Interesting article on the 'radiation' hysteria. Exert below.
The Chernobyl disaster was initially predicted to cause hundreds of thousands of deaths. Two decades later the death toll stands at 56. The United Nations Chernobyl Forum estimates that no more than 4,000 people will die as a direct result of fallout, while radiation may be a contributory factor in another 5,000 deaths. The important fact ommitted is the reduction in life expectancy of those who do die is an average of ten months.
Dr Repacholi said that even these estimates could be too high. While 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer have been detected in the Chernobyl region, with 15 deaths, many can be attributed to better detection because of the screening conducted after the disaster.
The main negative health impacts of Chernobyl were not caused by the radiation, but a fear of it, he said. We know that there were low doses of radiation received by a large number of people. We dont want to minimise the effects but we also know that the fear and anxiety about radiation was a much greater factor and its this fear which has caused a huge number of health complaints that have overloaded the healthcare system.
#3
Compare also the accident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2: the most serious in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, even though it led to no deaths or injuries to plant workers or members of the nearby community
#4
The danger from radiation was only to those people working within eyesight of the plant who were flashed with radiation. Think light.
The real problem to many people was radioactive isotopes, physical particles that were carried away from Chernobyl on the wind. Think dust.
Radioactive isotopes vary tremendously in their risk, based on the element they are based on. So much of the problem is similar to chemical poisoning. From Chernobyl, out of many isotopes, only two were really considered to be of great risk to humans: radioactive iodine and cesium.
When consumed, iodine in any form goes right to the thyroid gland in the neck, the #1 consumer of iodine in the body. If there is excess iodine in the body, then the excess is not stored, but eliminated in the urine. Radioactive or not. This was why right after the accident, especially children were given iodine supplements, so that the radioactive iodine they inhaled would be eliminated from their body before it could hurt their thyroid gland.
Cesium is likewise attractive to the bone marrow. But because there is so much bone marrow, there is no practical limit to cesium uptake. It is otherwise of low toxicity by itself. It is also readily absorbed by plants.
The other factor is radioactive half-life. For iodine, whose half-life is only two weeks, after a short interval, it stopped being a threat. Cesium's half-life, however, is 30 years, so it is a long-term hazard. The Russian response to having the Ukraine, their "breadbasket" contaminated, was to ship the radioactive produce around the country. The idea was that it was better that many people got a little contamination rather than a small number of people got a lot.
But all told, the risks associated with Chernobyl are too difficult to diagnose, to attribute to contamination, so the assumption of lack of harm is premature.
#6
Yeah man,
that's just like, what the government wants you to believe man. It's the billion dollar corporations in bed with the neoliberal warmongers dude.
#7
I hate to be an argumentative bastard, but how the hell can a core go critical if it is splattered all over Belarussia. The fuel melted through the bottom of the reactor and went into the basement of the plant. A nuclear reaction needs neutrons freely bumping about to sustain itself, the nuclear fuel or Corium cooled into a ceramic like substance that is relatively stable. If I'm wrong and there is still some sort of cool reaction taking place in there please describe it to me in more detail.
#8
"But the immediate threat is water. A few years ago workers measured more than a thousand square yards of cracks and holes in the sarcophagus, which were allowing rain and melted snow to pool in its bowels. [...]Water can also act as a nuclear moderator: a substance that aids a chain reaction. Though the risk is deemed minute, a renewed chain reaction could trigger another steam explosion. [...]
"On the night of June 26, 1990, after two weeks of heavy rain, detectors in one lava-filled room registered a sharp rise in neutrons, a sign of an impending chain reaction. Four days later, a physicist from a technical center in the old town of Chernobyl, ten miles away, dashed in to pour neutron-quenching gadolinium nitrate on the lava. The neutrons subsided.[...]
"In the past two years 90 percent of the gaps have been plugged, and a new sprinkler system dispenses gadolinium in the central hall. Most rainwater is pumped out, though some is allowed to linger to suppress dust."
