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Japan revises guidelines for earthquake probabilities

New earthquake probability scale https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180828_18/ Japanese government officials have revised the chances for earthquakes linked to marine trenches in order to avoid misleading the public. The government’s task force for earthquake research released its assessment of quakes that may hit Japan, along with their probabilities of occurring within 30 years.

Currently, the chances of quakes linked to marine trenches are given in percentages.

But experts fear that such descriptions could cause misunderstandings. People might feel safe living in an area with a small quake possibility figure, such as 0.1 percent or less.

The task force said it has introduced a new 4-rank scale to describe quake probabilities.

The highest rank of 3 means having the biggest chance of a large-scale quake within 30 years– a chance of 26 percent or more. Rank 2 is for areas with the chance of a quake between 3 and 26 percent. The rank of 1 suggests quake probabilities of less than 3 percent. Another rank of X suggests the chances of a quake cannot be calculated due to a lack of data, but an imminent quake cannot be ruled out.

Under the new classification system, possible mega quakes, including along the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coast from central through western Japan, are ranked 3.

August 29, 2018 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Despite Putin’s boasts, loss at sea, and test failures in ‘invulnerable’ nuclear-powered missile

Putin lost his supposedly ‘invulnerable’ nuclear-powered missile at sea — now he has to go find it https://www.businessinsider.co.za/russia-to-search-for-nuclear-powered-cruise-missile-lost-at-sea-2018-8, Ryan Pickrell , Business Insider US Aug 26, 2018 

  • Russia is gearing up to search for a missing nuclear-powered cruise missile that was lost at sea during a failed test-fire last year.
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has boasted about the weapon’s advanced capabilities, but all tests have reportedly ended in failure.
  • While the missile is supposed to be able to fly indefinitely, its nuclear-powered core has yet to initiate to allow it to do that.

Russia lost a nuclear-powered missile during a failed test last year, and now Moscow is gearing up to go find it, according to CNBC, citing people familiar with a relevant US intelligence report.

Proudly claiming that the world will “listen to us now”, Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted in early March that his country had developed a new nuclear-powered cruise missile with unlimited range, but each of the four tests between November 2017 and February reportedly ended in failure, according to reports from May.

“The low-flying, stealth cruise missile with a nuclear warhead with a practically unlimited range, unpredictable flight path and the ability to bypass interception lines is invulnerable to all existing and future missile defence and air defence systems,” Putin claimed. “No one in the world has anything like it,” he added.

The reports from testing don’t support the Russian president’s claims.

The longest recorded flight, according to US assessments, lasted only a little over two minutes. Flying just 35km, the missile spun out of control and crashed. In each case, the nuclear-powered core of the experimental cruise missile failed, preventing the weapon from achieving the indefinite flight and unlimited range the Russian president bragged about.

The tests were apparently conducted at the request of senior Kremlin officials despite the protests of Russian engineers who argued that the platform was not ready for testing. Russian media reports claim the weapon will be ready to deploy in ten years.

During one weapons test in November of last year, the missile crashed into the Barents Sea. Three ships, one with the ability to handle radioactive material, will take part in the search operations, which have yet to be officially scheduled.

Experts are concerned about the possibility that the missile may be leaking radioactive nuclear material. The missile is suspected to rely on gasoline for takeoff but switch to nuclear power once in flight.

August 27, 2018 Posted by | incidents, Russia | Leave a comment

Japan’s emergency drill envisages nuclear accidents at multiple locations

NHK 25th Aug 2018 , Emergency crews and residents in central Japan began a major disaster drill
on Saturday that is the first exercise of its kind. The 2-day drill is
being held at 2 nuclear power plants in Fukui Prefecture. The Cabinet
Office planned the exercise to prepare for accidents striking multiple
locations at the same time. The drill is based on a scenario of an
earthquake causing the Ohi and Takahama Plants to lose power, stopping the
plant cooling systems and releasing nuclear substances. The 2 plants are
located 13 kilometers from each other.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180825_15/

Mainichi 25th Aug 2018

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180825/p2g/00m/0dm/077000c

August 27, 2018 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Risk of terrorist attacks in Japan Olympics: Japan strengthening waterfront security

Tokyo tightening waterfront security ahead of Olympics, Japan Times 7 Aug 18 , JIJI, AUG 7, 2018

Tokyo police will beef up security in waterfront areas to guard against terrorist attacks from the sea during the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

 “…….Tokyo police will restrict ship operations near the competition venues and other facilities on the waterfront during the Olympics, while considering introducing state-of-the-art security equipment

…..The Japan Coast Guard is enhancing its security activities using patrol ships and aircraft.

