Great danger in air transport of nuclear wastes: anger in Aberdeen
Fury over “dangerous” nuclear flights from the Highlands to US, Aberdeen Press and Journal 2 September 2016 by Iain Ramage Road around Wick Airport will be regularly shut over the next 18 months so nuclear waste can be taken be flown to the US. Plans to transport highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Dounreay in Caithness to the US emerged late last year.
Politicians and activists have condemned the move, warning that flying the material is excessively dangerous.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has remained silent on the issue, but an £18million upgrade of the airport was recently carried out to make it suitable for larger planes.
And, now Highland Council has published a road closure order which reveals minor routes around the airport will be closed over the coming months. The closures could happen at any time from today, and will last up to five hours each time.
A spokeswoman at Dounreay said she could neither confirm nor deny that nuclear waste from the redundant power station would be flown from Wick.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed earlier this year, after talks with President Obama, that it was the UK’s intention to transport uranium from Dounreay to the South Carolina. It will be swapped for other forms of uranium to be shipped to Europe which, it is believed, will be used in producing medical isotopes.
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross SNP MP Paul Monaghan has described the deal to transport the waste by plane “morally reprehensible”. And Highlands and Islands Green MSP John Finnie last night said many people would be surprised to find out about the road closures – but that the disruption was nothing compared to the risks involved with flying the waste.
“Many will be astonished that it is considered appropriate to move, let alone fly, this waste material from Dounreay,” he said. “The local disruption is nothing compared to the risks any transit poses. This waste should be retained at Dounreay.”
The council’s local area leader Gillian Coghill said: “We were not briefed about this, which is absolutely shocking……….
Independent nuclear consultant John Large raised concerns about the transport of the material. He said if there was an accident it would involve an extremely vulnerable and potentially radiologically significant material. “The radiological consequences of even a relatively small amount of this material would be very serious,” he said.
“In terms of nuclear safety, the International Atomic Energy Agency recognises that the transportation of radioactive materials is the one at most risk and is most prone and vulnerable to terrorist attack.
“The risk in transport by aircraft is the fuel being engulfed in fire, the packages breaking down and the fuel igniting.”
Mr Large added that it was incumbent on Dounreay to provide sufficient information for the public to come to an informed judgement about the move. “It doesn’t matter whether the material is for civil or military stock, it presents the same risk,” he said. https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/1014760/fury-over-nuclear-flights/
Missing firearm among 130 security breaches at nuclear sites
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) experienced 130 security breaches since 2011, Freedom of Information data has revealed, Police Professional 2 Sep 16
Of these, two were classed as high-risk and two more as medium-risk. The most serious incident saw an unloaded handgun go missing from the National Shooting Centre in Surrey in July 2012. The case was reported to Surrey Police, but it was never confirmed whether the weapon was lost or stolen.
In the other high-risk incident, confidential information was texted to an officer at Sellafield nuclear site. The two medium-risk breaches involved gate access keys for Hinkley point in Somerset being lost, and a force camera being stolen in 2012. The remaining incidents mostly comprised the loss of documents and windows being left open……..http://www.policeprofessional.com/news.aspx?id=27041
Dangerous transport of radioactive wastes – legal action against this
The nuclear waste is a byproduct of the process used at the Chalk River laboratories to create medical radioisotopes from highly enriched uranium originally produced in the U.S. It’s being shipped back to the U.S. as part of a 2010 agreement to repatriate the radioactive material, costing the Canadian government about US$60 million.
According to the U.S. lawsuit filed Aug. 12 in Washington, D.C., the thick yellowy-green liquid being shipped contains highly enriched uranyl nitrate, highly enriched uranium, radioactive varieties of cesium, niobium, zirconium, rhodium, rubidium, iodine, xenon, tellurium, barium, lanthanum, cerium, strontium, praseodymium, neodymium, europium, neptunium and plutonium.
Niagara on nuclear waste route, Welland Tribune, By ALLAN BENNER, August 31, 2016 Trucks loaded with liquid nuclear waste could be rolling down highways within days — likely travelling through Niagara on their way into the U.S.
But seven American environmental groups have teamed up to launch a lawsuit against the United States government and its Department of Energy (DoE) in the hope of stopping the shipments before they begin.
