Chuyên mục: Năng lượng hạt nhân – Năng lượng nguyên tử – nuclear energy – nuclear power

William J. Perry on nuclear war and nuclear terrorism

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
 William J. Perry
thebulletin – On June 26, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, beginning an ugly war that resulted in more than a million casualties, and demonstrated to even the most optimistic that a Cold War was seriously underway. That was just two weeks after I got my master’s degree from Stanford, so it is no exaggeration to say that I am a child of the Cold War.

Indeed, throughout my career I always perceived a dark nuclear cloud hanging over my head, threatening no less than the extinction of civilization.

During the Cold War we had a half dozen nuclear crises, of which the Cuban Missile Crisis was the most dangerous, and I was close enough to these crises that they made a deep personal impression on me. I believed then, and I believe to this day, that we got through these crises and avoided a nuclear catastrophe as much by good luck as by good management. Tiếp tục đọc “William J. Perry on nuclear war and nuclear terrorism” →

Nonproliferation and Nuclear Energy: The Case of Vietnam

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Is Vietnam diverting its civilian know-how to create an indigenous nuclear weapons program? Not yet, says the CSS’ Oliver Thränert, but increased tensions or overt conflict with China could lead Hanoi to develop its own nuclear deterrent.

By Oliver Thränert for Center for Security Studies (CSS)

ISN – For many years, the international nuclear non-proliferation regime has been in deep crisis. This became apparent most recently when the ninth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in May 2015 ended without a common final document. At the same time, a number of threshold countries are planning to begin using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. In a time of increasing international tensions, some of them might build on know-how acquired through their civilian programs to safeguard their national security needs through a nuclear weapons program in the near future. Vietnam is an interesting case in point. Irrespective of certain delays in the development of its peaceful nuclear program, the country has progressed quite far. At the same time, it is engaged in an increasingly precarious conflict with its main neighbor, nuclear-armed China. Currently, there are no signs of a Vietnamese nuclear weapons program. In the framework of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, the country is a model of transparency and cooperation. But it is uncertain whether this will always remain the case. On the contrary, Hanoi might change its policy if the conflict with China should come to a head while the NPT continues to be weakened.

Vietnam’s strategic situation

Vietnam might complete its first nuclear reactor within a few years, ahead of ambitious neighbors such as Indonesia or Malaysia. The country’s main motivations are its growing energy requirements and the desire to diversify its energy sources. Considerations of prestige may also be a factor. As a threshold nation, Vietnam aims to achieve the same level as Asia’s developed nations. With a view to China, Hanoi probably also wishes to demonstrate the high level of global confidence that the country enjoys in sensitive matters of security policy. Tiếp tục đọc “Nonproliferation and Nuclear Energy: The Case of Vietnam” →

The Effects of Fukushima Linger after Five Years, but Not from Radiation

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

While hundreds died in the evacuation, none perished as a result of exposure to radiation.

technologyreview : The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, which began on March 11, 2011, uprooted thousands of Japanese people, set the worldwide nuclear power industry back a decade, and caused a run on potassium iodide (said to help ward off thyroid cancer). What it didn’t do was kill anyone from radioactive fallout.

A Greenpeace report released this week, “Nuclear Scars: The Lasting Legacies of Chernobyl and Fukushima,” takes a harsher view, saying that “the health consequences of the Chernobyl and Fukushima catastrophes are extensive.” But most of the report dwells on Chernobyl, and it notes that the primary effects of Fukushima were “mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” Put another way: fear and panic resulting from the accident (and from the loss of homes and livelihoods) were more dangerous than the radiation.
Tiếp tục đọc “The Effects of Fukushima Linger after Five Years, but Not from Radiation” →

Lessons from Fukushima

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
7 March 2016
Author: Editors, East Asia ForumAs we approach the 5th anniversary of the 11 March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown which devastated Japan’s Tohoku region, how has the Japanese state absorbed the lessons of that triple disaster?

eastasiaforum_ The scale of the disaster was massive: a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the most powerful to hit Japan in recorded history, which triggered a 40-metre-high tsunami that took out the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Over 20,000 perished, an evacuation zone carved out around Fukushima Daiichi will remain uninhabitable for tens of thousands of years, and 100,000 people from the evacuation zone and surrounding areas are still living as nuclear refugees. Tiếp tục đọc “Lessons from Fukushima” →

Greenpeace launches high tech investigation into radiation impacts of Fukushima disaster on Pacific Ocean

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Press release – 25 February, 2016

greenpeace – Tokyo, 25 February 2016 – Greenpeace Japan today announced it is conducting an underwater investigation into radiation contamination from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. The survey will be conducted from a Japanese research vessel using a one of a kind Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), fitted with sensitive gamma radiation spectrometer and sediment sampler.

