Missing highly enriched uranium canisters probably came from Mayak nuclear facility
In the age of terrorism, disturbing questions remain on nuclear security, WP, By Editorial Board December 14 THREE TIMES in the past 16 years — Bulgaria in 1999, France in 2001 and Moldova in 2011 — containers of highly enriched uranium have been seized by authorities, according to an article published online last month by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative news organization. In each case, the person holding the uranium said it was part of a larger cache for sale.
Such proffers have in the past been made by employees at nuclear facilities in the former Soviet Union who smuggled the material out of their plants. In 1992, a worker diverted approximately 3.3 pounds of weapons-grade uranium from a facility in Russia, taking it home bit by bit, storing it on his balcony. He was arrested at the local train station, planning to travel to Moscow to sell it.
But the three containers of highly enriched uranium have something in common that until now has been kept secret. According to the article, forensic analysis by U.S. and French nuclear scientists strongly suggests that the materials came from the same source. The analysis indicates all three samples were produced in the early 1990s at a Russian nuclear facility, the MayakProduction Association, located near the town of Ozersk in the Ural Mountains region of Chelyabinsk. The uranium could have been removed in the chaotic early years after the Soviet Union collapsed, when many such facilities were poorly guarded, and it may now be anywhere……..https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/nuclear-insecurity/2015/12/14/21a7f38a-938e-11e5-b5e4-279b4501e8a6_story.html
Ontario’s nuclear emergency plan is inadequate
Activists say Ontario’s 10 km primary response zone at nuclear plants isn’t safe enough http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/activists-say-ontarios-10-km-primary-response-zone-at-nuclear-plants-isnt-safe-enough Keith Leslie, The Canadian Press | December 10, 2015 TORONTO — Environmentalists want the Ontario government to provide evidence for its 10-kilometre limit around nuclear power plants for distribution of potassium iodide (KI) pills that help fight radiation, and say it should be expanded.
Greenpeace and the Canadian Environmental Law Association filed a request under the Ontario environmental bill of rights asking the ministry of health to do an evidence-based review of the policy surrounding distribution of the KI pills.
Radioactive iodine is released in the event of a nuclear accident, and the potassium iodide pills can help protect against thyroid cancer.
The pills were sent to about 200,000 households and businesses around the Pickering, Darlington and Bruce nuclear stations in October, and were given to another 12,500 people who asked for them.
Stensil believes the evidence will show the distribution zone for the pills should be expanded to as much as 50 kilometres.
“Four years after the (2011) Fukushima disaster in Japan — cancer takes a while to develop — a study found increased incidences of thyroid cancer 50 kilometres from the plant,” he said. “All we’re saying is let’s make the decision based on evidence.”
Most nuclear issues are a federal responsibility, but off-site safety plans are the province’s responsibility. Greenpeace says a little-used section of Ontario’s environmental bill of rights requires a government response to their request for a medical review of the policy, and if it refuses, the environmental commissioner must investigate and report to the public.
Last week, the city of Toronto’s executive committee asked the medical officer of health and office of emergency management to investigate the “appropriateness” of the 10 kilometre zone at nuclear plants and whether it should be expanded to 50 kms.
Ontario Power Generation’s Pickering nuclear generating station is 50 kilometres from downtown Toronto.
“Real-world experience and international best practices suggest Ontario’s nuclear emergency plans aren’t sufficient to protect Ontarians in the event of a nuclear accident,” said Theresa McClenaghan, Executive Director of the CELA.
The province initially balked at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s order to distribute the pills, insisting the federal regulator didn’t have jurisdiction to issue it, so the CNSC made it a condition of renewing licences for Ontario’s nuclear plants.
“The federal regulator stepped into the provincial realm because it felt Ontario was avoiding its responsibility to protect the public in the event of a nuclear accident,” said Stensil.
Nuclear materials and the danger of terrorism
UN watchdog warns terrorists may seek nuclear material, GMA News, December 8, 2015 MANILA, Philippines – The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, who is in the Philippines for an atomic energy conference, warned Monday of the threat of terrorists getting their hands on radioactive material to make “dirty” bombs.
Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said all countries should secure material which extremists could use to make such a device.
“Nuclear security is a longstanding and real issue. This is a real threat in all countries where nuclear material is available to terrorists,” he said.
