Tsuruga nuke plant sits atop major fault
Kyodo

An active fault running under reactors 1 and 2 at the Tsuruga nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture is much longer than previously thought and could trigger a 7.4-magnitude earthquake, larger than earlier projections, according to a team of government-affiliated researchers.

"The worst-case scenario should be taken into consideration" as the Urasoko fault, now thought to extend at least 35 km, could activate faults on the south side of the Tsuruga plant, warned Yuichi Sugiyama, leader of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology's research team.

The government's Earthquake Research Committee and Japan Atomic Power Co., which runs the Tsuruga plant, have estimated that the Urasoko fault, combined with other faults connected to it, was 25 km long and capable of triggering a 7.2-magnitude quake.

But the research team's latest findings suggest that is an underestimate, possibly as Japan Atomic Power did not take oceanic faults into account when assessing the Tsuruga plant's safety.

The research team ...

World Has Much at Stake in Nuclear Power Decision

Nuclear Power Decisions Will Determine Much. Though nuclear power may seem a limited issue -- related only to energy, and only one of several energy sources at that -- the decision whether to pursue nuclear power may prove to be the most important decision now before world leaders. Consider the following:

1. Capital Needs. ...

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2. Climate Change. ...

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3. Employment. ...

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4. Economic Dependence. ...

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5. Military Security. ...

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Due Diligence for New Nuclear Power. This was my contribution to the Potsdam Conference -- a paper showing a sample analysis of new nuclear power as a "business proposal" and applying the five "Due Diligence" tests above. The presentation is posted here.

The conclusion is that new nuclear power does not meet any of the five tests, so it would fail as a business proposal. The financial institutions mentioned above seem to have come to the same conclusion. New nuclear power likely cannot succeed as a business proposal and thus would require massive government support.

This begs the question however -- should not Due Diligence also be applied to the proper use of taxpayer monies? If so much is at stake for the U.S. and the world, should the U.S. really be leading the way in throwing taxpayer monies at an industry without asking the right questions?

The Washington Post Doubles Down on False Balance
By Joe Romm on Mar 5, 2012 at 8:04 pm


Two weeks ago I wrote about how the Washington Post embraced false balance in its flawed piece on the Heartland affair. Not only did the Post quote the head of an organization known for “spreading misinformation” and “personally attacking climate scientists to further its goals,” it also quoted the long-debunked Richard Lindzen. And it quoted a confusionist to frame the “debate” as a he-said/she-said, when it is really about climate science vs. misinformation.

Now the Post has doubled down with another dreadful piece of false balance, but attempts to rationalize it with this rewriting of history:

There is no question that climate scientists have mobilized in recent years to talk more publicly about greenhouse-gas emissions from activities such as driving and coal-fired power plants. For years there were only a handful of researchers on both sides of the debate: the late Stanford University professor Stephen Schneider and James E. Hansen, who directs NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, spoke about the risks associated with climate change while Richard Lindzen, professor of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Roy Spencer, principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, questioned the extent to which humans contributed to the problem.

Now dozens of climate scientists have taken on a more public-advocacy role, contending that mounting evidence suggests the world needs to curb greenhouse-gas emissions from the industrial and transport sectors or risk disastrous consequences.

No. For years there have been hundreds of climate scientists willing to explain climate science to the media and public and policymakers. Indeed, a 2010 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study, “Expert credibility in climate change” — coauthored by Schneider — reaffirmed the broad scientific understanding of climate change, while questioning the media’s reliance on a tiny group of less-credibile scientists for “balance.” That analysis ...

Battery range could fit in a wallet
Accutronics, the UK based designer and manufacturer of professional battery solutions, has launched a range of rechargeable Lithium Ion credit card sized batteries for medical, industrial and portable electronic applications.

The credit card batteries have been developed by Accutronics in response to OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) demand for a short lead time, compact and rechargeable Lithium Ion battery solution for their portable devices. The products feature accurate impedance tracking fuel gauges, an active protection system and a compact connector, all contained in a package with a footprint identical to that of a credit card.