On the opening day of the investigation, Mr Naoto Kan, the former Prime Minister of Japan and leader at the time of the nuclear accident, joined the crew of the Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior. As the country nears the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima disaster Mr. Kan called for a complete phase out of nuclear power.

“I once believed Japan’s advanced technology would prevent a nuclear accident like Chernobyl from happening in Japan. But it did not, and I was faced with the very real crisis of having to evacuate about 50 million people at risk from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. I have since changed my mind,” said Mr. Kan on board the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior. “We do not need to take such a big risk. Instead we should shift to safer and cheaper renewable energy with potential business opportunities for our future generations.”

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has produced over 1.4 million tonnes of radioactive contaminated water in an effort to cool the hundreds of tonnes of molten reactor fuel in Fukushima Daiichi reactor units 1, 2 and 3 [1]. In addition to the initial releases of liquid nuclear waste during the first weeks of the accident and the daily releases from the plant ever since, contamination  also flows from land, particularly the forests and mountains of Fukushima, and will continue to contaminate the Pacific Ocean for at least 300 years.(2)

“The Fukushima disaster is the single largest release of radioactivity into the marine environment in history. There is an urgent need to understand the impacts this contamination is having on the ocean, how radioactivity is both dispersing and concentrating and its implications,” said Shaun Burnie, Senior Nuclear Specialist with Greenpeace Germany.

“TEPCO failed to prevent a multiple reactor meltdown and five years later it’s still an ongoing disaster. It has no credible solution to the water crisis they created and is failing to prevent the further contamination of the Pacific Ocean.”

Tiếp tục đọc “Greenpeace launches high tech investigation into radiation impacts of Fukushima disaster on Pacific Ocean” →

Obama’s budget and hypocrisy on nukes

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

thehill – Earlier this month, President Obama released a budget proposal for 2017, which includes billions of dollars for controversial modernization programs for each leg of the nuclear triad — land-based, sea-based and aircraft missiles — and cuts to nuclear nonproliferation programs. This is troubling for a number of reasons, never mind the irony that this spending spree comes from the same man who delivered a 2009 speech in Prague pledging “America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”

Of top concern are requests to allocate $95.6 million for the research and development of a new nuclear-tipped cruise missile, replacing the current air-launched cruise missile whose mission has long-since faded into irrelevance. The plan would also nearly double our cruise missile collection to around 1,000 missiles. These additions have been denounced by a chorus of military experts and former national security advisors, including the father of the nuclear-armed cruise missile, former Secretary of Defense William Perry.

Other nuclear modernization programs in the budget request include:

  • $25.7 million for a nuclear capability for the new F-35A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.
  • $113.9 million for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, a replacement for the current Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system.
  • $137.9 million for a new guided tail-kit for the B61 tactical nuclear weapon life-extension program.
  • $1.36 billion for the Long-Range Strike Bomber, which is planned to replace the current B-52 and B-2 bomber aircraft.

Tiếp tục đọc “Obama’s budget and hypocrisy on nukes” →

Nuclear waste storage sites in rock salt may be more vulnerable than previously thought

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Date: November 26, 2015

Source:University of Texas at Austin

Summary:Research shows that rock salt, used by Germany and the United States as a subsurface container for radioactive waste, might not be as impermeable as thought.

Research from The University of Texas at Austin shows that rock salt, used by Germany and the United States as a subsurface container for radioactive waste, might not be as impermeable as thought or as capable of isolating nuclear waste from groundwater in the event that a capsule or storage vessel failed.

sciencedaily – A team of researchers from the university has used field testing and 3-D micro-CT imaging of laboratory experiments to show that rock salt can become permeable. Their findings, published in the Nov. 27 issue of Science, has implications for oil and gas operations, and, most notably, nuclear waste storage. The team includes researchers from the university’s Cockrell School of Engineering and Jackson School of Geosciences.

