Pecologix Political Ecology Blotter

After detailed analysis, the conclusion is that Japan should be responsible for the obligation of immediate notification and since Japan unilaterally discharge the wastes without prior specific permits of other contracting countries, it should also be responsible for the violation of prevention of dumping. Since so far, no material injury has emerged and there would [...]

Nuclear energy is a potential solution to electricity demand but also entails risks. Policy debates on nuclear accidents have focused primarily on negative impacts on humans. Although such impacts are important, we argue that policy debates must also consider the consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem services. We reviewed 521 studies conducted after the Chernobyl accident, [...]

A major finding is detection of Fukushima-derived 134Cs and 137Cs throughout waters 30–600 km offshore, with the highest activities associated with near-shore eddies and the Kuroshio Current acting as a southern boundary for transport. Fukushima-derived Cs isotopes were also detected in zooplankton and mesopelagic fish, and unique to this study we also find 110mAg in [...]

The United States should fund a national program of research into inertial fusion energy, but it’s too early to pick a winning technology. So says an interim report released this week from a committee that has been surveying research at national laboratories and universities since July 2010 on behalf of the National Research Council. This [...]

“We could have been the first nuclear country in Southeast Asia, but we were not able to do it,” said Mauro Marcelo, a nuclear engineer at the National Power Corporation, the state-owned utility. “There are several dates when we could have become a nuclear country, but every time a catastrophic event happened. We don’t need [...]

► An increased risk of leukemia was found among men exposed to higher external radiation dose. ► Women were not found to have increased cancer risk among those exposed to higher external radiation dose. ► Higher background radiation exposure was related to elevated risk for cancer of the bronchus, trachea, and lung. ► Increased cancer [...]

Back in 2009 when the National Ignition Facility was completed, it was predicted that ignition, the moment when a pulse of light from NIF’s 192 laser beams heats a target containing a tiny capsule of fusion fuel and causes it to implode, heating the fuel enough for a large fraction of its nuclei to fuse [...]