Category Archives: Technology

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Uljin Reactor power line glitch.

Reactor 1 of the Uljin nuclear power plant, in Korea (south), was restarted on 28 August 2012.

Less than a week prior the reactor automatically shut itself down.  After investigating, the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company said the emergency shut down was due to a glitch in electrical lines running to the reactor.

It was the second time in August that a Korean nuclear reactor went through emergency shut down.

Korea (south) currently has 23 nuclear reactors in operation, and is building more. They hope to have 39 by the Gregorian/Western/Christian calender year 2030.

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Uljin Reactor update: This is second Korean reactor to shut down in past week, inspections underway

24 August 2012, inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, are trying to figure out why an Areva (Framatome) designed nuclear reactor shut itself down, after a warning alarm sounded.

But it turns out this isn’t the first time this has happened.  On 19 August 2012, a brand new reactor, the Sinwolseong-1 (aka Reactor 1 at Shin Wolsong) shut itself down as well.

Sinwolseong-1 began operation in January 2012. Officials ruled the shut down as being caused by a failure of the input controls.

According to the IAEA, Sinwolseong-1 and Uljin-1 (aka Reactor 1 at Ulchin) are both pressurized water reactors (PWR) operated by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company.

Uljin-1 was designed by a French company called Framatome, now called Areva.

Doosan Heavy Industries claims Sinwolseong-1 is a reactor based on Korea’s first indigenous pressurized light water nuclear reactor design.  They have even sold the same type of reactors to China.

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Korean Uljin Areva designed nuclear reactor shuts itself down, investigation as to why

On 23 August 2012, Reactor 1 of the Uljin (aka Ulchin) nuclear power plant in Korea, south, shut itself down.  Officials with the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company do not know why.

A warning signal went off, but there is no radiation leak, according to officials.  Korean media says the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not concerned.

Uljin-1 began operations in 1988 and is a French Framatome (company is now called Areva) type pressurized water reactor (PWR).  The Uljin nuclear plant is considered the 13th largest electricity generating facility in the world, producing nearly 5,900 megawatts.

 

International, Technology

Breaking news: Korea, South, nuclear reactor automatically shuts down, reason unknown at this time

Korea media reporting that Reactor 1 at Ulchin nuclear power plant, in North Kyongsang province of South Korea, ceased operations for unknown reasons.

Ulchin is the World’s 13th largest electric power generating plant, with a 5,900 megawatt capacity.

Ulchin-1 began operations in 1988 and is a PWR – Framatome type reactor.

Business/Economics, International, Technology

What Economic Recovery? Sony cuts 1,000 jobs in cell phone division!

23 August 2012, after buying back control of its Swedish cell phone operation, Sony announced it will lay off 15% of the employees.

Sony will also move most of the Mobile Communication division back to Japan.

Until Sony’s buyback, the Mobil Communication division was a joint venture with Sweden’s Ericsson.  The cuts are on top of planned lay offs in Sony’s television division.

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Hoku continues downward spiral. Pocatello plant mothballed! Micron dead! Emmett fails! Idaho State government conspiracy?

Famous last words: “Sustainable, renewable energy is going to play a big role in Idaho’s future.”-Butch Otter, current Governor of Idaho, 2011 statement

Reality check: “New projects are non-existent. There’s no support for renewables in this state.”-Peter Richardson, Boise attorney

As of 21 August 2012, Hoku Corporation stock was worth only 9 cents per share!

According to a recent Associated Press (AP) report, all of the promises of support for renewable energy related companies in Idaho, were false.

Pocatello’s Hoku Materials polysilicon factory for solar power panels is now officially mothballed. Boise’s Micron Technology’s energy venture is dead, and Emmett’s biomass power project failed.

Large scale wind power in Idaho is also being targeted.

The AP says the reasons range from federal tax breaks ending for the alternative energy industry, to economic war between China and the United States, to the fact that electricity rates in Idaho are already the second lowest in the country.

But what happened to all those promises of support from the State?  The bottom line is that the government of Idaho does not want to throw money at new alternative energy companies, state officials are all talk, no walk (but they love to take the credit for companies moving to Idaho, Butch Otter did with Hoku in his 2007 State of the State speech).  After all, Idaho’s main source of electricity already comes from decades old renewable and reliable hydroelectric dams (maybe that’s what Governor Otter was referring to in his 2011 statement).

Another thing, state lawmakers have not required local utility companies to buy into these new energy companies, as have the states of Oregon and Washington.  In fact many of these new companies were required to buy their electricity from Idaho Power, Rocky Mountain Power and Avista!

“LIQUIDATE HOKU MATERIALS”

Business/Economics, Idaho, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Hewlett Packard to report record loss, gives half a million dollars worth of stuff to Idaho university!