“If nuclear material falls into the hands of terrorists, that can be used for dirty bombs,” he said, referring to devices that use explosives to spread radioactive material over a wide area to poison people.
Amano said such devices, which are much easier to make than an atomic bomb, could cause widespread panic if unleashed in a city…….
Concern about possible terror attacks has risen sharply worldwide recently following a spate of bombings and mass shootings by supporters of the Islamic State group. — Agence France-Presse – See more at:http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/547108/news/world/un-watchdog-warns-terrorists-may-seek-nuclear-material#sthash.sXDTLJ0b.dpuf
The dangers of transporting nuclear waste by sea
Nuclear waste transport risks ,Tor Justad, http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2015/12/08/nuclear-waste-transport-risks-tor-justad “…..I would wish to draw attention to the proposal from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to transport nuclear waste by sea from Scrabster to Barrow – a distance of over 400 miles.
This high level nuclear waste/spent fuel emanates from the Dounreay nuclear site and is intended for Sellafield – described as “the most toxic nuclear site in Europe”.
The campaigning group Highlands Against Nuclear Transport (Hant) has been campaigning since 2013 to stop this plan on the grounds that the risk to the environment, fishing, aquaculture and tourism is unacceptable.
Transporting nuclear waste by sea is opposed by environmental groups throughout the world and Hant is of the view that all nuclear waste should remain on the sites where it is produced which is in line with Scottish government policy. Hant provided an input at a Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) seminar in Lerwick in August 2015 on “Transportation of Dounreay’s nuclear materials by rail or by sea to Sellafield – is it a safe solution for reducing the nuclear legacy in Scotland?” and was pleased to hear from SIC and Kimo representatives at that seminar that they supported Hant’s position.
The need for emergency response vessels stationed around the Northern Isles and Western Isles is important to safeguard these coasts against marine accidents and emergencies of any kind but the need is increased by the proposal to transport nuclear waste.
As is well known, nuclear radiation knows no land or sea boundaries so this issue is of concern to all coastal communities in the Highlands and Islands.
Hant will continue to campaign on this issue and would urge individuals and interested organisations to support this campaign.
10 Control Rods accidentally dropped into nuclear reactor core – Indian Point
Gov’t: Shutdown at U.S. nuclear plant after 10 control rods accidentally fall into reactor core — Caused by ‘smoldering’ event, Fire Brigade on scene — Incident of this type could lead to overheating, potentially resulting in ‘supercriticality’ — Official: No ‘immediate’ concern (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/govt-shutdown-nuclear-plant-after-rods-accidentally-fall-reactor-core-caused-smoldering-event-fire-brigade-scene-incident-could-lead-overheating-potentially-resulting-supercriticality-officia?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Event Notification Reports, Dec 7, 2015 (emphasis added): MANUAL REACTOR TRIP INITIATED DUE TO MULTIPLE DROPPED CONTROL RODS — At 1731 [EST] on December 5, 2015, Indian Point Unit 2 Control Room operators initiated a Manual Reactor Trip due to indications of multiple dropped Control Rods. The initiating event was a smoldering Motor Control Center (MCC) cubicle in the Turbine Building that supplies power to the Rod Control System… The affected cubicle has ceased smoldering and is being monitored by on-site Fire Brigade trained personnel… The cause of the smoldering MCC is being investigated and a post reactor trip evaluation is being conducted by the licensee… The licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector and appropriate State and Local authorities.
The Journal News, Dec 7, 2015: One of Indian Point’s two nuclear reactors will remain shut down for the next couple of days following a power loss on Saturday, a company spokesman said Sunday. Unit 2 was powered down around 5:20 p.m. Saturday by operators after about 10 control rods “dropped” into the reactor core, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Committee… Neel Sheehan, a spokesperson for the NRC, said a preliminary investigation indicated the problem stemmed from a sudden power loss to the mechanism holding the rods. The plant’s control rods, made of materials that can absorb neutrons, are used to control the fissioning of atoms that generate power… Government inspectors visited Indian Point on Saturday and Sunday. “No immediate concerns were identified,” Sheehan said in an e-mail, adding that inspectors would return to the site “to follow up on troubleshooting, repair activities and restart planning.”
Gothamist, Dec 6, 2015: In a statement, Gov. Cuomo… said he’s sending a team from the Department of Public Service to investigate the incident and monitor the process of bringing the reactor back online.