A November 2015 DoE report, which concluded that an environmental impact statement on the plan would not be necessary, says up to 150 shipments of liquid nuclear waste will be hauled by transport truck from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Chalk River, Ont., a community near Algonquin Park, to a disposal site in Savannah River, S.C., 1,700 kilometres south.
Each shipment will include four 58.1-litre stainless steel containers, for a total of 232 litres of nuclear waste per trip. Those containers will be placed inside cylindrical steel nuclear transport casks, which will then be loaded into typical shipping containers and loaded onto trucks. The project is expected to continue for several years.
The nuclear waste is a byproduct of the process used at the Chalk River laboratories to create medical radioisotopes from highly enriched uranium originally produced in the U.S. It’s being shipped back to the U.S. as part of a 2010 agreement to repatriate the radioactive material, costing the Canadian government about US$60 million.
Niagara-on-the-Lake resident Gracia Janes, environment convener for the National Council of Women of Canada who has lobbied against the plan, described the material being transported as “absolutely deadly stuff.”
According to the U.S. lawsuit filed Aug. 12 in Washington, D.C., the thick yellowy-green liquid being shipped contains highly enriched uranyl nitrate, highly enriched uranium, radioactive varieties of cesium, niobium, zirconium, rhodium, rubidium, iodine, xenon, tellurium, barium, lanthanum, cerium, strontium, praseodymium, neodymium, europium, neptunium and plutonium.
Although environmental groups believe shipments could begin in September, that information could not be confirmed.
It’s classified……….
Higgins is concerned about the use of the Peace Bridge in the proposed route, one of the busiest border crossings between the two countries. “It’s only three lanes,” he said. “Consequently, trucks are stuck on the bridge idling for inordinate periods of time.”
Niagara’s regional council has taken a stand on the issue, too. On June 11, 2015, councillors ratified a motion opposing any shipment of radioactive liquid waste, and urging the governments of Canada and the U.S. to halt the shipment of high-level radioactive liquid waste pending the outcome of public consultations on the advisability and the potential adverse impacts of the proposed shipments, as well as alternative procedures.
Lincoln regional Coun. Bill Hodgson said he was concerned at the time the motion was passed, but he’s “more alarmed now that it seems that it’s imminent, and really no one with authority has stepped forward and said, ‘Let’s rethink the movement of this stuff.’” “This is a really toxic soup. This is not kid’s play,” he said.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati shares the concerns about the plans……..
if one of those containers were to break, Janes said it would be a disaster. “If it did break open, if it did get down to what’s in there, it’s radioactive material that would take an awfully long time — thousands of years — to actually disappear, if it ever does disappear,” said Janes, who first brought the issue to regional council’s attention during a delegation in February 2015.
“It would go into the groundwater and it could be in a community. We’re not sure where it’s going,” she said. “Or there could be a fire, and it could be sending off plumes of we don’t know what.”
She said it’s “not quite Chernobyl, but I don’t know.”
The November 2015 DoE report also looked at worst-case scenarios, including the potential for radioactive liquid to spill on the ground after highway collisions……
Gervais, however, said he doesn’t believe facilities exist at Chalk River to convert the liquid material to solid.
Kamps said the shipments are unprecedented. “Never before has highly radioactive liquid waste been transported in North America,” he said. http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2016/08/31/not-quite-chernobyl
Watts Bar nuclear reactors shut down indefinitely, following transformer fire
Transformer fire forces TVA to shut down Unit 2 reactor indefinitely TVA probes cause of switchyard fire at Watts Bar Tuesday night. Times Free Press August 31st, 2016 by Dave Flessner
The blaze in one of the main bank transformers connected to the new Unit 2 reactor triggered notice of “an unusual event” — the lowest of four emergency classifications for problems at a nuclear power plant. Although the fire did not affect any nuclear or generation equipment in either the reactor or turbine buildings at Watts Bar, it did damage a transformer and required TVA to shut down its Unit 2 reactor indefinitely, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said today. ….
