UK’s Hinkley nuclear reactor design failed the Generic Design Assessment
Hinkley C: the Generic Design Assessment has failed Ecologist, Peter Lux 26th December 2013 The safety assessment for the Hinkley C reactor design has failed, reports Peter Lux. Faced with 724 unresolved concerns about the EPR design, the UK regulator went ahead and issued the licence anyway.The Generic Design Assessment (GDA) is a process which was set up in order to examine the designs for new power stations and iron out any flaws in them before the power stations are constructed. Continue reading
Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s study on nuclear waste storage is inadequate
Watchdogs criticize nuclear storage study; A.G. says NRC didn’t focus on Indian Point lohud.com, 26 Dec 13, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and his counterparts in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont have given a thumbs-down to the federal government’s draft study on the long-term storage
of used nuclear fuel.
A 143-page document filed late last week detailed their concerns, along with those of a Minnesota Native American tribe.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review, they maintain, was incorrectly focused at the industry level and not individual plants.A federal court in 2012 found the NRC didn’t fully consider the hazards of on-site storage of old fuel at the nation’s nuclear plants, including Indian Point in Buchanan. The court ordered the commission to evaluate the environmental effects of such storage.
Old fuel at Indian Point is kept in spent-fuel pools and dry casks. Both are reinforced against attacks or other calamities but critics have called for moving more old fuel at a faster pace into the casks.The draft study “fails(s) to address these core issues as required by (federal law) and the Court,” the attorneys general and the general counsel for the Prairie Island Indian Community wrote. The study also fails to provide the states, the tribe and the public with plant-by-plant reviews and wrongly relies on a generic approach, they wrote.
The tribe’s reservation is next to the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, which was the subject of litigation in the 1970s that lead to how the NRC regulates the storage of old nuclear fuel……..http://www.lohud.com/article/20131225/NEWS/312250023/Watchdogs-criticize-nuclear-storage-study-A-G-says-NRC-didn-t-focus-on-India
Scrutiny on US Navy’s secret and possibly unsafe plan for explosive- handling wharf
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, a Poulsbo, Wash.-based anti-nuclear group. Ground Zero has accused the Navy of withholding facts that would have fully informed the public of the second wharf’s potential dangers, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Anti-Nuclear Groups Wary of Navy’s Planned Wharf Seattle Times | Dec 26, 2013 | by Kyung M. Song WASHINGTON — In September 2012, the Navy began in-water work at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor to build an explosives-handling wharf, a $650 million project anti-nuclear activists criticized as an unneeded vestige of the Cold War. Continue reading
Paris derailment of nuclear waste freight train
Freight wagon with nuclear waste derails at depot near Paris, no leak http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/23/us-france-nuclear-idUSBRE9BM0QH20131223 PARIS Mon Dec 23, 2013 (Reuters) – A rail freight wagon carrying nuclear waste derailed at a depot in Drancy, 3 km (2 miles) northeast of Paris on Monday, the mayor of the town said.
There was no leakage of nuclear waste, Jean-Christophe Lagarde said by telephone.
“Today at 1605 (1505 GMT), a freight car transporting radioactive material derailed in Drancy station,” said the mayor, who is also a member of parliament for the French centrist UDI party. About 4,000 freight wagons carrying radioactive or chemical waste pass through the station each year, Lagarde said, calling the incident “intolerable”.
France’s “Europe Ecologie Les Verts” (EELV) Green party called for an end to the transportation of radioactive waste through urban areas and busy stations following the incident.
“The slightest accident can have catastrophic effects,” the EELV party said in a statement. “All (nuclear waste) transport is risky and exposes populations to unnecessary danger.”
US Nuclear Air Force Troubles
Recap of AP Reporting on Troubles in Nuclear Force, abc news, December 23, 2013 A recap of Associated Press reporting this year on troubles in the country’s nuclear force:
—In April, 19 missile crew members in the 91st Missile Wing at Minot, N.D., were deemed temporarily unfit for duty and given weeks of remedial training. The wing’s deputy commander of operations complained of “rot” in the force. Later, the officer in charge of the 91st’s missile crew training and proficiency was relieved of duty.
