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Not a good look for the USA – Nuclear Regulatory Commission can override State’s wishes

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

Not a good look for the USA.

It seems now that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and its friends, the nuclear industry, can now override any State in America that wants to get rid of dirty, dangerous nuclear energy – Christina Macpherson

“The New England Coalition, and all Vermonters, have now been deprived of the right that was guaranteed to them by Congress, to have a say in how this plant affects clean water,”

State Loses Another Legal Round In Vt. Yankee Relicensing, Vermont Public Radio, 06/26/12, John Dillon A federal court has handed the state of Vermont another loss in its ongoing challenge to Vermont Yankee’s operating license.
The Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington rejected the state’s arguments that the new 20-year license was invalid because Entergy Vermont Yankee failed to get a new water quality permit.
The court found Vermont missed its chance to raise the issue before the Nuclear Regulator Commission. Continue reading →

June 27, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Court found that USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission could not just ignore nuclear wastes

In its ruling the court concluded that the NRC’s standard finding during the relicensing process that permanent nuclear-waste storage will be available “when necessary” did not calculate the environmental effects of failing to secure permanent storage – “a possibility that cannot be ignored.”

The court also found that the NRC’s finding that spent fuel could safely be stored on site at nuclear plants for 60 years after expiration of a plant’s license, “failed to properly examine future dangers and key consequences.”

Nuclear waste: why environmentalists are pressing NRC on reactor licenses After a US appeals court ruled the NRC had not adequately evaluated nuclear waste provisions when licensing reactors, the groups are seeking to ensure the public has input on the process. Christian Science Monitor, By Mark Clayton,   June 20, 2012 The nation’s top nuclear power plant regulator is being petitioned by environmental groups to halt all further license extensions for 35 power reactors nationwide until their on-site nuclear-waste storage systems undergo more in-depth environmental evaluation. The legal petition filed Monday followed a June 8 ruling by the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which found that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had failed to adequately evaluate on-site nuclear waste storage prior to granting license extensions. Continue reading →

June 21, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

UK nuclear test veterans take their legal battle to European Court of Human Rights.

Right to the top: Britain’s nuclear test veterans take battle for justice to Europe
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/british-nuclear-test-victims-to-take-887711
Victims of Britain’s ­nuclear tests are to take their fight for justice to the European Court of Human Rights.

More than 1,000 veterans of the atomic bomb tests carried out in the South Pacific in the 1950s are to ask judges in Strasbourg to rule on their ­demand for a trial accusing the Ministry of Defence of exposing them to radiation.

The veterans and their families claim they have since ­suffered from a catalogue of rare medical conditions, as well as miscarriages and birth defects, but courts here have banned hearings into most of their cases.

But now, as Prime Minister David Cameron comes under repeated fire for ignoring the terms of the Military Covenant which pledges to look after our servicemen, the vets are asking Europe to intervene. Continue reading →

June 20, 2012 Posted by | Legal, UK | 1 Comment

State of Massachusetts appeals to revoke license extension for Pilgrim nuclear plant

an appeals court ruled that the agency failed to fully evaluate risks associated with its regulations on the storage of spent nuclear fuel 

The NRC in May granted a 20-year license extension to the Pilgrim plant, located in Plymouth. In its filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston, the state seeks to vacate the license renewal and require the commission to prepare an environmental impact statement.

NRC License of Nuclear Plant Challenged by Massachusetts, Bloomberg News By David McLaughlin June 19, 2012 Massachusetts, in an appeal of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision to relicense Entergy Corp. (ETR) (ETR)’s Pilgrim nuclear power station, asked to have the extension for the facility 40 miles south of Boston canceled pending further review.

The state seeks to require the commission to take steps to ensure the safety of the plant and the residents of the surrounding communities, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said yesterday in a statement.

“The NRC, over our objections, chose to relicense Pilgrim without fully considering the important safety issues raised in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident,” she said, referring to the nuclear disaster last year in Japan. Continue reading →

June 20, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Judge invalidates Colorado radioactive materials license for uranium mill

License to build uranium mill in southwest Colorado nixed by Denver judge,   06/14/2012   Denver Post, By Bruce Finley, A state judge has invalidated a radioactive materials license that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued to allow construction of a new uranium mill in southwestern Colorado. Continue reading →

June 15, 2012 Posted by | Legal, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Court ruling about USA nuclear waste is helpful to Vermont’s legal case

Nuclear Waste Ruling Could Strengthen Vt. Court Case http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/94831/nuclear-waste-ruling-could-strengthen-vt-court-cas/ Vermont Public Radio , 06/12/12 John Dillon A federal court decision on nuclear waste could strengthen the state’s
hand as regulators review Vermont Yankee’s bid to operate for another 20 years.

