Money needed to fight nuclear case

Judicial review proceedings have now started by a man who is opposed to the plans for up to 20 next-generation reactors at eight sites around the country. They include as many as three on land next to the existing Oldbury atomic station, near Thornbury (16 miles from Stroud). Rory Walker, 24, who lives near the Heysham station in Lancashire, is taking his fight against Energy Secretary Chris Huhne to the High Court. The local Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy have launched an appeal to support the case - see here.

Meanwhile the Economist has just done a chart of how dangerous nuclear accidents have been - see left and here - it now puts Japan on a par with Chernobyl at the highest danger rating - although deaths and effects on the environment are so far not as bad.

Greenpeace have criticised Japan for the delay in rating Fukushima - it is hard to get good info about the crisis as there has also been much rubbish printed - but the operators of the damaged power plant have now admitted that they have still not come up with a blueprint to end the nuclear crisis more than a month after it began. What are the risks that remain? It is also said radiation levels in the sea surrounding the nuclear power plant in northeast Japan have doubled to 23 times above the legal limit in the latest tests off nearby Minamisoma city.

It is now certain that many people in the immediate vicinity of Fukushima face radiation sickness or even death, especially those brave workers staying behind to stop the leaks.

Lastly pro-nuclear Mark Lynas has been sending round some rather startling figures: "phasing out Japan’s current nuclear generation capacity and replacing it with wind would require a 1.3-billion-acre wind farm, covering more than half the country’s total land mass." It transpires this is complete nonsense - see the real info here - which shows you would need one fiftieth of one percent of Japan's land!