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Entergy not to be charged over its lies about nuclear radioactive wastes

Vermont won’t charge Entergy over leak -Atty Gen

 * State wants Vermont Yankee reactor to shut in 2012
 * Entergy wants plant to run until 2032
 By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK, July 6 (Reuters) - Vermont's attorney general
decided not to charge Entergy Corp (ETR.N) or any of its
current or past employees with perjury for misleading state
officials during an investigation into a radioactive tritium
leak at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in 2010.
 That leak, and misleading comments by Entergy employees
that there were no underground pipes at the plant leaking
tritium, helped convince state officials the reactor should be
shut in March 2012, even though U.S. regulators renewed its
original 40-year operating license for another 20 years.
 Unless state officials change their minds or New
Orleans-based Entergy, the No. 2 U.S. nuclear power operator,
wins a court case to block the state from shutting the reactor,
Vermont Yankee will close in March 2012.......
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/06/utilities-entergy-vermont-idUSN1E76518U20110706

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July 10, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

USA taxpayers to pay Xcel for temporary nuclear waste storage

A proposed permanent storage site for U.S. nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada was dropped from consideration last year by the Obama administration. The blue ribbon commission has been studying what to do next……..

U.S. to pay Xcel $100M for nuclear waste storage: DAN BROWNING and NEAL ST. ANTHONY , Star Tribune ,  July 8, 2011  In the latest in a series of settlements with the nation’s electric utilities, the government agreed to bear the cost of storing waste……Xcel announced Friday that the government will pay $100 million to settle a lawsuit it filed in 1998. The payment is reimbursement for 10 years of storage costs incurred by the utility and its customers,…… Continue reading →

July 9, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Britain drags out nuclear veterans compensation case, hoping they’ll all die off

Britain urged to settle nuclear payout for veterans, THE AUSTRALIAN , July 04, 2011 THE British government was under pressure last night to settle a multimillion-pound fight with more than 1000 veterans of nuclear tests in Australia and the Pacific or risk wasting even more money on a “morally unjustifiable” legal battle that could drag on for years.

Supporters of the pensioners, who participated in Britain’s atomic bomb trials in the Pacific in the 1950s, said that it was time for the Ministry of Defence to follow the world’s four other main nuclear powers and pay compensation. Continue reading →

July 4, 2011 Posted by | Legal, UK | Leave a comment

Legal battle- South Carolina’s nuclear waste not to go to Nevada

A federal report issued early in June said the U.S. has generated more than 82,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste, which it was storing at 80 sites in 35 states.

The amount of waste is expected to double by 2055, the Government Accountability Office said.

Appeals court dismisses nuclear waste suit, Macon.com  By NEDRA PICKLER and DINA CAPPIELLO – Associated Press, 1 July 11, WASHINGTON — The Obama administration won a legal battle Friday in the long-standing fight over where to bury the nation’s nuclear waste, but it’s not likely to be the last.  The federal appeals court in Washington ruled against South Carolina, Washington state and others that want to ship radioactive spent nuclear fuel they are temporarily storing to a repository 90 miles from Las Vegas at Yucca Mountain. Continue reading →

July 2, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Legal moves against nuclear power in Japan

Opposition to nuclear power plants grows in Japan , People’s World, 8 June 11 Japan Bar Assn. calls for end to nuclear power plants The Japan Bar Association at its general meeting in Tokyo on May 27 adopted a declaration calling for the phasing out of existing nuclear power plants in Japan and a stop to the program to construct more nuclear reactors.

The declaration requests that the government separate the nuclear safety regulatory body from the nuclear promoting ministry and agency, and promote renewable energy sources as a main pillar to energy policy based on the principle of sustainability.

Residents near Hamaoka plant file lawsuit Residents living near the Hamaoka nuclear power station in Shizuoka’s Omaezaki City on May 27 filed a lawsuit against Chubu Electric Power Company with the Shizuoka District Court, seeking a permanent shutdown of all reactors at the plant.

The group of plaintiffs consists of 35 residents, including two Japanese Communist Party members of the Kakegawa City Assembly, in Omaezaki, Kikukawa, and Kakegawa cities located within a 30km-zone of the plant. JCP member of the Omaezaki City Assembly Shimizu Sumio heads the group of plaintiffs.

