Tepco: radiation from Fukushima plant declines further

Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Remediation Expert Mission to Japan examine No.3 reactor at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima prefecture October 11, 2011. Picture taken October 11, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/IAEA/Handout

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO | Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:54am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - The operator of Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant Monday said the amount of radiation being emitted from the complex has halved from a month ago, in the latest sign that efforts to bring the plant under control are progressing.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant, 240 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of Tokyo, was damaged in March by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in the world's worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.

"Our latest measurements show that radiation from the damaged reactors is 100 million becquerels per hour, which is one eight-millionth of the amount measured soon after the accident," Tokyo Electric Power's (Tepco) vice president Zengo Aizawa told reporters during a monthly review.

Aizawa said that this translates to about 0.2 millisievert per year of radiation measured at the fringes of the plant, below the 1 millisievert safety limit according to government guidelines.

The amount is half of what Tepco announced at its review a month ago.

In light of the progress being made in cooling its damaged reactors, which suffered nuclear fuel meltdowns in the first days of the crisis, Tepco formally brought forward its plan to bring the plant to a state of "cold shutdown" within this year, instead of by January as initially planned.

It had said last month it was hoping to achieve a cold shutdown within the year but had not made a formal declaration.

Technically, a cold shutdown is a state in which water used to cool nuclear fuel rods remains below 100 degrees Celsius, preventing the fuel from reheating.

With the help of newly built cooling systems, Tepco's efforts to cool the reactors have progressed steadily, with temperatures at all three of the damaged reactors falling below 100 degrees late in September.

But despite this development, Tepco and the government have been cautious about immediately declaring a cold shutdown.

"We still need to proceed with care. We need to continue monitoring whether the temperatures of the reactors and radiation levels being emitted remain stable going forward," Yoshinori Moriyama, deputy director-general of the government watchdog Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency, told the same news conference.

Declaring a cold shutdown will have repercussions well beyond the plant as it is one of the criteria the government said must be met before it begins allowing about 80,000 residents evacuated from within a 20 km (12 mile) radius of the plant to go home.

Japan faces a massive cleanup task if these residents are to be returned home -- the environmental ministry says about 2,400 square km (930 square miles) of land surrounding Daiichi may need decontamination, an area roughly the size of Luxembourg.

Even if a cold shutdown is declared Tepco has acknowledged that it may not be able to remove the fuel from the reactors for another 10 years and that the cleanup at the plant could take several decades.

It also has to decontaminate tens of thousands of tonnes of contaminated water pooled at the plant, a result of its efforts to cool the reactors early in the crisis by pumping in vast amounts of water, much of it from the ocean.

(Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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Turning wood into oil, in two simple steps

By Ernest Scheyder

ORONO, Maine | Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:11pm EDT

ORONO, Maine (Reuters) - Efficiency and simplicity have long eluded renewable-fuel researchers, but a Maine scientist has developed a two-step process he says can make oil from the cellulose in wood fiber.

This process, far less complex than competing methods, creates an oil that can be refined into gasoline, jet fuel or diesel and removes nearly all oxygen -- the enemy of fuel efficiency.

"It's unique and it's simple," said Clay Wheeler, the University of Maine chemical engineering professor who discovered the process last year with two undergraduates. "This is important because the more complex the technology, the more expensive it's going to be."

In heavily wooded Maine, logging produces a lot of scrap tree stumps, tops and branches that are unusable for making lumber or paper.

While additional research is needed, if Wheeler's process is ultimately able to be commercially developed, it could help forest-rich states generate their own fuel from that scrap.

For a video on the process, click on: link.reuters.com/vak54s

In the first step of Wheeler's process, wood is bathed in sulfuric acid, isolating the sugars in cellulose and producing an energy-intense organic acid mixture.

That mixture is then heated with calcium hydroxide in a reactor to 450 degrees Celsius (840 Fahrenheit), a step that removes oxygen.

What drips out is a hydrocarbon liquid that chemically mimics crude oil.

For every ton of cellulose processed, Wheeler is able to make about 1.25 barrels of oil equivalent, a unit of energy comparable to the amount of energy produced by burning one barrel of crude oil.

The acids and calcium hydroxide are recycled at the end of the process, cutting costs, he said.

The most expensive part is the wood itself, Wheeler said. At current wood biomass prices, he acknowledged his process is not economically competitive with traditional crude oil refining.

"But we anticipate that the value of the fuel will continue to increase as petroleum becomes more scarce," he said.

The economic viability of the project is a source of concern, said Andrew Soare, an analyst who tracks alternative fuel technologies at Lux Research, a technology advisory firm.

"Further understanding of costs is key to this reaction," Soare said. "I think this process certainly does have a chance to go somewhere."

Paul Bryan, program manager at the U.S. Department of Energy's Biomass Program, said a project's economics are a key factor for any future funding support.

"If the outputs are a lot more valuable than the inputs, that's the first step to success," he said.

The journal Green Chemistry plans to publish a study later this year on Wheeler's process, which does not use catalysts or bacteria as most other alternative fuel methods do.

Wheeler is now studying just what makes his process tick. He accidentally stumbled upon it 11 months ago while trying different reactions with biomass and acids.

He does not know exactly what happens inside the reactor during the second phase, when the oil is actually produced, but he knows what he can make with it.

During a recent tour of his Maine laboratory, Wheeler refined his fuel into gasoline that can be used in existing engines.

"We've had independent laboratories test this, and without any upgrading, it was 82-octane gasoline," Wheeler said.