……The Tokyo police are also beefing up their presence at Haneda airport.

A new facility adjacent to the airport is to be built by 2020. Anti-terrorist officers and explosive sniffer dogs will be stationed there at all times.

The police will have to guard a wide range of waterfront facilities, including “hotel ships,” during the games……https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/08/07/national/tokyo-tightening-waterfront-security-ahead-olympics/#.W4MdgiQzbGg

August 26, 2018 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

USA emergency measures include preparations for nuclear attacks on 60 U.S. cities

The Hill 24th Aug 2018 The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is updating emergency
management plans to include plans for potential nuclear detonations in 60
U.S. cities. An agency official told BuzzFeed News that the agency is
shifting plans away from the likelihood of a terrorist detonating a smaller
nuclear device and toward the possibility of a state actor detonating a
military-grade nuclear weapon.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/403481-fema-updates-us-nuclear-disaster-plans

August 26, 2018 Posted by | safety, USA, weapons and war | 1 Comment

A failed test leaves Russia’s ultimate doomsday weapon lost in the Barents Sea

Russia Seems to Have Lost the Ultimate Doomsday Weapon: A Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/russia-seems-have-lost-ultimate-doomsday-weapon-nuclear-powered-cruise-missile-29632

Here’s what we know.

by Task and Purpose Brad Howard 24 Aug 18, In the worst reboot of The Hunt For Red October we’ve ever heard, Russia has lost a secretive nuclear-powered cruise missile at sea during a failed test in the last several months, CNBC reports .

– Citing an unnamed U.S. intelligence official, CNBC reports that that Russian military lost one of the four cruise missiles used during tests conducted over the Barents Sea between last November and February, all of which ended in failure.

– The status of the missile and its nuclear fuel is unknown, and its disappearance has reportedly triggered an all-out search in the Barents Sea north of Scandinavia by Russian military personnel. According to CNBC, the four test flights ranged from five miles to twenty-two miles.

– While it’s currently unclear which launch resulted in the lost missile, U.S. Air Force nuclear-sniffing WC-135 ‘Constant Phoenix’ aircraft were active in the Barents Sea and Baltic Sea from March to August of this year, with a Russian fighter intercepting one of the aircraft over the Baltic Sea on August 8.

– This missile, one of many doomsday devices touted by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government during Moscow’s last showcase of new military capabilities, is purportedly capable of loitering as an unmanned second-strike platform that can remain in the air for an extended period of time over a virtually unlimited range.

Obviously, the cruise missile could cause an environmental catastrophe if the reactor is breached . But besides the stupidity of losing a bunch of nuclear material in the middle of the open ocean, the incident reveals the short-sighted nature of nuclear-powered cruise missiles at all: they cause environmental devastation, they’re horribly expensive, and decommissioning them is a virtual nightmare. It makes little sense for Russia to even test the damn things since the Ministry of Defense has such an effective nuclear deterrent in place already.

Frankly, a nuclear-powered cruise missile is a 1950s dream that goes against all logic in a world with hundreds of ICBMs tipped with multiple independently-targetable reentry vehicles, all of which can kill a city.

This article by Brad Howard originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter .

August 25, 2018 Posted by | incidents, Russia | Leave a comment

Big safety costs for Japan’s nuclear power stations- and costs will grow yearly

Asahi Shimbun 23rd Aug 2018 Mandatory steps to respond to possible terrorist attacks and other safety
measures will cost 11 nuclear plant operators at least a combined 4.41
trillion yen ($40 billion), according to this year’s estimate, an Asahi
Shimbun study found. The soaring outlays undermine a government claim that
nuclear energy will be the cheapest source of power in 2030.
What is clear is that costs will increase year by year. Operators are obliged to
strengthen their facilities to withstand a terrorist attack within five
years of clearing more stringent regulations on reactor restarts imposed by
the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201808230044.html

August 25, 2018 Posted by | business and costs, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Pebble-bed nuclear reactors – a safety concern

Experts voice safety concerns about new pebble-bed nuclear reactors  Eurekalert, 23 Aug 18

Researchers advise caution as a commercial-scale nuclear reactor known as HTR-PM prepares to become operational in China. The reactor is a pebble-bed, high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), a new design that is ostensibly safer but that researchers in the U.S. and Germany warn does not eliminate the possibility of a serious accident. Their commentary, publishing August 23 in the journal Joule, recommends continued research, additional safety measures, and an extended startup phase that would allow for better monitoring.

“There is no reason for any kind of panic, but nuclear technology has risk in any case,” says first author Rainer Moormann, a nuclear safety researcher based in Germany. “A realistic understanding of those risks is essential, especially for operators, and so we urge caution and a spirit of scientific inquiry in the operation of HTR-PM.”

…….the soon-to-be-operational HTR-PM has been built without the safeguards that nuclear reactors in operation today are usually equipped with: it does not have a high-pressure, leak-tight containment structure to serve as a backup in case of an accidental release of radioactive material. It also does not have a redundant active cooling system.

“No reactor is immune to accidents. The absence of core meltdown accidents does not mean that a dangerous event is not possible,” Moormann says. He and his coauthors, Scott Kemp and Ju Li of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argue that with new technology, there is always a higher chance of user error.  And prototype HTGRs have surprised their operators in the past by forming localized hot spots in the core and unexpectedly high levels of radioactive dust. The pebble-bed design also produces a larger volume of radioactive waste, which is challenging to store or treat……….

Joule, Moormann et al.: “Caution is Necessary in Operating and Managing the Waste of New Pebble-bed Nuclear Reactors” https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(18)30335-0      https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/cp-evs081618.php

August 24, 2018 Posted by | China, safety, technology | Leave a comment

Continued safety worries at UK’s Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE).

Further safety fears at nuclear weapons site, Basingstoke Gazette, By Dan Whiteway   23 Aug 18 FURTHER safety concerns have been raised in regards to the running of the UK’s nuclear warhead assembly facility. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has required immediate safety changes to be put in place at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE).

If sufficient progress is not made on reducing risk at the facility, the ONR has said that operations may need to stop altogether.

There has been a series of announcements related to safety concerns at AWE, including the ONR placing the Aldermaston and Burghfield facilities into special measures. This is the sixth consecutive year that Aldermaston has been in special measures, and the third year in a row for the Burghfield site.

AWE said after being put into special measures, an investigation was undertaken…….http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/16594315.further-safety-fears-at-nuclear-weapons-site/

August 24, 2018 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Russia has lost a nuclear-powered missile at sea

Russia is preparing to search for a nuclear-powered missile that was lost at sea months ago after a failed test, CNBC 221 Aug 18 

  • Moscow is preparing to recover a nuclear-powered missile lost at sea, according to sources with direct knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report.
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin bragged earlier this year that the new missile had unlimited range.
  • The missile was tested four times between November and February, each resulting in a crash, according to sources who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity.
Amanda Macias | Crews will attempt to recover a missile that was test launched in November and landed in the Barents Sea, which is located north of Norway and Russia. The operation will include three vessels, one of which is equipped to handle radioactive material from the weapon’s nuclear core. There is no timeline for the mission, according to the people with knowledge of the report……
Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled the new nuclear-powered missile in March, boasting it had unlimited range. Yet, the weapon has yet to be successfully tested over multiple attempts.
Russia tested four of the missiles between November and February, each resulting in a crash, people who spoke on the condition of anonymity previously told CNBC. The U.S. assessed that the longest test flight lasted just more than two minutes, with the missile flying 22 miles before losing control and crashing. The shortest test lasted four seconds and flew for five miles. Russia has denied the missile test failures. ……..https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/21/russias-nuclear-powered-missile-that-putin-claimed-had-infinite-range-is-currently-lost-at-sea.html

August 22, 2018 Posted by | incidents, Russia | Leave a comment

Mega earthquake likely to strike Fukushima area within next few decades

What Is the Probability of a Mega-quake Striking Japan in the Future?, NHK News, 2 July 18,  “…….. A government panel has released its latest earthquake probability map, which indicates the likelihood of each area being hit in the coming 3 decades by tremors of 6-minus or above on the Japanese intensity scale of zero to 7 — about the same level as the one that hit Osaka. A member of the panel says an earthquake of 6-minus could strike anywhere in Japan, and urges people to be prepared.

