NASA’s James Hansen on Nuclear Power

NASA’s James Hansen on Nuclear Power: "

On a wide ranging and excellent interview, the environmental site Treehugger interviews NASA’s James Hansen, who is the head of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The interview covers a variety of energy and climate science-related questions. But then they ask this:

TreeHugger: Has the Fukushima situation in Japan changed your thoughts in any way on nuclear power?

His reponse is excellent, including this:

Well, it’s changed the situation for us solving this climate problem, because a number of nations have indicated that they’re going to phase out nuclear power, which, I think, is very unfortunate. The truth is, what we should do is use the more advanced nuclear power. Even the old nuclear power is much safer than the alternatives.

Consider the United States, for example. We had one nuclear accident at Three Mile Island. The National Academy of Sciences has indicated that the people in Pennsylvania who were exposed to the radiation could suffer one or two deaths over the next several decades from cancer caused by radiation, in addition to the 40,000 people who will die from cancer in that same population.

In fact, the safety record of nuclear power has been exceptional, even taking account of Fukushima, which hasn’t, as yet, killed anyone from radiation, and Chernobyl in the Soviet Union. A million people a year die of air and water pollution, most of which is associated with fossil fuel use. But people are frightened by radiation because it’s something that’s harder to understand.

They can hold a piece of coal in their hand, and it’s really nasty stuff. It’s got arsenic and mercury, and the black soot that you get is itself a very bad air pollutant. But that doesn’t frighten people. But nuclear power does.

And you can make nuclear power even more safe than the best type of reactors that exist today. With the fourth generation nuclear power, you can actually burn the nuclear waste, and solve the biggest problem with nuclear power.

So it hasn’t changed my mind, but it has made everybody realize that it’s going to be more difficult to sell nuclear power in many places. Fortunately, China and India-which are going to be the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide-I don’t think are changing their minds.

And he closes his answer with this:

So nuclear power has a tremendous potential. And as yet, we don’t have any alternative to fossil fuels other than nuclear power for base-load electric power.

It’s an excellent interview, do go read the whole thing.

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The man, who has not made a mistake, probably never did anything new!A E.

Sri Lanka rethinks Atomic Energy Act

Sri Lanka rethinks Atomic Energy Act: "Sri Lanka is to repeal its 1969 Atomic Energy Act to replace it with a provision to establish an Atomic Energy Regulatory Council. According to a governmental release, the current act needs to be amended to allow for the introduction of nuclear power generation technology in the country and also to address concerns over the security of radioactive sources and to deal with radiation emergencies. The government also says it needs to establish an independent nuclear regulatory arm in keeping with advice from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Sri Lankan cabinet has approved the drafting of the new bill. In September 2010, the Sri Lankan government commissioned a pre-feasibility study into the use of nuclear energy for power generation in the country."

The man, who has not made a mistake, probably never did anything new!A E.

Name the Comet c/2011 E4

Andrew Fazekas

for National Geographic News

Published June 22, 2011

There's a newfound cometclosing in on the sun, and when it gets here in 2013, you may be able to see it with your naked eye.

Astronomers stumbled upon the icy interloper on June 5 while searching for potentially hazardous asteroids.

Equipped with the world's largest digital camera—1,400 megapixels—the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS team snagged a faint image of the odd object while it was more than 700 million miles (1.1 billion kilometers) away, between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. (Explore an interactive solar system.)

"Almost everything we find is an asteroid, but this object was suspicious," saidRichard Wainscoat, co-discoverer of the comet and an astronomer at the University of Hawaii.

"Unlike asteroids, which appear point-like in images, the telltale sign that gave it away was its fuzzy appearance."

(Related: "Weird Asteroid Really a Crusty Old Comet?")

By March 2013 the comet, named C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS), is expected to come within 30 million miles (48 million kilometers) of the sun—closer even than the innermost planet, Mercury.

When the comet makes its closest approach to the sun, more of its ices will vaporize, adding to its hazy envelope of gas and dust and producing the familiar tail.

This denser envelope, or coma, should boost the comet to peak brightness, making it potentially visible to the naked eye low in the western horizon just after sunset.