Zimbabwe is cracking down on people using false emergency travel documents for cross-border shopping trips, a source of survival for many hit by a severe economic crisis. Regional officials estimate that up to two million Zimbabweans have sought economic refuge in neighbouring South Africa. And critics of Robert Mugabe, the president, say the poor situation at home has caused a quarter of the country's 12 million people to flee.
The Sunday Mail said police in Plumtree on Zimbabwe's border with Botswana last week arrested and fined 24 people caught with fake travel documents, and the authorities were investigating the cases, suspected to be "part of a broader syndicate". An official from the government passport office was quoted as saying: "Law enforcement agents in Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries have been advised to be on the lookout for those involved in the forgery." Police and officials from the passport department were not immediately available for comment on Sunday.
The Sunday Mail said the passport office had received information that a criminal syndicate based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, was selling counterfeit papers for trips to Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Namibia. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans make a living through cross-border trade - buying and selling commodities in short supply in their own country. Critics blame Mugabe's government for an economic crisis that has left Zimbabwe battling frequent shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, and with the world's highest inflation rate of nearly 1,200%. Earlier this year, Harare's official Herald newspaper reported that about 100 Zimbabweans cross illegally into South Africa each day, risking drowning in a crocodile-infested river to search for jobs.
Where is Mugabe going with this? What is his final goal for Zimbabwe for him to force 'his' people into homelessness, poverty, starvation and worse? I confess I don't understand.
It's all about power -- having it and keeping it, and not being separated from one's head at the end.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Future headline in the Zimbabwe Daily Bugle: Bob stymied in his search for root cause of massive deaths due to starvation. Concentrations of corpses mainly around well known (illegal) border crossings. Film at eleven.
We welcome Robert Mugabe and his lovely wife Grace to the Halliburton family. Bob has accepted the new position of Corporate Vice President for our new United States Immigration and Mexican Border defense government sector. As the former president of Zimbabwe he comes with a wealth of immigration operations experience and contacts. Again, Bob and Grace, welcome to the Halliburton team.
#5
How much can people take before they stampede the presidential palace and hang him from a tree. How much can the Nkors take? I boggles the mind that millions of people sit around and suffer quietly.
#4
The diving in the Red Sea is amazing, from everything I've heard, but I still think I'd rather take a non-Saudi operator. Three reasons....not too keen on diving in a black robe, none of my acceptable living male relatives dive, and I want my alcoholic refreshment afterwards, dammit!
#5
Yeah right. Women will scuba dive in burkha. Men will have to content with looking at the fishes not at women, will not be able to drink alcohol, will have their readings (the Bible, Playboy) censored, will get access only to Saudi TV preachings encouraging to kille infidels and, in case they are gay will be stoned. Oh, and from time to time, the tourists will be machiunegunned, bombed by the local Al Quaidists. Those who are never caught or freed after six months.
Or tourisdts could go to the Seychelles or Eilat instead.
#7
Maybe they should scuttle the royal yacht to make an artificial reef.
With the Wahabbi princes on it, of course.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 14:45 Comments ||
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#8
First, when my friends and I go diving, we like to have a few cold ones on the boat deck after we're finished diving for the day----that completely rules out Saudi.
Second, what 'culture' are they referring to? I admit that at one time I bought into the "Beautiful Arabian Culture' argument, but the longer I live the more I'm convinced that their culture is ugly, hateful, and unoriginal. Thanks towel-heads, but no thanks.
#10
Am I the only one who thinks this not a good idea as in this could be cover for the dreaded Jihadi-Al-Qaeada frogmen we've heard about now and then?
MUSCAT - The government of Oman has allowed the formation of labour unions, which will have the power to represent and defend workers rights, an Omani newspaper reported on Sunday. A decree issued late Saturday by Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed stated that labourers will be able to form syndicates that aim to protect their interests and defend their rights, Al Shabibi daily said.
The decree also bans employers from firing or penalising labour representatives on the grounds of their union activities, it added. It also allowed in principle -- and for the first time -- the organisation of peaceful strikes, but said that a ministerial decision will be issued to set the rules for such action.