They aim for the decommissioning of the reactors at the earliest possible date, arguing that the Hamaoka plant is located at the focal region of an inevitable Tokai earthquake…http://peoplesworld.org/opposition-to-nuclear-power-plants-grows-in-japan/

June 9, 2011 Posted by | Japan, Legal | Leave a comment

Nuclear worker falsified safety documents

A Hixson man pleaded guilty in Federal Court on Wednesday morning to falsifying documents related to an inspection at the TVA Watts Bar facility. The Chattanoogan.com 8 June 11, 
Matthew David Correll, 31, faces up to five years in prison. He will be sentenced by Judge Curtis Collier on Oct. 6 at 2 p.m…..
Prosecutor James Brooks said Correll made false statements that he had measured cables for a safety system at the plant.The plea agreement says Correll was working for Williams Specialty Services, a sub-contractor of Bechtel Corp.

As part of the plea agreement, Correll stipulated that in August 2010 in Spring City, he completed TVA forms purporting to state micrometer readings of cables that had been installed to provide energy to equipment, including to safety equipment, inside the containment structure at Unit 2 of the Watts Bar nuclear plant. The defendant made approximately 200 entries. After the entries were submitted, it was discovered that the entries were either inaccurate or purported to be measurements of cables that did not in fact exist. The defendant was questioned and admitted that he had falsified all of the entries….

June 9, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Sheep Mountain Alliance has legal win in its battle against uranium milling

Denver District Judge Brian Whitney sided with the Telluride-based Sheep Mountain Alliance, which contends the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) may have violated various state and federal laws in issuing a permit for the mill. The lawsuit can now move forward…...

Denver district judge allows uranium mill lawsuit to move ahead, The Colorado Independent,  By David O. Williams | 05.27.11  A Denver district judge this week rejected motions by the state of Colorado and a Canadian uranium mining company to throw out a lawsuit challenging the proposed Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill in Montrose County. Continue reading →

May 28, 2011 Posted by | Legal, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission faces lawsuit from Vermont

Vermont, nuclear watchdog group file lawsuit against NRC,  SentinelSource.com, State, group file suit against NRC May 25, 2011, By Kyle Jarvis Vermont state officials are asking a federal court to have the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant’s recently renewed operating license temporarily revoked and reviewed by the court, according to court documents filed by state officials last week.

The state and the New England Coalition, a nuclear watchdog group, are suing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in federal court for what they say was a mishandling of the Vermont Yankee renewal process in March. n the lawsuit, Vermont Department of Public Service officials said the commission “acted arbitrarily, abused its discretion, and violated the clear mandate of the Clean Water Act.”State officials argue the commission should not have granted the 20-year license renewal without also requiring a new water quality certification, which they say the Clean Water Act mandates, according to court documents…….. Vermont, nuclear watchdog group file lawsuit against NRC – SentinelSource.com: Local News

May 26, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

A legal win for Namibia’s groundwater against uranium mining

issue is the question of who has the legal standing to go to court to ask for protection for the environment, which is unable to speak for itself…plan to extract large quantities of water from an underground water source in such a dry, environmentally sensitive and hitherto unspoilt area.

Uranium company loses desert water plan appeal, the Namibian, 20 May 11, By: WERNER MENGES  A LEGAL challenge to a Canadian-owned mining company’s plan to use underground water to set up a uranium mine in the Namib Desert south-west of Usakos is heading back to the High Court after an appeal judgement that was given in the Supreme Court yesterday.

An issue that has never before had to be decided by a Namibian court is expected to be at the core Continue reading →

May 21, 2011 Posted by | Legal, Namibia, water | Leave a comment

Tribunal raps Indian govt over Jaitapur health and safety issues

Jaitapur public tribunal gives govt a rap on the knuckles, May 20, 2011,  By Alok Deshpande  Mumbai  : DNA  As around 20 fisherfolk, men and women from Sakhri Nate village, situated around the proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) site appeared before a People’s Tribunal for the second day to blow the lid off police atrocities, the government’s nuclear agencies were for the first time ever, forced to submit their depositions to the panel of two retired high court judges. Justice AP Shah, however, reacted sharply, calling it a “half-hearted attempt” from the government to answer people’s grievances over the JNPP.

“The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has submitted its deposition to the tribunal, which has no answer to the questions raised by the people. Even Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has sent large number of documents, but strangely no-one is appearing, in person, before the people’s court and is not ready to face cross-examination,” said Shah.