That is a lower octane rating than you find at gas stations -- most are at least 87 -- but traditional crude oil refining uses several steps to reach that mark.

"We think we can get there," Wheeler said of the higher octane rating.

NEW INNOVATIONS AND PRODUCTS

Even though the United States has 10 percent of the world's forest land, its pulp and paper industry has slowly declined in the past 50 years due to shrinking paper demand.

In August, paper shipments fell 6.4 percent from the same month last year and box production slipped 2.7 percent, according to the American Forest and Paper Association.

Wheeler's process could entice the paper industry to take a second look at Maine, Oregon and other timber-rich states.

"This is the kind of stuff you could do in a pulp and paper mill," Wheeler said. "Paper plants are already used to high temperatures."

University of Maine officials are hoping Wheeler's process creates jobs in a state with a 7.6 percent unemployment rate.

"These mills are the heart of communities in Maine and they need new innovations and products," said Renee Kelly, director of economic development initiatives at the university. "Pulp and paper are very cyclical, commodity businesses."

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder and David Fazekas; editing by Andre Grenon)

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New Finnish reactor town counts blessings, fears

By Terhi Kinnunen

PYHAJOKI, Finland | Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:40am EDT

PYHAJOKI, Finland (Reuters) - Matti Pahkala braces from the chilly winds blowing from the Gulf of Bothnia as he surveys a map of the Hanhikivi peninsula in northern Finland, an area he first visited as a child.

As then, the shore is lined with rocky beaches and vegetation, much of it untouched. Nearby, birch and aspen trees rustle, scattering yellow autumn leaves.

That landscape is about to change after Finnish nuclear consortium Fennovoima announced on October 5 that it will build a reactor here, the first nuclear reactor site to be announced since the March nuclear plant disaster in Fukushima, Japan.

While environmentalists worry about damage to the area's natural habitat, Pahkala, who is chairman of the local Pyhajoki municipal board, couldn't be more excited.

He expects Fennovoima's investment of 4-6 billion euros ($5.4-8.0 billon) will bring more jobs and new business, meaning more tax revenue, to an area that sees youngsters leave for bigger towns each year in search of jobs and education.

Pahkala and his colleague Matti Soronen cheered when they received the news from Helsinki that Pyhajoki had been chosen over Simo, another shortlisted municipality.

"From the municipality's point of view this is like winning a lottery," said Soronen, a municipal manager.

Around 3,400 people live in Pyhajoki, with many working at steel maker Rautaruukki in Raahe some 30 km (20 miles) away, and the rest working in small local business and farming.

Local student Heini Mattila said the reactor could help Pyhajoki avoid merging with neighboring towns as many small Finnish municipalities have been forced to do to cut costs.

"It will bring more jobs and life to this village. Otherwise we might have to soon consider joining the town of Raahe," Mattila said.

The unemployment rate in Pyhajoki is around 6 percent, not much different to the country's average.

But local unemployment shot to around 15 percent as recently as early 2010 as a nationwide recession prompted lay-offs. Some fear this could happen again, with economists predicting Finland could tip into recession next year as Europe's debt crisis hits exports such as metals, paper products and ships.

CHEAP ELECTRICITY

Finland sees nuclear energy as a means to cut greenhouse gas emissions while supplying a steady source of energy for industry. It is also trying to curb dependence on energy from Russia on fears that economic growth could push up prices and impact deliveries.

Its four nuclear reactors produced 25 percent of electricity used in Finland last year, while 12 percent was imported, mostly

from Russia.

Fennovoima was set up in 2007 to produce electricity for its consortium members at cost. Members include steel makers Outokumpu and Rautaruukki, although its biggest single shareholder is German utility E.ON's Finnish subsidiary.

In 2010, it and Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) won parliament's approval to construct new nuclear reactors, which are expected to come on line by around 2020 and raise the number of reactors in Finland to seven.

The forest businesses and steel makers depend on cheap electricity, and those sectors are vital to Finland's economy, particularly now that Nokia is no longer the growth driver it once was.

While Finland launched a review of nuclear safety after the Fukushima disaster, caused by an earthquake and tsunami, authorities found no need for changes at the reactors in operation, although they asked TVO and Fortum for more information on back-up plans for extraordinary events. There was no talk of halting Fennovoima's project.

The position contrasts sharply with others in Europe. Following Fukushima, Germany decided to phase out nuclear power, and Italy has shelved plans to build new plants.

Protests by the anti-nuclear movement have gained little political traction in Finland. Although the Greens party has been against nuclear energy and voted against allowing new reactors, it is part of a coalition government that includes nuclear advocates.

Economy Affairs Minister Jyri Hakamies, who is responsible for energy issues, said Finland's decision to stay on course with its nuclear plan reflected the "rational, pragmatic" nature of its people.

"BOMB IN THE BACKYARD"

But critics say Finland may be underestimating the risks and overestimating the benefits of nuclear power. Many point to construction delays and ballooning costs at Olkiluoto 3, Finland's fifth reactor, as proof that nuclear energy doesn't always go as planned.

The promise of more jobs means little for pensioner Tuula Wallin, who has lived for 20 years just 5 km from the planned site.

"It is like a bomb in the backyard," she said, her voice trembling.

"How come these people planning this have not come to their senses, despite Chernobyl and Fukushima? My child and grandchildren live here in Pyhajoki, and I'm scared thinking about their future."

Environmentalists say the nuclear plant will disrupt the area's natural habitat, including diverse plants, birds and marine life.

