USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission in crisis
Exit Jackzo: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Free Fall
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-brodsky/nuclear-regulatory-commission_b_1539797.html by Richard Brodsky, 25 May 12, The resignation of NRC Chairman Gregory Jackzo puts the issue of nuclear safety smack on the middle of Obama’s desk, and then into the presidential race.
That’s a good thing. The NRC is not doing the job that the law and common sense require it to do. It is a captive of the nuclear industry, operates in secret and without due regard for the public health and safety. The NRC’s relationship to the nuclear industry today is just what the SEC’s relationship was to Wall Street four years ago. We are skating on very thin ice. Read more »
High level nuclear waste dump for shores of Great Lakes!
how did governments around the world, citizens like us around the world, science and the nuclear industry, turn a blind eye to the huge buildup of nuclear waste for more than 40 years as we enjoyed the fruits of nuclear power?
the nuclear waste dangers will remain for thousands of years, longer than civilization itself. And right next to the largest fresh-water lake system in the world.
Nuclear waste, tourism don’t mix http://www.lfpress.com/comment/2012/05/25/19800186.html By WAYNE MACDONALD, May 26, 2012 A 
packed council chambers in Saugeen Shores, where I live, stood in stunned amazement as its local council- once again – took a huge step toward changing the face of this lakeside community with no discussion, no debate. Absolutely none. Read more »
Without waiting for safety solutions, NRC approves relicense for Pilgrim nuclear plant
“When the regulator does not follow its own rules, don’t expect that
it will require the nuclear industry to do so either. Fukushima showed
what happen,”
Nuclear Regulatory Commission OKs new 20-year license for Pilgrim nuke plant, 
Boston Herald, By Associated Press, May 25, 2012 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the renewal of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s operating license for another 20 years, the agency announced Friday, despite objections from Gov. Deval Patrick and other Massachusetts officials. The commission voted 3-1 to
authorize staff to renew the license before June 8, when the original
40-year license of the Plymouth, Mass., facility was set to expire.
Patrick called the NRC’s decision “extremely troubling.” He and other
officials, including Attorney General Martha Coakley and U.S. Reps.
Edward Markey and William Keating, had called on the NRC hold off on
renewal until all safety and environmental contentions had been
resolved. Read more »
USA losing a strong advocate for nuclear safety, Gregory Jaczcko
Nuclear Power After Fukushima, May 25, 2012 The resignation of Gregory Jaczko, the embattled chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, means the country is losing a strong advocate for public safety who was always willing to challenge the nuclear industry and its political backers in Congress.
The White House’s choice to replace him, Allison Macfarlane, has strong credentials as an expert on nuclear waste and weapons. She will need to be as independent and aggressive as Dr. Jaczko. Both industry and her fellow commissioners will have to be pushed to implement necessary improvements highlighted by the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan…..
Another radioactive spill at Point Lepreau nuclear power plant
N.B. nuclear plant reports second spill in 6 months The Canadian Press 24, 2012 LEPREAU, N.B. — About 300 litres of radioactive heavy water spilled during a test at a New Brunswick nuclear power plant, making it the second spill at the site in less than six months.
NB Power said in a statement that the water spilled Monday at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant, Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear facility…… In December, four to six lit res of radioactive heavy water spilled because of a leak at the plant, which prompted an evacuation. ….
….Point Lepreau has been out of service since March 2008 for a major refurbishment that’s meant to extend the life of the reactor by 25 years.
The project is about three years behind schedule and $1 billion over
the original $1.4-billion budget.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20120524/nuclear-power-plant-spill-120524/#ixzz1vsdrt7z3
States rebel against financing Small Modular Nuclear reactors (SMRs)
Experts: Nuclear Power Industry Woes Spreading Across Nation From Florida To Iowa Market Watch WASHINGTON, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ – As Ratepayer Rebellion Rages in Florida, Small Modular Reactor and “CWIP” Advance Financing Drive Stopped Dead in Iowa; Next Battleground States: Missouri and North Carolina.
Though its trials and travails at the national level get all the attention, the nuclear power industry is finding fewer and fewer friends in statehouses across the nation. In the Southeast, traditionally the stronghold of new nuclear power projects, a growing ratepayer rebellion in Florida seeks to curb advance financing of reactors that experts say will most likely never be constructed.
In Iowa, even Warren Buffett could not help to persuade state lawmakers to permit advancing financing of a small modular reactor (SMR) in that state. The Iowa defeat marked the nuclear power industry’s failure in its first attempt to push its much-ballyhooed SMR technology through a state legislature. Opposition to advance financing of a new reactor is so strong in Missouri that the industry has been forced to go to Washington, D.C., to seek a $452-million taxpayer-funded grant in the absence of state-level and Wall Street support. In North Carolina, diverse groups are coming together to block a push by Duke to
liberalize construction work in progress (CWIP) provisions to dig even deeper into the pockets of ratepayers in that state.
