Environment

French authorities said an explosion occurred at the EDF-operated Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant in France’s north-west, in the power plant's machine room, but added that there is no leak of radiation. The incident occurred at 10:00 local time (09:00 GMT) in an engine room, Ouest-France newspaper reported. No injuries have been reported.

“It is a significant technical failure but it is not a nuclear accident” because the explosion occurred “outside the nuclear zone,” Olivier Marmion, director of the prefect's office, told AFP.

Submitted by Chris Hamilton via Econimica blog,

In this article, I want to spend a little time reviewing two of the most relatively reliable data sets, population size/growth and energy consumption/growth.  I'll compare the total energy consumption of nations / groupings of nations vs. their core (25-54yr/old) employed populations and total core (25-54yr/old) populations.

Tests from two public schools in the Bronx found elevated levels of lead in their water, with one testing 16 times higher than Flint, Michigan. The tests were carried out by the Department of Education DOE in conjunction with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The city Department of Education issued letters to parents earlier this week informing them that lead levels were higher than the EPA’s action level of 15 parts per billion, NBC New York reports.

The US Army Corps of Engineer has granted the final easement necessary to finish construction on the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, dealing a major blow to the Standing Rock Sioux  tribe. President Donald Trump had issued an executive order to review the project quickly. In a court filing  the Army Corps said it would allow the final 1.5 miles of the more than 1,700-mile pipeline to tunnel under the Missouri River north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The mayor of Ankara warned on Tuesday that hostile outside forces were planning to orchestrate a manmade earthquake in Turkey, capable of wreaking huge damage across the country.  Melih Gokcek, who has been mayor since 1994, made the claims via Twitter on Tuesday, hinting that sophisticated weather warfare technology would be used to trigger a manmade earthquake which would damage Turkey’s economy.