Wednesday, September 28, 2011

My first “solar shutter” is pumping heat today.

I replaced two big old windows that left space on either side. So … I decided to create 4 passive solar “shutters” (That’s what I’m calling them … well … because that’s what they look like. Anyway, lots of heat today!! Hopefully 4 more will heat my little office when the sun shines in the winter. Hope to add some solar hot water later and that will do it for sure. Stay tuned!
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Friday, September 16, 2011

FUNDY LIFE: Rare sand tiger shark caught in Petitcodiac River

CBC News
Posted: Sep 16, 2011 6:57 AM AT
Last Updated: Sep 16, 2011 6:50 AM AT


Jay Edgett caught this sand tiger shark in the Petitcodiac River last Friday.
Jay Edgett of Dorchester, N.B., has been fishing for many years but a lifetime of angling did not prepare him for what he saw on the end of his line last week.

Edgett and his friends were fishing for bass off of a pier in the Petitcodiac River in southern New Brunswick when he hooked a fish. When the fish came to the surface, he quickly realized it was not a bass but instead a rare sand tiger shark.

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Thursday, September 15, 2011

Areva suspends some uranium production after Japan quake


Fukushima *Image by Sterneck via Flickr
PARIS — French nuclear giant Areva is suspending uranium production at two plants because of low demand from Japanese power stations in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
Production at subsidiary Comhurex's Malvesi and Tricastin sites will be suspended for two months because of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan and swamped a nuclear site six months ago, the spokeswoman said.
"This decision is based on the events in Japan, which today has led to a drop in deliveries to Japanese power producers and short term downward pressure on prices in this market," Areva said in a statement.
"A certain number of orders placed by the Japanese have been cancelled," Areva chief executive Luc Oursel told AFP from New York.
Comurhex, which is 100 percent owned by Areva, uses a two-stage process to transform mined uranium into uranium hexafluoride, the raw material for the enrichment process that eventually produces reactor-grade fuel.
Areva said there were no plans to suspend or lay off the less than 600 workers from the plants, who will be asked to attend training sessions or use up holiday allowances while their plants are taken off-line.
Before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami -- and the ensuing disaster at the flooded Fukushima Daiichi power plant -- Japan was planning to use nuclear power to generate around 50 percent of its energy needs by 2030.
But opinion shifted after the disaster crippled the plant's cooling systems, sparking reactor meltdowns that spewed radiation into the environment, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate from a 20 kilometre (12 mile) radius.
A number of other plants were shut down following the Fukushima accident and currently on 11 of 54 are currently operating.
"You have seen that Japan is in a particular situation as a certain number of plants have stopped" but "I think that... most of them will be restarted and will allow us to reestablish normal commercial relations," said Oursel.
On Tuesday, Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda pledged to draw up a new energy policy and to reduce Japan's reliance on atomic power, threatening a major export market for France's world-leading nuclear industry.
However, he did not rule out future use of nuclear power -- something his unpopular predecessor Naoto Kan had aimed to do -- and said reactors that are currently offline for maintenance would be restarted.
Some other countries have re-examined their nuclear policies in the wake of the Japanese disaster, but France -- which relies on atomic energy for 75 percent of its power -- has vowed to stick by and support the industry.
Areva is majority state-owned and Paris has long considered nuclear power a strategic asset, despite power shortages last winter caused by labour disputes and delayed refuelling in some power stations.
On Monday, an explosion at nuclear waste reprocessing site in southern France killed one worker and injured four more, but regulators said there was no danger of a radiation leak and the area was declared safe within hours.


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Vermont Yankee Trial in Federal Court

CLF's LogoImage via Wikipedia
Posted: 15 Sep 2011 12:02 PM PDT
The State of Vermont and the owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power facility squared off in Federal Court this week.  It was a three day trial.  The days were long.  The testimony was often technical.  The lawyering was skilled.  Vermont Yankee’s owners say everything is about safety and only the federal government can regulate safety so Vermont’s laws are invalid.  It is a convoluted argument.  The dots don’t connect.
Vermont’s able lawyers went toe-to-toe with the owners every step of the way.  The State has a strong case.  Vermonters by nature are frank and direct.  Our laws say what they mean and mean what they say.   There is no decade-long grand conspiracy to hide intentions.  The Vermont Legislature acted well within its rights.
CLF has joined the case as a “friend of the court” and has filed legal pleadings supporting the state.  We are also representing Vermont Public Interest Research Group whose representatives joined me at the hearings, and logged daily accounts of the trial.
The trial is over.  A decision is expected before the end of the year.  Stay tuned.


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Friday, September 9, 2011

Vermont Yankee Trial Begins Next Week

Posted: 09 Sep 2011 12:04 PM PDT
Should Vermont have a say in the future of Vermont Yankee, an aging nuclear plant on the banks of the Connecticut River?  A trial to answer that question begins next week.  Vermont Yankee’s owner sued the State of Vermont in April.  Yankee’s owners want to avoid State oversight, and filed suit as a last ditch effort to keep the plant operating.   
The State has a strong case.  For years, Vermont has responsibly overseen the economic, power supply and land use impacts of Vermont Yankee – matters within traditional state authority.  Vermont Yankee’s owners ignore this long history and want the Court to find all actions by Vermont are an attempt to regulate radioactive safety – something within exclusive federal authority.
Conservation Law Foundation provided a “friend of the court” brief explaining the history, legal background and context of the State’s actions focusing on the owner’s untrustworthiness, poor economics of continued operation, and Vermont’s interests in advancing renewable power. 
Beginning Monday, experts on power supply and regulation will explain their views.  The trial will last three days.  A decision is expected later this fall.

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