Labour in the sultanate previously had only representative committees, which enjoyed less powers than labour unions. Transforming labour representative committees to syndicates is a great achievement for the labour force, said Abdul Azim Al Bahrani, the head of the general labour representative committee.
The private sector employs some 150,000 Omani nationals in this Gulf state that also hosts some 600,000 fourth-class expatriates who come mostly from the Indian subcontinent.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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David Cameron called today for greater understanding of hoodie-wearing teenagers in his latest move to reposition the Conservative Party. The Tory leader said young people needed "a lot more love" to avoid being drawn into offending in a new approach derided by Labour as "hug a hoodie". Mr Cameron denied trying to "wind up" Tory traditionalists with his apparent break with John Major's injunction to "condemn a little more and understand a little less".
But, in a separate speech tonight, Mr Cameron set out plans to strengthen police in the fight against crime with more conventional Tory pledges like cutting bureaucracy. That was seen as an attempt to reassure those in his party who might have been alarmed by his comments to the Centre for Social Justice earlier today. He told the think tank:
"The hoodie is a response to a problem, not a problem in itself. We - the people in suits - often see hoodies as aggressive, the uniform of a rebel army of young gangsters. But hoodies are more defensive than offensive. They're a way to stay invisible in the street. In a dangerous environment the best thing to do is keep your head down, blend in, don't stand out. For some, the hoodie represents all that's wrong about youth culture in Britain today. For me, adult society's response to the hoodie shows how far we are from finding the long-term answers to put things right. So when you see a child walking down the road, hoodie up, head down, moody, swaggering, dominating the pavement - think what has brought that child to that moment."
The comments drew a clear line between Mr Cameron and Tony Blair, who last year supported a ban on hoodies by the Bluewater shopping centre. Mr Cameron acknowledged the need for sanctions like anti-social behaviour orders and curfews but said that he wanted to see them used less and less. He said that it was essential to remain optimistic about young people, and not "just give up in despair".
In his second speech tonight, to the Police Foundation, Mr Cameron pledged to reduce paperwork for officers to allow them to be "crime fighters, not form-writers". Mr Cameron promised to end the recording of stops, introduced on the recommendation of the inquiry into the killing of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. He called for civilian staff to take over more administrative functions to enable officers to concentrate on frontline policing. And he re-affirmed the Tories' commitment to scrapping proposed police force mergers and introducing directly-elected commissioners or sheriffs to increase accountability. He said that a "damaging culture" had infected policing in recent years. "That culture has diluted what should be a single-minded focus for the police. The public wants the police to be crime fighters, not form writers. They want the police to be a force as well as a service."
#4
There is a direct correlation between the number of men who serve in the military, and the number of adult men who teach young men good values. That is, if Britain wants "hoodies" to grow up and become responsible, the hoodies need to be under the supervision of vets who know discipline.
Armies are expensive, because they are expected to fight in a modern war. But armies are much less expensive if they just exist to train young men with military discipline. So Britain should put every capable young man who is unemployed into such training regiments.
After a year of training, they are given their pay in one lump sum, and set to find work in an organized manner, or they can stay in the ranks and be trained as a regular. Unemployment is no longer an option. They have a choice of several jobs fitting their talent, but they must work for another year or back to the army they go.
This solves several problems at once. It takes young men off the streets, without interfering with those who have work. It really reduces unemployment, so wages go up. It keeps the young men physically fit while teaching them discipline. It provides a large pool for recruiting the best into the military. And it radically reduces crime and mischief.
In turn, the men who come out of the programme have a soothing effect in the universities, wanting an education, not to slack off and make trouble, and not tolerant of those who do.
#5
I'd agree if the training were US style - preferably Marine, Paris Island - I can't speak to UK training, which has a reputation for idiotic hazing and abuse.
In the US, it did wonders for me and several equally obnoxious jerks I knew. I went in a hothead gang tough, with more than a few busted heads and stolen cars to my "credit". The very first thing I learned, in spades, was that I wasn't nearly as tough as I thought. The instructors were 5 times as fit, infinitely tougher mentally, and my betters in every respect.
