Muehleberg nuclear plant closure plan overturned by Swiss court

[FBaggins]

The Muehleberg nuclear power plant will stay open after Switzerland's supreme court on Thursday overruled a lower court decision which called for the site to shut in June for security reasons.

...snip...

The ruling comes one year after a lower court ruled Muehleberg must go offline for security reasons, including insufficient resistance to earthquakes and lack of cooling outside the nearby Aare river.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/28/swissnuclear-idUKL5N0CK2HI20130328

[kristopher]

1. Some people never learn...

The utility that operates Japan’s crippled atomic plant said Friday that it deserved most of the blame for the country’s nuclear crisis, in the company’s strongest remarks about its own shortcomings.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. acknowledged in a report that it was not prepared to deal with the massive earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan in March 2011. The twin disasters cut power at TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, causing meltdowns at three reactors. Massive radiation leaks at that time contaminated air, water and soil around the plant, forcing about 160,000 residents to evacuate.

“Our safety culture, skills and ability were all insufficient,” TEPCO President Naomi Hirose told a news conference. “We must humbly accept our failure to prevent the accident, which we should have avoided by using our wisdom and human resources to be better prepared.”

The report said that TEPCO’s equipment and safety measures were not sufficient and that the meltdowns should have been avoided. It also said TEPCO didn’t try to inform the public of risks and troubles at the plant. The acknowledgement is a major reversal from TEPCO’s initial investigation report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/utility-that-operates-fukushima-cites-own-shortcomings-as-main-cause-of-japans-nuclear-crisis/2013/03/29/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112739696