Nuclear Energy

Friends Of The Earth Sues NRC Over Hiding Earthquake Vulnerability

October 30, 2014 Friends of the Earth, www.foe.org Organize! Energy, Environment, Law, Nuclear Energy, Oil & Gas

Friends of the Earth has petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn a secret decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to illegally alter the operating license for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant allowing Pacific Gas and Electric to hide the fact that the reactors are vulnerable to earthquakes stronger than it was meant to withstand. The secret revision of Diablo Canyon’s license was revealed in NRC documents rejecting a dissent by the plant’s former senior resident inspector. The inspector, Dr. Michael Peck, defied his superiors in saying that Diablo Canyon was operating in violation of its license and should be shut down unless and until new seismic information was addressed.

Haunting The Nuclear Talks

October 22, 2014 Gareth Porter, www.truth-out.org Educate! Iran, Nuclear Energy, Wikileaks

The accusation by US and other Western diplomats that Iran has been "stonewalling" the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) investigation of alleged past nuclear weapons work has been a familiar theme in mainstream media coverage of Iran's relations with the IAEA for years. What remains virtually unknown, however, is how a brazen deception by the George W. Bush administration and a key official within the IAEA created the false narrative of Iranian refusal to cooperate with the IAEA and was used to justify harsh international sanctions. The initial deception was the suggestion by the IAEA that Iran had acknowledged that the activities portrayed in controversial intelligence documents purportedly from an Iranian nuclear weapons project were real, but had claimed they were for non-nuclear purposes.

Fukushima Legacy: 25,000 Cannot Go Home

October 20, 2014 Rob Edwards, www.heraldscotland.com Educate! health, Japan, Nuclear Energy

The explosions, meltdowns and leaks at Fukushima Daiichi triggered by an earthquake and tsunami three and a half years ago have hurt Japan deeply, triggering 2.2 million compensation claims, an £8 billion decontamination budget and dozens of legal suits. It's a hurt that is going to take many decades to heal. More than 30,000 square kilometres of northern Japan were contaminated by the huge clouds of radioactivity that belched into the air during the accident. More than 80,000 people were forced to evacuate from the areas closest to Fukushima Daiichi, and at least another 80,000 are reckoned to have voluntarily decided to flee their homes. The official evacuation zone is divided into three different areas. In the least contaminated, furthest away from the nuclear plant, the Japanese government is hoping to allow 32,900 people to return soon.

2015: Organizing Global Action To End Nuclear Era

September 27, 2014 Joseph Gerson and Jackie Cabasso, www.popularresistance.org Organize! Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Weapons, Peace

On the heels of the September 21 People’s Climate March, a broad international network of NGOs is marking the first United Nations-led International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons by announcing plans for a major mobilization in the run-up to the critically important Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. The NPT Review will be held at UN headquarters in New York City in April and May 2015. Quoting the Call to Action, which was released today (see below), Dr. Joseph Gerson of the American Friends Service Committee and a co-convener of the network said that “A nuclear weapon-free world can and must be achieved.” He continued, “The dangers of nuclear war didn’t disappear with the end of the Cold War."

Nuclear Plant Depresses Property Values

September 1, 2014 Chris Burrell, www.enterprisenews.com Organize! Anti-Nuclear, Law, Massachusetts, Nuclear Energy

PLYMOUTH – Encouraged by a decision in the Massachusetts Land Court, anti-nuclear activists are forging ahead with a lawsuit, arguing that the Pilgrim nuclear station in Plymouth and its storage of spent nuclear fuel have hurt property values in the area. The plaintiffs – 11 residents who live within two miles of the 685-megawatt nuclear power plant owned by Louisiana-based Entergy Corp. – are challenging Entergy and the Plymouth officials who approved a permit for the company to build concrete pads for storing nuclear waste in concrete casks. “A project that has these threats and dangers and such a huge impact on the community should be subject to the highest level of oversight by local boards,” said Meg Sheehan, a Cambridge lawyer representing the residents. Sheehan said that Plymouth’s building inspector and zoning board wrongly approved the building permit for Pilgrim and should have required a special permitting process and a public hearing.

Inspector Warns Diablo Canyon: A Fukushima In Waiting

August 29, 2014 Karl Grossman, www.theecologist.org Educate! California, Earthquake, Nuclear Energy

As aftershocks of the 6.0 Napa earthquake that occurred Sunday in California continued, the Associated Press revealed a secret government report pointing to major earthquake vulnerabilities at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plants which are a little more than 200 miles away and sitting amid a webwork of earthquake faults. It's apparent to any visitor to the stretch of California where the two Diablo Canyon plants are sited that it is geologically hot. A major tourist feature of the area: hot spas. "Welcome to the Avila Hot Springs", declares the website of one, noting how "historic Avila Hot Springs" was "discovered in 1907 by at the time unlucky oil drillers and established" as a "popular visitor-serving natural artesian mineral hot springs." Nevertheless, Pacific Gas & Electric had no problem in 1965 picking the area along the California coast, north of Avila Beach, as a location for two nuclear plants. Geology rocks! It was known that the San Andreas Fault was inland 45 miles away. But in 1971, with construction already under way, oil company geologists discovered another earthquake fault - the Hosgri Fault, just three miles out in the Pacific from the plant site and linked to the San Andreas Fault.