“What this new information tells us is that the potential for permeability is there and should be a consideration when deciding where and how to store nuclear waste,” said Maša Prodanovic, assistant professor in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. “If it’s an existing nuclear waste storage site, you may want to re-evaluate it with this new information.”

Salt generally blocks fluid flow at shallow depth, a feature that allows oil reservoirs to form. But scientists have long suspected that salt becomes permeable at greater depth. Jackson School professor James E. Gardner confirmed this theory through laboratory experiments with synthetic rock salt. Tiếp tục đọc “Nuclear waste storage sites in rock salt may be more vulnerable than previously thought” →

Obama’s nuclear play

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Allen Greenberg | Nov 29, 2015

Here’s a nice bit of irony:

Energybiz – James Hansen, the scientist who was first to raise the alarm about climate change, fueling calls to shut down coal-fired power plants, will later this week urge the expansion of nuclear power.

In other words, depending on how things work out, utilities that were forced to close down or convert their coal-powered operations because of Hansen’s work, could soon find themselves thanking him for encouraging policymakers and regulators to approve plans to build new nuclear plants.

Hansen will issue his call in Paris, during the two-week climate conference that kicks off Monday. The conference is expected to draw some 20,000 attendees, including President Obama and 120 or so other world leaders.

Also read: First U.S. small modular reactor inches ahead

The hope of the climate talks is to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. Few, however, expect the conference to deliver anything meaningful. That’s because the pledges being made to cut greenhouse gas emissions are voluntary and are unlikely to be enough to stave off environmental catastrophe. Tiếp tục đọc “Obama’s nuclear play” →

The UK-China Civilian Nuclear Agreement

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
Photo courtesy of Michael Lowell from https://www.flickr.com/photos/pookieevans/849683393/in/photolist-abyFoE-abvK2R-7pSuwy-df7tX6-7T7vtd-e3ghoR-5j74ft-5j7492-5j74mF-7V4Eta-58furn-5E1hm-33bn7z-o2HeXv-9a1bGf-7YgbNu-3gTpf-aDepcL-2i5RgF-rgW7pq-ryoHvF-7CjyDW-
By Jane Nakano, Michelle Melton Oct 23, 2015

This week, Xi Jinping made his first visit to the United Kingdom as the president of the People’s Republic of China. Both governments hope that the visit will inaugurate a “golden era” of trade relations. President Xi’s visit highlights the budding cooperation between the two countries in the area of civilian nuclear energy. Among the roughly £30 billion in deals inked between the two countries was a Chinese commitment to partially fund the first nuclear plant to be built in the United Kingdom since 1995 and the first new nuclear plant in the European Union since the 2011 Fukushima accident. The announcement during Xi’s visit of an agreement to allow substantial Chinese participation in the UK civil nuclear program signifies a new era for China’s nuclear export program and perhaps for the global nuclear industry. It also provides fodder for ongoing debates about the costs and benefits of using nuclear power to address climate change and the national security implications of allowing foreign investment in critical infrastructure. We outline the scope of nuclear cooperation, explain the key factors driving the deal, and discuss the potential implications for the global nuclear industry. Tiếp tục đọc “The UK-China Civilian Nuclear Agreement” →

Nuclear Power in Vietnam: International Responses and Future Prospects

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Published by American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
Cambridge, MA 02138, 2014
Download the PDF

Preface

In 2006, with the adoption of the document “Strategy for Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy up to 2020,” Vietnam’s government officially announced its long-term plan to meet rising domestic energy consumption by including nuclear energy in its energy portfolio. The following year, another document, “Strategy Implementation Master Plan,” was released to provide further details on the roadmap that the Vietnamese government intended to follow to develop a nuclear energy program. According to the latter document, Vietnam’s nuclear program would include the construction of two 1,000 megawatt of electrical power (MWe) reactors in Phuoc Dinh in the southern Ninh Thuan province by 2015, originally scheduled to be in operation by 2020. Following this, another 2,000 MWe nuclear power plant (with two reactors) is set to be built in Vinh Hai, a seaside community 40 kilometers from Phuoc Vinh, and scheduled to come online by 2021.