There are few signs of human activity on the peninsula -- a road and some cottages, most of them wooden cabins without electricity or modern plumbing and used only in the summer.

Local environmental association Pro Hanhikivi, which is cooperating with other conservation groups as well as Greenpeace to oppose the reactor, says the peninsula is home to a variety of threatened and protected wildlife like the Siberian primrose, moor frogs and a bird called the black-tail godwit. The area is also a resting and feeding place for migrating arctic birds.

There are some nature conservation sites near the planned plant, including some areas designated in an EU program aimed at protecting threatened species and habitats. Some of the area's streams, springs and rocks are part of Finnish biodiversity programs.

While the reactor will avoid most of these areas, critics say they are so close that the impact is unavoidable.

EXCITEMENT IN SLEEPY TOWN

Fennovoima will have to negotiate with some landowners over the 80 hectares of the 450-hectare site it does not already control, and some of those are residents of the neighboring village of Parhalahti who are likely to put up a fight, said Pro Hanhikivi Vice Chairwoman Hanna Halmeenpaa.

Pro Hanhikivi has also complained to the European Commission and a European Parliament petition committee that Finland is not obeying directives on protecting threatened species and habitats.

"The question is can this area of various threatened habitats be split up for industrial use, or should it be protected," Halmeenpaa said. "We are prepared for a long battle."

When news of the site selection broke it created a rare buzz in Pyhajoki's normally sleepy village center, bringing local politicians, business leaders and media to Fennovoima's small office to hear Chief Executive Tapio Saarenpaa's plans for construction work due to begin in 2015.

"Our home has been announced and it is here," Saarenpaa said.

($1 = 0.746 Euros)

(Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

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No "big bang" expected from Durban climate talks: EU

By David Stanway

BEIJING | Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:32am EDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - Global climate talks in South Africa next month will not produce a "big bang" capable of producing a new and binding pact to slash greenhouse gases, but steady progress could be made, a senior European climate official said on Tuesday.

Jos Delbeke, director general for climate action at the European Commission, told a news briefing in Beijing that he had no illusions about the challenges facing negotiators during the next round of talks in Durban, but said he was optimistic that a "step by step" approach could seal a global compact by 2014-5.

"I think if people are expecting a big bang, that is not on the cards," he said.

"Even if we do not have a big bang at Durban, we have the opportunity to make operational steps that are going to turn out to be very important for the elaboration of a new comprehensive regime."

After the disappointments of Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun in 2010, the latest round of discussions to extend the Kyoto Protocol will take place in November, and Delbeke said negotiators had already shed the illusion that a deal could be sealed in one easy step.

The first phase of the Kyoto agreement will expire at the end of 2012, but with most of the world preoccupied with reviving the economy and handling the European sovereign debt crisis, few expect any breakthroughs.

Media reports have suggested that big greenhouse gas producers like Japan and Canada would not even participate in the second phase of Kyoto, which Delbeke said he "deplored."

"I think in reality what may happen is that the Europeans will pronounce themselves politically in favor of the Kyoto Protocol but that they will only go for ratification of the agreement if other parties join the club and undertake action."

Delbeke said beyond the challenges of signing a new global deal, incremental progress was likely to be seen on technological cooperation, as well as issues like adaptation to climate change and monitoring emissions.

BILATERAL DEAL?

China has been the biggest beneficiary of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a Kyoto Protocol scheme that allows industrialized countries to meet their CO2 reduction targets by purchasing "certified emission reductions" or CERs from low-carbon projects launched in developing nations.

But the EU, the biggest buyer of CERs, has said it will not accept CERs generated by Chinese projects once the current phase of its Emissions Trading Scheme ends in 2012, though projects already registered will remain valid.

"Our ministers last week came together and they said they remain open to continue the Kyoto Protocol but there are a number of conditions attached to it," said Delbeke.

"One of them is the environmental integrity of the Kyoto Protocol needs to be improved. Another is that many more players have to join in."

With the EU committed to bringing the benefits of the mechanism to least developed countries, China will need to negotiate a separate bilateral deal with Europe if it wants to continue supplying carbon credits to Europe after 2012.

But that is likely to need stronger commitments to reduce absolute levels of greenhouse gas, including "sectoral" programmes that will force entire industries rather than individual projects to cut their emissions.

China, for its part, is still committed to the Kyoto principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" which puts most of the responsibility for cutting emissions on the shoulders of developed nations.

The EU has been in discussions with potential partner countries but Delbeke wouldn't be drawn on whether talks with China were making progress.

"We have had quite a number of discussions -- it is about improving the CDM and, as far as we are concerned, opening up a new sector-based mechanism," said Delbeke.

He said talks were at an early stage and the important issue was ensuring that credits generated from sectoral schemes were recognized by the United Nations.

"I think it is fair to say that before such credits become available, we still will need some time because the clarity on sectoral mechanisms is not yet there, and it has to be implemented, and the credits have to be generated. It is not something that is going to happen on January 1, 2013."

(Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Conservationists seek to halt Idaho, Montana wolf hunt

By Laura Zuckerman

SALMON, Idaho | Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:05pm EDT

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Conservationists asked a federal court on Monday to stop wolf hunts under way in Idaho and Montana until judges rule on an appeal that seeks to restore federal protections to the animals in the two states.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and others told the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that more than 200 wolves have been killed in Idaho and Montana so far this year from a population estimated at between 1,300 and 1,600.

They argued that the wolves will suffer irreparable harm now that a hunting season allowing rifles has opened in Idaho and is due to open in Montana, according to legal documents.