When the fire erupted, the reactor had to be shut down and the unit will remain idle until a new transformer is installed and the cause of the fire is determined. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2016/aug/31/transformer-fire-nuclear-plant-triggers-emergency-notice/384326/
Nuclear safety breaches in UK raise problems about China’s involvenment
Nuclear Plants Had 21 Breaches Last Year And Officials Are Looking At China http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/29/nuclear-plants-had-21-breaches-last-year-and-officials-are-looking-at-china/ ANDREW FOLLETT Britain’s nuclear power plants had 21 security breaches last year and experts suspect that China might be involved, U.K. police announced Monday.
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary, which is in charge of security at nuclear plants, found 13 cases of identity cards and similar materials being lost or stolen at the plants that could be used to grant access to one of the country’s eleven nuclear reactors. In one case, armory access codes were accidentally emailed to unauthorized personnel.
“It sets alarm bells ringing that so many security failures could have happened at a time when there are plans to expand the UK nuclear industry,” Dr. David Lowry, a research fellow at the US Institute for Resource and Security Studies, told The Ferret.
The Ferret obtained a document detailing each of the 21 nuclear plant security breaches in 2015. The documents shows the number of security breaches has substantially risen from only 13 last year, and some are worried that some of the breaches may have been a result of espionage. Eight of the security breaches, however, were actually caused by the police themselves.
Despite the espionage concerns, a columnist for a Chinese state-run media outlet called Britain’s reluctance to approve Hinkley Point a result of “China-phobia.”
The Chinese pundit attacked May for delaying the approval of the Hinkley Point nuclear power project — one third of which will be paid for by the state-owned China General Nuclear Power. May’s decision came after U.S. officials charged CGNP with espionage.
May initially considered canceling the Hinkley Point nuclear plant due to its high costs and environmentalist opposition before the Chinese company behind the project was charged with nuclear espionage by the U.S. government in August.
Efforts to keep aging nuclear reactors safe
Nuclear power plants prepare for old age Materials research is at the heart of efforts to keep the world’s reactors running well past 2050. Nature , Jeff Tollefson, 30 August 2016 Sophisticated inspections are helping to pick up defects in ageing nuclear power plants before they cause trouble. In March, ultrasonic tests identified signs of wear and tear in some of the stainless-steel bolts in the reactor core of the Indian Point power plant just north of New York City. Researchers at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto, California, are now analysing more than a dozen of the 5-centimetre-long bolts — which secure plates that help direct water through the radioactive core — to determine why they failed the inspection.
The analysis comes as the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) considers whether to extend the life of Indian Point’s two 40-year-old reactors for 20 more years. Opponents of the plant, including the state of New York, cite the defective bolts, a transformer fire last year and environmental and safety concerns as evidence that the facility should close.
The plant’s damaged bolts are just one example of the maintenance issues facing ageing nuclear reactors around the world. The International Atomic Energy Agency and the NRC are developing management guidelines for these facilities, but the problem may be most acute for the United States, whose fleet of 99 reactors is the oldest and largest.
The NRC has renewed the licences of 81 US reactors still in operation for another 20 years. And it presented safety guidelines in December for utilities considering renewing their licences for another 20 years. But concerns remain about the effects of time on facilities that could be in operation for 80 years (see ‘Going, going, gone’).
Former NRC chair Allison Macfarlane says that the industry has been struggling economically in the face of cheap natural gas, and that many nuclear power companies are investing the bare minimum when it comes to maintenance and upgrades…..
Of particular concern are the concrete containment structures and steel pressure vessels at the heart of reactors, as well as the kilometres of wires that snake through the plants. Researchers are now analysing the long-term effects of intense heat and neutron bombardment on a plant’s crucial materials down to the atomic level……….
UK nuclear police admit to increased number of security breaches
Terror fears after series of security breaches at nuclear power stations, Herald Scotland Neil Mackay , 28 Aug 16, THE police force charged with guarding UK nuclear power plants has admitted to a substantial increase in the number of breaches of security last year.
There were 21 separate incidents involving stolen or lost smart phones and identity cards, up from 13 the previous year.
In one case a Blackberry was taken in a “domestic burglary”, and in another a SIM card was “accidently thrown in disposal chute at home address.” Emails containing sensitive information, including an armoury access code and personal data, were sent in breach of security protocols.
“Terrorists must be delighted with this catalogue of cock-ups,” said Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland.
“It seems you just have to follow some nuclear police around for a while and they’ll drop their pass in a car park, leave a work phone on the train or accidentally send secret info through Google mail. It would be laughable if it wasn’t about the safety of some of the most dangerous sites in the UK.”
