2008 December 03 « nuclear-news

Niagara Gazette – Cleanup at western NY nuke site debated

Cleanup at western NY nuke site debated
NIAGARA GAZETTE Associated PressBy CAROLYN THOMPSON 3 Dec 08 BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) _ Federal energy officials wrestling with the decades-old question of what to do with the West Valley nuclear site are recommending a phased-in approach that would remove contaminated buildings and soil soon, while deferring for up to 30 years the larger question of whether all waste should be removed………………..allows time to further study whether the 3,300-acre site should be completely decontaminated or if buried waste should be closed in and the site managed for generations to come……
……….it was already being challenged Tuesday by environmentalists, scientists and residents who said complete decontamination of the site 30 miles south of Buffalo is the only safe alternative given its erosion-prone geology.

The biggest concern is that radioactive waste will seep into nearby creeks, make its way into Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and contaminate drinking water supplies.

Niagara Gazette – Cleanup at western NY nuke site debated

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium

December 3, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | wastes | Leave a comment

High Court Hears Argument On Power Plants : NPR

High Court Hears Argument On Power Plants
npr by Nina Totenberg

All Things Considered, December 2, 2008 · Utilities want the Supreme Court to reinstate a Bush administration regulation that was overturned by lower courts. The regulation allowed utilities to consider the cost of the cleanest technology and not install it if fails a cost-benefit analysis.

The U.S. Supreme Court hears an important environmental case Tuesday, testing whether utilities must use the best technology available to minimize harm to the nation’s waterways. At issue is the physical impact on fish and the financial impact on companies.

The nation’s 550 power plants use water — lots of water in some instances — that comes from lakes and rivers. Each day, more than 214 billion gallons of water is sucked into power plants across the country. That’s tens of trillions of gallons each year.

The water cools the steam used in the electric generating process. And all the fish and aquatic organisms in the water are killed in the process…………………………

For more than a quarter-century, industry has tried to put a cost-benefit overlay on environmental regulations.

In the past, that effort has often come a cropper in the courts. Now, with the Supreme Court’s new conservative composition, industry thinks it has a good shot at winning — and winning in a way that will affect all environmental regulations.

High Court Hears Argument On Power Plants : NPR