The two states have issued nearly 37,000 wolf permits, which Alliance head Michael Garrity said could lead to a "slaughter."

"Nearly 37,000 humans armed with high-powered rifles and long-range scopes will now be trying to kill the wolves in Montana and Idaho," Garrity said in a statement.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced fewer than 100 wolves to the Northern Rockies in the mid-1990s after hunting, trapping and poisoning campaigns pushed the creatures to the point of extinction.

The reintroduction happened over the protests of ranchers, who feared wolves would threaten livestock, and commercial outfitters, who blamed wolves for preying on prized game animals like elk.

The states contend wolves are thriving and that they should be hunted like other wildlife. Idaho is seeking to reduce its wolf population by about 80 percent and Montana is seeking to cull roughly 40 percent of its wolves, mostly through hunting.

"The state of Idaho has a well-established track record of proven stewardship in successfully managing other big game predators such as black bears and mountain lions," Jon Hanian, spokesman for Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter, said in a statement.

"Idaho's plan for wolf management is just as responsible," he added.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and the states sought for years to lift U.S. Endangered Species Act protections from the animals in Idaho and Montana but those efforts - which would clear the way for hunts - were blocked by environmentalists.

Congress passed a measure in April removing wolves in the two states from the threatened and endangered species list. It was the first time federal protections had been lifted from an animal by congressional action rather than scientific review.

Alliance and other groups are appealing an August decision by a federal judge upholding the delisting. Ninth Circuit judges have already denied a previous request by conservationists to stay wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

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Death toll from rain in Central America climbs to 81

1 of 2. A man walks at the banks of the Amatitlan lake, 30 km (19 miles) of Guatemala City, October 16, 2011. Guatemalan authorities on Wednesday declared the country was in ''red alert'' after a tropical storm called 12E hit. Forty-four people have died and thousands are affected by the rains, according to the National Coordination of Disaster Reduction (CONRED).

Credit: Reuters/Jorge Dan Lopez

By Nelson Renteria

SAN SALVADOR | Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:14pm EDT

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - The death toll from torrential rains in Central America over the past week has almost doubled since Saturday, with a further 25 lives lost in El Salvador, authorities said on Sunday.

A tropical depression that swept in from the Pacific on Wednesday caused mudslides and chaos on roads and forced thousands of people to abandon their homes in the chain of countries between Mexico and South America, killing 81 so far.

On Saturday, the death toll stood at 45 in the region, home to some of the poorest countries in the Americas. El Salvador, a nation of some 6 million, was the worst affected overnight, with accidents pushing up the number of victims there to 32.

"The situation has got even worse, it's still raining heavily in various parts of the country," El Salvador's president, Mauricio Funes, said in an address late on Sunday,

Many of those killed in the country died in mudslides, an official from local emergency services said.

The rainfall was so strong in the area around the municipality of Ciudad Arce, northwest of San Salvador, that rescue operations had to be suspended for a time.

Guatemala also reported more dead, bringing its death toll to 28, while the total rose to 13 in Honduras. At least eight people have also died in Nicaragua. No deaths were reported in Costa Rica, though dozens of families have been evacuated.

Rain was still falling in parts of the region. The weather has also hit southeastern Mexico, where swollen rivers have affected thousands of people, notably in Tabasco state.

At least four people died in Mexico earlier in the week when Category Two Hurricane Jova struck from the Pacific, forcing the country's busiest port to close.

(Additional reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa, Mike McDonald in Guatemala City, Ivan Castro in Managua and Alex Leff in San Jose, writing by Dave Graham; editing by Todd Eastham)

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Thais count floods cost, Bangkok warned crisis not over

1 of 11. Workers move goods from their warehouse at a flooded area in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok October 16, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom

By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat

BANGKOK | Tue Oct 18, 2011 12:32am EDT

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's cabinet met on Tuesday to discuss the mounting economic cost of floods that have killed 315 people, and residents of Bangkok were told not to drop their guard even if the immediate danger to the capital had passed.

Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala has said the damage from flooding since July could be as high as 1.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and ministers will discuss relief measures and extra government borrowing to pay for it.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Monday spending on reconstruction could amount to more than 100 billion baht ($3.3 billion) after the worst floods in half a century damaged large areas of farmland and closed huge industrial estates.

The cabinet was to discuss a proposal to raise the budget deficit by 14 percent to 400 billion baht ($13 billion) for this fiscal year from October 1.

The cost could go far higher if Bangkok, which accounts for 41 percent of GDP, is hit by floods.

Monsoon rain, high tides and water flowing down from reservoirs in northern Thailand had threatened the capital at the weekend but its defensive system of dikes and canals held.

However, Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra warned the danger was not completely over and that districts in the north of the capital may still face problems over the next 48 hours.

"We don't want to cause any panic among Bangkokians," he told a news conference late on Monday. "However, if you want to move valuables or electrical equipment to higher ground for safety reasons, that would be good."

Residents have complained about contradictory noises from city and government officials, including an evacuation warning in a northern suburb last week that proved to be a false alarm.

There have been conflicting signals over the fate of the Nava Nakorn industrial estate north of Bangkok, which has 270 plants and about 270,000 workers, but the government told firms to halt operations on Monday as floodwater breached its walls.

At least six big estates have now closed, most of them in the central province of Ayutthaya.

HIGHER WAGE BILL

The government is pushing ahead with a big increase in the minimum wage despite the huge bill companies face to restart their operations once the waters subside.

