner of ALEC, where partisan politics are set aside to focus on the mission of destroying environmental protections, clean energy competition and liability for crimes against both people and the ecosystems sustaining us.

So what exactly are ALEC and these oil, coal, chemical and public relations companies focusing on tomorrow? Continue reading →