Precautions and shutdowns of nuclear reactors due to Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene shuts down US nuclear reactors, Maryland plant damaged by hurricane winds as other US nuclear sites take precautionary measures, Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, guardian.co.uk, 28 August 2011. A nuclear reactor in Maryland has been shut down because of wind damage, while others were either taken offline or operating at reduced capacity as precautionary measures before the arrival of hurricane Irene on Sunday…….
In addition to the two shutdowns, some plants powered down as a safety measure – which also contributed to widespread power cuts. Progress Energy powered down its reactors in Brunswick, North Carolina, and Dominion Resources cut production at one reactor at its Millstone plant in New London, Connecticut, by 70%. Another Dominion plant in Virginia, which had gone down because of last week’s earthquake, remained offline for Irene….http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/28/hurricane-iren-shuts-nuclear-reactor
Uranium mine closed in 1966, still emitting ionising radiation
Firm begins cleanup at Stanislaus National Forest uranium mine site, The Modesto Bee, Aug. 27, 2011, By John Holland KENNEDY MEADOWS — A crew has started cleanup at a uranium mine that operated in the Stanislaus National Forest from 1956 to 1966.The site, about three miles west of Kennedy Meadows, has emitted radiation that exceeded health standards, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.
The cleanup is funded by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, better known as the Superfund… http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/27/1833616/firm-begins-cleanup-at-uranium.html
Pentagon’s lack of transparency about China’s nuclear weapons
Pentagon’s 2011 China Report: Reducing Nuclear Transparency, FAS Security Blog, By Hans M. Kristensen, 25 Aug 11, The Pentagon has published its annual assessment of China’s military power (the official title is Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China).…..Land-Based Nuclear MissilesThe most noticeable new development compared with last year’s report is that the Pentagon this year has decided to significantly reduce the transparency of China’s land-based nuclear missile force. Continue reading
Nuclear plant near Lake Erie violated safety regulations
Ohio nuke plant radiation prompts more oversight, Bloomberg, By JOHN SEEWER TOLEDO, OHIO, 28 Aug 11 Nuclear regulators plan to significantly increase inspections at a reactor near Cleveland where four contractors were exposed to radiation last spring. The plant along Lake Erie violated several safety regulations and failed to provide sufficient instructions to the workers, leading to low to moderate safety concerns, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Friday.
The plant’s staff didn’t do enough to protect the contractors from being exposed to higher levels of radiation than are normal, said Mark Satorius, an NRC official who oversees plants in the Great Lakes area…..
The nuclear plant, about 30 miles northeast of Cleveland, had several safety problems several years ago, which led the NRC to monitor its safety operations every three months in 2005, when the plant was forced to shut down briefly because of problems with pumps that circulate coolant through the reactor’s core…
Death sentence for man convicted of killing Iranian nuclear scientist
“According to the verdict of the Islamic Revolution Court the death verdict of terrorist Majid Jamali Fashi, who assassinated martyr Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, has been announced,” IRNA quoted Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei as saying on Sunday. He said that Jamali Fashi has been found guilty of Moharebeh (waging war against god) and Fesad fel Arz (spread of corruption on earth).
Professor Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at Tehran University, was killed when an explosive-laden motorbike was detonated with a remote-controlled device near his home in the Qeytariyeh neighborhood of northern Tehran on January 12, 2010.
Upon comprehensive investigations, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said it had dismantled an Israeli network comprising of Israeli-trained spies and terrorists, and arrested the main perpetrators in connection with the assassination of Ali-Mohammadi. …….
Hurricane Irene poses problem of electricity supply to nuclear reactors
Industry watchdogs concerned about power supplies – to reactors, not just homes, iWatch, 28 Aug 11, By Corbin Hiar As Hurricane Irene bore down on the East Coast, the nuclear industry assured the public that the storm wouldn’t damage the dozens of reactors in its path. The industry’s watchdogs also expressed less concern about the hurricane’s potential impact on nuclear reactors than about the vulnerability of the exposed connections between them and the rest of the world. Continue reading Nuclear power the vital issue in Japan’s leadership race
Nuclear power key topic in Japan leader race, Google News, 27 Aug 11 TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara who is vying to become Japan’s next prime minister says the country should stop building nuclear power plants.Maehara appeared to take the clearest stand against nuclear power at a news conference Saturday where five ruling party members aiming to replace Prime Minister Naoto Kan outlined their policy goals.
Another top contender for the job is Economy Minister Banri Kaieda. He says he plans to decommission aging nuclear plants found to have problems during stress tests.
Atomic energy is a key topic in Japan following the tsunami-spawned nuclear accident in March. The ruling Democratic party will vote Monday to select a new party chief, who will become prime minister — Japan’s sixth in five years….. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iNKIALDMeliTg7GD1i-HfddhNCLQ?docId=446239253def4a87bfa780998048a5de
USA nuclear plants and preparations for hurricanes
FACTBOX-U.S. nuclear plants in path of Hurricane Irene Aug 26, 2011 NEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Nuclear power plants along the U.S. East Coast are bracing for the
impact of Hurricane Irene which is barreling toward North Carolina.