Yingluck's Puea Thai Party had promised a minimum of 300 baht ($9.70) a day in its campaign for the July election that swept her to power, a commitment industry said would be ruinous and economists said would fuel inflation.

Government, employer and worker representatives came up with a compromise on Monday, agreeing to a big 40 percent rise that will still leave the minimum below 300 baht in most provinces, including Ayutthaya. The rise has also been pushed back to next April from January because of the flooding.

The 300 baht minimum will apply in Bangkok and six other well-off provinces, including the tourist island of Phuket.

That wage is five times higher than the minimum in Vietnam and 2.5-4.6 times that in Indonesia, according to Kasikorn Research Center. A rice-based meal costs about 37 baht from a Bangkok street-vendor.

The wage rise will add to the central bank's dilemma at its rate review on Wednesday. Core inflation is near 3 percent, the top of its target range, but the economy is under threat from both the floods and a slowdown in Western export markets.

The consensus view is that the Bank of Thailand will hold the policy rate at 3.50 percent.

"Before the floods, our economy was growing close to its potential. We have to look at how far monetary policy can be flexible," Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said on Monday after a meeting between officials and business leaders.

(Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Alan Raybould; Editing by Paul Tait)

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BP gets $4 billion from Anadarko for oil spill costs

A shrimp boat trawls near healthy marsh, bayous and water ways east of the mouth of the Atchafalaya River near Morgan City, Louisiana April 20, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Sean Gardner

By Tom Bergin and Moira Herbst

LONDON | Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:51pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Anadarko Petroleum Corp will pay BP Plc $4 billion toward clean-up and victim compensation for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The amount is less than BP might have won in court, but it softens the blow of overall spill-related costs to the British group.

As part of the settlement announced on Monday, Anadarko also said it will no longer pursue allegations of gross negligence against BP. It is unclear what impact this development will have on the remainder of the morass of litigation pending in federal court in New Orleans, legal experts said.

Investors greeted the deal as good news for both companies. BP shares rose 2.2 percent in London and Anadarko shares closed 5.5 percent higher at $74.44 on the New York Stock Exchange.

"We maintain our view that the ultimate cost to BP could fall ... substantially below the cost inferred by the share price fall since the accident," said Richard Griffith, an oil analyst at Evolution Securities.

Anadarko, based in Woodlands, Texas, was a 25 percent partner in the doomed Macondo well. It sued BP in April, claiming that gross negligence by BP caused the blowout and saying that BP is responsible for economic losses from the incident. BP, in turn, invoiced Anadarko $6.1 billion for spill-related costs it calculated Anadarko owed.

The settlement announced on Monday is "favorable for both companies," BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said.

Without a deal, Anadarko could have been on the hook for 25 percent of the cost of cleanup, compensating those affected, and any government fines. BP has said the total bill for the oil spill, including fines, will be $42 billion. This suggests Anadarko could have faced a total bill well above the $4 billion it agreed to pay.

It could only avoid this responsibility by proving in court that BP had been grossly negligent -- something that could have added around $18 billion to the total amount of fines BP faced. Fines for leaking oil into U.S. waters are assessed at $1,100 per barrel, or $4,300 if gross negligence is proven. The government has said the Macondo well leaked almost 5 million barrels into the sea.

Anadarko would still be liable for its share of any fines payable to the U.S. government, according to the deal.

Anadarko's $4 billion payment will be made in cash and paid into the victims' compensation fund BP established last year, Anadarko spokesman John Christiansen said.

On October 12, the U.S. offshore drilling regulator -- the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement -- formally issued violation notices against BP, Transocean and Halliburton for their roles in the oil spill. BP received most of the 15 citations, ranging from failure to protect health and property to failing to keep the well under control. A report the previous month found BP solely responsible for 21 of 35 causes of the disaster.

BP has sued Transocean, the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig, Halliburton Co, which supplied cement to cap the well, and Cameron International Corp, which designed the blowout preventer, a device that was supposed to stop the surge of oil, to share the cost of the spill and cleanup.

These lawsuits are among hundreds of claims set to go to trial before a federal judge in New Orleans in February.

It is unclear what impact the Anadarko settlement could have on these disputes, legal experts said. "Perhaps (the deal) creates some momentum toward other settlements because it suggests BP is willing to resolve claims," said Howard Erichson, an expert in complex litigation and a professor of law at Fordham University. "But I'm not sure it gives Transocean or Halliburton any particular reason to revise whatever calculations they have made."

A Halliburton spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

Transocean spokesman Lou Colasuonno said: "It is time for BP to step up and make good on its contractual responsibility to defend and indemnify its subcontractors."

If BP recoups cash from Transocean or Halliburton, it will pay a portion of this -- up to $1 billion -- to Anadarko under the terms of the deal announced on Monday.

In May, BP agreed to accept $1.1 billion from a third partner in Macondo, Mitsui & Co, to cover its 10 percent share of cleanup costs. The following month, Weatherford International Ltd, which provided equipment for the Macondo well, agreed to pay BP $75 million.

The case is In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon", U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 2:10-md-02179.

(Reporting by Tom Bergin and Moira Herbst; Editing by Andrew Callus, Tim Dobbyn and Matthew Lewis)

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Scarce resources, climate biggest threats to world health

An environmental activist watches a lumberjack saw a tree in Sumava National Park near the village of Modrava July 27, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Petr Josek

By Nina Chestney

LONDON | Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:47pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - The Earth's natural resources like food, water and forests are being depleted at an alarming speed, causing hunger, conflict, social unrest and species extinction, experts at a climate and health conference in London warned Monday.