—In August, the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom, Mont., failed a safety and security inspection. Nine days later the officer in charge of security forces there was relieved of duty. In October the unit passed a do-over test.
—On Oct. 11,…….—Also in November, the AP reported that key members of the Air Force’s nuclear missile force are feeling “burnout” from what they see as exhausting, unrewarding and stressful work. The finding, in an unpublished RAND Corp. study provided to the AP in draft form, also cited heightened levels of misconduct such as spousal abuse and said court-martial rates in the nuclear missile force in 2011 and 2012 were more than twice as high as in the overall Air Force. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/recap-ap-reporting-troubles-nuclear-force-21306790
Critical situation of the decaying Fukushima nuclear buildings
Experts: Fukushima is “increasingly critical due to decay of buildings… reactor blocks are sinking… alarming cracks in foundation” — “It was built very poorly, Japan cannot deal with problem alone… it’s a big problem” (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/experts-fukushima-is-increasingly-critical-due-to-decay-of-buildings-reactor-blocks-are-sinking-alarming-cracks-in-foundation-it-was-built-very-poorly-japan-cannot-deal-with-problem-a
City of Berkeley City Council Meeting, Dec. 17, 2013 (at 2:25:00 in): Good evening, as many of you know I spent 13 years in the nuclear engineering department at Cal. So I’m very familiar with the construction […] The reactor was designed poorly and also the way it was built was very poor and Japan cannot deal with the problem alone. […] The biggest part of the story is Japan by itself is not capable to fix the problem. We need to get the United Nations, the United States, all the countries — It is a big problem. […]
Article in the German economics paper ‘Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten’ on Oct. 9, 2013translated by pixigirl:Fukushima – German physicist: “The probability that the rescue succeeds goes to zero” […] The German physicist Sebastian Pfugbeil[President of the German Society for Radiological Protection] is extremely pessimistic that an elementary Fukushima disaster can be averted. The consequences would be felt over the entire northern hemisphere. […] Pflugbeil explains the situation in Fukushima: “The situation is becoming increasingly critical due to the decay of the buildings. The fuel rods have not been brought to safety. The reactor blocks are sinking. The ground on which the reactor sits can no longer bear any weight…It is floating. There has been such dramatic shifts that there are 1 meter height differences between one corner to the other which have caused massive cracks in the building structure resulting in alarming cracks in the building foundation and soundness.” […] It requires only a small earthquake or a storm surge or simply the failure of building structures to set this disaster in motion.” […] Watch speaker at the meeting here (starts at 2:25:00 in)
India’s nuclear power system – just not safe!
Harsh criticism for India’s nuclear safety regime December 21, 2013 Ben Doherty Delhi: India’s nuclear safety regime is “fraught with grave risks”, a parliamentary committee has reported, saying the country’s nuclear regulator was weak, under-resourced and “slow in adopting international benchmarks and good practices in the areas of nuclear and radiation operation”.
The bipartisan Public Accounts Committee tabled a scathing 81-page report in India’s parliament, critical of the decades-long delay in establishing an independent regulator for the nuclear-armed country. Continue reading
Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) raise saafety and security concerns
Potential fire and explosion hazards……
Potential flooding hazards:……
Limited access for conducting inspections of pressure vessels…
Safety and Security Concerns about Small Modular Reactors: NuScale’s Design http://allthingsnuclear.org/safety-and-security-concerns-about-small-modular-reactors-nuscales-design/ Ed Lyman, senior scientist December 17, 2013 Late last week the Department of Energy finally announced its decision to provide the small modular reactor (SMR) design NuScale with a matching grant of up to $226 million under its Licensing Technical Support program intended to speed the development of SMRs.
But the real news is not that DOE awarded a second grant under the program, but that it took so long to do so. NuScale, along with three other reactor vendors, originally applied for the funds in early 2012 with the expectation that two designs would receive grants. However, later that year DOE surprised many observers by only awarding a grant to one design, the Generation mPower.
