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Lawsuits express no confidence in nuclear “Waste Confidence Rule”

For many, the separate suits by state attorneys general and environmental groups raise fresh questions over why America is pouring billions into a nuclear renaissance with no long-term strategy for handling waste from the nation’s existing facilities. ….The lawsuit targets NRC’s recently updated “Waste Confidence Rule.”


As U.S. Moves Ahead with Nuclear Power, No Solution for Radioactive Waste, Solve Climate News, By Abby LubyMar 3, 2011 A pair of legal actions against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission raises fresh questions over how and where to store the nation’s growing nuclear waste, Continue reading →

March 4, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

A spate of legal challenges to nuclear waste storage rules

address the question of whether there are more cost-effective energy alternatives that would avoid saddling future generations with the costs and risks of disposing of highly radioactive waste generated by nuclear reactors,”

Environmental groups fight nuclear storage rules – SmartPlanet,  David Worthington 25 Feb 2011, A coalition of environmental groups has let loose a spate of legal challenges against the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) 2010 findings that spent reactor fuel and highly radioactive nuclear waste can be safety tucked away for the long term. Continue reading →

March 1, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | 1 Comment

UK Nuclear veterans dying as they await legal procedings

“Claimants are dying at a rate of three each month, so the sooner the government stops wasting time and money on procedural issues and allows a judge to finally decide the matter, the happier the claimants will be.”

Veterans want court fight after exposure to nuclear radiation Bournemouth Echo,  27th February 2011 By Fiona Pendlebury » VETERANS fighting to be allowed to sue the government after being exposed to nuclear radiation in the 1950s and 1960s are awaiting a key ruling from the Supreme Court. Continue reading →

March 1, 2011 Posted by | Legal, UK | 1 Comment

Natural Resources Council challenges NRC’s WASTE CONFIDENCE RULE

In absurdist fashion, the new Waste Confidence Rule contains a “predictive” safety “finding” that simply stipulates spent reactor fuel can be disposed of safely at some unspecified time in the future, whenever it becomes “necessary” to dispose of it. The Rule also concludes that for at least sixty years after the cessation of reactor operations, spent fuel can be safely stored at reactor sites or in “special” facilities.

Sixty Thousand Tons of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Stored at U.S. Reactors for 60 Years? Natural Resources Defence Council, Matthew McKinzie  February 23, 2011 Why NRDC has Challenged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Waste Confidence Rule Last week my colleague and NRDC Senior Attorney Geoffrey Fettus filed a legal challenge to two final rulemakings by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission: the “Waste Confidence Decision Update” and the “Consideration of Environmental Impacts of Temporary Storage of Spent Fuel After Cessation of Reactor Operation.” What does the Federal Government want to do with these new Rules, and why is NRDC opposing them?…….. Continue reading →

February 24, 2011 Posted by | Legal, spinbuster, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission being sued by three States

In New York, the lawsuit on Tuesday had another political subtext. The licenses of the Indian Point 2 and 3 reactors in Buchanan are nearing expiration, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo opposes a 20-year extension sought by the plant’s owners.

Policy on Storing Nuclear Waste Is Challenged by States – NYTimes.com, Matthew Wald, 16 Feb 2011, WASHINGTON — The attorneys general of New York, Connecticutand Vermont sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday, challenging a new commission policy stating that nuclear waste can be safely stored at a nuclear power plant for 60 years after a reactor goes out of service. Continue reading →

February 16, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Legal case over medical radiation

Richmond man sues over hospital scan Edmonton Journal February 15, 2011 A Richmond man claims he was over-exposed to radiation during a CT scan at Abbotsford Regional Hospital.In a civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Randy Kroeplin says he was placed in the scanner at the hospital on March 19, 2009.He says the scan appeared to stop halfway through the scan and he was left in the scanner for about 25 minutes. The scan commenced again and was finished about four minutes later. “As a result of the CT scan, the plaintiff was exposed to an unnecessary amount of radiation,” says the suit. Richmond man sues over hospital scan

February 16, 2011 Posted by | Canada, Legal | Leave a comment

USA’s mounting mountains of nuclear waste, and of its legal costs

Some companies have won their lawsuits while others have settled with the government.  According to the Justice Department, the government has already paid the companies $960 million. And assuming the government will be able to collect the waste by 2020, the Energy Department estimates the government’s liability could reach $16.2 billion.

Nuclear-Power Firms Push Back Against Fees – WSJ.com, FEBRUARY 11, 2011,   By TENNILLE TRACY “……..Fund fees, paid by utilities or their ratepayers and facilities, are based on a charge of one-tenth of a cent for every kilowatt-hour of electricity generated at a nuclear plant. Continue reading →

February 12, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Legal action to stop Colorado uranium mill

Energy Fuels will be required provide $11 million in sureties to cover future cleanup costs, although cleanup costs for other mills in the past have ranged between $50 million and $500 million, the group said in a statement.

