44th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs - Fukushima Edition 

Welcome to the 44th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs - FUKUSHIMA EDITION.

Special Note:  This weeks Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs will have a few of changes due to  the events at Fukushima and the rate at which information has been coming to us.  In short, we will  have batch updates to this Carnival with new postings twice daily so long as new posts are given to us. Furthermore we will step out of the blogosphere and post relevant links to both radio and television interviews or information pertaining to the developments in Fukushima.  And finally we usually make some effort to provide a narrative and a bit of levity in our carnival's, not this week.  We're posting links and summaries.  Please keep the people of Japan and the Fukushima region in your thoughts and prayers.

Now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast:

The Carnival, per Dan Yurman, is "a weekly round-up of the best blog posts from  the leading U.S. nuclear bloggers.  If you want to hear the voice of the nuclear  renaissance, the Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is where to find it.

 Past editions have been hosted at NEI Nuclear Notes, Next Big Future, Atomic Insights, ANS Nuclear Cafe, Canadian Energy Issues, Yes Vermont Yankee, and of course here at Cool Hand Nuke, in addition to several other popular nuclear energy blogs.

If you have a pro-nuclear energy blog, and would like to host an edition of the carnival, please contact  Brian Wang at Next Big Future to get on the rotation.

This is a great collaborative effort that deserves your support. Please post a Tweet, a Facebook entry, or a link on your Web site or blog to support the carnival."

NEI: Updated as often as verifiable information is obtained.

Neutron Economy (added 21 Mar 11 @ 2215hrs)

1. Decay heat and its role in reactors 
2. Basic primer on radiation
   • Official resources on radiation readings from site monitors located in Japan - part 1
   • Official resources on radiation readings from site monitors located in Japan - part 2

Next Big Future (added 21 Mar 11 @ 2215hrs)

1. Shortage of oil and the impact of the tsunami on refineries, coal
   plants and utiilties. 10,796 MW of thermal power generation shut after
   the quake. Affected nuclear capacity 2,174 MW. So 8,522 MW of
   non-nuclear power is shutdown. Over four times more non-nuclear power
   is out than nuclear. Japan's 54 reactors usually 30% of the country's
   electricity.
2. Fukushima update March 21

Yes VY (added 21 Mar 11 @ 2215hrs)

1. NRC renews Vermont Yankee license.

Pro Publica (added 21 Mar 11 @ 2215hrs)

1. Even In Worst Case, Japan’s Nuclear Disaster Will Have Limited Reach

Plain English Nuclear  (added 20 Mar 11 @ 2200hrs)

The Idaho Samizdat  (added 20 Mar 11 @ 2200hrs)

1. This is the first blog post at Idaho Samizdat about Japan’s nuclear crisis.  It examines the factors which may have played a role in NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko’s decision to tell Americans in Japan to evacuate to a distance of 50 miles from the Fukushima reactor complex.

This Week in Nuclear  (added 20 Mar 11 @ 2200hrs)

1. Is NRC’s Jaczko Positioning the Administration to Ratchet US Nuclear Emergency Planning Zones from 10 to 50 miles?
   

Next Big Future

1. Lowering deaths per terawatt hour for energy sources with pollution mitigation and other steps
2. Revisiting deaths per terawatt hour by energy source for context for the dangers of nuclear, coal, oil, natural gas, wind, solar, biofuel, hydro and biomass
3. A radiation chart
   
4. Radiation and risks

Nuclear Green

1. Lots of Nuclear safety lessons will be learned from the Dai-ichi crisis.
2. We may say with all rationality, that the consequences of the Dai-ichi events will not lead to wide scale property damage, large numbers of deaths, and many cases of radiation sickness.
   
3. People are beginning to use the term "nuclear disaster," to describe the Japanese reactor problems which are actually a part of the aftermath to a real and huge disaster, the Japanese earthquake/tsunami. The word disaster is used in this case in a quite loose fashion. The normal characteristics of a disaster include loss of life, wide scale material damage to property, and undesirable changes to the environment. It is not clear that the problems at the Japanese reactors minimally qualify as a disaster. There has been no damage to property outside the reactors themselves, and no loss of life. The real disaster was the earthquake/tsunami event of which the reactor problems are consequences. Thus the use of the term 'nuclear disaster" seems inappropriate.
   
4. What my father, Bob Moore and other Oak Ridge scientists had shown was that far more radiation coming from radio isotopes like radon, was escaping into the environment and entering the bodies of people from fossil fuel use, than was coming from nuclear reactors.

Atomic Insights

1. Dr. Greg Jaczko testified to Congress that the spent fuel pool for unit 4 was empty and that the NRC was recommending an evacuation of all US citizens within 50 miles of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. The Chairman apparently misinterpreted the facts at his disposal and did not request backup information from the professional staff. He also did not consult with his fellow commissioners before making the recommendation.
2. Within 24 hours after the earthquake and tsunami, it was possible to discern that the very worst thing that could happen was that several nuclear units would be damaged beyond repair and that a minor amount of volatile radioactive materials might be dispersed into the atmosphere. Though the plant workers would have a lot of responding to do, no member of the public would receive a radiation dose that would have negative health effects. The science was completed to support that prediction in 2002 and published in an article in Science Magazine in the 20 September issue.

Casa Cabrones

1. Right now people need accurate information about nuclear energy more than ever, as panic and sensationalized media reports are overshadowing the very real consequences of the catastrophic natural disasters that occurred on Friday.

Pop Atomic

1. Although details are still emerging about the full scope of the Japanese nuclear fleet, Representative Markey has already taken strides to use this crisis to put a hold on nuclear development in America. In the coming days and weeks, I anticipate that a great deal of focus will shift to the American nuclear industry and we should be prepared to use this attention as an opportunity to get simple, accurate information to the public.

Yes VY

1. Lessons Learned or Lessons Forgotten?  Discussion of the evacuations in Japan.
2. What Fukushima Means for Vermont, Tsunami on the Connecticut.

Nuke Power Talk

1. The Fukushima Nuclear Accident: Some Observations

CNN Blog Post: In the Arena

ProPublica: Six Ways Fukushima is not Chernobyl

TV & RADIO

Tim Mitchell, Entergy Nuclear SVP for Engineering, on CNN’s American Morning.

Charlie Rose Show: The Future of Nuclear Energy

New York Public Radio

Fox News on Nuclear

CBS News on Nuclear

Hannity Show

JAPAN RELIEF

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