Turkey’s Big Nuclear Energy Ambitions

 

Turkey’s elusive quest for harnessing nuclear energy dates back to times which most of us perceive only through the black-and-white footage of 1950s and stories of our parents and grandparents. Launched by President Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace program, it took off steadily as by 1956 Turkey already boasted a reactor research facility not far away from Istanbul, on the shores of lake Küçükçekmece. By the 1970s the Turkish authorities have pinpointed the most suitable site for the construction of a nuclear plant – they have chosen Akkuyu on the Anatolian coast, making use of its proximity to the sea, low population density and at the same time closeness to big demand hubs, as well as its low seismic activity.

Russia Starts Construction on New Iranian Nuke Plant

The reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant / Getty Images

 

Russia to build two new nuke plants for Iran

A Russian atomic energy corporation announced late Monday that it has formally begun construction on a new $10 billion nuclear plant in Iran amid global efforts by the Trump administration to crack down on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear endeavors.

The deal, which has been in the works since the Obama administration negotiated the landmark nuclear agreement with Iran, is aimed at further cementing ties between Moscow and Tehran and is being handled by Russia’s state Rosatom corporation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping Seals Multi-Billion Dollar Nuclear Power Deal With Britain

As Australia allows for China to take over a strategic military port, Great Britain allows for its nuclear power infrastructure to be compromised.

 

In the first major Chinese investment in a Western nuclear facility, China’s General Nuclear Corporation (CGN) will take a one-third stake in the planned 18 billion-pound ($28 billion) Hinkley Point nuclear plant controlled by France’s EDF.

State-owned CGN will also take a two-thirds stake in the Bradwell nuclear plant east of London, where it plans to build a Chinese-designed reactor, and a one-fifth stake in a project for Areva designed reactors at the Sizewell plant.

“We will build a global, comprehensive strategic partnership between our countries in the 21st century and jointly open up a golden era,” Xi told reporters via a translator, adding that the nuclear deal was a flagship investment.

Mutant Daisies Near Fukushima Nuke Disaster Site Go Viral (PHOTO)

 

A picture of ‘mutant daisies’ found near Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are making the rounds on the Internet, raising concerns about the long-term effects of the now four-year-old disaster, and the safety of the areas surrounding the plants.

The picture of the daisies was uploaded on Twitter by user @san_kaido in May and was shared over 600 times. It shows four daisies, three of which appear to be severely deformed. They were found in Nasushioobara City, approximately 68 miles away from the nuclear plant site.

TV: Nuclear waste overflowing into Pacific Ocean at Fukushima — Officials: Impossible to stop the spill anytime soon — Torrential rainfall from approaching typhoon already too much for plant to handle

 

NHK, Jul. 16, 2015 (emphasis added): Radioactive water from Fukushima plant escapes — The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has found that radioactive water has overflowed from a drainage channel, spilling into the sea. This is due to heavy rain… samples taken from the channel about 2 hours later contained 830 becquerels per liter of radioactive cesium [and] 1,100 becquerels of beta-ray emitting radioactive substances. An approaching typhoon has been bringing intermittent heavy rain around the plant. The utility suspects that the rain has washed away mud and soil that also contains radioactive materials. It also presumes the amount of rainwater has exceeded the pump’s capacity. The leak was continuing as of 5 PM. But the firm says it cannot stop the spill anytime soon…

Sensors indicate new nuclear leak at Japan’s Fukushima plant

TOKYO, Feb 22 — Sensors at the Fukushima nuclear plant have detected a fresh leak of highly radioactive water to the sea, the plant’s operator announced today, highlighting difficulties in decommissioning the crippled plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said the sensors, which were rigged to a gutter that pours rain and ground water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant to a nearby bay, detected contamination levels up to 70 times greater than the already-high radioactive status seen at the plant campus.

Fukushima released 13,000,000,000 times more neutrons than initially estimated — “Obvious implication for human health” — Gov’t: “Neutron radiation is the most severe and dangerous radiation” known to mankind; Can travel great distances

Scientists from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Univ. of California San Diego & Kyushu Univ., made available Oct 16, 2014 (emphasis added):

• We estimated a lower limit of 5.2 × 10²¹ slow neutrons m^–2 sec^–1 [m^–2 sec^–1 = per sq. meter per second] were emitted from the nuclear fuel rods to the sea water injected in the reactors
• Priyadarshi et al. (2011) have estimated a release amount of 4 × 10¹¹ slow neutrons m^–2. The large difference with our estimation [13,000,000,000 times higher] comes from the intrinsic limit of the box model study by Priyadarshi et al.
• Our model directly estimates the amount of material released from the reactor core