Suit filed against planned Western Slope uranium mill, Denver Business Journal – by Cathy Proctor, February 8, 2011 A Western Slope group fighting a plan to open a new uranium mill in Colorado — the first new U.S. uranium mill in a quarter-century — has filed a lawsuit in Denver District Court alleging state regulators haven’t follow state and federal law regarding the project. Continue reading →

February 10, 2011 Posted by | Legal, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Russia flexes its legal muscles against Canadian uranium company

Russia blocks litigation claim against ARMZ – Khan, TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – By: Liezel Hill 7th February 2011 Russian authorities have blocked a litigation claim by Canadian junior Khan Resources against Russian State-owned uranium miner Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ), Continue reading →

February 8, 2011 Posted by | Legal, Russia | Leave a comment

As legal case is delayed, Hanford nuclear victims are dying

The clandestine 1949 test was among the early Hanford releases that raised thyroid cancer risks to 16,000 infants and small children who drank milk from cows eating contaminated grass, the dose reconstruction study conducted a half-century later would conclude.

Hanford radiation plaintiff near death – Spokesman.com, Karen Dorn Steele,  – Feb. 5, 2011 A woman suing Hanford contractors over her thyroid cancer, whose request for an expedited federal trial was denied last year by a Spokane judge, lies near death in a Longview, Wash., hospice. Continue reading →

February 7, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Legal challenge to German govt extending life of nuclear plants

argues that the nuclear sites were inadequately protected against plane crashes and that safe nuclear waste disposal was not yet possible.

Greenpeace brings nuclear plant lifespan law to Germany’s highest court Deutsche Welle, Darren Mara (dpa, AP), 3 Feb 2011, Residents living near a handful of Germany’s nuclear plants, along with environmental group Greenpeace, have filed a case with the constitutional court over a new law extending the lifespan of the nuclear plants. Continue reading →

February 4, 2011 Posted by | Germany, Legal | Leave a comment

Legal technicality leaves Navajo no redress for uranium contaminated land

The Navajo Nation only became aware that the two sites nearby were also contaminated in the early 2000s.

Federal Appeals Court Rules DOE Not Responsible for Navajo Uranium Cleanup By LAWRENCE HURLEY, NYTimes.com January 28, 2011 A federal appeals court ruled today that the Department of Energy does not have to remediate two sites on Navajo Nation land that are adjacent to an old uranium mine. Continue reading →

January 29, 2011 Posted by | indigenous issues, Legal, USA | Leave a comment

India’s Nuclear liability Law greatly worrying the nuclear industry

[India] recently bowled the global nuclear power industry – and possibly itself – an unexpected googly by adopting a civil nuclear liability law that will hold suppliers liable for any accident for up to 80 years after a plant’s construction…..Many countries with nuclear power industries channel potential liability in case of an accident to operators. India’s very different law has sent nuclear companies into a spin.

Nuclear industry: Government bowls sector a surprise googly, By Amy Kazmin   New Delhi  January 26 2011 “…..International suppliers – including GE, Westinghouse, Bechtel, Russia’s Rosatom, France’s Areva, and Japan’s Toshiba, Hitachi and Mitsubishi – are all eyeing lucrative opportunities, …… Continue reading →

January 27, 2011 Posted by | India, Legal | Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission finds that Calvert Cliffs Project should consider alternatives to nuclear power

The draft environmental impact statement’s “discussion of a combination of alternatives is inadequate and faulty,” the report states. “By selecting a single alternative that under-represents potential contributions of wind and solar power

Judge nuclear power against wind and solar, panel says NRC board agrees with foes of Calvert Cliffs project, Gazette.Net, Maryland Newws onlineby Meghan Russell , Jan. 7, 2011 Federal regulators agree with opponents of a proposed third reactor at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant that a draft report did not sufficiently consider alternative power sources, such as wind and solar, to the $10 billion, 1,600-megawatt project. Continue reading →

January 8, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear trial in Switzerland: evidence destroyed due to CIA link

The six-year investigation has been hampered at times by the Swiss government’s insistence that it had to destroy evidence — which included plans for nuclear arms and technologies — in the name of national security….to hide evidence of a clandestine relationship between the Tinners and the C.I.A…..

Swiss Judge Presses for Nuclear Trial Despite C.I.A. Link,  NYTimes.com, By DAVID JOLLY  December 23, 2010 PARIS — Three engineers suspected of violating Switzerland’s nuclear nonproliferation laws should face charges, an investigating magistrate said on Thursday in a case with national security implications for the United States. Continue reading →

December 24, 2010 Posted by | Legal, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Switzerland | 4 Comments

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