The revelations uncovered by the Sunday Herald have been condemned as well as prompting alarm from campaigners and politicians. They point out that there have recently been concerns about Chinese state companies stealing nuclear industry secrets.
One of the reasons why the Prime Minister Theresa May is thought to have delayed a decision last month on a long-planned £18 billion nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset is the 33 per cent stake by the China General Nuclear Power Company. The company has been charged with nuclear espionage by the US government.
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) is responsible for policing 11 nuclear sites across the UK. They include three in Scotland – the former fast reactor establishment at Dounreay in Caithness and the nuclear power stations at Hunterston in North Ayrshire and Torness in East Lothian.
The CNC has an annual budget of £100 million and 1,100 armed police officers with access to eight different weapons systems. Its latest annual report, published online, disclosed the 21 security breaches in the year to this April, compared to 13 in 2014-15.
Five were categorised as “loss or theft of protectively marked electronic equipment, devices or paper documents from outside secured CNC premises”. A further six breaches were “unauthorised disclosure through insecure transmission of protectively marked documents”. Ten more were said to be “low-level…….
Dr David Lowry, a senior research fellow at the US Institute for Resource and Security Studies, also highlighted security concerns about Chinese involvement. “It sets alarm bells ringing that so many security failures could have happened at a time when there are plans to expand the UK nuclear industry,” he said.
Lowry pointed out that the government watchdog, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, had stated in its 2015-16 annual report that there were areas where security arrangements at nuclear plants “did not fully meet regulatory expectations”……..http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14709247.Terror_fears_after_series_of_security_breaches_at_nuclear_power_stations/
Halt Sendai nuclear reactors, says Kagoshima Governor , following nearby earthquakes
Governor asks utility to halt nuclear reactors in Kagoshima THE ASAHI SHIMBUN August 26, 2016 KAGOSHIMA–New Kagoshima Governor Satoshi Mitazono on Aug. 26 asked Kyushu Electric Power Co. to immediately shut down its Sendai nuclear power plant for a fresh safety inspection following the earthquakes that rocked neighboring Kumamoto Prefecture.
“We will consider your request and discuss it with many people,” Michiaki Uryu, president of Kyushu Electric, told Mitazono at the Kagoshima prefectural government building.
The utility plans to make an official response by early next month, but it is set to reject the governor’s request, sources said.
The two reactors at the Sendai plant in Satsuma-Sendai, Kagoshima Prefecture, on the southern main island of Kyushu, are the only ones online in Japan.
A governor does not have the legal authority to order a shutdown of a nuclear power plant. But under safety agreements, a prefectural government can call for measures deemed necessary to ensure the safety of the plant based on an inspection of the site…….http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/photo/AS20160826003329.html
Groundwater infiltrates turbine building in Vermont Yankee nuclear station
Entergy Nuclear tells The Rutland Herald 700 gallons of groundwater a day infiltrated the Vermont Yankee turbine building this month. Between 3,000 and 2,500 gallons had been infiltrating the building each day in January. The plant closed in 2014.
The company says ongoing drought conditions likely contributed to the drop and allowed for foundation cracks and a sump-pump drain to be sealed.
The company says it has paid about $1.2 million to ship and treat water from the plant.
Entergy says it has effectively suspended its request to discharge slightly radioactive water from the building into the Connecticut River.
Federal nuclear regulators plan to inspect the plant next week.
Preparing for hurricane risk to Turkey Point nuclear reactor
Turkey Point workers prepare nuclear power plant for possible rough weather http://www.local10.com/weather/hurricane/turkey-point-workers-prepare-nuclear-power-plant-for-possible-rough-weather Tropical wave weakening, but still could impact South Florida By Ben Kennedy – Reporter, August 26, 2016 “Should a storm come like the one that is approaching now, we make sure the site is ready,” emergency preparedness manager Kevin O’Hare said. In the event of a power outage, the twin reactor nuclear power station has a backup system called the Flex Building — a 60-by 150-foot-long structure.
“As a result of Fukushima, (we) needed another level of protection,” Sergio Chaviano, project manager of the Flex Building, said.