He added that the documents are related to radiation, health and safety and seemed to be regular brochures. “I have asked the experts to study them and tell us what was not mentioned in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report,” said Shah. The judges have however, noted that this is the first time that a full-fledged discussion over nuclear energy is taking place in a free environment, which is a good sign…..Jaitapur public tribunal gives govt a rap on the knuckles – Mumbai – DNA

May 21, 2011 Posted by | India, Legal | Leave a comment

Japan: collusion of govt, nuclear regulators, plant operators, courts

The lawsuits reveal a disturbing pattern in which operators underestimated or hid seismic dangers to avoid costly upgrades and keep operating. And the fact that virtually all these suits were unsuccessful reinforces the widespread belief in Japan that a culture of collusion supporting nuclear power, including the government, nuclear regulators and plant operators, extends to the courts as well.

Japanese Officials Ignored or Concealed Dangers, New York Times, By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER,  May 16, 2011  OMAEZAKI, Japan — The nuclear power plant, lawyers argued, could not withstand the kind of major earthquake that new seismic research now suggested was likely.

If such a quake struck, electrical power could fail, along with backup generators, crippling the cooling system, the lawyers predicted. The reactors would then suffer a meltdown and start spewing radiation into the air and sea. Tens of thousands in the area would be forced to flee.

Although the predictions sound eerily like the sequence of events at the Fukushima Daiichi plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the lawsuit was filed nearly a decade ago to shut down another plant, long considered the most dangerous in Japan — the Hamaoka station. Continue reading →

May 17, 2011 Posted by | Japan, Legal, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Supreme Court upholds State’s rights over water intake at nuclear plant

SJC upholds state’s right to regulate water intake at Pilgrim nuclear –  Boston Globe , by Beth Daley, 12 April 11, The state Supreme Judicial Court has upheld Massachusetts’ right to regulate the intake of vast amounts of water by the Pilgrim Nuclear Station and other power plants, which can harm fish and other marine organisms.Power plants use the water to cool equipment then discharge it later — and hotter — into waterways. Environmental studies show the heated water can harm aquatic life. The state and environmentalists have also long argued that the sucking in of water can kill vast amounts of fish larvae, eggs, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms – larger creatures become trapped on screens covering the intake pipes, and smaller ones are sucked into the cooling system. Continue reading →

April 12, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA, water | Leave a comment

Huge civil damages claims looming from Fukushima disaster

“If the government nationalises TEPCO then they take on TEPCO’s debts, and if TEPCO remains private it will probably need government support for its obligations to pay damages, so whichever way you look at it the government will be taking on responsibility

Japan nuclear crisis to trigger huge civil damages claims | Reuters, Mon Apr 4, 2011 * TEPCO and government to handle claims* Hundreds of thousands of claims expected* Claims could top $130 bln in worst case – BofA-ML* Government likely to set up central compensation fund By Rachel Armstrong – Japan’s nuclear crisis is likely to lead to one of the country’s largest and most complex ever set of claims for civil damages, handing a huge bill to the fiscally strained government and debt-laden plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co . Continue reading →

April 5, 2011 Posted by | Japan, Legal | Leave a comment

Ontario Power Generation’s flawed statement on nuclear power

the province has never completed an integrated power system plan that would establish the need for new generators…… The environmental impact statement submitted by OPG also fails to consider alternatives to a major nuclear project,

Law association argues nuclear approval process flawed – thestar.com, 4 April 11, John Spears Ontario Power Generation has failed to consider alternatives to building new nuclear reactors at Darlington, the Canadian Environmental Law Association argued Monday.That means it hasn’t submitted an adequate environmental impact statement under federal law, the association told a panel reviewing the proposal for new reactors.And that in turn means the panel isn’t in a position to recommend giving the go-ahead for OPG to proceed with preparing the site for construction, Continue reading →

April 5, 2011 Posted by | Canada, Legal | Leave a comment

U.S. Energy Dept sued over failure to provide nuclear waste dump

it could be several years before a repository is constructed and the federal government can begin accepting waste from nuclear power plants. Until then, the association wants to halt the nuclear waste fund fees that the Energy Department collects for that purpose…….

Utility Commissioners Sue To Suspend Annual Nuclear Waste Fees By Tennille Tracy  NEWSWIRES,WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones) 8 march 11,  A group representing state utility commissioners sued the U.S. Energy Department Monday to try to prevent it from collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in fees to build a nuclear waste dump. Continue reading →

March 7, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

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