From Volume 37, Issue 19 of EIR Online, Published May 14, 2010

Global Economic News

Japan's Monju Fast Breeder Reactor Fired Up

May 6 (EIRNS)—Japan restarted its Monju Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor today, 14 years after the plant was shut down following a minor fire and media-induced hysteria. This is further confirmation of Lyndon LaRouche's comment, "The East is going nuclear, while the West is going to Hell."

The Monju reactor is only a prototype and it will take some time before the reactor is brought up to full power, but its restart is an important accomplishment. The fast breeder reactor, using a mixture of uranium and plutonium, is able to "breed" more fuel than it uses. This built-in capacity of nuclear power is one of the most important advantages of fission technology, and is vitally necessary for full-scale nuclear deployment.

AFP news service notes that, "besides Japan, Russia and India are now the only nations that operate fast-breeder reactors, with China also hoping to start this year.... The United States, Britain and Germany have suspended fast-breeder projects and France shut down its last such reactor last year."

Green Energy Is Genocide: UN Report Targets Energy Density

May 3 (EIRNS)—A report released April 30 by the UN Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change has as one of its two major goals a 40% reduction of "energy intensity" by the year 2030. Although couched in terms of reduction of carbon, the thrust of the 25-page "Energy for a Sustainable Future" shows that this is a direct attack on Lyndon LaRouche's concept of increased energy-flux-density.

With the additional goal of "equal energy access" for all (everyone gets a 100-watt light bulb), the AGECC is calling for $35-40 billion to find a way to "progressively decouple growth from energy consumption" worldwide. For "high-income" countries, this means finding ways to "decarbonize" their economies as "large infrastructure investments made in the 1960s and 1970s begin to wear out." This is achievable, it says, because of "technological innovations," coupled with "ongoing shift in international funding priorities" which include public-private partnerships.

The AGECC, a public-private partnership, has been asked by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to continue its work, helping to lay the groundwork for the September UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference, in Cancun, Mexico.

Malaysia Joins the Nuclear Bandwagon

May 4 (EIRNS)—The Malaysian government has approved the construction of a nuclear power plant, which is expected to start operation by 2021, to meet the country's power demand in the future. Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui made this announcement today after officiating the First Carbon Neutral Conference on Sustainable Buildings South East Asia in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Technology know-how and providers may come from South Korea, China, France, or Japan, he added.

Like South Korea, Malaysia is taking the tack that green energy means nuclear energy, at least as much as other low-energy "solutions."

He stressed that a nuclear plant was sorely needed to meet the country's energy needs and ensure its energy security. "Nuclear energy is the only viable option toward our long-term energy needs." Chin stressed that despite nuclear energy's large start-up costs, it was more cost- and energy-efficient than dotting the country with coal-fired power plants.

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