Comet a Runaway From the South

While there is no danger of collision with Earth, preliminary calculations of the comet's orbit show that this may be its first and final trip through the solar system.

"It may be coming around the sun for the first and only time, only to be ejected from the solar system, never to return," Wainscoat said.

"Since we don't have a lot of data on it, we really don't know the orbit well enough right now, and it will take up to two months of observations to find out."

Astronomers believe C/2011 L4 may be a runaway from the Oort cloud, a reservoir of billions of hibernating comets that orbits about 100,000 times farther than the distance between Earth and the sun.

"The current path of the comet is typical of those thought to be originating from the Oort cloud, showing it coming up from the south—underneath the Earth—going up the back side of the sun and into the north sky, very nearly perpendicular to the plane of the solar system," Wainscoat said.

The fact that it's going around the back of the sun from our point of view may ultimately affect the comet's visibility, but a lot will depend on how close the body actually gets to the sun.

Also, whether the comet is north or south of the sun when it reaches peak brightness will determine which hemisphere on Earth gets the better view.

(Related: "Comet Is Cosmic Snow Globe, NASA Flyby Shows.")

For now, "we think it will be an easy binocular target, but it may very well make it to naked-eye level, and there is even a potential that it may be visible during the day," Wainscoat said.

"But it's just really too early to tell. We may not know for sure until only a few weeks before it gets here."

The man, who has not made a mistake, probably never did anything new!A E.

"Rare" Lunar Eclipse Wednesday—Longest in a Decade

"Rare" L

Wednesday night the full moon will plunge into the longest and deepest total lunar eclipse in more than a decade.

Sky-watchers across most of the Eastern Hemisphere will be able to watch the lunar disc turn stunning shades of orange and red as the moon becomes engulfed within the darkest part of Earth's shadow for almost two hours.

"The path that the moon is taking through Earth's shadow is almost directly through [the shadow's] center, making for the longest possible path and so the longest duration," said Ben Burress, staff astronomer at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, California.

"The last eclipse that was as long as this one was in 2000, while the next won't be until 2018, so this makes it a somewhat rare event."

(Also see: "Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse—First in 372 Years.")

Lunar Eclipse to Last a Hundred-Plus Minutes

Because of the tilt of the moon's orbit around Earth, the moon usually passes slightly above or below Earth's cone-shaped shadow, so no lunar eclipse occurs.

Sometimes, however, the geometry is just right for the moon to cross Earth's orbital plane—always during a full moon. As all three bodies line up, the moon passes through Earth's shadow and we see a lunar eclipse.

Partial eclipses happen when the moon grazes Earth's shadow, while total eclipses occur when the whole moon passes through the shadow.

(See pictures of a 2010 total lunar eclipse.)

On June 15 Earth's shadow will start to darken the moon around 18:22 universal time, or UT (2:22 p.m. eastern time).

The total lunar eclipse will begin at 19:22 UT and will last for more than a hundred minutes. The deepest part of the eclipse will occur at 20:12 UT, as the moon plunges into the umbra, the dark center of our planet's shadow.

The last hint of Earth's shadow will slip off the moon around 22:02 UT.

Except for northern Scotland and Scandinavia, most of Europe as well as eastern South America and western Africa will see totality underway around moonrise—just as the sun begins to set on June 15.

"The best place to be is where you would be able to view the moon throughout the eclipse—and the higher in the sky it is, the better," Burress said. "From that standpoint, the best location for viewing the entire eclipse is eastern Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and the western tip of Australia."

From Indonesia to New Zealand, viewers will get to see the moon's face slowly eaten away by the initial stages of the lunar eclipse just before the moon sets on June 16.

This celestial event won't be visible from North America, unfortunately for Canadian, Mexican, and U.S. eclipse hunters, who will have to wait until December 10, when western parts of the continent will be treated to the next lunar eclipse.

Lunar Eclipse to Create a Blood-Red Moon?

The most spectacular and least predictable part of the eclipse is the color the lunar orb will take on during totality, Burress said.
"The redness of the moon during totality depends partly on global atmospheric conditions," Burress said. That's because the light we see coming from the moon is actually reflected sunlight.