Increased hunger due to food yield changes will lead to malnutrition; water scarcity will deteriorate hygiene; pollution will weaken immune systems; and displacement and social disorder due to conflicts over water and land will increase the spread of infectious diseases, they said.

By 2050, there could be 70 million additional deaths in sub-Saharan Africa alone, said Tony McMichael, professor of population health at the Australian National University.

As mosquito species spread due to climate change, the transmission rate of diseases like malaria will increase, engulfing countries like Zimbabwe from 2025 to 2050.

An extra 21 million people in China could be at risk from the infectious disease schistosomiasis as global warming increases floods, enabling disease-carrying water snails to travel to new areas.

"Climate change will progressively weaken the Earth's life support mechanism," McMichael said. "Health is not just collateral damage on the side, the risk is central and represents a denouement of all the other effects of climate change."

The world's population is due to exceed 7 billion this month and is forecast to rise to over 10 billion by 2050, putting even more strain on global resources.

The effects of climate change will only exacerbate the problems, putting the health of ecosystems, animal species and humans in danger, the experts said.

EUROPE

Health effects will not just be felt in Africa or Asia -- Europe will also feel the consequences.

"The problem of over-consumption in high income countries has produced an ecological and financial debt," Ian Roberts, professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told Reuters.

"The biggest risk to human health is from the rise in fossil fuel use, causing cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer," he added.

Europe will also be at risk from heat waves, floods and more infectious diseases as pests shift to northern latitudes, said Sari Kovats, lead author of the Europe chapter for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) fifth assessment report.

"The fact is, there is more evidence that diseases are moving north such as bluetongue," she told Reuters.

The IPCC's next report, which is due out in 2013-2014, will include chapters on human security and livelihoods and poverty for the first time to reflect the new raft of scientific evidence, she added.

Human health is not only at risk. Animal and plant species are also endangered.

"Many species are already facing a raft of pressures and climate change is creating a new range of additional problems," said Paul Pearce-Kelly, senior curator at London's Zoological Society.

Around 15 to 37 percent of over 6,000 species of amphibia are predicted to become extinct by 2100, he said.

In the Earth's history, there have been five mass extinctions, but there is now a 10,000-fold faster extinction rate than at any time on record.

"We are losing three species an hour, and this is before climate change is doing anything," said Hugh Montgomery, director at University College London's institute for human health and performance.

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Court rejects stay on wolf hunts in Idaho, Montana

By Laura Zuckerman

SALMON, Idaho | Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:08pm EDT

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A federal court rejected a bid by conservationists for an immediate halt to wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana on Tuesday, but the judges said they would reconsider the request next month.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and others had asked the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency injunction on wolf hunts pending an appeal that seeks to restore Endangered Species Act protections to wolves in the two states.

Idaho is seeking to reduce its wolf population by about 80 percent and Montana is seeking to cull roughly 40 percent of its wolves, mostly through hunting. Conservationists said 200 wolves have already been killed this year in those states from a population estimated at between 1,300 and 1,600.

The conservationists had argued a stay was urgently needed because the states had sold nearly 37,000 permits for wolf hunts that allow high-powered rifles equipped with long-range scopes.

In an order denying the injunction, the court said it would take up the question of suspending wolf hunts next month during arguments in the appeal.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced fewer than 100 wolves to the Northern Rockies in the mid-1990s after hunting, trapping and poisoning campaigns pushed the creatures to the point of extinction.

The reintroduction happened over the protests of ranchers, who feared wolves would threaten livestock, and commercial outfitters, who blamed wolves for preying on prized game animals like elk.

The states say wolves are now thriving and should be hunted like other wildlife, and Congress in April approved a measure removing wolves from the list of threatened and endangered species in Idaho and Montana.

Conservationists are appealing an August decision by a federal judge that upheld that delisting. It was the first time an animal had been stripped of federal safeguards by congressional action rather than scientific review.

Wild Rockies Alliance head Michael Garrity said on Tuesday he was "cautiously optimistic" about the upcoming court hearing.

"But, unfortunately, this means wolves will be hunted and trapped in Idaho and hunted in Montana for at least another three weeks," he said.

Jon Hanian, spokesman for Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter, had said in an e-mail on Monday that Idaho had a well-established track record of successfully managing big-game predators like mountain lions.

"Idaho's plan for wolf management is just as responsible," he said.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Cynthia Johnston)

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U.S. study suggests pricing carbon from ground to consumer

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent

WASHINGTON | Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:20pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - To measure a country's greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels, it makes sense to consider the whole carbon supply chain, from oil well or coal mine to a consumer's shelf, scientists reported on Monday.

Currently, putting a price on climate-warming carbon dioxide generated by oil, coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels typically takes place where the fuel is burned.

However, this may not be the most effective way to calculate carbon emissions' cost, the researchers wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Carbon dioxide generated by human activities such as coal-fired power plants and factories and petroleum-powered vehicles contributes to the heat-trapping greenhouse effect that spurs climate change. To counter this effect, some policy makers advocate putting a price on carbon emissions to curb consumption.

Without advocating any method of pricing carbon, the scientists suggest that as a practical matter, it could be most efficient to administer any so-called "carbon tax" at the point of extraction.

"We've moved beyond trying to place blame, because that's just an argument that will never be won," said co-author Steven Davis of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "The only way it's ever going to get sorted out is if we can come up with anything resembling a consistent, unavoidable price on carbon that applies globally and then the chips will fall as they may."