By the time I completed basic, they had worked the baby fat (I thought was muscle) off, remade me into someone who took pride in hard work, and gave me the seeds of a whole new personality, one worthy of my birthright as an American.
On my first leave, the astonishment of my former friends was something to behold. It was only surpassed by my own. I left the losers behind and never looked back.
I recall my service with honest humility and thanks for what they did for me. I can't say if it would work for the "hoodies" and the UK, but it's an idea that deserves their serious consideration.
Britain has written to the United Nations restating its sovereignty over the Falklands, as Argentina escalates attempts to gain international support for its claim over the islands. The Foreign Office has confirmed that ministers contacted the UN after counterparts in Buenos Aires managed to reopen the sovereignty issue.
I thought that was settled finally a few years back?
Officials have also written to the Organisation of American States (OAS), which last month supported talks between Britain and Argentina to solve the "Malvinas Islands" dispute peacefully. At the OAS general assembly in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, the organisation voted to approve an Argentine declaration to "continue exploring all possible means to solve the problem peacefully". The organisation said Argentina and Britain "must begin talks about the sovereignty dispute as soon as possible".
They're making the assumption the problem's not solved because they haven't gotten their way...
Argentine foreign minister Jorge Taiana said his country's president, Nestor Kirchner, pledged that the Argentine people were committed to winning back sovereignty of the islands as soon as possible, and would begin talks in good faith with Britain. He drove the point home during a meeting with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. He claimed Annan had "agreed to look at" possible solutions to the disagreement." The UN's Special Committee on decolonisation subsequently adopted a draft resolution stating that "a peaceful and negotiated settlement" was the way to resolve the issue.
If the Brits own it, and the inhabitants are Brits, what's to be "peacefully negotiated"?
A Foreign Office source last night confirmed that Britain had officially objected to the resolution, and reiterated its claim over the islands.
"It's ours. Piss off."
We have a recently retired fleet aircraft carrier we could sell the Brits for $1, don't we? At least until they get theirs built.
He added: "It was not a complaint, more a statement of fact - or a restatement of everything we have been saying for decades." Foreign Office minister Geoff Hoon confirmed that the OAS had been subjected to the same no-nonsense treatment. He said: "There can be no negotiations on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands unless and until such time as the Falkland Islanders so wish. The principle of self-determination underlies the government's position."
#2
Argentina should have a bunch of people illegally immigrate to the Falklands, have large families, and then when they are the majority, apply the principle of self-determination and demand the islands be given to Argentina.
Two problems - 1) finding Argentinans who want to live there, and 2) keeping them loyal to Argentina after a generation or three as Falklanders (only Muslims seem able to do that.)
#4
I'm still trying to figure out why anybody WANTS the Falklands. Not a lot of whaling going on there anymore, is there? Does Japan have a dog in this fight?
#6
Argentina should have a bunch of people illegally immigrate to the Falklands, have large families, and then when they are the majority, apply the principle of self-determination and demand the islands be given to Argentina.
Ah, La Reconquista del Sur! The southernmost province of Aztlan! Somebody get MEChA on the case!
#7
If I remember correctly (and the books I read many years ago are to be believe), the UK was in active negotiations to give the Falklands to Argentina back around the '80/'81 time frame. The reason being one of UK citizenship and immigration. Seems the UK .gov was worried about an influx of immigrants after their lease on Hong Kong was up and they were looking to set a precedence regarding citizenship. Sort of reverse-Colonialism.
Give their current immigrant population, I bet they would've been happy with the Chinese instead.
btw, The Battle for the Falklands by Max Hastings & Simon Jenkins is a great book on the subject in my opinion.
#8
Yep, the Argies got anxious and greedy while Thatcher got the Premiership. So they've lost the islands forever.
There's usually 12 several Tornadoes fitted out for maritime attack at Stanley now. The airfield is much, much improved and defended by Rapier Block xx. That and the rotating commando force will keep the islands safe.