These new smart batteries are ideal for applications including tele-healthcare devices, data recorders, point of sale terminals, handheld security scanners and numerous other portable electronic devices intended for professional use.

Meeting internationally recognised standards for safety and transportation the batteries are supplied with comprehensive technical back-up enabling the designer to easily integrate the product into the device system. Both the CC2300 and CC3800 come with an active electronic protection system that makes them resistant to over-charging, over-discharging and short-circuiting.

The batteries are exempted from Dangerous Goods shipping, thus ...

STEALTH MARKETING
Caveat emptor: Not all 'word of mouth' blogs unpaid
By MINORU MATSUTANI
Staff writer

Is word-of-mouth information on the Internet trustworthy — or to be taken with a grain of salt?

The operator of a popular website collecting presumably honest consumer commentary about restaurants is endeavoring to gain consumer trust and ensure planted stooges aren't unleveling the playing field.

Kakaku.com Inc., which runs the site Taberogu, said in January it found 39 companies that had been paid by certain restaurants and shops to talk them up and asked that such mercenary practices cease.

Pretending to be a satisfied consumer posting complimentary comments is a classic example of stealth marketing, a practice that has gained greater traction in the online world.

Following are questions and answers regarding stealth marketing:

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Nine More Dirty, Aging Coal Plants Set to Close, Bringing Total U.S. Retirements to 106 Plants Since 2010

Today was a big milestone for people who care about public health and a livable climate. Two utilities announced the planned closure of nine coal plants in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, bringing total retirements (executed and planned) since January 2010 past the 100 mark to 106.

Two plants in Chicago owned by Midwest Generation, the Fisk Plant and the Crawford Plant, had been a key target for local activist groups. These two plants have been in operation since the early 1900?s and were last updated in the late 50?s and 60?s. Along with violating “grandfathered” (i.e. lax) air quality standards and causing hundreds of emergency room visits each year, the two plants represented the largest source of local greenhouse gas emissions in 2010.

Local and national activists groups, along with the Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, put intense pressure on Midwest Generation to shut the plants down.

The second set of plant closures come from the wholesale power provider GenOn Energy, which said it will close 3,140 MW of aging plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. All of the plants are coal, except for one that is oil-fired. GenOn said new air quality regulations would make it difficult for the company to keep the plants operating.

A confluence of factors...

Strange Lump of Dark Matter Shouldn't Exist, But Does
by Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing EditorDate: 05 March 2012 Time: 06:00 AM ET


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A composite image of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520 shows the distribution of dark matter, galaxies, and hot gas. The orange picture shows the starlight from galaxies, while the blue picture shows the location of most of the mass in the cluster, which is dominated by dark matter (the dark-matter distribution is derived from gravitational lensing measurements). The green image shows regions of hot gas, and the natural-color photo of the galaxies was taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii.
CREDIT: NASA, ESA, CFHT, CXO, M.J. Jee (University of California, Davis), and A. Mahdavi (San Francisco State University)



A lonely clump of dark matter 2.4 billion light-years from Earth is confounding scientists by its mere presence, researchers say. Contrary to popular astronomy theories, the invisible stuff appears to have been left behind in space after a cluster of galaxies collided.

While the fundamental nature of invisible dark matter remains mysterious, scientists think they have a pretty good idea of how it behaves. For one thing, most galaxies are thought to reside inside larger masses of dark matter, and the two are thought to stay attached, even after cosmic collisions.

Yet this time, it appears the galaxies may have left their dark matter cocoons in the dust.

"This result is a puzzle," astronomer James Jee of the University of California, Davis, said in a statement. "Dark matter is not behaving as predicted, and it's not obviously clear what is going on. Theories of galaxy formation and dark matter must explain what we are seeing."