Inside a box are backup systems that can deliver power to the entire plant. We have a pump here to the right, a smaller pump to the left. We have trailers that can carry hoses throughout the plant,” Chaviano said.
The hoses can carry water to cool reactors in the event of an emergency, but crews said they’ve been preparing for hurricane season since March.
“Our philosophy is to prevent problems so that by June 1 we are ready for hurricane season and whatever might come our way,” O’Hare said.
UN Security Council warned on danger of nuclear drone terror attacks
Britain warns UN security council it MUST act over threat of nuclear drone terror attacks BRITAIN has warned the UN security council that not enough is being done to prevent chemical, nuclear and biological weapons finding their way into the hands of terrorists. Express, By SIOBHAN MCFADYEN , Aug 25, 2016 And they say evolving terrorist threats include materials created through technological advances including 3D printers and drones. The British Government is worried that border security is not tight enough to prevent the materials from falling into the wrong hands.
And they say that the security council, which is being chaired by Spain, should be able to implement an action plan before the end of the year.
UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Matthew Rycroft spoke to the council this week as fears the UN is not moving fast enough to clamp down on terrorists. Mr Rycroft said: “The threat of toxic, poisonous or nuclear materials falling into the hands of non-state actors, particularly terrorists, is a top priority that requires the closest cooperation between all Member States, as well as civil society and industry……. http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/704011/Britain-warns-UN-security-council-it-MUST-act-over-threat-of-nuclear-drone-terror-attacks
African countries are the least compliant in implementing global nuclear security safeguards
Africa fails nuclear compliance http://city-press.news24.com/Business/africa-fails-nuclear-compliance-20160819 Godfrey Mutizwa2016-08-25 African countries remain the least compliant in implementing global nuclear security safeguards because of a lack of resources and know-how, making the continent vulnerable to terror groups.
Africa had by the end of last year on average implemented a third of the nuclear weapons safeguards required by the UN Security Council under its 1540 Committee, which oversees nuclear security globally.
That compares with 43% in Asia-Pacific, 83% in eastern Europe and over 90% in some developed economies, according to Professor Michael Rosenthal, an expert on the 1540 Committee.
While there were more than 1 000 nuclear sites around the world, only five of the continent’s 54 territories had nuclear sites, Rosenthal said, naming South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose facility probably wasn’t working any more.
“I think it is certainly a big threat,’’ Rosenthal said at the 77th biennial International Law Conference held in Johannesburg this month.
“The priority is to have action plans and determine the potential, whether it’s nuclear, chemical or biological.”
One explanation for the low compliance rate was that, as the continent did not have many nuclear sites, governments did not feel compelled to divert scarce resources to a perceived threat, said Rosenthal.
The 1540 Committee, so called because it was set up to police the implementation of UN Resolution 1540, requires all UN members to commit politically that they will not provide any form of support to non-state groups attempting to develop, acquire, transport or possess weapons of mass destruction.
All member nations are required to enact laws and adopt domestic controls that prevent the development and spread of such weapons.
This was the only UN resolution that was obligatory for all member states and required members to “control borders to combat illicit trafficking”, Rosenthal said in his presentation.
A report presented by International Law Conference experts calls for legal and political commitments to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, while allowing peaceful use.
South Africa, which runs two nuclear power stations generating about 5% of its output, plans to add 9.6 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2030, a project critics have said was too expensive at R80 761 per kilowatt.
Allison MacFarlane on Glacial Pace of New Nuclear development
A View from Allison Macfarlane, Nuclear’s Glacial Pace There’s a reason it takes so long to approve a new reactor design.MIT Technology Review ,August 23, 2016 “……. a number of startups are promising cheap, safe, proliferation-resistant nuclear energy in the next decade … Can these startups fulfill their promises? Outside of China, nuclear power is expanding nowhere. China has 21 new reactors under construction; Russia has nine, India six. The U.S. is bringing five new plants online, but since 2012, five other reactors have been retired, with seven more to be shuttered by 2019. California’s Diablo Canyon plant recently announced it will close by 2025. With other plants closing in Japan, Germany, and the U.K., more reactors may be decommissioned than built in the near future.