The scientists analyzed fossil fuel extraction, combustion and consumption in 112 countries and 58 industry sectors. They learned that 51 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions from human activities stemmed from fossil fuels or goods that were sent across borders to get to consumers.

INCENTIVE FOR BIG DRILLERS AND MINERS

They found that 67 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions would be covered if regulation of fossil fuels was done at the point of extraction in China, the United States, the Middle East, Russia, Canada, Australia and India.

Those countries that did not participate would miss out on revenue from carbon-linked tariffs down the supply chain, the authors discovered.

To give an incentive to big fossil fuel extractors, like Saudi Arabia, to put a tax on oil aimed at reducing demand for oil, it would have to be clear that a tax would have to be imposed somewhere along the line, Davis said by telephone from Washington state.

"If that oil was going to be taxed when it was burned somewhere else, like the United States, then the Saudi Arabians would prefer to actually administer the tax and collect revenue that they could use at home rather than allow the revenue to be collected in the U.S.," Davis said.

Putting a carbon tax at the point of extraction would be efficient since there are far fewer coal mines and oil wells than there are factories and power plants, and this could avoid the relocation of industries that might occur if regulation occurred where the fuel was burned, the authors wrote.

They also found that most of the world's exported fossil fuel ends up in developed countries, which also import a lot of goods dependent on fossil fuel. China is the exception to this trend.

More information and graphics, including a country-by-country accounting of emissions from extraction, production and consumption, are online at supplychainCO2.stanford.edu/ .

(Additional reporting by Christopher S. Buckley in Beijing; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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TransCanada offers Nebraska concessions for pipeline

OMAHA, Nebraska | Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:53pm EDT

OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp has offered a $100 million performance bond and other oil spill protection measures to Nebraska legislators in an attempt to reduce opposition to the company's proposed $7 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline.

State lawmakers want TransCanada to move the pipeline route from Nebraska's Sandhills region, which sits atop a massive aquifer from which a large portion of the agriculture-heavy central United States gets its water.

In a letter to the speaker of the legislature on Tuesday, TransCanada executive Alex Pourbaix said the company cannot make changes to the right-of-way so late in the review process, but is prepared to offer a host of other protections for the environmentally sensitive area.

TransCanada would put up a $100 million performance bond it would make available to the state if the company does not clean up a spill in the Sandhills area.

Among other measures, it would build a concrete containment structure at a pump station to stop any oil from mixing with surface water in the event of a spill, as well as install a pipe coating made of concrete or other materials in areas where the water table is close to the surface.

"I believe they should help alleviate any remaining concerns about the safety of the approved route of the pipeline," Pourbaix wrote in the letter to the speaker, Senator Mike Flood.

The company has yet to receive a response, TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard said.

The risk of oil spills in the area of the aquifer, called the Ogallala, is one of several points of opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, which would move up to 700,000 barrels a day of oil sands-derived crude to Texas from northern Alberta, Canada.

The U.S. State Department is expected to rule by the end of this year on whether TransCanada can build the controversial line, which the company has said will create U.S. jobs and improve energy security.

Howard said the concessions are in response to concerns raised at a meeting with Nebraska lawmakers last week.

"We had made a commitment to the speaker and some of the state senators that were involved that we would consider some of the requests they made and see what we may be able to do to further enhance the safety of the pipeline, especially in the Sandhills region," Howard said.

"We spent the last week having a look at this and this is what we were able to commit to in terms of enhancements that are above and beyond what we've already done and agreed to."

TransCanada has said the pipeline would be the most advanced and safest ever built.

Still, in the letter, Pourbaix offered to conduct water well testing for landowners within 300 feet of the proposed right-of-way in the Sandhills region and locate oil spill equipment and personnel there as well.

(Writing by Jeffrey Jones; Editing by David Gregorio and Bob Burgdorfer)

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Senate approves pipeline safety bill

Investigators look over the remains of homes in a neighborhood that was destroyed when a natural gas pipeline ruptured and exploded, killing four people, and created a firestorm that destroyed 37 homes and injured more than 50 people last Thursday, in San Bruno, California September 13, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith

By Roberta Rampton and Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON | Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:08pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a pipeline safety bill on Monday that would require strength-testing of old pipes and hike fines for safety violations after a series of accidents and explosions.

The legislation was sparked by an explosion a year ago in San Bruno, California, on a line owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. The explosion destroyed a neighborhood and killed eight people.

Investigators blamed the blast on weak regulatory oversight. The National Transportation Safety Board said the "preventable" rupture was caused by defective welds on pipeline laid in 1956.

"This bill strengthens oversight and addresses long-standing safety issues that leave the public vulnerable to catastrophic pipeline accidents," said Senator Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat who co-sponsored the bill.

The United States has about 2.3 million miles of pipelines that move oil, natural gas and other hazardous liquids.

The bill requires automatic or remote-controlled shut-off valves to prevent oil spills and natural gas explosions, requires faster notification to the government of accidents and leaks, and boosts funding to add more pipeline inspectors.

BOOM TIME FOR NATURAL GAS, SHALE OIL

The bill comes amid massive growth in U.S. natural gas and shale oil production.

This week, Kinder Morgan Inc said it would buy El Paso Corp, a $21 billion deal combining the two largest natural gas pipeline operators in North America and creating an 80,000-mile network of pipeline.

But public scrutiny of the potential environmental risks of pipelines has also intensified.