High probability in the Kanto region and along the Pacific coast………. In the Kanto region, the probability of a major quake is highest in Chiba City, at 85 percent. The figure is 82 percent for Yokohama and 81 percent for Mito. Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward is located in an area with 48 percent probability.

In the Tokai region, the probability for Shizuoka is 70 percent and Nagoya is 46 percent.

Beware of massive earthquakes that occur in ocean trenches The panel explains that these areas have high probabilities because massive earthquakes centering in the Chishima Trench, Japan Trench and the Nankai Trough have been occurring at intervals of a few decades to a century.

These earthquakes occur around ocean trenches where the oceanic plate is forced underneath the continental plate.

Huge earthquakes have been occurring especially around the Nankai Trough roughly every 100 years. As the last one took place more than 70 years ago, there is a growing probability the next one will happen soon around the Pacific coast of western Japan……….https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/nhknewsline/backstories/megaquakestriking/

 

August 20, 2018 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Transport of nuclear wastes – environmental danger, and police-state style security

The danger: Police state The nuclear industry has traveled a long, dark way from its claims in the 1950s that it would produce energy too cheap to meter, Keegan said.

With nuclear power plants being retired around the globe, the age of nuclear energy has become the age of nuclear waste, Keegan said. No solution has been found for the safe disposal or storage of the waste, which remains dangerous essentially for eternity.

As the LaSalle proposal suggests, the potential involvement of the military, the secrecy of the transportation routes and the absence of consultation with the public are signs of a police state taking shape, according to Keegan.

“We’ve become a police state in which the transportation of the lethal excrement of the nuclear industry — nuclear waste — is totally secret and takes place under military escort,” said Keegan.

One of the costs: Our civil liberties.

“The industry and the government say, Sorry, we can’t tell you the details,” said Keegan. “We’re protecting you by not telling you.

Exelon Corp. proposes shipping nuclear waste by road through Port Huron, Route is under review by NRC, By Jim Bloch For The Voice, 18 Aug 18

    • Federal officials are considering approving a highway shipping route for high-level nuclear waste between the LaSalle nuclear reactors in Illinois and the city of Port Huron — and environmental groups are concerned……….

The company is proposing to transport the nine spent fuel rods, weighing about 5 pounds apiece, inside a 24-ton, collision-absorbing, heavily shielded shipping cask to the Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, Canada, for testing.

The Chalk River site is about 425 miles northeast-east of Port Huron on the far side of Algonquin Provincial Park.

………Michael Keegan, with Don’t Waste Michigan and the Coalition for a Nuclear-free Great Lakes, uncovered the proposed shipment. Keegan said shipments of high-level liquid nuclear waste from Chalk River through Buffalo to the Savannah River Site, owned by the Department of Energy in South Carolina, are accompanied by military escort. About 75 of the 150 shipments have taken place, Keegan said.

The danger: Environmental catastrophe

Critics of the proposed shipment site the danger of an environmental catastrophe if the container was compromised en route.

  • “Irradiated nuclear fuel rods discharged from commercial nuclear power plants are highly radioactive, a million times more so than when they were first loaded into a reactor core as ‘fresh’ fuel,” according to the Chicago-based Nuclear Information and Resource Service. “Even after decades of radioactive decay, a few minutes of unshielded exposure could deliver a lethal dose. Certain radioactive elements (such as plutonium-239) in ‘spent’ fuel will remain hazardous to humans and other living beings for hundreds of thousands of years. Other radioisotopes will remain hazardous for millions of years. Thus, these wastes must be shielded for centuries and isolated from the living environment for hundreds of millennia.”
  • David Kraft directs NIRS.“We have serious concerns about shipping high-level radioactive waste from Exelon’s LaSalle reactors to a port city,” said Kraft in a statement. “Except in cases of extreme emergency, we believe that irradiated fuel should only be moved once for permanent isolation.”

