2012 December 28 « nuclear-news

Prairie Island Indian Community raised matters opposing 40-year extension of nuclear license

Tribe to get hearing on Prairie Island nuclear waste concerns
http://www.startribune.com/business/184841971.html?refer=y
by: DAVID SHAFFER , Star Tribune December 26, 2012 –
A federal panel will consider some of the issues raised by the nuclear
plant’s neighbors. Xcel Energy Inc. faces more scrutiny from a federal
panel reviewing the utility’s requested 40-year extension of its
license to store high-level nuclear waste at its power plant in Red
Wing, Minn.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, in a ruling released Friday,
said the Indian tribe living next to Xcel’s Prairie Island nuclear
power plant and waste-storage site has raised several contentions
about the license extension that warrant a hearing before the board’s
three-judge panel.

A core issue — whether the “temporary” cask storage is becoming
permanent — was set aside by the panel while its parent agency, the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, studies the problem across the
nation. A federal appeals court in June struck down the commission’s
waste storage rules, forcing another look at the implications of
keeping radioactive waste at reactor sites for up to 60 years.

“We are dealing with regulations that were established 30 years ago
for what everybody thought would be 10 to 20 years of storage,” said
Phil Mahowald, general counsel for the Prairie Island Indian
Community.

December 28, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | indigenous issues, USA | Leave a comment

Russia disappointed with India’s Nuclear Liability Law

Still comrades after all these years, The Hindu KANWAL SIBAL, 28 Dec
12, “…….Russia’s disappointment with the delay in signing the
agreement on Kudankulam 3 and 4, despite the attractive financial
terms offered, is understandable. Having agreed to set up nuclear
plants in defiance of U.S.-led international restrictions on civilian
nuclear cooperation with India and supply nuclear fuel for Tarapur,
the Russians are resentful that India wants to treat them and the
Americans and the French alike with regard to our nuclear liability
law, especially as the inter-governmental agreement pertaining to
these reactors preceded our liability legislation.

However, with
Fukushima and the public agitation against Kudankulam 1 and 2, not to
mention the Supreme Court’s involvement in the matter, the issue has
become politically difficult for the government. The answer may lie in
increased cost of Russian reactors to cater for liability exposure. Continue reading →

December 28, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics, Russia | Leave a comment

USS Ronald Reagan decontamination procedure (Video) and US sailors sue TEPCO

lil3breezy

Uploaded on Jan 28, 2012

During our 2011 deployment on the USS Ronald Reagan, we went through a radiation plume after heading to help out Japan after the earthquake/tsunami. This is what we had to go through every time we came back off the flight deck. This was the only entry point from the flight deck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk6Sy1cNgXo&feature=player_embedded

US sailors sue Japanese utility over radiation exposure

“No amount of money would compensate me if I’m 23 years old and I’m bleeding from my [behind] or have thyroid problems,” he said. He added it was about getting justice for people who rushed to aid Japan in its time of need.

The USS Ronald Reagan, which is home-ported in San Diego, the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville and destroyer USS Preble began supporting search-and-rescue efforts along the destroyed coastline on March 13. The Reagan’s approximate 5,500 sailors remained in the area until the beginning of April.

By MATTHEW M. BURKE

Stars and Stripes

Published: December 27, 2012

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Eight sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan are suing Japan’s nationalized Tokyo Electric Power Co., claiming it lied about dangers from a radiation leak when they helped out after last year’s nuclear plant disaster and that they will almost certainly die prematurely as a result.

Their complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, seeks a jury trial and damages of $40 million each for being “rendered infirm” and their bodies being “poisoned” by radiation. It was filed on behalf of Lindsay Cooper, James Sutton, Kim Gieseking, Charles Yarris, Robert Miller, Christopher Bittner, Eric Membrila and Judy Goodwin.

Within days of the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami and subsequent radiation leak from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, the USS Ronald Reagan was aiding in the search for survivors and bodies from just off Japan’s devastated east coast.

Six of the eight sailors worked on the flight deck during the operation and two worked in the air contamination department. Gieseking is also suing on behalf of her daughter, Autumn, who was born shortly after the deployment.

The sailors allege a host of medical conditions, from headaches and difficulty concentrating to rectal bleeding and thyroid problems, as a result of the exposure and say they will have to undergo more medical tests and expensive treatments in the future, their lawyer Paul Garner said Thursday. The sailors also want TEPCO, which has an office in Washington, D.C., to establish a $100 million fund to pay for any of their future medical expenses.

While the utility has settled with the families of Japanese citizens who died during evacuations from the affected region, and the Japanese government has guaranteed payments, this appears to be the first lawsuit involving American servicemembers, Garner said. The suit’s allegations include negligence and being a public nuisance.

Continue reading →

December 28, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

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