To paraphrase Sandy Woodward speaking to the expedition: You've seen fit to take the Queen's pence, now it's time to earn your keep, some of us are going to die, but it'll mostly be them. So get ready.
Leaders of the divided island of Cyprus have agreed to a framework for resuming peace talks, a key element in Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders on Saturday agreed to a timetable for negotiations and a set of principles to govern a reunified Cyprus.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Boeing is evaluating the possibility of offering its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to India equipped with Israeli-made avionics in an effort to bypass the US governments opposition to the export of some US-produced systems to the country. India is expected to consider the Super Hornet design for a new air force requirement for 126 new lightweight fighters, a request for proposals (RFP) for which is expected to be released later this year.
The invitation for Israeli companies to participate in the project is also being based on the strong bilateral relations that exist between the Indian and Israeli defence establishments, says one Boeing source. Israeli firms have over recent years enjoyed considerable success in selling equipment such as airborne and land-based early-warning radars, anti-radiation drones and unmanned air vehicle systems to the Indian armed forces.
Boeing and Israeli officials are reluctant to identify systems that could be purchased from Israeli manufacturers, but it is believed that the focus will be on the replacement of some advanced sensors and weapon systems. The Boeing response to Indias RFP will also include proposals for the licensed or local production of the Super Hornet, the company says.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 18:00 ||
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#1
Heh.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/10/2006 19:02 Comments ||
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A rocket carrying India's heaviest satellite has disintegrated in a ball of smoke and flame seconds after lift-off, dealing a crippling blow to the country's ambitious space programme.
The 49-metre (161-foot) rocket was launched at 1205 GMT from an island off the coast of the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, but veered off course and disintegrated about 30 seconds later, live television pictures showed.
The article also contained this interesting detail:
Monday's ill-fated launch of the three-stage rocket, which includes Russian-made cryogenic control systems with locally-built equipment, was an attempt to increase its capacity beyond four tons.
I didn't know they had imported technology on this vehicle; I'll have to go back and go over the previous posts from this weekend.
#2
veered off course and disintegrated about 30 seconds later
I don't think it was the cryo-controls. Sounds like either a structural problem at max-Q, a guidence failure, or some form of gimbal/engine failure. Between this and the Agni test, it sounds like ISRO is still on the expensive end of the learning curve. Ouch.
Posted by: N guard ||
07/10/2006 12:29 Comments ||
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#5
Fault was not with the Russian supplied cryo stage, it was with one of the liquid strapon boosters. The vehicle was destroyed by master control.
"Nair said it appeared from preliminary data that the pressure had dropped to zero in one of the four strap-on motors and it failed to give the required thrust to the GSLV.
Following this, the vehicle deviated to about 10 degrees, leading to the mission control giving the 'destruct command
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 13:56 Comments ||
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#6
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 13:57 Comments ||
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#7
Is that fuel igniting on the side of the vehicle?
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:05 Comments ||
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#8
Could be part of the auxiliary booster airframe igniting.
#9
The DRDO built the Agni-3 while the ISRO built the GSLV-1.
DRDO is certainly less capable - the problem with the missile yesterday seems to have occured far too early to be a stage separation problem. It is likely a Max-Q design fault. They used a very high trajectory to enable the 5000 km range missile to land 2000 km downrange.
ISRO went through this part of the learning curve about a decade ago. The problem may be with the contractor that supplied portions of the strapon booster.
There may very well have been a fuel leak from the strapon.
The very first GSLV launch had a booster failure but the onboard computers shut down the liquid straons before the solid main stage ignited. ISRO defuelled the booster, replaced it and launched a week later. That launch had problems with the Russian cryo stage thrust and the satellite was abandoned.
India has 3 more Russian engines in storage IIRC.
Either the next GSLV launch or the one after that will use an Indian cryo stage instead.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:14 Comments ||
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#10
Could be part of the auxiliary booster airframe igniting.
I suspect the loss of pressure was due to fuel venting at the side of the strapon booster (UDMH+N2O4).