    Port Huron sits at the mouth on the St. Clair River, part of the crucial linkage between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes.

    “A ground route would take the wastes either over the Blue Water Bridge, which crosses the St. Clair River, or by rail, through a tunnel that connects the two countries,” said Kay Cumbow, with the Port Huron-based Great Lakes Environmental Alliance, in a statement.

    “A spill, release or fire here or near waterways that flow into the St. Clair River could potentially ruin one of the largest fresh water deltas in the world — the St. Clair Flats — and potentially poison forever the drinking water for up to 40-plus million people of the Great Lakes, including residents of Canada, the U.S., U.S. Tribes, First Nations and other Indigenous Peoples.”

    The danger: Police stateThe nuclear industry has traveled a long, dark way from its claims in the 1950s that it would produce energy too cheap to meter, Keegan said.

    With nuclear power plants being retired around the globe, the age of nuclear energy has become the age of nuclear waste, Keegan said. No solution has been found for the safe disposal or storage of the waste, which remains dangerous essentially for eternity.

    As the LaSalle proposal suggests, the potential involvement of the military, the secrecy of the transportation routes and the absence of consultation with the public are signs of a police state taking shape, according to Keegan.

    “We’ve become a police state in which the transportation of the lethal excrement of the nuclear industry — nuclear waste — is totally secret and takes place under military escort,” said Keegan.

    One of the costs: Our civil liberties.

    “The industry and the government say, Sorry, we can’t tell you the details,” said Keegan. “We’re protecting you by not telling you.”………..http://www.voicenews.com/news/exelon-corp-proposes-shipping-nuclear-waste-by-road-through-port/article_8fac9570-a335-11e8-9174-43616dba264b.html

August 20, 2018 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Sinkhole discovered at Hanford Tank Farm

  https://komonews.com/news/local/sinkhole-discovered-at-hanford-tank-farm  by Thomas Yazwinski, August 18th 2018 , RICHLAND, Wash. — A sinkhole with an opening approximately 2 feet in diameter was discovered Thursday morning inside the SX Tank Farm at Hanford.

It was observed while soil compaction work was underway near Tank SX-108.

We’re told the depth of the cavity has not been determined.

Washington River Protection Solutions officials tell Action News they plan to use a special camera to inspect the hole and inside the nearby tank.

Work inside the farm was stopped and personnel left the farm according to procedure.

Radiological surveys conducted in the farm yesterday found no contamination and no significant increase in radiation readings.

August 20, 2018 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear terrorism, “dirty bombs” and Pakistan’s measures to prevent this

Pakistan’s Nuclear Safety and Security https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2018/08/14/pakistans-nuclear-safety-and-security/ August 14, 2018 By Sonia Naz  Wyn Bowen and Matthew Cottee discuss in their research entitled “Nuclear Security Briefing Book” that nuclear terrorism involves the acquisition and detonation of an intact nuclear weapon from a state arsenal. The world has not experienced any act of nuclear terrorism but terrorists expressed their desires to gain nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has observed many incidents of lost, theft and unauthorized control of nuclear material. The increased use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes has intensified the threat that terrorist can target these places for acquiring nuclear materials. They cannot build a nuclear weapon because production of a nuclear weapon would require a technological infrastructure. Thus, it is the most difficult task that is nearly impossible because the required infrastructure and technological skills are very high which even a strong terrorist group could not bear easily, but they can build a dirty bomb

A dirty bomb is not like a nuclear bomb. A nuclear bomb spreads radiation over hundreds of square miles while nuclear bomb could cause destruction only over a few square miles. A dirty bomb would not kill any more people than an ordinary bomb but it would create psychological terror. There is no viable security system for the prevention of nuclear terrorism, but the only possible solution is that there should be a stringent nuclear security system which can halt terrorists from obtaining nuclear materials.