Despite recent obstacles that have forced the government to delay construction on the first two nuclear plants, Vietnam is thus poised to become the first state to operate nuclear plants in Southeast Asia, outpacing countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, which have long been interested in nuclear energy. Tiếp tục đọc “Nuclear Power in Vietnam: International Responses and Future Prospects” →

An ninh mạng tại cơ sở điện hạt nhân dân sự: Hiểu về các rủi ro

~ Quynh Anh Nguyen ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

ENGLISH: Cyber Security at Civil Nuclear Facilities: Understanding the Risks

Theo một báo cáo mới của Chatham House, nguy cơ xảy ra tấn công mạng nghiêm trọng vào các cơ sở hạ tầng hạt nhân dân sự đang lớn dần, khi các cơ sở ngày càng phụ thuộc nhiều hơn vào các hệ thống kỹ thuật số và tăng mức độ sử dụng phần mềm thương mại hàng loạt sẵn có.

Báo cáo cho thấy xu hướng số hóa kết hợp với sự thiếu nhận thức ở cấp điều hành về các rủi ro liên quan, nghĩa là nhân viên nhà máy hạt nhân có thể không nhận ra ở mức độ đầy đủ về những nguy cơ về an ninh mạng ở nhà máycủa họ, do đó không chuẩn bị đầy đủ để đối phó với các cuộc tấn công có thể xảy ra.

Workers of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co participate in an anti-cyber attack exercise at the Wolsong nuclear power plant in Gyeongju, South Korea. Photo by Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co via Getty Images.


Những phát hiện cụ thể bao gồm:

• Quan niệm thông thường rằng tất cả các cơ sở hạt nhân là ‘air gapped’ (cách ly khỏi hệ thống internet công cộng) thực ra chỉ là lời đồn. Những lợi ích thương mại từ việc kết nối internet nghĩa là một số cơ sở hạt nhân hiện nay có lắp đặt kết nối VPN, mà nhà vận hành cơ sở đôi khi không biết.

• Các công cụ tìm kiếm có thể dễ dàng xác định các thành phần cơ sở hạ tầng quan trọng với các kết nối như vậy.

• Thậm chí, tại các cơ sở được coi là air gapped – cách ly với hệ thống internet công cộng, bộ phận bảo về này này có thể bị chọc thủng chỉ với một ổ đĩa flash.

• Những nguy cơ và lỗ hổng trong chuỗi cung ứng có nghĩa là thiết bị được sử dụng tại một cơ sở hạt nhân có nguy cơ thỏa hiệp bất kỳ lúc nào. Tiếp tục đọc “An ninh mạng tại cơ sở điện hạt nhân dân sự: Hiểu về các rủi ro” →

Cyber Security at Civil Nuclear Facilities: Understanding the Risks

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

05 October 2015 Project: International Security Department, Cyber and Nuclear Security

Caroline Baylon Research Associate, Science, Technology, and Cyber Security, International Security Department
David Livingstone MBE DSC Associate Fellow, International Security
Author: Roger Brunt, Nuclear Security Consultant

Please note that Caroline Baylon is lead author on this publication.

Chathamhouse: The risk of a serious cyber attack on civil nuclear infrastructure is growing, as facilities become ever more reliant on digital systems and make increasing use of commercial ‘off-the-shelf’ software, according to a new Chatham House report.

Workers of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co participate in an anti-cyber attack exercise at the Wolsong nuclear power plant in Gyeongju, South Korea. Photo by Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co via Getty Images.Workers at the Wolsong nuclear power plant participate in an anti-cyber attack exercise, Gyeongju, South Korea. Photo: Getty Images.

Tiếp tục đọc “Cyber Security at Civil Nuclear Facilities: Understanding the Risks” →

Trung Quốc được cảnh báo về những kế hoạch “điên rồ” cho các nhà máy điện hạt nhân mới

~ Nguyễn Mai ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

English: China warned over ‘insane’ plans for new nuclear power plants

He Zuoxiu, nhà khoa học hàng đầu của Trung Quốc, nói rằng Trung Quốc hiện đầu tư không đủ về kiểm soát an toàn (hạt nhân) sau khi dỡ bỏ lệnh cấm sau vụ thảm họa Fukushima.

