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USA has 90 old nuclear reactors unreinforced and unsupervised

Dr W. 20 Oct 19, Anyone of dozens of reactors, in america could explode in the next year because they are embrittled deteriorating , more than 20 or 30 yers old and completely unsupervised.

Waterford in La was damaged by massive flooding from the Midwest USA and the last Hurricane.
8 reactors in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia could go with the Tropical storm currently pounding them, since hurricane Michael.

Diablo Canyon was severely damaged by a 7.0 earthquake in southern california in the last few months. It was damaged, embrittled and crumbling before that.
STP has no backuup . It has a cracked fuel pool.

Brunswick in carolina has damaged containment multiple leaks and no access to aome areas, after hurricane maria.

Indian point is at the brink of melltdown by New York City because it is so old and it has had so many transformer fires. It continues to leak tritium like a sieve by New York City.

Davis Besse, Fermi, Oyster Creek all have holes in their containtment.

All 90 shitty old reactors unreinforced and unsupervised under fuko the clown, and the brain damaged coked-out fairy Rick Perry. The other 6 in flood and earthquake zones along with th 90 other, very old death machines. Fuko is refusing to cleanup santa susana and hanford now. Fuko is responsible for Davis Besse fuko is allowing radioactive food to come from Japan. Fuko is responsible for the nuclear catastrophes at santa susana and idaho nuclear laboratory, in the past two years . Fuko is responsible for the nuclear explosion in russia recently by abrogating nuclear arms treaties and massively escalating nuclear arms proliferations and a new nuclear arms race.. Fuko is responsible for upcoming nuclear catastrophe in the USA in the next 6 months.

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October 19, 2019 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Final push for anti-nuclear signatures before Ohio’s nuclear bailout referendum

October 19, 2019 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear shill Rick Perry switching from DOE Secretary to Small Nuclear Reactor Salesman

Perry to Resign as DOE Secretary, With Nuclear Weapon Programs on Autopilot, OCTOBER 18, 2019, BY DAN LEONE,Rick Perry on Thursday announced his resignation as the Donald Trump administration’s first secretary of energy after more than two-and-a-half years on the job. In a published letter to President Donald Trump, Perry said he would resign “later this year”…(subscribers only) https://www.exchangemonitor.com/perry-resign-doe-secretary-nuclear-weapon-programs-autopilot/

Energy Wire 17th Oct 2019, Energy Secretary Rick Perry will head back to Europe next week as part of an effort to boost the U.S. advanced nuclear industry’s ability to export its technologies across the globe.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2019/10/17/stories/1061299145

October 19, 2019 Posted by | EUROPE, marketing, politics, USA | 1 Comment

Anti nuclear activism revival in Washington

Fear of a new nuclear arms race revives hotbed of anti-nuclear action, President Trump’s plans for escalation kick off a new chapter in Washington’s long history with nuclear proliferation and resistance. CrossCut, by Kevin Knodell. October 18, 2019, As worries of nuclear war resurface and new concerns about the health impacts of America’s atomic arsenal emerge, Washington state’s long-lived but largely dormant anti-nuclear movement is again raising its voice.

President Donald Trump has made a show of withdrawing from landmark nuclear arms treaties while pushing a $1.7 trillion plan to replace America’s entire nuclear arsenal, even as North Korea has made progress toward a long-range atomic weapon. Those developments and violence around the globe have rekindled anti-nuke activism in the Northwest.

On Sept. 29, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility held a town hall on Washington’s history with nuclear weapons that brought together anti-war, environmental and Indigenous rights activists. Activists marched on the Federal Building in Seattle the following day to protest Trump’s nuclear policies.

“We’re a little more alarmed than in the past, so we’re working hard to affect Congress and also working to build a movement of people,” said Dr. Joe Berkson with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. “The issue is the new nuclear arms race. There’s an expansion, the current administration wants to expand into new nuclear weapons and redo the whole nuclear weapons arsenal for a large amount of money, and we are opposed to that.”

On Sept. 29, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility held a town hall on Washington’s history with nuclear weapons that brought together anti-war, environmental and Indigenous rights activists. Activists marched on the Federal Building in Seattle the following day to protest Trump’s nuclear policies.

“We’re a little more alarmed than in the past, so we’re working hard to affect Congress and also working to build a movement of people,” said Dr. Joe Berkson with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. “The issue is the new nuclear arms race. There’s an expansion, the current administration wants to expand into new nuclear weapons and redo the whole nuclear weapons arsenal for a large amount of money, and we are opposed to that.”