During a total lunar eclipse, Earth blocks the pure white, direct light from the sun. But some indirect light passing through Earth's atmosphere still manages to reach the moon.

Since dust and gases in Earth's atmosphere filter blue wavelengths from sunlight, the remaining light is reddened. The moon will therefore appear to change from brilliant silver to between bright orange and blood red during a lunar eclipse.

"Also, how high in the sky the moon is during totality has an effect: The lower in the sky, the more atmosphere its light must pass through to reach the observer, and the more reddening that can occur."

(Take a moon myths and mysteries quiz.)

The best advice for sky-watchers is to get away from city light pollution as much as possible and go to places where there are no trees or houses blocking your view, Burress said.

"If you can determine where the moon will be during the eclipse, you want to choose a place with a clear, unobstructed view of that part of the sky and enjoy the show."

unar Eclipse Wednesday—Longest in a Decade

After Germany now its Swiss phasing Out of Nuclear Power

Swiss council votes for phase out

08 June 2011

Switzerland's National Council has voted in support of the phase out of nuclear energy in the country following a decision by the Swiss cabinet not to replace its existing nuclear plants. 101 members of the 200-seat lower house of the Swiss parliament voted in favour of phasing out nuclear energy by 2034, with 54 against. The proposal must also be approved by the upper house, the 46-member Council of States. Switzerland currently relies on five nuclear plants to generate 40% of its electricity, and up until the accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant triggered by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami had been planning to replace its reactors with new units as they reached the end of their operating lives.

Countdown for Global Debt Debacle ? No Place to Hide and Run

Technorati Tags: Economy,US,Debt

The recent warning by Standard and Poor , Moody to the US mounting debt and derating Observations, FED’s worries and today’s Chinese Concerns,  are marking a countdown for cutting US bond ratings. The News that, US is planning for a ‘ Technical default’ in Interest Payment, has shivered all.

It brings a Lump to  the Mouth. With a 1 Trillion US Bond Holding China, Its a default and very difficult idea to digest.  A country, which kept its saving bank interest rate very low. Thus, Using , Money saved by the common man at no cost and lent it, Chinese  companies to generate competitive Cost module for Growth and allowed thus ‘ Discounted Goods’ for exporting and earning $’s. While, US and Europe, freely lent this Credit to all, creating a Lazes' fair , ‘ Consumption Society’.  Wall Street jumped this “ Credit Aberration’ Bandwagon, and engineering  fictitious ‘ Derivatives’ . And, All Integrating into a False and Void, Financial Systems.

The Bulge poured in Housing Market and Cronies Ramped up, Prices to sky and the common man in US and Europe  is now Entrapped in Debt, for Unknown Time. Banks, Insurance Companies, Housing Lenders, Investors and et.al.

Mr. Ben Bernanke and co., Hence, Added more and more Money, to fill this artificial space and values. Trying to render some Credit Worthiness to this Junk. But, Only for short term. The Program got extended , as  QE 3. The affairs appear to get better, But the “ Debt Fire” is still on. Sometimes, surfacing in Portugal, Greece… Dubai.

As the Program is ending the Question remains, As FED stops funding the US Bonds and China turning back. Who will Buy US Bonds... ?  How US will pay the Interest ???

The Debt Fire is now encircling the Globe and Eagerly, waiting to Engulf ?

With No Place to Hide and No place to Run ..!!!

Two Fukushima workers overexposed

Two Fukushima workers overexposed: "Two workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant have reportedly been exposed to radiation amounts exceeding the safety limit set by the government."

The man, who has not made a mistake, probably never did anything new!A E.

Representatives: Nuclear Power Still Vital After Fukushima

Representatives: Nuclear Power Still Vital After Fukushima: "By Laura Clise, Director of Sustainable Development and Continuous Improvement, AREVA To take the pulse of the Future of Nuclear Energy following the nuclear crisis in Fukushima, the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Center for Transatlantic Relations and the Atlantic Council convened representatives last week from EU member countries, the U.S. [...]"