Examples of the growing state-level opposition to advance financing of SMRs and other new nuclear reactors include the following: Read more »
Taxpayers dudded on loan guarantees for Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant
The credit subsidy cost these documents reveal for the Vogtle project is absurdly low. It is now years out of date and little information on how it was justified is provided. This information shows that taxpayers should be even more worried about signing off on an $8.3
billion loan guarantee for the Vogtle reactor.” “A one percent fee doesn’t even begin to reflect the risk of default”
Taxpayers deserve to see the basis on which the ridiculously low fee for Southern Company was calculated.
SACE has filed a FOIA request to unearth what the new estimates are in order to understand what risks taxpayers still face…… the terms
of the updated loan guarantee deal are still being held in secret.
Secret Documents Highlight Nuclear’s Risk to Taxpayers Market Watch, ATLANTA, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — A closer look at new documents shows Department of Energy significantly underestimated controversial Vogtle Nuclear Plant’s risk of default
Late last week Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) successfully negotiated the release of hundreds of pages of secret nuclear loan guarantee documents to settle Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation spanning nearly two years. These documents reveal that one of the nation’s largest utilities, Southern Company, was aggressively pursuing controversial federal nuclear loan guarantees at significantly below market rates. Read more »
The transition to renewable s – American’s energy revolution under way
America’s renewables revolution, Climate Spectator , 24 May 2012 John Kemp ”……Speaking in his state of the union address to Congress in January, the president claimed, “We’ve subsidised oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that rarely has been more profitable and double-down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising.”
But the rhetoric obscures an unprecedented push to cut energy consumption and increase the share of renewable energy generation underway at all levels of government as well as in the private sector.
Federal, state and local governments, coupled with local power and gas utilities, are pouring billions of dollars a year into a vast range of initiatives to boost efficiency and renewables.
Support for efficiency and renewables is split across thousands of
different programs, which has tended to hide the scale of the overall effort. As a result, many energy analysts fail to appreciate the scale of the shift underway. However, the sheer amount of support being given to clean technology and energy efficiency programs suggests a revolutionary transformation of the energy system will likely occur in the next two decades. Read more »
Nuclear Regulatory Commission extends Hanford nuclear license for 20 more years
License for nuclear power plant at Hanford extended to 2043 Oregon Live.com , May 23, 2012 YAKIMA, Wash.-- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended the license for the Northwest’s only commercial nuclear power plant by an additional 20 years, the plant’s operator announced Wednesday.
The license extends operations at south-central Washington’s Columbia Generating Station through 2043. The plant had been operating on a 40-year license that expires at the end of 2023.
The plant is operated by Energy Northwest, a public power consortium composed of 28 member utilities. Controversy swirled around the plant last year because it is the same general type as those stricken after the tsunami in Japan…. http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/05/license_for_hanford_nuclear_po.html
Fire on nuclear submarine
Nuclear sub catches fire in Maine Naval shipyard By Ros Krasny BOSTON May 23, 2012 (Reuters) – Fire broke out on Wednesday evening on a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine docked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, injuring four firefighters, officials said.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, but the vessel’s nuclear reactor was not involved. There were no weapons aboard the sub, which is at the shipyard for system upgrades and maintenance.
The fire started in the “forward compartment” of the U.S.S. Miami, an attack submarine docked at the Kittery, Maine, shipyard shortly before 6 p.m. ET Firefighters were still battling the blaze after 10 p.m., with equipment brought in from as far away as Boston’s Logan International Airport, about 60 miles away…..
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/24/us-usa-submarine-fire-idUSBRE84N04I20120524
USA govt and nuclear industry have got rid of too-thorough nuclear regulator Jaczko
the pressure became too great from both, several industry and government officials say. Both parties wanted to expand the use of nuclear facilities and further explore options for storing nuclear waste. Jaczko had largely put the kibosh on both
members of Congress, mostly senior Democrats, have defended Jaczko as a thoughtful and thorough regulator
Jaczko’s resignation still illustrates the influence of the nuclear industry.
Nuclear Commission Gregory Jaczko Calls It Quits, The Daily Beast, May 21, 2012 After a long campaign to drive the nation’s top nuclear regulator from office, NRC commissioner Greg Jaczko resigned Monday. Daniel Stone reports on how the industry claimed its casualty. Read more »
Nuclear industry lobbying hard to get Pilgrim plant relicensed
the nuclear industry has been busy making its concerns known in Washington about the Pilgrim delays and what they could mean for other contentious relicensing cases.
