“…Rubin and Fang discover that the NRC’s oversight track record is far from perfect, and that unless urgent action is taken the US could be heading for a nuclear catastrophe of its own….”
MissingSky101
Published on 2 May 2013
Following Japan’s nuclear disaster last year there are fears the US may be heading for a nuclear catastrophe of its own.
People and Power Last Modified: 01 Mar 2012
In March 2011, a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
As tens of thousands of people were evacuated from nearby towns and villages, the world waited anxiously to see whether the radioactive fallout would spread across the country, or even be carried overseas.
Unsurprisingly, in the wake of this incident, the nuclear operations of other countries have come under considerable scrutiny.
One such country is the US where more than 100 similar reactors – some of them in earthquake zones or close to major cities – are now reaching the end of their working lives.
Their owners want to keep them running, but others – from environmentalists to mainstream politicians – are deeply concerned.
In this investigation for People & Power, Joe Rubin and Serene Fang of the Center for Investigative Reporting examine whether important safety considerations are being taken into account as the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) considers extending the licences of these plants.
The agency has recently come under fire for glossing over the potential dangers of ageing reactors, for becoming too cosy with the industry and for political infighting among the agency’s senior executives, which critics in the US Senate and elsewhere say seriously hampers its ability to ensure safety.
The investigation focuses on the Pacific Gas & Electric nuclear facility at Diablo Canyon and two others, Vermont Yankee and Indian Point in New York.
These three sites represent the dangers posed to nuclear power plant safety by earthquakes, terrorism, mechanical breakdown and flooding.
Rubin and Fang discover that the NRC’s oversight track record is far from perfect, and that unless urgent action is taken the US could be heading for a nuclear catastrophe of its own.
Entergy sues Vermont over diesel generator
By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer | April 30,2013
Entergy Nuclear has again sued the state of Vermont, this time over the delayed permit for construction of a backup power diesel generator. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/…
Updated: Tue 5:59 PM, Apr 30, 2013
DHEC offering free potassium iodide pills for residents near nuclear facilities
AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW) — Approximately 1.2 million — that’s the number of potassium iodide doses the South Carolina Health and Environmental Control is offering people in 13 South Carolina counties. http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/D-…
Reluctantly, I have realised that the climate crisis is the most huge and urgent problem for humanity, now. This website is not able to do justice to this enormous topic. All that I can do is to pick out significant information as it arrives, and also note some, (not nearly enough) of the climate events happening.
Meanwhile, nuclear-news will focus on its original purpose, to reveal the disastrous effects of the nuclear industry, and to refute the propaganda lies from the nuclear lobby.
Existential Abrupt Climate Change Risks to Humanity: Part 1 of 3
Fortunately, Chernobyl health records are now available to the public. They show that people living in the radioactive traces fell ill from cancers, respiratory illness, anaemia, auto-immune disorders, birth defects, and fertility problems two to three times more frequently in the years after the accident than before. In a highly contaminated Belarusian town of Veprin, just six of 70 children in 1990 were characterised as “healthy”. The rest had one chronic disease or another. On average, the Veprin children had in their bodies 8,498 bq/kg of radioactive caesium (20 bq/kg is considered safe).
Currently, policymakers are advocating a massive expansion of nuclear power as a way to combat climate change. Before we enter a new nuclear age, the declassified Chernobyl health records raise questions that have been left unanswered about the impact of chronic low doses of radioactivity on human health.
Chernobyl’s disastrous cover-up is a warning for the next nuclear age
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