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Solar3D 3-Dimensional Solar Cell Reduces Payback on Solar Power Systems by at Least 40%
Company's Super Efficient Silicon Solar Cell Featuring Wide-Angle Light Collection Can Make Solar Power Affordable for Millions of Users

SANTA BARBARA, CA, Mar 05, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Solar3D, Inc. SLTD +45.99% , the developer of a breakthrough 3-dimensional solar cell technology to maximize the conversion of sunlight into electricity, today explained how its super-efficient solar cell can reduce investment payback on solar power systems. These revolutionary cost benefits, which have eluded the solar industry to date, can make solar power affordable for millions of people.

"We have achieved these cost benefits with our 3-dimensional cell design," said Jim Nelson, CEO of Solar3D. "Cost savings come from two very important features. First, our 3D cell can deliver a high conversion efficiency of 25% using low cost silicon, which is nearly 50% more efficient than current commercial solar cells. Second, our 3D cell features an integrated wide-angle light collection surface that grabs light from a wider range of angles. Wide-angle collection allows our solar cell to collect light more effectively early and late in the day, as well as in the winter months. The result is that our 3D solar cell can deliver 200% more power output than conventional solar cells."

Nelson continued, "Because of our high power density, solar panels using Solar3D cells can also produce more power from space limited areas, such as rooftops. Because of wide-angle collection, solar panels using Solar3D cells will have less need for elaborate tracking systems that follow the sun to maintain high efficiency. Based on our calculations, we conclude that our breakthrough technology will reduce the payback on a solar system by at least 40%."

Though solar is the fastest growing industry in the world, it still produces less than 1% of the world's electricity. Most industry analysts believe that the reason for this slow rate of adoption is the high total system cost for solar. The DOE and others estimate that when the cost of electricity from solar approaches grid parity, or a level at which it is competitive with other sources of electricity, it will produce up to 20% of the world's electricity -- independent of government incentives. Solar3D sees reducing the cost of solar energy as a key part of its mission.

Nelson concluded, "Reducing the ...

Heroes of Japan's Nuclear Disaster All but Forgotten
Mar 4, 2012 10:19 PM EST
The 'Fukushima 50' are all but forgotten a year after a tsunami crippled one of Japan's biggest nuclear facilities.



Koichi Nakagawa* sometimes wonders if he should have bailed out on his friends and other employees at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant a lot earlier.

Maybe he should have left the day he worked to restore electricity to the plant wearing his regular work clothes while others wore hazmat suits. Or the day he watched as a pink mushroom cloud formed over the plant after Reactor Unit 3 blew up.

Or maybe he should have driven away on March 11, 2011, when he felt the earth move at 2:46 p.m. Hard pavement started undulating like waves on water, windows shattered, and a female employee was frantically shouting on the public-address system: "Please evacuate! Please evacuate!" Soon hundreds of workers rushed toward the headquarters where Nakagawa was standing petrified.

Forty minutes later, they watched as the entire ocean ebbed, only to be mesmerized minutes later as a 14-meter tsunami flooded the six reactors standing along Japan's northeastern coast. The entire plant lost power, except the headquarters building.

Nakagawa could have evacuated that day...

Safety fears at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant
03/05/2012 By majiroxnews

TOKYO (majirox news) — Low pay and overwork could trigger a shortage of workers at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The Tokyo Occupational Safety and Health Center warned this week of these dangers – with workers at the crippled site earning as little as 100 dollars a day.

After the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami crippled Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, conditions of the workers seem to be plummeting. For example, according to the Sankei newspaper, a man in his 50s working at Fukushima nuclear power plant died in October, apparently from overwork.

One government official has taken issue with plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) handling of the situation. “There’s no mistaking that the plant is a dangerous worksite, and I don’t think that we have adequate working conditions in place there,” said Katsuya Iida, secretary general of the Tokyo Occupational Safety and Health Center. “So it’s hard to say if we will be able to bring in a large number of people required to do the work. The point I must emphasize is that it’s really important to reduce the amount of radiation that each individual gets and to do that, we need to bring in more people.”

Bringing in more workers is going to be hard. Already, 167 workers have exceeded their lifetime radiation exposure limit of 100 milliseverts. Now public concern hangs on the threat of radiation.

A housewife who...