Plant employees are securing equipment and readying extra staff for the weekend.
Irene was located about 330 miles (530 km) south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as
a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 miles-per-hour (165 km/h) at 11 a.m. EDT.
[ID:nL4E7JQ33U]
Dominion Resources Inc (D.N: Quote), after shutting down its North Anna nuclear power station because
of an earthquake on Tuesday, is taking precautions at its other plants ahead of the storm.
"We're going through the steps that we go through in anticipation of a major storm, making sure
everything is secure, that no loose material or construction material is hanging around and
checking staff," said Dan Genest, a spokesman in Richmond, Virginia.
The two-unit, 1,950-megawatt North Anna nuclear plant will remain shut through the storm. The
two-unit, 1,598-MW Surry plant was designed to withstand winds of 360 miles per hour.
Dominion is required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to shut down one of the units in
advance of a storm with hurricane force winds (Category 1 at 74 miles per hour) with 24 hours
advanced notice, Genest said.
If a storm is expected to continue, Dominion would be required to shut down the second unit
with 12 hours advanced notice.
STATE OWNER PLANT UNIT TYPE MWE
------
Connecticut Dominion Millstone Unit 2 Combustion Engineering 884
Connecticut Dominion Millstone Unit 3 WH Four-Loop 1,227
Maryland Constellation Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 Combustion Engineering 873
Maryland Constellation Calvert Cliffs Unit 2 Combustion Engineering 862
Massachusetts Entergy Pilgrim GE-Type 3 685
New Hampshire Entergy Seabrook WH Four-Loop 1,295
New Jersey PSEG Nuclear Salem Unit 1 WH Four-Loop 1,174
New Jersey PSEG Nuclear Salem Unit 2 WH Four-Loop 1,130
New Jersey Exelon Oyster Creek GE Type 2 619
New York Entergy Indian Point 2 WH Four-Loop 1,020
New York Entergy Indian Point 3 WH Four-Loop 1,025
N. Carolina Progress Brunswick Unit 1 GE Type 4 938
N. Carolina Progress Brunswick Unit 1 GE Type 4 937
N. Carolina Progress Shearon Harris Unit 1 WH Two-Loop 900
Pennsylvania Exelon Limerick 1 GE Type 4 1,134
Pennsylvania Exelon Limerick 2 GE Type 4 1,134
Virginia Dominion Surry Unit 1 WH Three-Loop 799
Virginia Dominion Surry Unit 2 WH Three-Loop 799
Virginia Dominion North Anna Unit 1 WH Three-Loop 980.5
Virginia Dominion North Anna Unit 2 WH Three-Loop 972.9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Connecticut Dominion Millstone Unit 2 Combustion Engineering 884 Connecticut Dominion Millstone Unit 3 WH Four-Loop 1,227 Maryland Constellation Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 Combustion Engineering 873 Maryland Constellation Calvert Cliffs Unit 2 Combustion Engineering 862 Massachusetts Entergy Pilgrim GE-Type 3 685 New Hampshire Entergy Seabrook WH Four-Loop 1,295 New Jersey PSEG Nuclear Salem Unit 1 WH Four-Loop 1,174 New Jersey PSEG Nuclear Salem Unit 2 WH Four-Loop 1,130 New Jersey Exelon Oyster Creek GE Type 2 619 New York Entergy Indian Point 2 WH Four-Loop 1,020 New York Entergy Indian Point 3 WH Four-Loop 1,025 N. Carolina Progress Brunswick Unit 1 GE Type 4 938 N. Carolina Progress Brunswick Unit 1 GE Type 4 937 N. Carolina Progress Shearon Harris Unit 1 WH Two-Loop 900 Pennsylvania Exelon Limerick 1 GE Type 4 1,134 Pennsylvania Exelon Limerick 2 GE Type 4 1,134 Virginia Dominion Surry Unit 1 WH Three-Loop 799 Virginia Dominion Surry Unit 2 WH Three-Loop 799 Virginia Dominion North Anna Unit 1 WH Three-Loop 980.5 Virginia Dominion North Anna Unit 2 WH Three-Loop 972.9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Key: GE - General Electric WH - Westinghouse Source: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Reporting by Jeanine Prezioso and compiled by David Sheppard, Joshua Schneyer and Matthew Robinson in New York; Editing by Alden Bentley)
108 million Americans at risk. The vulnerability of nuclear plants
VIDEO http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/campaign-blog/nuclear-plants-are-vulnerable-to-earthquakes-/blog/36524/ Nuclear plants are vulnerable to earthquakes, hurricanes, and attacks – are you at risk? Greenpeace, by Jim Riccio – August 26, 2011
108 million. That’s how many people live within 50 miles of a nuclear plant in the United States, as our new nuclear locator map shows. It’s an astonishing number. Every day one in three Americans go to work, school and church with the threat of a nuclear catastrophe looming in their own backyard. Continue reading
Japan’s government dumps radiation cleanup responsibility onto local municipalities
Local leaders steamed at government’s ‘buck-passing’ radiation decontamination plan Mainichi Daily News, 26 Aug 11 Local leaders in areas contaminated by the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant are angry and disappointed at the central government’s decontamination plan, which dumps much of the responsibility for the clean-up on municipalities. Continue reading
Long process of radiation cleanup in Japan
Japan aims to halve radiation in affected areas in 2 yrs
— Japan aims to bring radiation levels below 20 millisieverts annually
* Thorough cleanup of areas frequented by children also a priority
* Group launched which will form core of new nuclear watchdog
By Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Japan aims to halve radiation over two years in places contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear crisis, removing soil, plants and trees as well as cleaning roofs of buildings in an area spanning thousands of square kilometres.