 Changjiang nuclear power plant

Công việc xây dựng tại nhà máy hạt nhân Changjiang ở tỉnh Hải Nam, Trung Quốc. Ba tỉnh của Trung Quốc đã chọn địa điểm cho các nhà máy mới, một phần của kế hoạch mở rộng sử dụng điện hạt nhân của nước này. Ảnh: AP

Các kế hoạch nhanh chóng mở rộng các nhà máy điện hạt nhân của Trung Quốc thật là “điên rồ” bởi đất nước này chưa đầu tư đủ vào kiểm soát an toàn, một nhà khoa học hàng đầu của Trung Quốc đã cảnh báo.

Các đề xuất xây dựng nhà máy trong đất liền là đặc biệt mạo hiểm, nhà vật lý He Zuoxiu phát biểu, khi mà Trung Quốc cho chấm dứt lệnh tạm ngừng hoạt động của các máy phát điện mới, lệnh này được áp đặt từ sau thảm họa Fukushima vào tháng 3 năm 2011. Bởi chỉ cần một sự cố sẽ gây ô nhiễm các dòng sông mà ở đó hàng trăm triệu người sống phụ thuộc vào nguồn nước đó và gây ô nhiễm nguồn nước ngầm để cung cấp nước cho một diện tích vô cùng lớn của một vùng đất nông nghiệp quan trọng. Tiếp tục đọc “Trung Quốc được cảnh báo về những kế hoạch “điên rồ” cho các nhà máy điện hạt nhân mới” →

Thế giới chuyển dần đến 100% năng lượng tái tạo – điện, sưởi ấm – làm mát và giao thông vận tải

~ Quynh Anh Nguyen ~ 1 bình luận

English: World Moves Toward 100 Percent Renewable Energy– First Electricity, Then Heating/Cooling, and Finally Transportation

Ngày càng nhiều đô thị, thành phố, tiểu bang và thậm chí toàn bộ quốc gia thiết lập mục tiêu 100% năng lượng tái tạo, trong đó chính sách hỗ trợ đóng vai trò rất quan trọng cho sự thành công này.

July 31, 2015 By Junko Movellan, Correspondent.

Việc chỉ sử dụng năng lượng tái tạo trong ít nhất một lĩnh vực hiện nay đã trở thành một mục tiêu khả thi cho 8 quốc gia. Diane Moss, Giám đốc sáng lập của Viện Chính sách Năng lượng tái tạo 100, đã bàn luận về bước tiến đáng chú ý này tại một trong những buổi hội nghị tại chương trình Intersolar Bắc Mỹ[1] năm 2015.

Đan Mạch, Scotland, và Aruba là một trong những quốc gia đặt mục tiêu sử dụng 100 phần trăm năng lượng tái tạo. Bên cạnh 8 quốc gia đã nêu, Viện Chính sách Năng lượng tái tạo 100 cho đến nay đã công bố 55 thành phố, 60 khu vực và 9 dịch vụ công cộng trên thế giới đã chính thức thiết lập mục tiêu 100 phần trăm năng lượng tái tạo, và Moss chỉ ra rằng con số này có thể còn lớn hơn và đang tăng lên đều đặn.

Tiếp tục đọc “Thế giới chuyển dần đến 100% năng lượng tái tạo – điện, sưởi ấm – làm mát và giao thông vận tải” →

China warned over ‘insane’ plans for new nuclear power plants

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

He Zuoxiu, a leading Chinese scientist, says the country is not investing enough in safety controls after lifting of post-Fukushima disaster reactor ban

Changjiang nuclear power plant
Construction works at the Changjiang nuclear power plant in Hainan province, China. Three Chinese provinces have chosen locations for new plants as part of the country’s nuclear expansion plans. Photograph: AP

in Beijing

Monday 25 May 2015 14.41 BST Last modified on Tuesday 26 May 2015 00.00 BST

Theguardian – China’s plans for a rapid expansion of nuclear power plants are “insane” because the country is not investing enough in safety controls, a leading Chinese scientist has warned. Tiếp tục đọc “China warned over ‘insane’ plans for new nuclear power plants” →