‘TOKYO — Given the fierce insularity of Japan’s nuclear industry, it was perhaps fitting that an outsider exposed the most serious safety cover-up in the history of Japanese nuclear power. It took place at Fukushima Daiichi, the plant that Japan has been struggling to get under control since last month’s earthquake and tsunami.’

via Safety Becomes Victim in Japan’s Nuclear Collusion – NYTimes.com.

‘(Reuters) – The Western Canadian province of Saskatchewan, which depends heavily on burning coal for power, will build one of the world’s first commercial-scale power plants that will capture carbon dioxide emissions, the provincial government said on Tuesday.’

via Canada to build carbon-capture coal-power plant | Reuters.

‘(Reuters) – Switzerland’s economy minister said on Sunday it would be decades before the country could give up nuclear power completely but that in the meantime no new nuclear power plants should be built.’

via Swiss economy minister against new Swiss nuclear plants | Reuters.

‘The Antarctic ozone hole is changing weather patterns across the Southern Hemisphere, even affecting the tropics, scientists have concluded.’

via BBC News – Ozone hole ‘changes Southern Hemisphere weather’.

‘(Reuters) – Nuclear energy may appear cheap at first glance, but the potential human costs of atomic power make it unaffordable over the long term, German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said in comments released on Friday.’

via Human cost of nuclear power too high: German minister | Reuters.

‘The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last month renewed Vermont Yankee’s operating license to extend the plant’s operation through March 21, 2032, after a five-year review process. But state officials want the plant to shut at the end of its original operating license in March 2012.’

via UPDATE 2-Entergy sues Vermont to keep reactor running | Reuters.

‘(Reuters) – The U.S. nuclear safety regulator said on Thursday it has extended the operating life of the nation’s largest nuclear power plant, the three-unit Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona for an additional 20 years.’

via NRC extends life of largest U.S. nuclear station | Reuters.

The Environmental Protection Agency has published the National U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report. The most recent decline in the rate of emissions cited in the report – 6.1% in 2009 – is much faster than the rate of cumulative increase (.4%/year) over the previous 19 years (total 7.3%). The cause for this recent steep decline isn’t attributed to any strong policy change or the growing awareness of the issue of climate change, rather it is considered to be the result of a weak economy and an increase in the cost of coal.

Short excerpt: ‘Recent Trends in U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks’

‘In 2009, total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were 6,633.2 Tg or million metric tons CO 2 Eq. While total U.S. emissions have increased by 7.3 percent from 1990 to 2009, emissions decreased from 2008 to 2009 by 6.1 percent (427.9 Tg CO 2 Eq.). This decrease was primarily due to (1) a decrease in economic output resulting in a decrease in energy consumption across all sectors; and (2) a decrease in the carbon intensity of fuels used to generate electricity due to fuel switching as the price of coal increased, and the price of natural gas decreased significantly. Since 1990, U.S. emissions have increased at an average annual rate of 0.4 percent.’

‘The Tokyo Electric Power Company said that it planned to pump 10,000 metric tons of water into a storage building at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station at a rate of 480 tons a day, which would take nearly three weeks. The company is still working on ways to remove another 57,500 tons of heavily contaminated water spread among the same building and other nearby buildings.’

via Water Pumping Begins at Japan Nuclear Reactor – NYTimes.com.

‘TOKYO – The operator of the crippled nuclear power plant leaking radiation in northern Japan announced a plan Sunday to bring the crisis under control within six to nine months and allow some evacuated residents to return to their homes.’

via TEPCO announces plan to end Japan nuclear crisis – Yahoo! News.