Safety and Security Concerns
As discussed in detail in my September 2013 report “Small Isn’t Always Beautiful,” UCS has safety and security concerns about small modular reactors in general and about the NuScale design in particular
SMR vendors are pushing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to weaken its regulations regarding operator staffing, security staffing, and emergency planning, based on highly optimistic assertions that their reactors will be significantly safer than larger reactors. Continue reading
Dangerous new nuclear project for Karachi
the nuclear reactor site in Karachi has more people living within 30 km than any other reactor site in the world.
It found there were eight million people living within this distance of the site in Karachi. All of the port city falls within 40 km of the reactor site.
Pakistani experts raise question about nuclear power project http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/pakistani-experts-raise-question-about-nuclear-power-project-113121600555_1.html Press Trust of India | Islamabad December 16, 2013 Three leading physicists have raised key questions about the safety, design and cost of Pakistan‘s largest nuclear power plant being built with Chinese assistance in the port city of Karachi. The Karachi complex will have two nuclear reactors with a production capacity of 2,200 MW. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the project, estimated to cost USD 9.6 billion and scheduled to be completed in six years, late last month.
Shut down Lynas! Call from Malaysians after 3rd death at rare earths plant
Calls renew for Lynas shutdown after third death at plant Malaysian Insider, 14 Dec 13 Opponents of the Lynas Advance Materials Plant in Pahang have renewed calls for the closure of the controversial rare earth refinery following the death of an engineer who drowned in a pond at the facility yesterday. The Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) movement said the fatal accident, the third in two years at the plant near Kuantan, Pahang, should be viewed seriously, and warranted a full investigation.
“This is very serious. We are demanding the government shut down the Lynas Advance Materials Plant immediately and cease all activities in the plant until a full and comprehensive independent investigation is completed by the relevant authorities like the Department of Occupational Safety and Health to establish the nature and cause/s of the fatal accident,” its chairman Tan Bun Teet said today…….
The plant in Gebeng has been mired in controversy after residents claimed it emits the hazardous thorium compound that can cause cancer among humans. It is known that the processing of rare earth materials would produce a thorium by-product.
The Australian-owned plant’s ability to obtain a temporary licence, despite not revealing a waste disposal facility, has enraged activists who have opposed the company’s practices and the government for allowing such a plant within a 30km radius of 700,000 residents.
Groups have called for the government and Lynas shareholders to remove the company’s operations from Malaysia amid the company’s poor performance in the Australian bourse due to weakened rare earth prices.
SMSL said although previously some of the firm’s shareholders had wanted to conduct best practices in its operations abroad, it has been business as usual for Lynas.
However, yesterday’s death has given the group more cause to question the plant’s operational procedures and safety hazards……http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/calls-renew-for-lynas-shutdown-after-third-death-at-plant
Serious safety concerns about India’s nuclear industry
some nuclear projects in India have come close to “disaster.” ….The fact that there is no clear record on accidents or potential disasters at India’s nuclear power plants raises important questions about the transparency of information on the issue.
A nuclear disaster like Fukushima would have dire consequences in heavily populated India. Memories of the Bhopal tragedy, which killed an estimated 10,000 people in 1984, are still fresh, and so is the mismanagement of the fallout by the government of the day, including letting the senior management of U.S. firm Union Carbide escape scot free.
Lessons from Japan for India on Nuclear Energy Fukushima has given energy-hungry India pause. Are its nuclear safety standards up to scratch? The Diplomat By Kabir Taneja December 13, 2013 The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has become the focal point of public debate in India over the pursuit of civil nuclear energy on a large scale. The run-up to the plant’s inauguration had been marred by protests from locals and the anti-nuclear lobby, who question the safety of the plant and have taken the issue all the way to the Supreme Court……
The outcome of Fukushima has also put the spotlight on the aggressive, globally active and well-funded nuclear energy lobby. For many in Tokyo, a disaster caused largely by a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in 2011 opened a can of worms over how the government regulated its nuclear backyard. This issue of regulation has gained momentum as more and more people question the conventional wisdom of nuclear energy being a safe bet. Continue reading
Slack security at UK’s nuclear bomb factory
Ministry of Defence security ‘asleep on the job’ guarding a nuclear bomb factory, By Vicky Smith Mirror, UK, 14 Dec 2013
Up to 50 MoD police are being probed for allegedly failing to carry out vital security patrols at the 225-acre complex which builds Trident warheads. Up to 50 Ministry of Defence police guarding a nuclear bomb factory are being probed for allegedly failing to carry out vital security patrols.