So why is this happening? Because it’s expensive and time-consuming to design and build a new nuclear plant, and there are cheaper, easier alternatives.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been waiting since 2014 for applications for design certification licenses for small modular reactors—smaller versions of the large and extra-large operating light-water reactors, with additional safety features. …….. Other designs are on the horizon, including molten-salt reactors, which are promising but won’t be ready for decades.
In 2015, the General Accountability Office reported that it takes 20 to 25 years to develop a new reactor in the United States—10 years for the design phase, 3.5 years for a design certification license from the NRC, four years for a combined operating license, and another four years for construction. And that’s only in an ideal world where no unexpected problems occur.
The GAO also found that it’s not cheap to bring a design to fruition: just to reach the design certification point costs somewhere between $1 billion and $2 billion, and only about $75 million of that is NRC fees. There’s a reason it takes so long and costs so much: manufacturers need to confirm that the design is safe and secure.
Some people blame the regulators for holding up the plants. Yet the NRC hasn’t been presented with any applications for new reactors and probably won’t be for years. Data from prototype plants would be helpful, but then many of the “new” designs are not so new at all. Sodium-cooled fast reactors have been built by countries including the U.S., Japan, Russia, Germany, France, and India since the 1950s, but no country has been able to make a plant cheap and reliable enough to even come close to being a viable energy source…….Allison Macfarlane was the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 2012 to 2014. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602155/nuclears-glacial-pace/
Inadvertent’ Nuke Risks Still Not Tracked Eight Years After Warning http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/23/inadvertent-nuke-risks-still-not-tracked-eight-years-after-warning/
Sandia National Laboratories’ system designed to track how problems with the nuclear weapons safety program were addressed was never completed, according to the IG report. The watchdog warned the contractor that such a system was necessary in 2008.
The safety program is intended to “minimize the possibility of accidental or inadvertent nuclear explosive detonation,” the report said. (RELATED: US Nuclear Weapons Could Die Thanks To $20 Million Of Neglect)
“[T]he project that Sandia established in 2011 to improve the formal tracking system has languished for several years without a defined scope or firm completion date,” the IG wrote. “Sandia officials postponed any updates to the tracking system.”
The contractor started a tracking system in 2008, but stopped updating it in 2011 when it launched an improvement project.
“As a result, the information that is needed to make informed decisions about safety improvements in future weapon refurbishment programs may not be readily accessible,” the watchdog continued. “[F]uture engineers may have difficulty finding the latest information on soft spots if Sandia does not maintain its tracking system.”
Employee turnover could also decrease the amount of knowledge surrounding the gaps in the nuclear weapons safety program, the IG noted. A system that tracks problems with nuclear weapons safety would reduce the knowledge lost from such turnover.
Sandia “identified 23 high priority nuclear weapons safety issues” in 2008, “for which there were either no plans to resolve the issues or plans were incomplete,” but wasn’t tracking how the contractor tracked corrections for those problems, the IG wrote.
4 Year nuclear leak not fixed at FitzPatrick nuclear plant
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the accumulation of spilled radioactive waste in the basement of a building at FitzPatrick is of “very low safety significance” because it occurred in a locked, highly shielded area that is already highly radioactive.
“The bottom line is, we have been aware of this issue for some time, but it poses no immediate risks to any residents or the environment,” said Neil Sheehan, speaking for the NRC.
Nevertheless, plant owner Entergy Corp.’s failure to address the leak is of “more than minor significance” because the company knew about the problem for at least four years, the NRC reported.
Nuclear plant owners are required to minimize the accumulation of residual radioactive waste in their plants, which can “greatly increase the cost and complexity of future decommissioning” after a reactor shuts down, according to the NRC……..
Anti-nuclear activists said the NRC report should raise concerns about the aging FitzPatrick plant, which started operation in 1975.
“These violations highlight the ongoing dangers posed by the upstate nuclear reactors and the lax enforcement by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” said Tim Judson, of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. “Entergy has known that this highly radioactive waste spill is a problem for four years, but the NRC has not imposed any fines or other penalties.” http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2016/08/minor_radiation_leak_at_fitzpatrick_nuclear_plant_has_gone_unfixed_for_4_years.html
1 This Month
19 November – Webinar – The Reality of Reprocessing
Time: 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada) / 2:00 PM Eastern / 7:00 PM UK / 8:00 PM CET
Register for the Zoom Event Here
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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