The state of Vermont was part of a lawsuit that challenged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to allow radioactive waste to be stored at nuclear plants around the country for 60 years or more. Late last week, the federal appeals court in Washington agreed that the NRC failed to adequately assess the environmental impacts of using multiple storage sites.
Attorney General Bill Sorrell thinks the ruling provides an opening for Yankee opponents to question the economic and environmental impacts of storing nuclear waste in southern Vermont.
“That decision is going to be cited in any number of proceedings involving Vermont but (also) other states here going forward,” Sorrell said. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Connecticut welcomes Appeals Court decision discouraging decades of nuclear fuel storage

Spent nuclear fuel storage decision praised, West Hartford News, June 12, 2012 By Luther Turmelle   A federal appeals court is forcing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to rethink its rules regarding how long spent nuclear fuel can be stored on site at current and former reactors.

State Attorney General George Jepsen called Friday’s unanimous decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia a landmark ruling. Connecticut was one of several Northeast states that challenged changes made in 2010 by the NRC to rules
governing waste storage at reactor sites.

Before the change, spent fuel could be stored on site for up to 30 years after a reactor closed. But the NRC increased the period of time to 60 years and made other changes to its rules governing the storage of spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

USA’s nuclear plant relicensing now stalled by a federal appeals court

at Indian Point and other facilities going through license renewal, those [radioactive waste] issues will be back on the table

Court Forces a Rethinking of Nuclear Fuel Storage , NYT, By  , June 8, 2012, WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission  acted hastily in concluding that spent fuel can be stored safely at nuclear plants for the next century or so in the absence of a permanent repository, and it must consider what will happen if none are ever established, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday .

In a unanimous opinion, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that in deciding that the fuel would be safe for many decades, the commission did not carry out an analysis of individual storage pools at reactors across the country, treating them generically instead. The commission also did not adequately analyze the risk that cooling water will leak from the pools or that the fuel will ignite, the court wrote.

The commission has relied on its conclusion that spent fuel rods can be safely stored at plants to extend the operating licenses of dozens of power reactors in recent years and to license four new ones. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

It’s OK, America, – in an Indian nuclear disaster, the supplier won’t be liable

Nuclear reactor supplier cannot be held for damages, says NPCIL Chairman, The Hindu, M. RAMESH CHENNAI, JUNE 1: The point whether the equipment supplier is liable for damages or not if something goes wrong in a nuclear power plant and results in a disaster has been a subject of intense debate in India.

Would it be the power plant operator, Nuclear Power Corporation of India or the equipment (reactor) supplier like GE or Westinghouse, who should pay up?

In an interview to Business Line, Mr S.K. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India, who incidentally relinquished his position on Thursday after serving the corporation as CMD for eight long years, explains why it equipment supplier cannot be held liable to pay.

It may be surprising that somebody should say “it is me, and not him, who is liable to pay”, but Mr Jain says that the reactor supplier cannot legally be held responsible….. Mr Jain said that the supplier will be liable for any ‘malafide defect’ in the design.

But what about non-malafide defect? Mr Jain said that even if there was something wrong with the ‘containment’, “six or seven more things would have to go wrong” for a disaster to occur, which are all “outside the control of the supplier”.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/article3479426.ece?homepage=true

June 1, 2012 Posted by | India, Legal | Leave a comment

Cancer caused by uranium fuel processing plant, claims big lawsuit

In recent court filings, plaintiffs provided many tragic stories of living in the Apollo and Parks area in the shadow of the nuclear sites and being diagnosed with cancer.

Mega-lawsuit claims nuke contamination in Armstrong Trib Live News, Mary Ann Thomas Gateway Newspapers , May 17, 2012 The nearly 100 plaintiffs alleging death, cancer and other illnesses from radioactive emissions from two defunct Armstrong County nuclear fuels plants are awaiting a trial date for what is likely to be a second set of a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit. Continue reading →

May 21, 2012 Posted by | health, Legal, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Challenge to Wyoming uranium mining project

Uranium Mining Environmental Consequences to Be Reviewed in Court, Switchboard, by Geoffrey Fettus, 14 May 12,  For decades, uranium has been mined in ways that damage our waters and land, put our communities at risk, and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in clean-up costs.

Now, for the first time in years, the environmental community has the chance to make its case before one of the crucial federal regulators on how we can do better. The stakes are high – especially for Western communities and their groundwater.

Last fall, NRDC and our Wyoming colleagues at the Powder River Basin Resources Council (PRBRC) challenged the proposed licensing of a planned uranium mine in Crook County, Wyoming.  The mine would use a process known as “in-situ leach” mining. This method combines the mining and milling of uranium into a single step, by leaching uranium and other heavy metals off the surface of uranium-bearing rock in place.

