Getting Off Nuclear Fast

I had to read the sentence a few times out loud to friends in order to understand if I was getting it wrong: “all but two of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors have been shut down since the Fukushima disaster last year.”

How could that be? A nation that was so, seemingly, dependent on nuclear energy, within a year after a major disaster, goes almost completely off of nuclear energy. In my mind this would leave Japan completely in the dark and in a terrible situation when it comes to availability of power. That’s not because I like or want nuclear energy, it is purely from the thinking that Japan was so dependent on that type of energy.

As it turns out, Japan was not quite dependent on nuclear. Officially 1/3 of their energy came from their 54 reactors. So the country would be operating on only 2/3 of its normal power capacity. Of course it is also winter, so the air conditioners haven’t kicked in yet, which could amount to a massive amount of increased power demands. Meanwhile it has been reported that the government has been pushing for big power conservation activities in both business and residential buildings. Add to that whatever quick power generating solutions the country could setup within a year, and you’ve got the current situation for Japan. But will this hold?

To get a better idea of what is going on, I turned -not to the media- but to a concerned citizen on the ground in Tokyo, to find out what information is available there and what they’re experiencing on a day to day basis. Frequent guest of the podcast and my good friend Karamoon replied to my questions as follows:

Very few people in Japan are aware that almost all the nuclear
reactors are still offline. The situation is not mentioned in the
Japanese media.

No black outs here at the moment. Things *may* be different in the
summer when people start using air conditioning and the load on the
power grid could therefore be much greater.

I guess there are 3 reasons that we have enough power here. The main
reason is that the non-nuclear power plants usually operate at much
less than 100% of their maximum capacity. When the nuclear power
plants were taken offline, the non-nuclear plants started to run at
full capacity, making up for the shortfall. The cost of running a
nuclear plant is the same regardless of the output level, so they are
always run at close to 100% capacity. Non-nuclear plants are more
efficient when running at lower capacities, and are used to provide
flexibility when the load on the power grid changes with the seasons,
for example.

A second reason is that companies are making their own power, and may
even be able to sell surplus power in the near future. A third reason
is that companies have been taking measures to use less energy.

It is important to remember that nuclear power is essentially a myth.
Also, nuclear power plants require vast amounts of oil during their
life cycle and, therefore are clearly not carbon-neutral. (whatever
that really means)

Once again it is only one wise citizen’s observation, but he touches on several important issues that clearly aren’t making it into the media in Japan and nations that have nuclear energy are often afraid to discuss: the real cost of nuclear energy, what we could really do if serious conservation efforts were made. We’re so often told nuclear energy is necessary because our lifestyle demands so much energy, but then in one short year one of the most modern nations in the world shows that if people really have to, they can change their lifestyle and still live well.

Our Failing Infrastructure

photo by Daniel Sparing on Flickr

All over the world our transportation systems, food production systems, and overal infrastructure are being pushed more than ever before. With the onset of financial crisis and the reality of having less resources dedicated to repairing and renewing these systems, the reality of a multi-level failure, a crisis beyond what is now called a crisis, may very well be in our immediate future.

Eleanor Saitta is a researcher, hacker, artist, designer, and writer who has been looking into and speaking extensively about these issues around the world.  In this podcast we will talk about the facts that have her concerned and that what perhaps can still be done… as well as what we are too late to do.

Coal from Kemerovo

Many of you out there are hoping I’ll write more about Tomsk, and in time, I surely will. But one aspect of this trip that certainly overwhelms and makes it impossible to write much is the fact that I am nonstop on my way somewhere.  A factor that I’m extremely thankful to great friends for keeping it that way.  I suppose I’ll have plenty of time for writing and navel gazing once I get on the Trans-Siberian in the coming week.

I left Tomsk reluctantly as the more days I was there, the more interesting things kept happening. Yet it is good to stick with the plan and not overstay one’s welcome, so I hit the road via relatively modern bus en route to Kemerovo (pop. 485,000). Amazingly Kemerovo was no where on my list of places to go on this trip, but thanks to the magic of the internets, I received a warm invite from a Kemerovienne who heard I was in the region, had lived in the United States for a time, and suggested I come see this bustling city.  And so like any good traveling journalist and curious mind, I said yes.

Kemerovo isn’t only an industrial town, but you wouldn’t know it as the bus crosses the bridge over the river Tom and directly in front of you three huge smokestacks from the coal powerplant pump out some dark smoke.  Looking further up the river the power plant has plenty of friends, with different kinds of factories and smokestacks dotting the landscape as far as the eye can say.  The industrial photographer in me says “this is heaven”, if heaven were a cold, grey, collection of old industrial buildings.

Coincidentally, with all the news over the past few weeks about the mining disaster in the US, Kemerovo is a coal mining city. When I heard this I asked if we could visit any type of mining shrine or museum, and to my great pleasure my wonderful hostess said “Of course!” – and off we went.

It is an odd reality in an era of so much talk about the need for energy alternatives and green technology, and all the possibilities that exist, coming to Kemerovo is a reminder that while green is good and green is needed, coal is still king for a huge part of the world.  As the bus pulls past the coal plant, my eyes are fixed on the sagging tunnels and the never ending system of pipes. A giant poster on the side of the building features an image of a smiling toddler, although its in Russian, I know what the poster says – “making a clean world for your healthy children!”

bmtv94 Undamming Rivers

Word from the Northwest of the US is that 4 dams along the Klamath river will be removed by 2011. The river will once again flow and the ecosystem will have a fighting chance after almost a century of being dammed. It will be the largest dam removal and ecosystem restoriation project anywhere… ever.

Shame on Jan

Greetings once again from Brussels, city of long work hours and dreary office work.

Today’s item that has me pretty disappointed involves the Dutch government and the iron fisted oligarch that runs Russia. They’ve struck a deal so that the Dutch gas company now controls a higher percent in the Russian state controlled Gaz-Prom.

Some might say its just business as usual, but after all the outcries about how the junta oppresses people in Burma or how Mugabe is starving his own people, it still bothers me that so-called human rights respecting governments make deals and allow their companies to make deals with known war criminals and political assassins. Not that Mugabe or the Junta deserve a free pass.. its the consistency when it comes to respecting human rights, that I’m calling for.

Later this week I shall have a return guest to talk about another political figure in Russia, the very interesting Gary Kasparov. So keep an eye out for that show, as Kasparov seems much more complex than I had originally thought.

bm174 Westinghouse and Nuclear Media

Loads of internet connection problems out here on the street. This podcast focuses on the Westinghouse Corporation.. who have played and continue to play, a huge role in US media and nuclear energy world wide. After their recent deal with China, I decided to take a closer look at their record and talk about the dangers of the deals.

Read the article.
Westinghouse on Wikipedia
Multinational Monitor, old article

No time for many links.. battery running out.

oh one last night.. its now my THIRD YEAR as a podcaster… not sure when this month.. but my 2nd anniversary just passed. Id like to thank my producer and my family and gawd…. oh wait no.. I just wanted to thank all of you.. bla bla bla shmaniversary.. thanks for listening!