Delays in Pilgrim nuclear plant’s relicensing draws the ire of some GOP leaders in Congress Mass. Market, 2012 May 22 by Jon Chesto Massachusetts politicians aren’t the only ones closely watching the fate of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth. A group of GOP congressmen, led by energy committee chairman Fred Upton, sent a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday, essentially scolding the NRC for taking so long with its review of Pilgrim. Read more »
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant is dangerous, say protestors
14 Protesters Arrested Outside Plymouth Nuclear Plant (includes audio) 
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/05/21/14-protesters-arrested-outside-plymouth-nuclear-plant/ May 21, 2012, PLYMOUTH (CBS) – Fourteen members of the group Cape Downwinders were arrested Sunday while demonstrating at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, hoping to get it shut down. The demonstrators said their message is simple.
“The Pilgrim nuclear facility is a dangerous facility and it should be shut down,” said Paul Rifkin, a member of the group. The group wants to deliver a letter to Pilgrim’s owners, Entergy, demanding that they cease operations, pointing to the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan as a wake-up call to action.
“It’s a 40-year-old plant and they want to license it for another 20 years. We don’t want the nuclear regulatory commission to re-license that plant,” said Rifkin.
In the letter, the group says the continued operation of the plant is an unacceptable threat to health and public safety and they also want an evacuation preparedness plan to include Cape Cod.
The group worries a power failure at the plant could be catastrophic, and the members have doubts about how a mass evacuation from the Cape, given its only two exit points, would work. We’re hoping that NRC upholds their mandate to provide for the public health and safety and not re-license the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth,” said Diane Turko, who was one of the protesters arrested for trespassing.
The plant’s current license expires June 8th and they are hoping to renew for another 20 years.
Even nuclear industry experts know that the business is a dead cat
The nuclear landscape includes aging plants, rising global demand for energy, competition from cheap natural gas and environmental standards likely to be toughened after the Fukushima crisis in Japan.
A long-anticipated U.S. “nuclear renaissance” has run into headwinds – sagging demand for electricity as the economy slumped, investors wary of new plants that will cost $10 billion or more and then the crisis at Fukushima.
Nuclear meeting opens in Charlotte with debt worries, News Observer BY BRUCE HENDERSON , 22 May 12 Read more »
Shocked reaction to USA quietly watering down nuclear emergency plans
A mandate that local responders always run practice exercises for a radiation release has been eliminated – a move viewed as downright bizarre by some emergency planners. ….
These changes, while documented in obscure federal publications, went into effect with hardly any notice by the general public.
These changes, while documented in obscure federal publications, went into effect with hardly any notice by the general public.
Powering down nuclear exercises Utility Products, 20 May 12, Without fanfare, the nation’s nuclear power regulators have overhauled community emergency planning for the first time in more than three decades, requiring fewer exercises for major accidents and
recommending that fewer people be evacuated right away.
Nuclear watchdogs voiced surprise and dismay over the quietly adopted revamp – the first since the program began after Three Mile Island in 1979. Several said they were unaware of the changes until now, though they took effect in December. At least four years in the
works, the changes appear to clash with more recent lessons of last year’s reactor crisis in Japan. Read more »
1 THIS MONTH
- http://ifyoulovethisplanet.org/?p=5755 Mary Olson on how women are more vulnerable to atomic radiation
http://soundcloud.com/flashpoints/flashpoints-daily-newsmag-05-6Fukushima reactor 4 still threatens the world Dr. Micio Kaku
of the week http://www.youtube.com/user/GoddardsJournal
-
San Onofre: Bad Vibrations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP7e83MErWw&feature=share - Low-Dose Radiation ☢ NEW A-Bomb Study http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VAncqK6bl0&feature=share
“Pay-to-print”: How Media Corruption Undermines Indian Democracy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbjsQ_dYuJQ&feature=share
VIDEO http://vimeo.com/35212151 Cancer Risk To Young Children Near Fukushima Daiichi Underestimated
- and this VIDEO Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Legacy http://www.euronews.com/2010/04/14/kazakhstan-s-nuclear-legacy/
ACTION
USA EMERGENCY PLANNING PETITION NOW OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF EXPANDING EMERGENCY PLANNING ZONES; IMPROVING REGULATIONS The deadline for public comments is July 16, 2012. You can submit your comments here. more information at http://nuclear-news.net/action/
- Shut down the nuclear restart. Sign now!! http://www.avaaz.org/en/japan_no_to_nuclear_restart_ms/
- Stop Kudankulam - Please sign http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10090 –
EVENTS – USA
- May 31 - Portland, Maine, Bonnie Raitt benefit concert for New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution
The Nuclear Industry and WOMEN- theme for May 2012
Although women have rarely been part of decision-making about nuclear power, they have been at the forefront in opposing it.Women in organisations Strongly present in anti-nuclear activities in peace, environmental, religious and civil liberties, women have also formed their own anti-nuclear organisations . e.g. Women’s International League For Peace and Freedom, Women For Peace. Women Against Nuclear Power, Women Against Nuclear Energy,
“When it comes to opposing nuclear power in Finland, the toughest and most active and conspicuous resistance has been among women. A rather small group of women working as teachers, freelance editors, authors and in rather alternative professions. Women who perfectly well are aware of the fact that they are far too radical to be promoted for high posts within traditional parties or getting well-paying jobs in some big companies. Women who are not trying to reach equality on male values. These women have kept the resistance alive, have invited foreign speakers getting through in the mass media, have arranged post-card campaigns aiming at parliamentarians, have written inserts in daily newspapers, have collected signatures from organizations worldwide against nuclear power, etc.
