Major risks of the Cessation Fourth Nuclear Power Plant

 (The Construction site of fourth nuclear power plant, photo from  http://tw.epochtimes.com)

        On February 25 2013, the Premier of Taiwan (R.O.C.) government, Jiang Yi Hu announced that he will make the decision about whether to stop construct the fourth nuclear power plant (Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant) depending on referendum the result.

        I think it’s a kind of Populism because most population they have no adequate information and knowledge about the advantage and disadvantage of the construction of nuclear power plant.
Thus, I try to summarize the major risk factors if we really stop building the fourth nuclear power plant (Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant).

(1) The risk of power supply shortage

        The 1st , 2nd and 3rd Nuclear Power Plant in their original schedule will be decommissioning in  2025 . The energy at that time capacity will be reduced to 2.9% which is  lower than the statutory rate of 15%. The standby capacity rate is too low and there is possible power shortage potentially.

(2) The risk of electricity price elevation 

        After the decommissioning of these three nuclear power plants, every degree sale of electricity costs will increase by 1.36 NTD (40% increased). If the government fail to construct new gas-fired power units or other alternative power generation method, this would become serious economic and national safety issues with domestic product (GDP) would be reduced to 60.8 billion NTD.

(3) The risk of increasing carbon emissions 

       After the decommissioning of these three nuclear power plants, the electricity shortfall will be replaced by gas or coal-fired power plants that may be an additional 750 to 1,620 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. This will make Taiwan against the Kyoto Protocol about carbon dioxide emissions, and also impact the international competitiveness of Taiwan (R.O.C.).



extension of reading: The Kyoto Protocol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty that sets binding obligations on industrialized countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Reference:
Zhou Yuan(周原),Five major risks of the Cessation Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.《CommonWealth Magazine》.  http://english.cw.com.tw/ 

Data published by Taipower company
Data published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs Bureau of Energy, R.O.C.

Nuclear-Free Homeland Marching action in Taiwan(R.O.C.)

(photo from Chinanew.com)

    Two years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster happened, the construction plan of 4^th nuclear power plant has still been controversial after 33 years discussion.The last supplementary budget will be sent out in June this year. And the manager: Taipower company said that there is a few more planned in February and March next year.

    Several non-governmental organizations joined simultaneously on March 9 in Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Taitung for antinuclear announcement. Many people spontaneously use of photographs, the production of posters, banners and other variety of ways to call for more people to join.

 

(photographer:杭大鵬 , source: Google)

      Up to 22 million people were reported to participate into this action. The northern march of more than 10 million people, more than 70,000 southern, more than 30,000 in central eastern people. This is the largest number of anti-nuclear demonstrations in recently years. The concepts of Anti-nuclear is the mainstream public opinion and nuclear-free homeland is a national consensus.

Video record of northern march action.

Start to Focus The Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant (核四) project

         (The Construction site of fourth nuclear power plant, photo from  http://tw.epochtimes.com)

       Construction of the plant began in 1997, but has been delayed by political controversy. In 2000, a decision to halt construction was a factor in the resignation of Premier Tang Fei. Several years latter, reports and nuclear experts said that many insiders liked this decision -- they had known that Longmen will be a very dangerous nuclear power plant.  

In 2007, Unit-1 was expected to come online in July 2009, with Unit-2 following in July 2010.

In March 2009, Taiwan Power Co.(which is a state-owned electric power utility providing electric power to Taiwan and off-shore islands of Taiwan.)had to delay the start of commercial operations at its Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant by additional two years to 2011 and ask the government for more funds, company spokeswoman Tu Yueh-Yuan said. The budget for the plant's two units was originally NT$233.55 billion (US$6.77 billion), but now Taiwan Power wants to ask the government for about NT$40 billion more. The figures are not final, as the final new budget must be approved by the government.

    Commercial operations at the Unit-1 was planned to start in December 2011 instead of July 2009, but have been delayed again. "The control and information system will be installed much later than we expected, which is the cause of the delay", said Tu, adding the Unit-2 will likely start commercial operations one year after the first one.Following the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, commercial operations may be further delayed.

(adapted from Wiki)

Special Health issue of US Chinese Hepatits B

Well,
There are lots kind of vulnerable population should be talk about while facing the Public Health issue.
Let's talk about the US Chinese cause I come from Taiwan.

US Chinese are people of full or partial Chinese (particularly Han Chinese) ethnicity who hold American nationality. And, the US Chinese first generation is the first person (or people) in the family to move into the United States. Chinese Americans make up the largest ethnic subgroup of Asian Americans. 


According to the U.S census bureau over 3.4 million Chinese reside in the United States.

Eighty percent of the Chinese population resides in five states: California, NY, Hawaii, Texas and New Jersey. Fifteen percent of Chinese American elders live in poverty and 47% live alone. (McBride, Morioka-Douglas, & Yeo, 1996).

Hepatitis B and Mental Health are the top 2 special health issue for the sub-group American population

High risk nation around the world showed in the Green.(adapted from WHO, 2008)

The reason I pick up hepatitis B first is that it’s a chronic but serious disease and higher prevalence in Chinese American.It’s a kind of liver disease caused by infection with hepatitis B virus.