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:17 Comments ||
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Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:25 Comments ||
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#12
Speaking as a purely hypothetical, I wonder if we might have invented some gizmo that invisibly makes rockets not work, from a considerable distance, and from very high altitude, or even space?
#16
That UDMH+N2O2 liquid engine is an Indian version of the French Viking engine, used on the Arianne vehicle.
The French needed a lot of aerospace engineers to work on the Viking design and India had them in surplus. The French got their engine and the Indians got the design.
The Russian SS-18 used the same UDMH/N2O2 combo.
North Korea used UDMH + IRFNA (inhibited red fuming nitric acid).
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:41 Comments ||
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#17
6 is probably right about the seal breach.
Would explain a lot.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:42 Comments ||
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#18
That should be N2O4
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:43 Comments ||
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#19
The GSLV is a mongrel interim vehicle, put together using uprated engines from the smaller PSLV. ISRO needed a heavier vehicle and used the componants they had.
Its performaance is degraded because the solid first stage (125 tons HTPB+AP+Al) burns for 100 seconds while the four 40 ton UDMH+N2O4 liquid strapons burn for 160 seconds.
This means the expended first stage must be carried as dead weight until the strapons have been expended. Only then can the stage be jettisoned and the 80 ton UDMH+N2O4 second stage (which burns for 150 seconds) be ignited.
The 12 ton LOX/LH2 cryo third stage burns for 720 seconds.
The GSLV-3 will be a new vehicle - two 200 ton solid (HTPB+AP+Al) first stage boosters attached to either side of the second stage (110 tons UDMH+N204) with a 25 ton LOX/LH2 cryo third stage.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:55 Comments ||
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#20
Apparently the fuel used in the liquid engines in this vehicle is not plain UDMH but rather UH25 (a mixture of Unsymmetrical Di-methyl Hydrazine and hydrazine hydrate) - gives improved thrust
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 15:00 Comments ||
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#21
Looks like there was a glitch in the Russian engine - didn't affect launch though
However, Nair denied any link between the glitch which delayed the launch and the problem which doomed the mission. The delay was due to a "minor" problem of ground servicing, he said.
One of the pumps with the cryogenic fluid had opened and failed to re-seal. A team had to be sent to close it and ensure that all parameters were normal before the lift-off.
Nair said the lift-off was normal, but in a few seconds the vehicle was found to be off trajectory and in 60 seconds, some parts had broken up.
Immediately, the 'destruct command' was given to ensure the wayward rocket did not fall on a populated area. It crashed into the Bay of Bengal.
However, the rocket blew up becuase, according to Nair, one of the four strap-on engines had failed. While the other three developed normal velocity, the pressure in the affected motor dropped to zero.
At this stage, the vehicle was out of control. Normally a deviation of up to 4° is allowed. But in this case, it had deviated by 10°.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 15:14 Comments ||
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#22
John, my email is on my web page (which you can find by clicking on the "website" link here) on the left side of the page about halfway down.
(There's only one post up atm, but I've been kinda busy).
Anyway, could you drop me a line?
Posted by: Phil ||
07/10/2006 15:42 Comments ||
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#23
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 17:11 Comments ||
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#24
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 19:32 Comments ||
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It would be the ultimate irony if Israel makes oil from shale commercially feasible and frees the world from Gulf oil dependence.
With oil prices hovering around $70 a barrel, Israel is looking for ways to reduce its near-total dependence on energy imports. It's pondering the use of the nation's huge reserves of oil shale a dark, crumbly rock loaded with hydrocarbons located in the central and southern parts of the country. Thanks to a technical breakthrough, it should be possible to extract fuel oil from the shale for less than $20 a barrel. That could allow Israel eventually to cut its crude imports by up to one-third.
Shale is already used as a fuel for power plants in Israel and Estonia, where the rock is burned like coal to drive steam turbines. Israel's small shale-fired power plant was built nearly 20 years ago. But past attempts to extract liquid oil from shale weren't economically feasible: The process cost upwards of $50 per barrel at a time when oil was selling for less than half that.