If women had been asked if nuclear power should be used for energy production or if nuclear weapons should be produced there would hardly be any nuclear power stations in the world and no nuclear weapons. Women represent half of humanity. Our voice must be heard! “- Ulla Klötzer WISE – Nuclear issues information service service
Below, a note on some of the courageous women who have stood out against the nuclear forces and apologies for the thousands of such women who are not mentioned here
Dr Helen Caldicott. - Australia and The World. The single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises, Dr Helen Caldicott, has devoted the last 38 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. Helen Caldicott – About
Jean McSorley. – UK. A prolific writer and activist, Jean McSorley has advised government and environmental organisations, in the UK and abroad, for many years revealing the facts about Sellafield, and other UK nuclear facilities.
Her MajestyQueen Noor ofJordan is an international humanitarian activist and an outspoken voice on issues of world peace and justice. Today Her Majesty Queen Noor plays a major role in promoting international exchange and understanding of Arab and Muslim culture and politics, Arab-Western relations, and conflict prevention. Queen Noor | Global Zero
Ulla Klötzer - Finland. A powerful speaker and writer, Ulla Klötzer continues to oppose uranium mining, nuclear proliferation, and to expose the construction of Finlands reactor, Olkiluto OL 3 – the biggest nuclear reactor in the world.
Satomi Oba –Japan. Another leading voice for non-proliferation and disarmament was Japan’s Satomi Oba, former president of Plutonium Action Hiroshima and chair member of the international non-proliferation movement Abolition 2000. For decades before her untimely death in February 2005, Oba organized grassroots events, spoke to international groups and broke ground for other activists
Dianne Stokes – Australia An Aboriginal elder of the Yapa Yapa clan, which owns land at Muckaty in the Northern Territory, has for years continued the fight against the Australian government’s plan to put a nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land, – resisting enormous pressure from powerful interests and politicians Toxic feelings at proposed nuclear dump – National – smh.com.au
Jean Grossholtz – (USA) Professor emeritus at the Dept. of Women’s Studies, Mt. Holyoke College, Jean helped organize the Women’s Pentagon Action (1980-82) and has long been active in peace and social justice work.
Ellen Diederich –Germany A peace activist for more than three decades, Ellen Diederich is Director of the German-based International Fasia Jansen Women’s Peace Archive, an extensive collection of books, print, audio-visual and artistic resources on women and militarism and women’s action for peace, world-wide, collected over 25 years.
Corazon Valdez Fabros - Philippines A lawyer by profession, Corazon Fabros is Chairperson of the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (the Secretariat of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement) and Secretary General of the Nuclear Free Philippines Coalition, which led the successful campaign to stop the nuclear power plant projects in the Philippines . Currently Philippine Coordinator of the No Nukes Asia Forum and the International Network on Military Activities and Environmental Justice.
Karen Silkwood remembered In 1974, US anti-nuclear activist Karen Silkwood was killed in a car crash many suspect was deliberately caused by the Kerr McGee nuclear company.Karen Silkwood will be remembered as someone who fought an uphill and often unpopular battle against the ruthless nuclear industry. She is an inspiration to all who believe in environmental justice and workers’ rights BY SHARYN JENKINS. Karen Silkwood remembered | Green Left Weekly
Much of the material here was obtained from Women and Life on Earth: English by Anna Gyorgy, Women & Life on Earth Network coordinator, English website editor. Contact: info(at)wloe.org
-
Archives
- May 2012 (262)
- April 2012 (259)
- March 2012 (342)
- February 2012 (304)
- January 2012 (259)
- December 2011 (274)
- November 2011 (331)
- October 2011 (247)
- September 2011 (272)
- August 2011 (249)
- July 2011 (227)
- June 2011 (195)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- people
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety and incidents
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina background info
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- general
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