Berkson and others hope to draw on that history to broaden the conversation about nuclear weapons from the abstract fears of nuclear war to the tangible impacts the weapons have had on communities and on the environment. Activists hope to give new life to anti-nuclear activism in Washington.

“We’ve focused a lot of times on the environmental issues but now we’re really looking to hit home with the health issues,” said Twa-le Abrahamson of the Spokane Tribe.

Spokane and Yakama people have dealt with the radioactive contamination from Hanford that has poisoned their lands and, activists say, caused health problems for tribal members living on their reservations.

Abrahamson noted Trump administration has made deep cuts to cleanup efforts at Hanford and moved to roll back regulations on nuclear waste handling.

“We get some impacts on the daily. And our water has been contaminated forever, so forever we’ll have transportation of that waste,” she said. “Nobody talks about that. They want to act like that’s a history, but we have that going through our communities.”

For years, anti-nuclear activists have continuously protested against the U.S. Navy’s ballistic missile submarines stationed at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, which some nuclear weapons watchdogs believe houses 1,300 nuclear warheads. Berkson claimed the base, located near Hood Canal, is home to about one-third of America’s nuclear arsenal and is the third-largest cache of nuclear weapons in the world.

But the actual numbers — and locations — of America’s nuclear weapons are hard to nail down.

“It is U.S. government policy that we can neither confirm nor deny the presence or absence of nuclear weapons at any general or specific location” said Sheila Murray, a spokesperson for Navy Region Northwest, noting that for safety and security the information is tightly guarded.

Activists argue that those weapons and other large military facilities make Western Washington an attractive target for strikes by rival nuclear powers. As Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un traded insults, some Seattleites worried that the city would be in Kim’s crosshairs.

New fears of nuclear conflict have spurred a wave of activism among younger Americans. Jeanelle Sales, a University of Washington student with the campus chapter of Beyond the Bomb, became active after a nuclear false alarm in her home state of Hawaii. The thought that her friends and family could have been caught in the blast terrified her. “It was a major wake up call for me,” she said.

Among the activists’ concerns is the Trump administration’s keen interest in tactical or “low yield” nuclear warheads that are easier to deploy and which produce smaller explosions. The fear among activists is that these weapons could make a nuclear strike much more likely……https://crosscut.com/2019/10/fear-new-nuclear-arms-race-revives-hotbed-anti-nuclear-action

 

October 19, 2019 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

More evidence of safety risks: Hunterston B nuclear reactors should be closed

The Ferret 17th Oct 2019, Hunterston, The graphite cores of two ageing nuclear reactors at Hunterston in North Ayrshire have begun to crumble as cracks spread, prompting safety inspectors to impose tough new conditions threatening future operations.

Technical reports released by the UK government’s Office for Nuclear
Regulation (ONR) reveal that at least 58 fragments and pieces of debris
have broken off the graphite bricks that make up the reactor cores.

According to ONR there is “significant uncertainty” about the risks of
debris blocking channels for cooling the reactor and causing fuel cladding
to melt. This could cause an accident and a leak of radioactivity.

The 50-strong group of Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) is urging ONR to close down both reactors at Hunterston. “These latest alarming
revelations about the graphite reactor cores at Hunterston B starting to
crumble and potential issues with the fuel make us even more convinced that
reactor three should not be allowed to resume operation,” said NFLA
Scotland convener and Glasgow SNP councillor, Feargal Dalton.

“We will be pressing the Office for Nuclear Regulation very hard to examine very carefully any justification which EDF Energy puts forward to reopen reactor four after its initial four month trial, and to be open and transparent
about what they find.

The precautionary principle would suggest that this reactor too should stay closed.” NFLA radiation consultant, Dr Ian Fairlie, described ONR’s latest reports as “very worrying”. By considering the melting of fuel cladding the regulatory agency was “getting into even more dangerous matters than before”. He added:

“These reports and their harder language make one wonder why ONR granted
a four month extension to reactor four in August. Taken together the new
revelations strengthen the calls by local residents to close both reactors
at Hunterston B.”  https://theferret.scot/hunterston-graphite-debris-nuclear/

October 19, 2019 Posted by | safety, UK | 1 Comment

Ohio’s Fascist Pro-Nuke Attack on Democracy Comes Due on Monday

By Harvey Wasserman, 18 Oct 19
A terrifying series of gestapo-style assaults, petiton buying, bribery, mass media manipulation and systematic intimidation has smacked into the attempt of Ohio citizens to repeal a billion-dollar bailout for two dangerously failing atomic reactors on Lake Erie.
 