Several control rods also appear to have dropped at Virginia’s North Anna nuclear power plant after an earthquake in 2011:
- U.S. NRC Event Notification, Aug 29, 2011: EMERGENCY DECLARED… North Anna Power Station declared an Alert due to significant seismic activity
- U.S. NRC email, Sept 2011: RE: North Anna… At this point, it appears that the grippers for several of the control rods deenergized and dropped.
- Westinghouse patent: A dropped rod… will initially result in a reduction in the total power generated by the core. The reactor will then attempt to meet the load… byincreasing power in the remainder of the core which could lead to local overheatingelsewhere in the core.
- Satoshi Sato, Nuclear Engineer, April 28, 2015 (emphasis added): “I don’t know if you remember, there was the earthquake in 2011 in Virginia. That was a big one… enough to cause vibration to the North Anna reactor resulting in a big spike of neutron flux — orreactor power… and somehow caused the additional radioactivity into the core. So that’ssomething scary, potentially resulting in a supercriticality.” (IEER: “The neutron spike accompanying a sudden supercriticality can lead to an explosion of the reactor core. It is this sort of event which occurred at the Chernobyl reactor”)
Japan’s new nuclear regulatory regime is inadequate
Time to Stop Nursing the Nuclear Power Industry, nippon.com Yoshioka Hitoshi, 7 Dec 15 “……. Failings of the New Safety Standards
Despite the reforms instituted in the wake of the 2011 meltdown, the fundamental safety issues surrounding nuclear power in Japan remain unresolved.
The final report of the government’s Investigation Committee on the Accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Stations, along with a slew of outside reports, points to the culture of complacency that undermined Japan’s pre-2011 nuclear safety regime and left the country—with its high population density and high risk of natural disasters—vulnerable to a catastrophic accident. It was clear that the government needed to institute a far stronger regulatory regime if it wanted to resurrect Japan’s nuclear power program. In September 2012, it launched the Nuclear Regulation Authority, and in July 2013, the NRA adopted new safety standards for reactors in use at nuclear power stations.
Unfortunately, the new regulatory regime is also inadequate to ensure the safety of Japan’s nuclear power facilities.
The first problem is that the new safety standards on which the screening and inspection of facilities are to be based are simply too lax. While it is true that the new rules are based on international standards, the international standards themselves are predicated on the status quo. They have been set so as to be attainable by most of the reactors already in operation.
In essence, the NRA made sure that all Japan’s existing reactors would be able to meet the new standards with the help of affordable piecemeal modifications—back-fitting, in other words. In practice, they need only to add a new layer of emergency management and some back-up equipment to meet the new standards for emergency preparedness. The estimates for earthquake intensity and tsunami height in each locale have been revised upward, but not to the point where they would necessitate fundamental design changes.
The second basic problem is that the new standards do not cover all the levels of “defense in depth” advocated by the International Atomic Energy Agency in its seven-stage International Nuclear Events Scale. They extend only as far as Level 4 (“control of severe conditions including prevention of accident progression and mitigation of the consequences of a severe accident”), stopping short of Level 5 requirements for responding to accidents that threaten the surrounding area through significant release of radioactive materials.
Under the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness, the prefectural and municipal governments within a 30-kilometer radius of a nuclear power facility are given full responsibility for emergency preparedness and evacuation planning geared to nuclear accidents with wider consequences, whose impact extends beyond the confines of the plant compound. Under the law, the plans must incorporate all items on a mandated checklist, but they are not subject to any outside review. The NRA does not view local preparedness or evacuation plans for a nuclear disaster as part of its regulatory regime.http://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00200/
Japan’s nuclear regulatory body investigating spent nuclear fuel containers
Regulator probes fuel container strength at Fukushima nuclear plant http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/regulator-probes-fuel-container-strength-at-fukushima-nuclear-plantDEC. 06, 2015 -TOKYO — Japan’s nuclear regulatory body has launched an investigation into metallic spent fuel containers at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as they may not have sufficient strength.
Members of the Nuclear Regulation Authority raised the issue Friday at a meeting to discuss nuclear safety problems. The body will examine whether the containers made by Kobe Steel Ltd are safe for long-term use.
The nuclear regulation watchdog said it will also launch a probe at Japan Atomic Power Co’s Tokai No. 2 nuclear power plant in Ibaraki Prefecture as the same type of fuel container may be used there.