The cleanup could cost tens of billions of dollars, and thousands of evacuees may not be able to return home for years, if ever. Continue reading
Firefighters grapple with fire within nuclear laboratory compund
Firefighters gain ground at Idaho nuclear lab, By Laura Zuckerman, SALMON, Idaho | Fri Aug 26, 2011 (Reuters) – Normal operations resumed on Friday but with fewer workers at a U.S. Energy Department nuclear lab in Idaho as firefighters gained ground against a brush fire that scorched 36,000 acres within the sprawling compound, officials there said.
The two-day-old blaze at the Idaho National Laboratory, an 890-square-mile complex with three active reactors in the high desert of eastern Idaho, presents “no known radiological hazard to the public at this time,” the lab said in a statement.
As the lightning-sparked fire had grown in size and intensity on Thursday evening, about 90 nonessential personnel were ordered out of a facility used for processing spent nuclear fuel and radioactive wastes.
Workers at another lab installation where spent radioactive fuel rods are cooled in storage ponds were told to take shelter inside due to heavy smoke, a lab official said……
The installation last year grappled with the largest fire in its history, a conflagration that charred 109,000 acres but did not cause major damage.
Fires have charred tens of thousands of acres across Idaho and the Northern Rockies in recent days, including parts of Montana, Yellowstone National Park and northwestern Wyoming…. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/27/us-wildfire-idaho-idUSTRE77P65E20110827
New evidence that Fukushima’s reactors were failing BEFORE the tsunami
The explosive truth behind Fukushima’s meltdown, Japan insists its nuclear crisis was caused by an unforeseeable combination of tsunami and earthquake. But new evidence suggests its reactors were doomed to fail, The Independent, By David McNeill in Tokyo and Jake Adelstein, 17 August 201
It is one of the mysteries of Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis: How much
damage did the 11 March earthquake inflict on the Fukushima Daiichi
reactors before the tsunami hit?
The stakes are high: if the earthquake structurally compromised the plant
and the safety of its nuclear fuel, then every similar reactor in Japan
may have to be shut down. With almost all of Japan’s 54 reactors either
offline (in the case of 35) or scheduled for shutdown by next April, the
issue of structural safety looms over any discussion about restarting
them. Continue reading
Radioactive Caesium-137 from Fukushima equal to 10 Hiroshimas
Government nuclear experts, however, said the World War II bomb blast and the accidental reactor meltdowns at Fukushima, which has seen ongoing radiation leaks but no deaths so far, were beyond comparison.
The amount of caesium-137 released since the three reactors were crippled by the March 11 quake and tsunami has been estimated at 15,000 tera becquerels, the Tokyo Shimbun reported, quoting a government calculation.
That compares with the 89 tera becquerels released by “Little Boy”, the uranium bomb the United States dropped on the western Japanese city in the final days of World War II, the report said.
The estimate was submitted by Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s cabinet to a lower house committee on promotion of technology and innovation, the daily said…..http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hDHbdpOQcK44jyC_kypHkOo9UkBA?docId=CNG.d3f786cacc8763f78f6176c908ff1fd2.71
USA declares that Gaddafi’s nuclear materials are secure
U.S.: Gadhafi Chemical, Nuclear Materials Secure, ABC News 25 Aug 11, — American officials said today that Moammar Gadhafi’s stock of chemical and nuclear materials are secure, amid fears they could fall into the wrong hands as the longtime leader’s regime falls.
“Our judgment is that they remain secure,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters. “We have no reason to believe that there is anything else of that nature anywhere else.”……
The State Department has already spent $3 million on contracts to help destroy weapons and mines inside parts of Libya that have been taken over by rebel forces. Gadhafi had promised in 2003 to dismantle its nuclear program as part of an agreement that eventually led the U.S. to take Libya off the list of states that sponsor terrorism in 2006.
After the agreement, the U.S. sent millions in aid to the Gadhafi regime “focused on bolstering Libya’s commitments to renouncing weapons of mass destruction,” according to State Department records….http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-gadhafi-nuclear-chemical-weapons-secure/story?id=14381560
1 This Month
10 June – Assessing Canada’s Investments in Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – https://zoom.us/meeting/register/IiqHA5feRhaEBycOLNTJlA#/registration
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
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