Instead of actually digging up the uranium ore, in other words, this process extracts uranium by injecting water mixed with base solution into the rock formation in an underground aquifer, to dissolve the uranium from its host rock. The uranium-laden water flows into underground production wells and, from there, is pumped to the surface and piped to a centralized facility, which extracts the uranium.

We have written about the regulatory system and its numerous inadequacies . If you are really interested, I encourage you to read it.  In brief, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is the main licensing body for in-situ leach uranium mining. We are challenging that body’s decision to issue a license for the Wyoming mine. Continue reading →

May 17, 2012 Posted by | Legal, Reference, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Legal battle over Yucca nuclear waste plan

Yucca lives? Nuclear waste dump not dead yet. Vegas Review Journal, 7 May 12  “…..Last week, a federal appeals court heard arguments on whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission broke the law when it stopped moving forward with a licensing plan for the potential nuclear waste dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas…

… The case before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia involved a lawsuit filed by states – including Washington and South Carolina – that seek to get rid of nuclear waste currently being stored at power plants within their boundaries.

At issue is whether the Obama administration overstepped its authority by canceling the Yucca Mountain Project in 2009, leading the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to abandon licensing hearings.

The states argue that Congress has never repealed the 1982 legislation that created the project – known here as the Screw Nevada bill – so the process must go forward by law…… A ruling is expected later this year. Perhaps the judges will agree that Congress has essentially acted by refusing to appropriate funds for the endeavor in the current budget year. If not, the Yucca Mountain battle may continue.
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/yucca-lives-nuclear-waste-dump-not-dead-yet-150557735.html

May 10, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Court hearing about Yucca Mountain radioactive waste plan

Federal appeals court hears arguments on plan to close Yucca Mountain nuclear dump, Washington Post, By Associated Press,May 2 WASHINGTON — Supporters of a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada urged a federal appeals court Wednesday to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to move forward on a licensing plan for the long-delayed project…

.. Washington state and South Carolina are among those that filed a lawsuit seeking to force the NRC to rule on the Yucca Mountain application. A decision is expected later this
year.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/federal-appeals-court-hears-arguments-on-plan-to-close-yucca-mountain-nuclear-dump/2012/05/02/gIQA5iirwT_story.html

May 3, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Legal action for more scrutiny of nuclear license renewal process

The environmental group’s legal filing also criticizes Ameren for what it says is the company’s “inadequate discussion” of wind energy as an alternative to continued use of nuclear power in its required environmental reviews for the
renewal request

Environmentalists contest Ameren nuclear renewal, Bloomberg, By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, 27 April 12, COLUMBIA, MO.A Missouri environmental group is asking the federal government to more closely scrutinize Ameren Corp.’s request for a 20-year license renewal at the state’s only nuclear power plant.

The Missouri Coalition for the Environment on Tuesday filed a legal
objection to the utility’s plan with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. The coalition wants the federal agency to hold a formal
public hearing on Ameren’s license renewal application, a move that
would likely delay consideration of the request. Ameren’s current
40-year operating license for the Callaway County plant expires in
2024…….
The nuclear agency has given Ameren and other U.S. nuclear reactor
operators a deadline of February 2013 to submit updated seismic
studies and complete another safety plan sought in the immediate
aftermath of the Japanese disaster, with a December 2016 deadline to
put those improvements in place….
Curran said the license renewal shouldn’t happen until Ameren provides
the government those requested plans. The St. Louis-based utility
submitted its license renewal application for the nuclear plant late
last year.

“The decision on a license renewal should be delayed until all of this
information is in,” she said….. The environmental group’s legal filing also criticizes Ameren for what it says is the company’s “inadequate discussion” of wind energy as an alternative to continued use of nuclear power in its required environmental reviews for the
renewal request. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-04/D9UCLVKG1.htm

April 28, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

90 cancer victims bring lawsuit against nuclear companies

Radioactive: Revelations on nuclear plants sound a warning http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/editorials/radioactive-revelations-on-nuclear-plants-sound-a-warning-633299/ April 27, 2012  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Like a dark family secret long suspected but never confirmed, the shock of discovery is all the more lurid for coming into the light
years later. So it is with the news of radioactive material released into the air — at levels higher than any seen in the nation — at closed nuclear fuels plants in Armstrong County.

Incredulity feeds the first reaction: Surely this could not have happened. But apparently it
did, according to good authority. That would be Joseph P. Ring, a Harvard University radiation safety officer who teaches at Harvard and the University of Massachusetts. He
wrote a 37-page report that was filed Tuesday as part of federal lawsuits brought against plant operators Babcock & Wilcox Co. and Atlantic Richfield Co. by about 90 cancer victims. Continue reading →

April 27, 2012 Posted by | health, Legal, USA | Leave a comment

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