The most common way that the virus spread from person to person is through blood or body fluid exposure. It’s a life-long infection disease. People who are infected are likely to develop “chronic hepatits B infection” in their rest of life.

There is no significant s/s in the initial stage of infection. So people are easy to ignore it. But once you get it, it would destroy your liver function step by step and finally maybe 30to 40 yrs it causes liver cirrhosis , liver failure or even cancer.

Why there is higher prevlance in Chinses American.?

In the past, Chinese people didn’t have good health and sanitation concepts, knowledge and policy.
In the medical system, they shared syringes, scalpel and Acupuncture(針灸)needles just with simple but inadequate anti-septic process.So, the disease spread out!
And some of them got the Hepatits B and then migrant into the US.

Then they could infected other people through and blood Donation and so-called vertical infection.( infected mother spread the diseased to her child during the deliver)

WAWA - the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance

Through the help of Nataki my classmate in the BUILT ENVIRON AND HEALTH class, I visited the 7th Annual Urban Forest Festival on April 6 which was hold by WAWA(West Atlanta Watershed Alliance), the USDA Forest Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Wildlife Federation  for celebrating Southwest Atlanta’s urban forests.

 


      The WAWA is a community based, non-profit organization committing to improve the quality of life in the West Atlanta Watershed by protecting, preserving, and restoring our community's natural resources. They also advocate for preserving greenspace, protecting and improving water quality, and promoting good environmental health within the Proctor, Sandy, and Utoy Creek Watersheds. 

    WAWA has signed an official Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Atlanta Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs to operate and maintain an outdoor activity center for children and adults conservation, ecology and the natural environment issues which was established in 1975(named Bush Mountain Outdoor Activity Center ).


        I guess I will stand closer with WAWA for practicum program and other activity. We human come from the nature, and I should not forget it. I’ll keep to figure out their works and try to record them with my camera and words.

       By the way, the symbol of WAWA is a West Africa symbol “WAWA ABA(Seed of the WAWA Tree)" means hardness, toughness, and perseverance. I think this reflects their spirit to persist their goals and mission in such a trend of urban life style.
I like it.



The Official West Atlanta Watershed Alliance(WAWA) Blog: 
http://wawaonline.blogspot.com/

The True face of disaster

        Two year ago, the Fukushima nuclear disaster caused by earthquake and tsunami was the most serious event in this decade. The surrounding areas of Fukushima is still stuck in that moment. 

    Thanks to Google "Street View". They got the streetscape images from the prohibition area :Namie-machi to let the world to have a glimpse of the terrible reality. 21,000 residents in the Namie-machi who are still unable to return home to avoid the radiation damage since 2 years ago the disaster occurred.

Google Street View:Namie-machi prohibition area 

Google also cooperate with the Japan local government to build up the Website: Memories for the Future where people can upload photos or video records about this disaster by attaching on the real location on the map where it has been taken.

Website: Memories for the future  http://www.miraikioku.com/

    Another great online digital database build by National Diet Library of Japan for both official and unofficial purposes to have more transparent and effective information use:” Hybrid Infrastructure for National Archive of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Innovative Knowledge Utilization” which contain any kind of data from Rikkyo University Symbiosis Centre for Social Research, Harvard University, Northeastern University, Fuji TV and other institutions, and Google, Yahoo! as long as it is 311 earthquake-related. 

HINAGEJEIKU : http://kn.ndl.go.jp/

     The abbreviation of this database is “HINAGEJEIKU” which is the meaning of the "daisy" in Japanese. Daisy florid "future", "hope" is just the keynote and the establishment of this database!

TED talk : Jamie Oliver's,Teaching every child about food

 Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.

 - by TEDtalksDirector

        Jamie Oliver is a well-known British chef. He specializes in the use of organic ingredients, as well as help to change eating habits in British schools and familiar.

         He grew up in the small village of Essex, England called "Clavering". His parents operated a bar called "cricketer". Since Jamie has dyslexia, he could not finish his school time very smoothly, and he even couldn’t ultimately graduate successfully. At the age of 16 he entered Westminster Catering College school.  After that he worked following the leading of London chef Gennaro Contaldo for seven years.

        In 1996, when he worked in London "the River Café", a television producer named Patricia Llewellyn led to his first appearance on television.

        After the 1998, series of TV shows such as 《The Naked Chef》&《Oliver's Twist》were finished with wide popularity. The typical image of him is a guy looks just like college students wearing a T-shirt and jeans who always runs around in circles in the kitchen and cooks. It seems that everything is in the chaos but always at the last minute can finish surprising dishes.

        In this speech, Jamie Oliver is transforming the way we feed ourselves, and our children. Jamie Oliver has been drawn to the kitchen since he was a child working in his father's pub-restaurant. He showed not only a precocious culinary talent but also a passion for creating (and talking about) fresh, honest, delicious food. In the past decade, the shaggy-haired "Naked Chef" of late-'90s BBC2 has built a worldwide media conglomerate of TV shows, books, cookware and magazines, all based on a formula of simple, unpretentious food that invites everyone to get busy in the kitchen. And as much as his cooking is generous, so is his business model -- his Fifteen Foundation, for instance, trains young chefs from challenged backgrounds to run four of his restaurants.

                                                       

Youtube linkage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go_QOzc79Uc
©Youtube & TED talk

    TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts.