Crookedindifference: Trinity was the code name... Chronology of events in the Bukit Merah Asian Rare Earth development. Eight men -- a welder, a shoemaker, a general worker, a pensioner, a barber, a tractor driver, a crane-operator and a cancer victim who was to die shortly -- sued Asian Rare Earth in 1985 on behalf of themselves and 10,000 other residents of Bukit Merah and the environs in Perak.
They wanted to shut down this rare earth plant in their village near Ipoh because its radioactive waste was endangering their lives. When the Mitsubishi joint venture plant opened over 1982, the villagers soon began complaining of the factory's stinging smoke and bad smell which made them choke and cry. Worse was to come. Their health began failing, indicated not only by frequent bouts of coughs and colds, but a sharp rise in the incidence of leukaemia, infant deaths, congenital disease and lead poisoning. For the first time in Malaysian legal history, an entire community has risen to act over an environmental issue, to protect their health and environment from radioactive pollution. Dear Esther. Development of Tiny Thorium Reactors Could Wean the World Off Oil In Just Five Years. An abundant metal with vast energy potential could quickly wean the world off oil, if only Western political leaders would muster the will to do it, a UK newspaper says today.
The Telegraph makes the case for thorium reactors as the key to a fossil-fuel-free world within five years, and puts the ball firmly in President Barack Obama's court. Thorium, named for the Norse god of thunder, is much more abundant than uranium and has 200 times that metal's energy potential. Thorium is also a more efficient fuel source -- unlike natural uranium, which must be highly refined before it can be used in nuclear reactors, all thorium is potentially usable as fuel. The Telegraph says thorium could be used as an energy amplifier in next-generation nuclear power plants, an idea conceived by Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia, former director of CERN.
Known as an accelerator-driven system, it would use a particle accelerator to produce a proton beam and aim it at lump of heavy metal, producing excess neutrons. Nick's random thoughts and observations. Lynas, Cancer and you « Hornbill Unleashed. Pak Bui What’s the problem with Lynas?
In a nutshell, it’s an identical issue to the Taib family’s Pressmetal Aluminium Smelter in Mukah. It shares the same origins as Taib’s land grabs, the greed that turns priceless forests into cheap plywood and oil palm. The problem is that rich people in some faraway place, distant from Lynas, will get richer, while poor people pay with their lives. In the case of Lynas, rich people in Umno and Australia profit, while the rakyat lose. In its factory in Gebeng, surrounded by half a million people within a 30km radius, Lynas proposes to extract the rare earth from the soil, and ship it to hungry industries manufacturing ‘smartphones’, computers and other electronic gadgets.
The New York Times broke the news a year ago to incredulous readers, that Lynas will be operating a factory handling radioactive materials, with no plan to dispose of the radioactive waste. Huge risks – but the rich benefit Like this: Like Loading... Nuclear Malaysia: Shortsightedness in a Greening Global Economy? Is nuclear power the right choice for our nation?
Malaysians must make an informed decision. Nuclear power is only one of the available options – it is however the most expensive, most dangerous and most inefficient one. Malaysians must decide if nuclear energy is the right choice for our country. The key word to note here is “choice” – there is now an increasing number of truly clean and renewable energies in solar, wind, tidal, wave, etc. Nuclear energy is merely one of the many available options. Nuclear is neither renewable nor clean. The recent UK Sustainable Development Commission answered a clear “no” to nuclear as a solution to our energy and climate crisis. [1] Nuclear is more costly In fact, if we take the example of solar power in Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) plants, this is widely expected to come to cost parity with fossil fuel power generation by 2020 or earlier.
However, the opposite is true for fossil fuel including nuclear as reserves dwindle.[9] Comment: Iran and the I.A.E.A. The first question in last Saturday night’s Republican debate on foreign policy dealt with Iran, and a newly published report by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The report, which raised renewed concern about the “possible existence of undeclared nuclear facilities and material in Iran,” struck a darker tone than previous assessments. But it was carefully hedged. On the debate platform, however, any ambiguity was lost. One of the moderators said that the I.A.E.A. report had provided “additional credible evidence that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon” and asked what various candidates, upon winning the Presidency, would do to stop Iran. Herman Cain said he would assist those who are trying to overthrow the government.