The UN Security Council and the IAEA introduced multilateral nuclear security initiatives. Pakistan actively contributed in all international nuclear security efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism. For example, United States President Barak Obama introduced the process of Nuclear Security Summit (NSS)in 2009 to mitigate the threat of nuclear terrorism. The objective of NSS was to secure the material throughout the world in four years.

Pakistan welcomed it and not only made commitments in NSS but also fulfilled it. Pakistan also established a Centre of Excellence (COEs) on nuclear security and hosted workshops on nuclear security. In addition to all this, Pakistan is a signatory of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 and affirms its strong support to the resolution. It has submitted regular reports to 1540 Committee which explain various measures taken by Pakistan on radiological security and control of sensitive materials and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) transfer. Pakistan is the first country which submitted a report to the UN establishing the fact that it is fulfilling its responsibilities. Pakistan ratified Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) in 2016. It is also the member of Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT). It can be rightly inferred that Pakistan is not only contributing in all the international nuclear security instruments but has also taken multiple effective measures at the national level.

Pakistan created National Command Authority (NCA) to manage and safeguard nuclear assets and related infrastructures. The Strategic Plan Division (SPD) is playing a very important role in managing Pakistan’s nuclear assets by collaborating with all strategic organizations. Establishment of Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA)in 2001 is another development in this regard. The PNRA works under the IAEA advisory group on nuclear security and it is constantly improving and re-evaluating nuclear security architecture. National Institute of Safety and Security (NISAS) was established under PNRA in 2014. Pakistan has also adopted the Export Control Act to strengthen its nuclear export control system. It deals with the rules and regulations for nuclear export and licensing. The SPD has also formulated a standard functioning procedure to regulate the conduct of strategic organizations. Christopher Clary discusses in his research “Thinking about Pakistan’s Nuclear Security in Peacetime” that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenals are equipped with Permissive Action Links (PALs) for its stringent security. According to Pakistan’s former nuclear scientist Samar Mubarakmand, every Pakistani nuclear arsenal is now fitted with a code-lock device which needs a proper code to enable the arsenal to explode.

Nonetheless the nuclear terrorism is a global concern and reality because terrorist organizations can target civilian nuclear facility in order to steal nuclear material. The best way to eradicate the root of nuclear terrorism is to have a stringent nuclear security system.

Western media and outsiders often propagate that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenals can go into the wrong hands i.e. terrorists, but they do not highlight the efforts of Pakistan in nuclear security at the national and international level.   The fact is that Pakistan has contributed more in international nuclear security efforts than India and it has stringent nuclear security system in place.

August 19, 2018 Posted by | Pakistan, safety, weapons and war | Leave a comment

In less than 20 years – signs of nuclear waste cask breakdown!

Paul Richards 17 Aug 18 ‘The San Onofre’ transport/storage cask, was, and remain placed next to the ocean, in a high-risk area for a Tsunami.  In a state that has over 75% of the seismic activity in North America, within close proximity of the well-known earthquake fault line in California.

The citizens of Orange, & San Diego County along with Los Angeles were assured these casks were guaranteed for a hundred years.  As opposed to the many thousands of years needed in guarantee for future generations, yet there were and still are signs of cask breakdown in under twenty years.

Let that sink in, U N D E R  2 0  Y E A R S.

It was the typical, nuclear industry message when this plant was phased out as economically and environmentally unviable, demonstrating the nuclear energy experiment had failed:

“Trust us, we know best, these casks are world best practice…”

What are the probabilities after over 70 years of using the same line of logic others in the Nuclear State have;

* that this industry has solved its spent nuclear fuel cask containment problem, or ever will?

Even without going into the long-term storage issues, of a final dump site, as a repository for the indefinite cost of backdoor waste, the IAEA acknowledges has no solution;  the whole concept of nuclear energy looks far more trouble, in terms of cost, wasted development and risk to life on earth be relied on.

However, that’s subjective, to whether an individual or group actually considers emerging and future generations life of value.

A premise where a win at all cost, tailors into the mantra of efficiencies, and ROI – profit, for senior executives, shareholders, stakeholders, and financiers, is put before ‘social responsibility’.

August 17, 2018 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | 1 Comment

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