The Obama administration is considering approvals for TransCanada Corp's $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry crude oil to Texas from Canada -- a project opposed by environmental groups.

A panel in the U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar pipeline bill on September 21, which still has to be voted on in the full House.

That bill would require U.S. oil pipelines to be buried deeper when crossing waterways to avoid the kind of leak that polluted Montana's Yellowstone River in July when a pipeline owned by Exxon Mobil Corp ruptured.

One major industry group said it hopes Congress can send a final bill to be signed by President Barack Obama by the end of the year.

"This legislation updates and improves policy in several areas, including integrity management and damage prevention," said Don Santa, chief executive of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, which represents pipeline operators.

(Additional reporting by JoAnne Allen; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer, Bernard Orr)

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Fukushima victims: homeless,desperate and angry

Evacuees who fled from Namie town near the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant listen to government officials' explanations about how to apply for compensation at their temporary housing complex in Fukushima October 6, 2011. At last, victims of Japan's nuclear crisis can claim compensation. And they are angry. They are furious at the red tape they have to wade through just to receive basic help and in despair they still cannot get on with their lives seven months after the huge quake and tsunami triggered the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years. Picture was taken on October 6, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Kubota Yoko

By Yoko Kubota

FUKUSHIMA, Japan | Tue Oct 18, 2011 1:19am EDT

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - At last, victims of Japan's nuclear crisis can claim compensation. And they are angry.

They are furious at the red tape they have to wade through just to receive basic help and in despair they still cannot get on with their lives seven months after the huge quake and tsunami triggered the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years.

Shouts fill a room at a temporary housing complex where seven officials, kneeling in their dark suits, face 70 or so tenants who were forced to abandon their homes near the Fukushima nuclear plant after some of its reactors went into meltdown after the March 11 quake struck.

"We don't know who we can trust!" one man yelled in the cramped room where the officials were trying to explain the hugely complex procedures to claim compensation.

"Can we actually go back home? And if not, can you guarantee our livelihoods?"

About 80,000 people were forced to leave their homes by the nuclear crisis.

While the owner of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co, has made temporary payments to some victims, it was only last month that it finally began accepting applications for compensation.

But the procedure is so complicated that it seems to just make things worse.

After claimants have read a 160-page instruction manual, they then have to fill in a 60-page form and attach receipts for lodging, transportation and medical costs.

"It's too difficult. I'm going to see how it goes. I don't want to rush and mess up," said Toshiyuki Owada, 65, an evacuee from Namie town, about 20 km (12 miles) away from the plant.

Owada is one of many who still has not applied for compensation even though they have lost jobs or businesses and are running out of cash.

COMPLEX AND UNFAIR

The complexity of the task is one deterrent.

There is another -- the perception that Tepco is not playing fair.

Confidence in the authorities is low. The government is seen as having bungled its early response to the crisis and being secretive about what was really happening.

Tepco is accused of failing to take sufficient safety measures at the Fukushima plant even though it knew the risks and then deliberately underplaying the extent of the accident.

It is also seen as insensitive.

One clause in the original instruction booklet telling victims they would have to agree to waive their right to challenge the compensation amount in order to receive payment provoked a public uproar.

Chastised by the government, the company promised to drop the clause, issued a simplified 4-page instruction booklet and assigned 1,000 employees to Fukushima prefecture to help victims with the process.

"There may be times when the content is difficult to understand or in some cases our employee in charge may not grasp it fully, but we would like to explain and respond as carefully as possible," said Tepco spokesman Naoyuki Matsumoto.

A government panel overseeing the compensation scheme estimates claims are likely to reach 3.6 trillion yen ($46.5 billion) in the financial year to next March.

FEW CLAIMANTS

But so far just 7,100 individuals have applied to Tepco for compensation out of the 80,000 it send forms to.

And of the 10,000 businesses in the Fukushima area, a mere 300 have submitted claims.

The company expects a total of 300,000 claims from businesses given that the impact of the radiation crisis has been so widespread.

Victims can sue but that is rare.

Junichi Matsumoto, a Tepco official, said the utility faces about 10 lawsuits so far. He declined to disclose details but said some were seeking more than the firm deemed appropriate.

Yuichi Kaido, an attorney and the secretary-general of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, said lawsuits are considered a last resort in conservative rural northeast Japan.

"In the end, many lawsuits could take place," he said.

"But the majority is thinking of first speaking with Tokyo Electric or seeking mediation."

SENSE OF RESIGNATION

The final compensation depends on whether and when victims will be able to return to homes within a 20-km evacuation zone. That question remains unanswered, breeding a growing sense of resignation among evacuees.

Some said they doubt they will ever be able to go home and suggested their entire towns simply be relocated and many worry about long-term health effects of radiation.

An Asahi newspaper poll showed this month that 43 percent of evacuees still want to return, down from 62 percent in June.

For many, what is now on the table -- reimbursement for moving and transportation costs associated with evacuating, compensation for damage to health, lost jobs, and psychological suffering -- only deepens frustration over what they have lost.

Tokyo Electric said it will pay about 100,000 yen a month for the period to end of August as compensation for psychological trauma. After that, the sum will be halved.

"Evidence that we have lived our lives is completely destroyed and for that, we are told that we will be compensated 100,000 yen for our psychological suffering. That's it?" said 75-year-old restaurant owner Sumiko Toyoguchi, who had to leave her home in Namie.

"What's at the root of our frustration is that we cannot see what our tomorrow will be like."

($1 = 77.365 Japanese Yen)

(Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Jonathan Thatcher)

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