Now, the tables have turned. A Russian-born Israeli immigrant named Moshe Gvirtz developed a technique in the 1990s to squeeze oil from shale by mixing the rock with a residue from conventional oil refining and putting it through a catalytic process. The dramatically improved results, coupled with soaring crude prices, have inverted the economics of oil shale. That could help not just Israel but dozens of other countries, including the U.S., that are rich in shale reserves.
A Haifa-based engineering firm called A.F.S.K. Hom Tov, which owns the patented process, is now gearing up to exploit the opportunity. The technology could reduce dependence on imports and substantially reduce Israel's overall energy bill, says Israel Feldman, the company's co-founder and managing director. A.F.S.K. Hom Tov has proposed building a plant that could produce up to 3 million tons of oil annually, or roughly 30 percent of Israel's current oil imports.
How does it work? Older technologies squeezed oil out of shale by putting the crushed rock under enormous pressure at high temperatures. But the process developed by Gvirtz costs far less. The shale is mixed and coated with bitumen, a remnant of normal oil refining, then put through a catalytic converter under relatively low pressure. The output is synthetic oil that can be refined into gasoline and other products.
The only problem for Israel is that its shale is relatively low quality, with a caloric value of only around 15 percent, compared with values of 20 percent or higher in other countries. That means A.F.S.K. Hom Tov has to use more shale for a given output of oil.
But in an interesting wrinkle, the company also has developed a way to burn the leftover shale which still contains residual fuel that could someday be used to drive a 100-megawatt power plant in southern Israel.
The dream of exploiting shale's potential is far from new. Ten years ago, a study conducted for the Israeli Energy Ministry by a panel consisting of some of the country's leading technical experts found that a 3-million-ton-per-year shale plant could turn an annual profit of $20 million to $59 million if oil were priced at $18 a barrel. On that basis, the experts strongly backed shale-oil technology and recommended the Israeli government finance a pilot plant.
But falling energy prices and Israel's decision to switch to natural gas led the Israeli government to put the homegrown technology on the back burner, says Moshe Shahal, a former energy minister and now a leading Tel Aviv corporate lawyer who represents A.F.S.K Hom Tov (Hebrew for good heat). Only when oil prices began skyrocketing again last fall did Shahal and the company resume serious efforts to market the process locally as well as abroad.
Not surprisingly, an updated feasibility study by local energy consulting firm Eco-Energy found that the shale plant would be even more profitable today. The cost of producing a barrel of oil using the process would be around $17 a barrel, estimates Amit Mor, managing director of Eco-Energy. At that price, the proposed plant would be a veritable gold mine, with annual profits between $188 million to $317 million. Mor notes that the projections are based on the U.S. Energy Deptartments forecasts of an average oil price of $45 to $50 a barrel in the coming 25 years.
So far, A.F.S.K.s process has only been tested on a laboratory scale. The company is planning an industrial-scale plant to be built at Mishor Rotem in the Negev Desert. We hope to be in full-scale production in 2010 or 2011 at the very latest, says Feldman.
That will entail construction of a pipeline from the Ashdod refinery located 80 kilometers (48 miles) to the north that would be used for transferring the necessary bitumen needed for the production process. A parallel pipeline would transport the synthetic oil back to Ashdod for refining.
A.F.S.K. has already made a formal request to Israel's National Infrastructure Ministry for mining rights at Mishor Rotem. It has also asked the Industry, Trade, and Labor Ministry for government backing for the ambitious project. The technology is extremely interesting and, with oil prices at these levels, there is a lot of interest on our part to develop shale, says Yaakov Mimran, Petroleum Commissioner at Israel's National Infrastructure Ministry.
The two ministries are expected to give the green light in the next few weeks for a pilot plant to test the process. The company hopes to have the necessary licenses and government financial support in hand by the end of this year.
That would be the ultimate slap in the face of the oil ticks Arabs. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/10/2006 19:58 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah, seems like oil shale is everywhere. The western states are full of the stuff. Combine that with the Alberta tar sands and we could flip ol' Hugo the bird.