The unprecedented assault threatens the referendum process in Ohio and across the nation. 
 
It also threatens to keep on line two very old, dangerously decayed reactors where melt-downs and explosions could forever contaminate the Great Lakes region and more.  (For a full explanation, hear this one-hour discussion at:  
 
The story may end Monday, October 21, when signatures are due to qualify an anti-nuclear referendum for the fall 2020 ballot.
 
It begins with the July passage by the gerrymandered Ohio Legislature of HB6, a massive bailout scheme designed to subsidize the Perry and Davis-Besse nukes, plus two fifty-year-old coal burners, one of them in Indiana.  HB6 does support ten small solar facilities.  But it also kills an extremely popular, effective energy efficiency program along with larger subsidies for wind and solar energy in general.  
 
The bailout is vehemently opposed by a large majority of Ohioans, including most of its usually pro-corporate media.  Commercial, industrial and environmental groups did mount a massive campaign meant to stop the bill from passing.  But with help from Democrats in both houses, the Legislature narrowly approved the bailouts.
 
Almost immediately, a referendum was filed for repeal.  With 265,000 signatures due by October 21, Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts began hiring canvassers.
 
Ohio’s GOP Secretary of State delayed the process as long as possible.  He waiting a full 20 days before turning down the first petition submission.  He then waited another 20 to certify the second.
 
But as soon as the referendum supporters began gathering signatures, pro-nuke forces attacked with a fascist assault unlike any other in US history.
 
First they began running an astonishing wave of TV ads claiming the referendum was a plot by Chinese Communists to take over Ohio’s electrical grid.  The ads feature (they are still running!)  hordes of goose-stepping Chinese soldiers, sinister footage of China’s dictator, shuttered US factories, and more.  
 
Accompanied by high-gloss mass mailings, the pro-nuke forces are also running saturation radio ads warning Ohioans to shun all signature gatherers lest they be tracked by sinister communists out to ruin their lives and credit.  A toll-free number is offered to those willing to call in the location of any repeal supporters.  
 
But the pro-nuke gestapo has also leapt from mere media manipulation to physical intimidation.  When the referendum-gatherers hit the streets, they were confronted by industry “blockers” to tangibly prevent them from doing their job.  In one case (as filmed on a security camera) a blocker smacked the cell phone out of the hands of a signature gatherer as he tried to photograph her.  Gatherers have widely reported close-up verbal assaults.  In some cases as many as three paid blockers have surrounded a single signature gatherer to prevent anyone from coming near to signing a petition.
 
Because many of the signature gatherers are hired employees, they’re required to register contact information with the state.  The pro-nuke mob has assaulted them with threatening phone calls.  In some cases they’ve reportedly offered substantial cash payments and airline tickets if they leave the state.  One signature gatherer reported being offered $2500 (!) for the day’s accumulated sign-up sheets, which would presumably then be shredded.
 
Under the circumstances, many now wonder if the pro-referendum forces have been able to accumulate the required 265,000 signatures, plus the many more needed for a traditional cushion.  The Republican Secretary of State is certain to discard as many signatures as he can, especially with the micro-managed scrutiny of the nuclear industry.
 
The ramifications of such an outcome are staggering.  It could signal the death of the popular referendum, a cornerstone of the democratic process.
 
It could also mean two old, uncompetitive, uninsured, un-inspected crumbling atomic reactors highly likely to explode will continue to threaten the entire Great Lakes region for years to come. 
————-
Harvey Wasserman’s People’s Spiral of US History is at solartopia.org.  His California Solartopia show is broadcast at KPFK/Pacifica-90.7FM in Los Angeles.  The Green Power & Wellness Show is podcast at prn.fm.  
 

October 19, 2019 Posted by | politics, USA | 1 Comment

8-10 years for Southern California Edison to demolish San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station

Coastal Commission OKs permit to dismantle the San Onofre nuclear plant,Southern California Edison will begin demolition in coming months but entire process will take 8-10 years to complete, San Diego Union Tribune, By ROB NIKOLEWSKI, OCT. 17, 2019

 The California Coastal Commission, on a 9-0 vote, gave approval Thursday for Southern California Edison to proceed with plans to dismantle the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, known as SONGS, where canisters loaded with nuclear waste are being moved from “wet storage” to a newly constructed “dry storage” facility on site.