The fuel storages meet strength criteria set by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers. But the metal plates inside them may not be strong enough for use in storing nuclear spent fuel.
TEPCO said it believes the strength of the containers meets the NRA’s safety standards.
Liability and compensation issues for a nuclear India
India unprepared: what happens in case of a nuclear Bhopal?, Catch News, KUMAR SUNDARAM@pksundaram 4 December 2015
“……..On the issue of liability and compensation, the government has shown scant regard to potential victims. Safeguarding the foreign suppliers from any liability has been a paramount concern.
Nothing could be more absurd and ironic than the fact that since the inception of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010, the government has been busy finding a way to address the concerns of the foreign suppliers, who want complete indemnification.
The clause 17(b), holding suppliers liable, albeit with severe limitations, was introduced under parliamentary and civil society pressure by a reluctant Manmohan Singh. But the Modi governmentt has dumped the earlier BJP position on nuclear liability, and tried to create an insurance pool to channel the liability back to the exchequer, thus undermining the law.
In the light of India’s vulnerability on the above three counts, the 31st anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy should be a moment to recognise that, in general, our administrative and political system can only be relied on to be totally inefficient and unaccountable.
As with Bhopal, in the case of a nuclear accident, the government would be unable to provide any relief for victims, especially as the main victims would be adivasis and villagers far away from the public gaze.
Irreversible and wide-ranging consequences……… http://www.catchnews.com/india-news/india-unprepared-what-happens-in-case-of-a-nuclear-bhopal-1449243696.html
Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority fails to conduct on-site checks for plant cables
NRA fails to conduct on-site checks for nuclear plant cables, Japan Times, 5 Dec 15 The Nuclear Regulation Authority failed to conduct on-site inspections to determine if safety equipment cables were installed separately from other cables at nuclear power plants during the safety screening process required for the restart of reactors, it was learned Saturday.
The revelation came to light when it was recently revealed that safety cables at nuclear facilities, including Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture, were not separated from other cables, a violation of the new nuclear safety standards introduced in July 2013.
The nuclear safety watchdog’s oversight also includes cables installed for reactors that have already passed safety screenings, including those at Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture.
At all seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, many safety-related cables, including those used to transmit data from water meters and for water injection operations, were found combined with other cables. The seven units are all boiling-water reactors…….
In pre-restart reactor inspections, the NRA does not check to see if safety cables are separated, although inspections are done for fire-extinguishing and other equipment, the officials added.
At the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the problem cables were first found under the central control rooms for the No. 1 to No. 7 reactors.
The NRA then asked other power companies with boiling-water reactors to check and report if they had similar issues. Power utilities with pressurized-water reactors were also asked to report.
At the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa reactor, mixed cables were found in areas outside the central control rooms.
“At present, we can’t deny the possibility that safety and other cables are mixed at pressurized-water reactors, but how to handle the problem has yet to be decided,” an official at the NRA said. “First, we’ll analyze the report from Tepco.”
Of pressurized-water reactors in Japan, the No. 1 and the No. 2 reactors at the Sendai power plant resumed operations in August and October, respectively.
The No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, and the No. 3 reactor at Shikoku Electric Power Co.’s Ikata plant in Ehime Prefecture have also passed NRA safety screenings. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/12/05/national/nra-fails-to-conduct-on-site-checks-for-nuclear-plant-cables/#.VmNeVtJ97Gg
JIJI
A warning to COP21 on dubious safety of China’s nuclear gamble
He Zuoxiu, a leading Chinese physicist, has called China’s plans for a bubble in nuclear reactors “insane.”
China’s nuclear ambitions have the tacit approval of many COP21 participants amid calls for the biggest polluter to forsake coal. But this should be a moment of caution for global nuclear authorities who should be urging China to increase safety standards and emphasize more benign energy sources. Ditto for investors sensing a no-brainer profit opportunity. One reason China considers the nuclear option cheaper than solar, windmill and water sources, He says, is that staffing is sparser than in other nations and cost-cutting is de rigor. Just something for David Cameron to consider as the U.K. prime minister gloats over hosting a Chinese-designed reactor……
Nuclear power, industry cheerleaders claim, is cheap, safe and clean. In theory, perhaps, but ask the 100,000-plus Japanese in the Tohoku region who can’t return home. Or the Fukushima farmers and fishermen who can’t sell their wares. Just some food for thought for officials in Paris this week figuring a comparable scenario near the Yangtze is unthinkable. Think again.