Fukushima: We’ve Opened The Gates Of Hell

August 16, 2014 Washington's Blog, www.washingtonsblog.com Educate! Fukushima, Nuclear Energy, Radiation

Preface: we’ve written thousands of articles on Fukushima and radiation. But this post will spotlight recent articles from EneNews … with which we have no affiliation of any nature whatsoever. The American media hasn’t covered Fukushima for a long time. But that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any news. It just means that the U.S. and Japanese governments have worked hard to cover it up. Here’s a roundup of recent news (links to EneNews; click through to see original source material … that’s how the internet works): Radiation: Experts: Fukushima ‘globally enhanced’ cesium-137 levels in air by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude — Radioactive plume that reached Europe “contaminated the land, and as a consequence the whole food chain” — Concentrations greatly underestimated. 200,000,000,000,000 becquerels/kg in fuel rod materials found near Tokyo… “the material spread globally” — Composed “major part” of worst Fukushima plume — Persists for long time in living organisms — Must reconsider disaster’s health effects (PHOTOS). Nuclear fuel found 15 miles from Tokyo suburbs — Fukushima uranium in ‘glassy’ spheres transported over 170 km — Structural materials from the nuclear reactors also present (PHOTOS).

2nd Anniversary Statement Of Anti-Nuclear Protesters

July 29, 2014 Transform Now Plowshares, www.transformnowplowshares.wordpress.com Resist! Nuclear Energy, Peace, Protest

OPEN LETTER FROM THE BROOKLYN METROPOLITAN DETENTION CENTER from Sr. Megan Rice, on behalf of the Transform Now Plowshares July 28, 2014 Our Dear Sisters and Brothers, We send warm greetings and many thanks to all who actively engage in the transformation of weapons of mass destruction to sustainable life-giving alternatives. Gregory Boertje-Obed (U.S. Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas) Michael Walli (Federal Correctional Institution McKean, Bradford, Pennsylvania) and I are sending you some of our observations and concerns on the 2nd anniversary of our Transform Now Plowshares action. On July 28, 2012, after thorough study of nuclear issues, and because of our deepening commitment to nonviolence, we engaged in direct action by cutting through four fences at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where the U.S. continues to overhaul and upgrade thermonuclear warheads. On that day, two years ago, when we reached the building where all U.S. highly-enriched (bomb-grade) uranium is stored, we prayed and also wrote messages on the wall, such as “The Fruit of Justice is Peace”. (Realistically, the higher and stronger fences built as a result of our nonviolent incursion can never keep humans safe from inherently dangerous materials and weapons.) We acted humbly as “creative extremists for love”, to cite one of our most important and revered leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Boom-or-Doom Riddle For Nuclear Industry

July 29, 2014 Paul Brown, www.climatenewsnetwork.net Educate! Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Energy, Renewable Energy

The nuclear industry remains remarkably optimistic about its future, despite evidence that it is a shrinking source of power as renewables increasingly compete to fill the energy gap. LONDON, 26 July, 2014 − The headline figures for 2014 from the nuclear industry describe a worldwide boom in progress, with 73 reactors presently being built and another 481 new ones either planned or approved. The World Nuclear Association (WNA) official website paints a rosy picture of an industry expected to expand dramatically by 2030. It says that over the period 1996 to 2013 the world retired 66 reactors, and 71 started operation. Between now and 2030, the industry expects another 74 reactors to close, but 272 new ones to come on line. This represents a much larger net increase in nuclear electricity production than the basic figures suggest because most of the newer power stations have a bigger capacity than those closing down. Pipe dream Detractors of the industry say that these projections are a pipe dream and that nuclear power will not expand at that pace, if at all, and that solar and wind power will grow much faster to fill the energy gap.

Victory For Navajo Grassroots Groups Over Uranium Mining

July 24, 2014 Leona Morgan, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Environment, health, Nuclear Energy, Uranium

oncerned Diné Citizens, a coalition of Navajo grassroots organizations and residents opposed to uranium mining, applaud the Navajo Nation Council’s vote to close a loophole created by a previous uranium mining legislation Tuesday (7/22/14) which had authorized access over Navajo Trust Land to a uranium mining company Uranium Resources Incorporated (URI). “If Uranium Resources were allowed unlimited access over Trust Land in Churchrock, that would have potentially opened up new mining on URI’s other properties in northwestern New Mexico,” said Jonathan Perry, President of Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining. Perry continues, “Because these kinds of companies target areas adjacent to the Nation, but not on Navajo Indian Country, our own laws prohibiting new uranium mining cannot protect people in the checkerboard lands.”