The permit will allow Edison contractors to begin removing major structures at the facility, located on an 85-acre chunk of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton owned by the Department of the Navy. SONGS is home to 3.55 million pounds of used-up nuclear fuel, between the Pacific and Interstate 5…..

Ultimately, the federal government has the final say about where used-up commercial nuclear fuel should go. But since a permanent site has not been found, nuclear waste at plants like SONGS have been piling up for decades. …….

A provision within the commission’s vote added a special condition to the permit concerning the demolition of two spent fuel pools where used-up nuclear waste is stored.

Under the provision, Edison will not get rid of the pools until it funds an independent third-party review of an inspection and maintenance plan regarding the condition of canisters in dry storage and forwards the findings to the Coastal Commission. Edison also agreed to start the plan by March 31, 2020 — seven months earlier than scheduled.

In return, the commission agreed to not sit on the report and vote on a recommendation by Coastal Commission staff by July 2020.

The proposed demolition of the pools at Units 2 and 3 dominated much of the discussion that dragged out for most of the day.

While fuel inside a nuclear reactor typically loses its efficiency after about four to six years, it is still thermally hot and emits a great deal of radiation. To keep the fuel cool, nuclear plant operators place the used-up waste in a metal rack and lower it into a deep pool of water, typically for at least five years. Once cooled, the fuel is often transferred to a dry storage facility.

Some speakers supported removal of the pools but others insisted they must remain to make sure the canisters holding the waste can be retrieved and inspected.

While fuel inside a nuclear reactor typically loses its efficiency after about four to six years, it is still thermally hot and emits a great deal of radiation. To keep the fuel cool, nuclear plant operators place the used-up waste in a metal rack and lower it into a deep pool of water, typically for at least five years. Once cooled, the fuel is often transferred to a dry storage facility.

Some speakers supported removal of the pools but others insisted they must remain to make sure the canisters holding the waste can be retrieved and inspected………

The dismantlement will be carried out by a general contractor selected in December 2016 — a joint venture of AECOM and Energy Solutions called SONGS Decommissioning Solutions. The decommissioning will be paid for by $4.4 billion in existing trust funds, The money has been collected from SONGS customers and invested in dedicated trusts. According to Edison, customers have contributed about one-third of the trust funds while remaining two-thirds has come from investments by the company.

Some of the work can begin before the waste transfers are completed, provided they are “geographically separate from locations where fuel storage and transfer operations occur,” Dobken said.

After transfers were suspended for a little more than one year after the August 2018 incident involving the 50-ton canister, Edison resumed moving canisters in July. Workers have moved 35 canisters to dry storage thus far, with 38 more to go. Transfer operations are expected to be completed by mid-2020…….

SONGS is far from the only nuclear plant with waste on-site. About 80,000 metric tons of used commercial fuel has piled up at 121 sites in 35 states because the federal government has not found a repository where it can be stored. Federal authorities were supposed to begin taking custody of spent fuel in 1998. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/story/2019-10-17/coastal-commission-oks-permit-to-begin-dismantlement-at-san-onofre-nuclear-plant

October 19, 2019 Posted by | decommission reactor, USA | 1 Comment

Bradwell B – UK’s futile nuclear project

BANNG 17th Oct 2019, Andy Blowers ponders the question, ‘Why, since Bradwell B is such a futile project, don’t the regulators stop it now?’ in the BANNG column for Regional Life, October, 2019. Why is it that so often decision makers fail to see or, perversely, choose to ignore the blindingly obvious?

This thought occurred to me during a recent meeting of BANNG with officials from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA) about the Bradwell B site?

There are at least three major ‘showstoppers’ that should have already made Bradwell B, to borrow a phrase, ‘dead in the water’: Cooling water – the Blackwater estuary cannot possibly provide or sustain the volume of cooling water needed.

Emergency plan – in the event of a serious accident it will be impossible
to evacuate the surrounding area. Climate change – the Bradwell site is
fragile and vulnerable to rising seas, storms and erosion which will,
sooner or later, impact on the power station and its dangerous nuclear
waste stores. https://www.banng.info/news/the-show-must-not-go-on/

October 19, 2019 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Safety concerns over Berkshire nuclear weapons factories

Safety concerns over Berkshire nuclear weapons factories, BBC, 17 Oct 19, Two nuclear weapons factories are to remain under extra scrutiny due to safety concerns over their ageing facilities, a government watchdog said. BBC News

The AWE sites in Aldermaston and Burghfield, Berkshire, make and maintain the UK’s nuclear warheads.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said the sites will be scrutinised closely for at least two years.