China’s ‘insane’ gamble on nuclear power, Japan 
Times, BY WILLIAM PESEK, BARRON’S ASIA, DEC 3, 2015 When I contemplate China’s plan to build as many as 135 nuclear reactors, I’m transported back to that harrowing March 2011 week when Fukushima No. 1 was melting down……
only in the months that followed did we learn how close the world actually came to losing Tokyo. Tepco was preparing to abandon the wrecked facility. Leaving the reactors to melt down unencumbered would have meant the immediate evacuation of 13 million-plus people. On March 15, then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan literally stormed Tepco headquarters and demanded its technicians contain the crisis. Thanks to the government’s collusion with the media, it’s taken years for we in Tokyo to realize we probably owe Kan our lives.
I retrace Japan’s March 2011 because it is as clear and cautionary a tale as Beijing will find as it goes nuclear in a hurry. The number 100, China’s ranking on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index, tells the story. Continue reading
Radioactive spill at Cotter’s defunct uranium mill in central Colorado
Uranium mill line leaks 1,800 gallons near Cañon City http://gazette.com/uranium-mill-line-leaks-1800-gallons-near-caon-city/article/1564689 By: Bruce Finley – The Denver Post December 1, 2015 Colorado health officials were reviewing an explanation from Cotter Corp. on Monday after a spill at Cotter’s defunct uranium mill in central Colorado — one of the nation’s slowest superfund cleanups.
A pipeline leaked about 1,800 gallons last week on Cotter’s 2,538-acre property uphill from Canon City and the Arkansas River.
Well tests in July found water in the waste pipeline area contained elevated uranium (577 parts per billion, above a 30 ppb health standard) and molybdenum (1840 ppb, above a 100 ppb standard).
This spill was the latest of at least five since 2010. Federal authorities in 1984 declared an environmental disaster and launched a superfund cleanup. Read more at denverpost.com
Connection between Hosgri fault and another larger crack: hazard for Diablo Nuclear Station
Research: Major fault near reactors links to second crack, WT . By MICHAEL R. BLOOD – Associated Press – Sunday, November 29, 2015 LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant and earthquake faults have been uneasy neighbors for decades. Even before the twin reactors produced a single watt of electricity, the plant had to be retrofitted after a submerged fault was discovered 3 miles offshore during construction.
That cleft in the earth, known as the Hosgri fault, has long been considered the greatest seismic threat to a plant that stands within a virtual web of faults. But new questions are being raised by sophisticated seafloor mapping that has found that the Hosgri links to a second, larger crack farther north, the San Gregorio fault.
In general, the longer the fault, the stronger its potential shaking power. Together, the two faults create a strand about 250 miles long, more than double the length of the Hosgri alone……
Earlier this year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission directed Diablo Canyon to conduct additional, in-depth analysis on earthquake risks by June 2017, part of a broad review of seismic threats following Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster. The agency found that among commercial U.S. nuclear plants, the California plant is among those that face the highest hazard when potential strong ground shaking is evaluated against the plant design. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/29/research-major-fault-near-reactors-links-to-second/
We don’t talk about the terrorism danger to nuclear facilities: it’s not polite
Don’t ask, don’t tell – terrorism and the nuclear threat http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/261344-dont-ask-dont-tell-terrorism-and-the-nuclear-threat By Robert Dodge, MD, 27 Nov 15 With recent tragic events in Paris the world is once again reminded that there is no safe haven from the threat of terrorism.
In a nuclear world one can only imagine what the outcome would be if the perpetrators had nuclear materials. In a world with over 15,000 nuclear weapons the potential for such a scenario is very real.
Yet with the threat posed by the existence of nuclear weapons and materials, there has been no questioning of or statements by our presidential contenders on how to address and eliminate this threat to all of humanity. As though there was a conspiracy of silence and a fear that one would somehow appear weak if advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Failing to address the existential threat posed by the continued existence of nuclear weapons while failing to deal with the causation of terrorism is ultimately a recipe for disaster.
