Freezing. Will they hold out?
Long periods of climatic cooling were dismissed by EDF (Electricity of France) and other managers of nuclear installations of Complimentary Evaluations of Safety post-Fukushima.
Plutonium for Martians
Whatever life forms are on planet Mars, they will have to deal with plutonium-238 produced by American atomic research labs if the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity mission succeeds. The launch is scheduled for Saturday, November 26th from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The plutonium-based radio-isotopic generator that powers the Curiosity robot will become an out-of-commission vehicle on the Martian surface after 23 months of activity and exploration. It will leave a lot laboratory waste and its 4.6kg of 238Pu. The half-life of 238Pu is 87.7 years. 264 years after its production, it gives off another 12.5%. If Mars is the subject of colonization experimental within the next century, pioneers risk being exposed to radioactive contamination of human origin dating from 2012 or 1975 with the landing of the Viking probes. Do not forget that the surface and the atmosphere of Mars have been poisoned by at least 5 other crashed probes each powered by a plutonium battery amounting to hundreds of grams.
The waste from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami
1. Radioactive contamination
On 11 March 2011 there was a legal vacuum in Japan concerning radioactive waste resulting from a nuclear disaster. Current waste management Law places technical and financial responsibility for waste from natural disasters with local authorities. However, this excludes radioactive waste. The Law on rehabilitation of contaminated soil excludes from its scope radioactive soils and waste. The Law on the management of radioactive materials and waste only concerns those inside the nuclear plants.
Whaling Summit at the Channel Island Jersey
The 63rd annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will take place from July 11th to 14th on the Channel Island Jersey. Robin des Bois would like to take this opportunity to express strong concerns about the deterioration of sanitary state of whales following the tsunami and nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi which hit Japan and the North Pacific.
1- Radioactive Pollution
Iodine-131, cesium 137, strontium 90, plutonium are among the identified radionuclides which are spreading across Japanese soil by atmospheric emissions. The Northwest Pacific has become primary recipient for not only liquid discharges coming from Fukushima but also for atmospheric fallout. The sources of whale contamination are multiple: permanent contact with artificial radioactivity, ingestion of contaminated plankton, prey and waste, and the transmission of radioactivity to calves during nursing periods. The external and internal effects of this contamination are potentially mutagenic (mutation of the gene pool), teratogenic (abnormal development of the embryo) and carcinogenic, all very serious impacts on whale populations whose future before the disaster of March 2011 was already menaced.
Millions of Stowaway Passengers Circling Around the Pacific Ocean
The tsunami which followed the Japanese earthquake devastated around 300km of coastal cities, towns, farmlands and greenhouses along Japan’s Pacific coastline. The wave was reported to have spread up to 10km (six miles) inland and inundated around 500km². Not only did the earthquake and tsunami create an estimated 25 million tonnes of rubble, but when the tsunami receded it dragged with it countless quantities of waste in the flooded zone.
The After Shock
Climatic, geological, or anthropogenic natural disasters produce in a couple of seconds, hours or days, enormous amounts of waste, so much so that authorities are unable to handle the quantity with ordinary means. The rupture of “lifelines”, namely water, electricity, transportation routes and communication lines, send survivors into a deep confusion. The accumulation of rubble and waste increases the shock of the populations and postpones the first steps towards the return to normalcy.
The 3 million tonnes of rubble generated by the earthquake in Los Angeles in January 1994 led the city to reinforce and multiply its recycling capacities. Provisional transit and elimination sites for future earthquakes were pre-selected.