Contractor AWE Plc said the replacements for the outdated facilities had been delayed.

The private company manufactures the warheads for Trident, the UK’s nuclear deterrent at sea.

AWE had planned to replace the Burghfield facilities by 2016, but due to construction delays it is expected to be completed in 2023, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. …. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-50099579

 

October 19, 2019 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Trump grants extension for nuclear fuel recommendations

Trump grants extension for nuclear fuel recommendations SFChronicle 

Oct. 17, 2019 FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A U.S. task force has been given more time to recommend ways to revive domestic uranium mining as it lags amid low prices and global competition.

The Nuclear Fuel Working Group had been expected to deliver recommendations to President Donald Trump last week. But the Commerce Department says Trump granted a 30-day extension.

Uranium mining interests say the global market for uranium ore is vulnerable to political turmoil.

They want Trump to boost U.S. demand to help domestic suppliers. But the president rejected a requested quota during the summer and gave the task force 90 days to come up with other ideas….. https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/us/article/Trump-grants-extension-for-nuclear-fuel-14541894.php

October 19, 2019 Posted by | business and costs, politics, Uranium | Leave a comment

A single bird grounds America’s Navy ‘Doomsday’ plane

Navy ‘Doomsday’ plane built to withstand nuclear attack grounded after striking single bird, By JESSICA SCHLADEBECK, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |OCT 18, 2019  The Navy’s “Doomsday Plane,” designed to withstand even a nuclear attack, suffered millions of dollars in damages after striking a single bird as it practiced a landing maneuver earlier this month at a Maryland air station.

The E-6B Mercury was supposed to only touch down momentarily before immediately taking off again from the Patuxent River Naval Air station – but a bird was sucked into one of the plane’s four engines while it attempted the “touch and go” move, according to Military.com….. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-bird-strike-navy-plane-nuclear-attack-grounds-20191018-c5jhcnyoufa2nf2ryaxb3bupo4-story.html

October 19, 2019 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Jane Fonda arrested with Sam Waterston in climate change protest

Jane Fonda arrested with Sam Waterston in climate change protest, msn, 19 Oct 19, Sophie Lewis, Jane Fonda was arrested again on Friday for protesting climate change in front of the U.S. Capitol. This time, she was joined by her “Grace and Frankie” costar Sam Waterston, who was also arrested.

“We can do this!” Waterston, 78, said during the protest. “We need something to push for that’s as big as the problem.”

“This is an ongoing action to draw attention and a sense of urgency to the climate crisis,” Fonda said before her arrest. “Make no mistake, change is coming, whether we like it or not. Change is coming by disaster, or change is coming by design.”

The actors were seen with zip ties around their wrists by police following a demonstration in Washington, D.C, in front of the Library of Congress.

“We can do this!” Waterston, 78, said during the protest. “We need something to push for that’s as big as the problem.”

“This is an ongoing action to draw attention and a sense of urgency to the climate crisis,” Fonda said before her arrest. “Make no mistake, change is coming, whether we like it or not. Change is coming by disaster, or change is coming by design.”

The actors were seen with zip ties around their wrists by police following a demonstration in Washington, D.C, in front of the Library of Congress. …… https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/jane-fonda-arrested-with-sam-waterston-in-climate-change-protest/ar-AAIZPb1?ocid=spartandhp

October 19, 2019 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

Hurricane Hagibis Spreads Fukushima Radiation (But No, 2,667 Bags of Decontaminated Waste were NOT Washed Away!) 

 Nuclear HotSeat  BY NHADMIN  OCTOBER 16, 2019    Fukushima Hurricane Hagibis Flooding – deluge of water washes full bags of “decontaminated” soil, plants, and other radioactive matter into Furumichi river near the Japanese city of Tamura in Fukushima Prefecture (above). No report yet on how much radioactive material from the decomposing, torn waste bags was washed back into the environment.  http://nuclearhotseat.com/2019/10/16/fukushima-hurricane-hagibis-flooding-spreads-radiation-risks/

October 17, 2019 Posted by | Japan | Leave a comment

Nuclear power to combat climate change? This cure is worse than the disease

October 17, 2019 Posted by | 2 WORLD, wastes | 1 Comment

News media -Don’t call nuclear power “clean” or “green”

October 17, 2019 Posted by | general | 2 Comments

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