This is particularly true now after the Paris attacks, when like after 9/11, all the world has a sense of being Parisian. As long as the ingredients for terrorism exist, no nation will be immune to the potential risk of terrorist attacks. Now is the time for nations to come together. The international leadership void that calls for a joining of efforts to address the causation allows the continued fermentation of the elements.
As per the question of nuclear weapons and their very real and growing threat to human existence, no one is speaking to the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and nuclear war. Probability theorists place the threat of nuclear war by design or accident conservatively at 1 percent per year with some as high as 2-3 percent. A child born today has an unlikely chance of reaching his or her 30th birthday without a nuclear war in their world.
Studies have now confirmed that a limited regional nuclear exchange using less than ½ of 1 percent of the global nuclear arsenals would have global implications ultimately killing up to 2 billion people on the planet from the resulting climate change and devastating effects on agricultural production in the years to follow. This scenario is a very real possibility with the ongoing tensions between the nuclear armed nations of India and Pakistan.
With growing tensions in Ukraine and Syria and with the U.S. and Russia on opposing sides, either side unleashing only their nuclear weapons on hair trigger WITHOUT RETALIATION would result in massive devastation beyond that of the limited regional scenario, possibly ending human life on this planet.
With such a threat we must demand a response from our future leader to tell us what their administration will do to achieve nuclear disarmament, or under what circumstances would they propose such a suicide mission?
Yet who among the candidates for commander-in-chief, who is sworn to protect and serve the United States, has the courage to speak about this greatest threat to our country and indeed to humanity itself? And who in the media is willing to pose the questions about this grave threat? Until we address this issue we will face the possibility in the words of Albert Einstein of “unparalleled catastrophe” continuing to rely on luck as a defense strategy.
Dodge is a family physician practicing full time in Ventura, California. He serves on the National and Los Angeles boards of Physicians for Social Responsibility (www.psr.org,www.psr-la.org,). He also serves on the board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (www.wagingpeace.org) and Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions (www.c-p-r.net). He writes for PeaceVoice (www.PeaceVoice.info).
The unmentioned apocalyptic ISIS terror – attack on nuclear reactors
And official reports on the 9/11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center confirm that Al Quaeda also considered targeting atomic reactors.
The obvious answer to this global nightmare is to speed the transition to a renewable energy world.
No terror group can ever cause an apocalypse by blowing up a solar panel.
Nuclear Reactors Make ISIS an Apocalyptic Threat, EcoWatch, Harvey Wasserman | November 25, 2015 As you read this, a terror attack has put atomic reactors in Ukraine at the brink of another Chernobyl-scale apocalypse.
Transmission lines have been blown up. Power to at least two major nuclear power stations has been “dangerously” cut. Without emergency backup, those nukes could lose coolant to their radioactive cores and spent fuel pools. They could then melt or explode, as at Fukushima.
Yet amidst endless “all-fear-all-the-time” reporting on ISIS, the corporate media has remained shockingly silent on this potential catastrophe.
Nor has it faced the most critical step needed to protect our planet in a time of terror: shutting all atomic reactors.
The world’s 430-plus licensed commercial nuclear plants give terrorists like ISIS the power at any time to inflict a radioactive Apocalypse that could kill millions, destroy huge parts of the Earth and devastate the global economy…… Continue reading
USA’s nuclear operators want to extend reactor lives to 80 years!
If the nuclear reactor is 75 years old and faulty – will the company still be around to pay the costs?
“Just like a car and plane, power reactors get old year by year,” Yoshiaki Himeno, a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, said by e-mail. While owners refurbish parts and renew the systems, “the question is how long they can continue those repairs and renewals from economical and safety points of view.
America Set to Decide Whether a Nuke Can Outlive a Human, Bloomberg, Jonathan Crawford , 26 Nov 15
-
Dominion Resources first to request extension to 80 years
-
Move to push reactor life beyond 78.8-year human average
The majority of the nation’s 99 reactors have already received 20-year extensions to their original 40-year operating licenses. Now, operators led by Dominion Resources Inc. want to expand the time frame further, potentially creating a precedent for an aging global fleet at a time when the economics of the industry are undergoing dramatic change.
Dominion said earlier this month it will request an extension from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees the industry. The plan has already raised the ire of anti-nuclear campaigners who cite decades of wear and tear on the nation’s reactors, as well as the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan. The NRC will release a draft report next month outlining safety measures needed to extend the time line.
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
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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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