And last night it was claimed that some were sleeping on the job at the 225-acre complex which builds Trident warheads. Seven of the armed officers have resigned and others are facing disciplinary action amid claims they ignored key duties.
A source said: “At least some of the police were sleeping on the job when they missed the patrols.
“This is highly embarrassing at such a key facility.”
Peter Burt, of the Nuclear Information Service, which campaigns for nuclear safety, said: “The sheer scale of these claims are astonishing, especially given the highly sensitive nature of the complex.
“It handles radioactive materials, explosives and hazardous chemicals. ……..http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ministry-defence-security-asleep-job-2924587
Approval for Tokai nuclear reprocessing plant BEFORE safety screening!
NRA to approve restart of reprocessing facility http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131211_29.html Japan’s nuclear regulator plans to approve a partial restart of a facility for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel before it clears safety screening under new regulations.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority says it’s allowing the restart to make plutonium and other highly radioactive waste in the facility solid and more stable.
The authority said on Wednesday that it plans to allow the government-backed Japan Atomic Energy Agency to operate part of the plant in Tokai Village, about 100 kilometers north of Tokyo.
The decision comes after the agency sought permission to restart the facility soon, saying that keeping the waste in liquid form involves high risks.
NRA commissioners said the facility’s stockpiles of plutonium solutions and other liquid waste will be made safer when reprocessed into solids.
They came up with a plan to allow part of the facility to run for 5 years before checking is done under the enhanced regulations.
The facility stores 3.5 cubic meters of solutions containing plutonium and more than 400 cubic meters of highly radioactive liquid waste. NRA secretariat officials say reprocessing the plutonium solutions into powder will take about 2 years, and turning other liquid waste into glass 21 years.
The new regulations are to take effect on December 18th. The NRA is to give formal approval after confirming that the agency can ensure stable reprocessing at the plant.
Trafficking of radiological materials
Dirty bombs, Glowing in the dark, The Economist 14 Dec 13 In the fight against trafficking in radiological materials, experts see some cause for cautious optimism
“………Nuclear and radiological materials slipped out of regulatory control 2,331 times between 1995 and the start of this year, according to the Incident and Trafficking Database compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The materials are widely used in industry, agriculture and medicine. They are kept in many poorly guarded X-ray and cancer-treatment clinics. Such places are often not overseen with terrorism in mind. They have even been bought by crooks as front operations, says Rajiv Nayan, of India’s Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Raids on abandoned uranium mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo are more frequent, according to that country’s General Atomic-Energy Commission. The problem is most acute in the former Soviet Union: in Ukraine alone, roughly 2,500 organisations use radiological materials……..
Libya’s uranium stockpile a cause of anxiety
Concerns Grow Over Libyan Uranium Stockpiles, VOA, Jamie Dettmar, 10 Dec 13, December 10, 2013 WASHINGTON — Inspectors from the United Nations nuclear agency will soon begin an assessment of the adequacy of security arrangements for thousands of barrels of yellowcake uranium stockpiled in Libya. The inspection comes amid rising anxiety among Western powers and Libya’s neighbors at the lawlessness disrupting the transition from dictatorship to democracy since the ouster two years ago of Moammar Gadhafi.
According to Mr. Mitri, 6,400 barrels of yellowcake uranium are stored in a facility near Sabha, a desert town in the south that has witnessed episodic clashes between Tubu and Abu Seif tribesmen. Libyan intelligence officials say Al Qaida-linked Tuareg fighters fleeing the French intervention in Mali have moved into Libya’s south to set up camps.
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
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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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