NRC Commissioner Hired By Pro-Nuke Group Continues At NRC

July 24, 2014 Michelle Li, www.pogo.org Organize! Nuclear Energy

The Project On Government Oversight wrote to President Barack Obama asking that he seek Commissioner William Magwood’s immediate resignation from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Magwood has already accepted the position of Director-General at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). The letter highlighted Magwood’s unacceptable conflict of interest created by his accepting that position while still holding his position as an NRC commissioner. POGO has also learned that a motion has been filed by Beyond Nuclear and others asking the NRC to recuse Magwood from participating in the ongoing Fermi Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 3 licensing proceedings. Magwood has refused to resign or recuse himself in all calls for him to do so.

“Tokyo Should No Longer Be Inhabited”

July 23, 2014 Staff, www.save-children-from-radiation.org Educate! Nuclear, Nuclear Energy, Radiation

It is clear that Eastern Japan and Metropolitan Tokyo have been contaminated with radiation. Contamination of the soil can be shown by measuring Bq/kg. Within the 23 districts of Metropolitan Tokyo, contamination in the east part is 1000-4000 Bq/kg and the west part is 300-1000 Bq/kg. The contamination of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine, is 500 Bq/kg (Ce137 only). West Germany after the Chernobyl accident has 90 Bq/kg, Italy has 100 and France has 30 Bq/kg on average. Many cases of health problems have been reported in Germany and Italy. Shinjuku, the location of the Tokyo municipal government, was measured at 0.5-1.5 Bq/kg before 2011. Kodaira currently has 200-300 Bq/kg contamination. I recommend all of you to watch the NHK program, “ETV special: Chernobyl nuclear accident: Report from a contaminated land”, which is available on Internet. I think it is important to acknowledge what people who visited Belarus and Ukraine, and heard the stories of the locals, have seen and felt there, and listen to those who served in rescue operations in Chernobyl in the past more than 20 years. Their experience tells them that Tokyo should no longer be inhabited, and that those who insist on living in Tokyo must take regular breaks in safer areas.

Fukushima: Bad and Getting Worse

July 21, 2014 John LaForge, www.counterpunch.org Educate! Energy, Environment, Fukushima, Nuclear Energy

IPPNW concludes that Fukushima’s radiation disaster is “far from over”: the destroyed reactors are still unstable; radioactive liquids and gases continuously leak from the complex wreckage; melted fuel and used fuel in quake-damaged cooling pools hold enormous quantities of radioactivity “and are highly vulnerable to further earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and human error.” Catastrophic releases of radioactivity “could occur at any time and eliminating this risk will take many decades.” IPPNW finally recommends urgent actions that governments should take, because the UNSCEAR report, “does not adhere to scientific standards of neutrality,” “represents a systematic underestimation,” “conjures up an illusion of scientific certainty that obscures the true impact of the nuclear catastrophe on health and the environment,” and its conclusion is phrased “in such a way that would most likely be misunderstood by most people…”

Corporations Gag Whistleblowers To Hide Wrongdoing

July 1, 2014 Scott Higham and Kaley Belval, www.washingtonpost.com Educate! Corporatism, Law, Nuclear Energy, Whistleblowers

In November 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy asked contract employees at the Hanford plutonium processing plant in Washington state to take an unusual oath. The DOE wanted them to sign nondisclosure agreements that prevented them from reporting wrongdoing at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear facility without getting approval from an agency supervisor. The agreements also barred them from using any information for financial gain, a possible violation of federal whistleblower laws, which allow employees to collect reward money for reporting wrongdoing. Donna Busche reluctantly signed the agreement. “It was a gag order,” said Busche, 51, who served as the manager of environmental and nuclear safety at the Hanford waste treatment facility for a federal contractor until she was fired in February after raising safety concerns. “The message was pretty clear: ‘Don’t say anything to anyone, or else.’ ”

The West Doesn’t Need Nuclear For Energy Independence

June 23, 2014 Paul Hockenos, www.america.aljazeera.com Educate! Energy, Nuclear Energy, Radiation

Some of the most confounding problems of our day — global warming and the West’s energy dependence on Russia and the Middle East — appear to President Barack Obama and some of Europe’s leaders to have an obvious answer: more nuclear power. A May 2014 EU Commission study on Europe’s energy security after the Ukraine crisis insists it’s going to be a big part of the solution. Nuclear is also a central component of Obama’s “all of the above” energy strategy. After all, nuclear power plants are supposedly inexpensive to run, emit no CO2 and could lessen dependence on oil and gas imports from volatile regions of the world. A no-brainer, right? Not by a long shot. Nuclear power is a nasty red herring that advocates will pay for dearly, should it figure into their response to the current challenges on the table. In the past, critics of nuclear power went to great lengths to point out nuclear energy’s inherent danger. Consider the meltdowns at Three Mile Island in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011, they said, on top of the untold number of smaller mishaps that never make the headlines. And then there’s the unsolvable dilemma of radioactive nuclear waste, which nobody wants anywhere near their backyards.

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