Space shuttle Discovery's astronauts got some happy news Sunday: It's safe to fly home. Mission Control informed the crew of six that the ship's thermal shielding is "100 percent cleared for entry" in another week.
Good luck and Godspeed.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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I like the tag line from Fark...
"Evidently the Shuttle crew's entire purpose now is to go into space and fix the ship for re-entry. Your tax dollars at work."
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
07/10/2006 12:21 Comments ||
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"Evidently the Shuttle crew's entire purpose now is to go into space and fix the ship for re-entry. Your tax dollars at work."
:>
There is something to learn even in that endevor.
Note I used KABC's headline. It was actually an anti-ILLEGAL imigration rally
An officer was injured and six people were arrested during an anti-illegal immigration march involving the Minuteman Project and other groups Saturday evening in Hollywood, police said. guess which side precipitated the violence....
One female officer suffered a minor injury, apparently to her ankle, after clashing with protesters, said Officer Sandra Escalante, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Counter-protesters stood along the sidewalks shouting as anti-immigration demonstrators, including members of the Minuteman civilian border patrol group, marched along Hollywood Boulevard. The Minutemen, many of them carrying American flags, had a permit to march. huh....obeying the law. What a concept.
Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist was among the marchers. Angry counter protesters, some wearing bandannas to cover their faces, yelled at the Minutemen and called them racists. the tolerant left
They also tried to join the march, but since they did not have a permit, police stopped them, sometimes forcefully. I hope they cracked their f*cking heads with batons
Escalante said several people were arrested, though it wasn't immediately clear if they were part of the anti-immigration march or the counter-protest. guess?Police estimated the number of marchers at 200 shortly after 7 p.m. The march began at Hollywood Boulevard and Argyle Avenue, Escalante said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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LAPD.. Heads were cracked.. They have years of practice shutting bone heads down. No permit, wack.
Works like that.
#2
Counter-protesters stood along the sidewalks shouting as anti-immigration demonstrators,
Lie number 1 - these were anti-ILLEGAL ALIEN protesters. They do not have any problem with immigrats - only ILLEGAL ALIENS. Calling this an 'anti-immigration march' is a boldface LIE on the reporter's part.
yelled at the Minutemen and called them racists.
Lie number 2 - implying that being anti illegal alien is RACIST. It isn't. But the article deliberately leaves that little tidbit out.
immediately clear if they were part of the anti-immigration march or the counter-protest.
#4
The Minutemen, many of them carrying American flags, had a permit to march.
Angry counter protesters, some wearing bandannas to cover their faces
One of these things upsets reporters. The other doesn't. Any guesses?
(For my part, anyone covering their face at a demonstration should be arrested, as it's clear intent to commit violence. Hell, anyone covering their face outside of Halloween should be subjected to a bit of police scrutiny.)
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/10/2006 8:27 Comments ||
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Anyone protesting the march should have been picked up in LA, and put down in Mexico City.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Zimbabwe is cracking down on people using false emergency travel documents for cross-border shopping trips, a source of survival for many hit by a severe economic crisis. Regional officials estimate that up to two million Zimbabweans have sought economic refuge in neighbouring South Africa. And critics of Robert Mugabe, the president, say the poor situation at home has caused a quarter of the country's 12 million people to flee.
David Cameron called today for greater understanding of hoodie-wearing teenagers in his latest move to reposition the Conservative Party. The Tory leader said young people needed "a lot more love" to avoid being drawn into offending in a new approach derided by Labour as "hug a hoodie". Mr Cameron denied trying to "wind up" Tory traditionalists with his apparent break with John Major's injunction to "condemn a little more and understand a little less". 
Britain has written to the United Nations restating its sovereignty over the Falklands, as Argentina escalates attempts to gain international support for its claim over the islands. The Foreign Office has confirmed that ministers contacted the UN after counterparts in Buenos Aires managed to reopen the sovereignty issue. 
