The Green Party in Germany has continued its massive upsurge in popularity in Germany winning a huge slice of votes in key German states which have gone to polls recently.Green Party in Germany which is founded on the principles of social justice, reliance on grassroots democracy nonviolence, and an emphasis on environmentalism has remained a fringe player.However the recent backlash against the nuclear power plant extension by Merkel,the planning on high speed rail in Stuttgart and the frustration with the foreign and Euro policies of the ruling CDU has led to huge gains.Note Green Parties are found in most European countries though they remain non-existent in major Anglo-Saxon countries.However the recent Japanese nuclear disaster may give a fresh impetus as global warming effects continue to increase and nuclear energy comes under attack.Mass protests against nuclear power continue to be held in different cities in Germany
India’s ambitious nuclear energy plan to add around 2G of Nuclear Plant Capacity is running into more and more hurdles each day.Nuclear Energy in India got a boost when India and USA signed a 123 agreeement which removed India’s pariah position in the International Nuclear Community allowing transfer of nuclear equipment and material.However the Japanese Nuclear Disaster has thrown a spanner into the works.The Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant in Maharashtra was already seeing huge protests from local villages and political parties.The news of the Nuclear Radiation from the Fukushima plant has added fuel to the Nuclear Fire it seems.Note only have the Jaitapur protests become more stringent but another planned plant in Kovvadu village in the south eastern state of Andhra Pradesh has run into trouble.Villagers from all 150 villages took out a rally demanding withdrawal of the proposed nuclear power plant in the wake of ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan.I had earlier written that the Biggest Fallout Effect of the Japanese Nuclear Accident would be the Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) opposition of all existing and proposed Nuclear Energy Reactors globally and this is exactly what is happening.
The Wikileaks Cable says that an Indian Official Nachiketa Kapur showed an Embassy Staffer Two Chests filled with millions of Ruppees in Cash meant for bribing legislators.This corruption scam is the latest in a series over the last 6 months or so.Already India’s previous Telecom Minister is cooling his heels in Jail and crucial leaders of the ruling coalition have been questioned in the 2G Scam.Most of Indian corporate chieftains have also been implicated in the Telecom Scam with mudslinging in full flow.India’s Foreign Policy is being made by such crass and corrupt leaders is a shocking revelation though nothing new.Earlier Jharkand state had seen its legislators convicted of accepting bags full of cash during the earlier Congress regime.So this means that bribing and making Indian Policies is not a new thing.India’s Opposition Parties are making a huge hue and cry and demanding the PM’s resignation.
Japan’s Nuclear Crisis has taken a turn for the worse as US Energy Sectratary CHU saying that a Partial Meltdown has occured.Even IAEA has said that the situation has turned very serious with 4 of the reactors suffering from core damage and 3 of the reactors have their spent fuel rods exposed to the atmosphere as cooling systems have failed.While Japan has almost imposed a news blackout,the damaging news comes from the US administration which has said that the crisis exceeds that of the Three Mile Island already.Japan has doubled the number of workers as the crisis continues to escalate.Authorities battling the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant have doubled the number of workers on the site to 100.Helicopters have failed to cool the plant using water due to radioactive plumes and now the desperate Japanese are planning to use water cannons to spray the pools.
The situation at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant continued to be desperate as new fires and explosions rocked the nuclear plant.The utility which owns and operates the Nuclear Reactors Tepco said that the containment structure may have been damaged as smoke was seen from top of one of the reactors.70% of the Fuel Rods at Nuclear Reactor 1 and 33% at Reactor 2 have been exposed.This means that these fuel rods are not being cooled and may be melting leading to increased radiation poisoning hazards.New Fire broke out on the morning of 16th March at Reactor No.4 and containment chamber at Reactor 2 is damaged from Reactor 2.The problems at the Nuclear Plant seems to be increasing with no solution in sight.What is worse is that the 2 reactors No.5 and 6 which have been dormant all this time have all seen their temperature .increasing.Temperatures in the spent fuel rod cooling pools of the shuttered No. 5 and No. 6 reactors were rising as of 7 a.m. today to about 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit)
The backlash against the new and existing Nuclear Power Plants has started in different places around the world despite defiant expressions by Nuclear Plant Owners and Operators.While China and Italian utility Enel have said that they will go ahead with their billion dollar investment plans,Switzerland and Germany have put nuclear plant extensions on hold.Note Germany had extended the life of Nuclear Plants in the country by 10 years after extensive lobbying by the Nuclear Industry.This had led to huge protests from the Opposition Greens but the government had gone ahead in order to reduce Power Costs.However Merkel has been forced to eat humble pie and has said that a 3 month review will be done to check the safety of the Nuclear Reactors.Switzerland has also come out and put the plans for new Nuclear Reactors on Freeze.