“…HP carries so much weight in the area, when they do something, when HP sneezes, you know, there is a ripple effect.”-Matt Rissell, Idaho Technology Council’s Software Alliance, interview with Boise State Public Radio

22 August 2012, Hewlett Packard (HP) is expected to report a record quarterly loss of almost $9 billion USD.  It’s the largest loss for HP ever!

HP is already in the process of laying off 27,000 employees.  People in Idaho are worried because HP has a huge campus in Boise, and any layoffs there will definitely hit other Boise area businesses: “For every hundred workers you lose, you’re going to lose at least another fifty.”-Don Holley, economics professor Boise State University

But despite all this doom and gloom, HP is actually benefiting Boise State University, in fact it’s benefiting another chip/computer maker, Idaho’s own Micron.

On 21 August 2012, it was announced that Hewlett Packard donated half a million U.S. dollars worth of equipment to the new Micron Business and Economics Building, located on the Boise State campus.

“We are working with Boise State to provide key technology that will enhance the student experience and help build future business and community leaders.”-Von Hansen, HP Boise

Notice Hansen didn’t say anything about employment, the focus is on “business and community leaders”.  Most leaders actually have a poor history of new job creation.

 

 

Technology, U.S.

U.S. Education front for child porn industry? Idaho education official admits to producing more than a terabyte of child porn!

A 45 year old Meridian Middle School counselor (in Idaho) admitted to police that he had more than one terabyte of child pornography on dozens of computers in his house.  According to Ada County prosecutor, the school counselor also told cops he produced some of the porn.

A boy was found in his home and claimed to have been molested many times by the school official.

The counselor was arrested 18 August 2012, after police spent most of Friday night searching his home. He was arraigned in an Idaho court on 20 August.  He faces 10 counts of sexual exploitation and is being held on a $1 million USD bond.

The counselor says he is part of an internet group that produces and trades child porn. Despite his admissions to police, the Meridian School District continues to employ him, he is currently on administrative leave (although it appears they have removed his name from their website).

International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3: South America gettin’ riled ’bout Julian Assange. Bradley Manning international hero!

“Inside this embassy in the dark, I could hear teams of police swarming up into the building through its internal fire escape……. If the U.K. did not throw away the Vienna Conventions the other night, it is because the world was watching.”-Julian Assange, 19 August 2012 statement from Ecuadorian embassy in London

“We are continuing to seek a diplomatic solution. We remain ready to continue the conversations we have had, but that is now a question for the Ecuadorians.”-British government statement

“We warn the government of the United Kingdom that it will face grave consequences around the world if it directly breaches the territorial integrity of the embassy of the Republic of Ecuador in London!”-Bolivian Alliance for the People of Our America

“I ask President Obama to do the right thing. The United States must renounce its witch hunt against WikiLeaks. The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation. The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters. The United States must pledge, before the world, that it will not pursue journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful!”-Julian Assange, 19 August statement from Ecuadorian embassy in London

“We believe this is a bilateral issue between Ecuador and the United Kingdom and that the OAS [U.S. created Organization of American States] has no role to play in this matter.”-U.S. State Department statement

“They’re [United Kingdom] out of touch. Who do they think they’re dealing with? Can’t they see that this is a dignified and sovereign government which will not kneel down before anyone?”-Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador

“And to the [U.S.] Army private who remains in military prison in Ft Leavenworth, Kansas, who was found by the United Nations to have endured months of tortuous detention in Quantico, Virginia, and who has yet, after two years in prison, to see a trial, he must be released.  Bradley Manning must be released!  If Bradley Manning did as he was accused, he is a hero and an example to all of us, and one of the World’s foremost political prisoners.  Bradley Manning must be released! On Wednesday Bradley Manning spent his 815th day on detention without trial. The legal maximum is 120 days!”–-Julian Assange, 19 August statement from Ecuadorian embassy in London

“This is a sort of declaration of war. The U.S. has degenerated into a rogue state. What the U.S. wants, the U.S. gets from its allies, regardless of if it’s legal or if it’s ethical or in breach of human or legal rights. We’re all lackeys.”-Christine Assange, mother of Julian Assange

“This is not a bilateral dispute between two countries, it is about respect for international law, respect for humanitarian law and respect for embassies and diplomatic corps!”-Nicolás Maduro, Chancellor of Venezuela

“This Friday, there will be an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of Latin America, in Washington DC, to address this very situation.”-Julian Assange, 19 August statement from Ecuadorian embassy in London

“Britain….is wrong. The threat is not only an aggression to Ecuador, it’s against Bolivia, it’s against South America, against the whole of Latin America!”-Evo Morales, President of Bolivia

“To my family, and to my children who have been denied their father: Forgive me, we will be reunited soon.”-Julian Assange, 19 August statement from Ecuadorian embassy in London  (see video of speech here)