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Swollen river necessitates nuclear plant shutdown, Slovenia

Slovenia shuts nuclear plant after Sava river swells, Yahoo News 29 Oct12, Slovenia preventively shut down production Sunday at its only nuclear power plant after a steep increase in the flow of the Sava river used for cooling the system, the Krsko nuclear plant said in a statement.
The plant’s production was stopped manually due to the “great amount of leaves and other garbage on the Sava river that had decreased the efficiency of the cooling system on the secondary side of the plant,” it said….. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/slovenia-shuts-nuclear-plant-sava-river-swells-181351905.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

October 29, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, safety | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry prepared for hurricane, is confident of safety

 Nuclear Reactors Await Hurricane Sandy By MATTHEW L. WALD, NYT October 28, 2012, Among the various immobile pieces of infrastructure in the path of the East Coast hurricane are around 20 nuclear reactors, from Calvert Cliffs in southern Maryland to Pilgrim in Plymouth, Mass., and Vermont Yankee, just north of the Massachusetts line in Vernon, Vt.

But the industry and regulatory officials say that this is an anticipated challenge…. The most severe weather to afflict nuclear reactors may have been Hurricane Andrew, in August 1992, which was a Category 5 storm when it hit the Turkey Point reactors 25 miles south of Miami. The plant lost telephone communications with the outside world, and
the access road was blocked by fallen trees, but there was no significant damage to safety systems, the regulatory commission found later …. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/nuclear-reactors-await-hurricane-sandy/

October 29, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Harvey Wasserman lists America’s rust bucket nuclear reactors

The Rust-Bucket Reactors Start to Fall       http://www.nukefree.org/editorsblog/rust-bucket-reactors-start-fall  , Harvey Wassermann, 26 Oct 12, The US fleet of 104 deteriorating atomic reactors is starting to fall. The much-hyped “nuclear renaissance” is now definitively headed in reverse.

The announcement that Wisconsin’s Kewaunee will shut next year will be remembered as a critical dam break. Opened in 1974, Kewaunee has fallen victim to low gas prices, declining performance, unsolved technical problems and escalating public resistance.

Many old US reactors are still profitable only because their capital costs were forced down the public throat during deregulation, through other manipulations of the public treasury, and because lax regulation lets them operate cheaply while threatening the public health.

Continue reading →

October 26, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | 1 Comment

Nuclear power obstacle in Japan: new evacuation plans

under the new radiation forecast, many more local governments will have to compile disaster management plans for areas that could require evacuation.

Radiation forecast creates hurdle in resuming nuclear plant operations UPDATE: Forecast predicts wider evacuations needed if nuclear disaster repeated October 25, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Municipalities are demanding a greater say in whether utilities can restart their reactors after the new industry watchdog placed more communities in the danger zone of possible nuclear accidents. Continue reading →

October 26, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Japan, politics, safety | Leave a comment

A horrible combination – fracking and nuclear reactor

Fracking and nuclear side by side in Pennsylvania: A match made in hell? RT.com 25 October, 2012, Plans are afoot to drill a well that will use fracking technology only a mile from a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The parties involved say they are unconcerned, despite evidence showing fracking increases incidence of earthquake….. http://rt.com/usa/news/fracking-nuclear-earthquake-safety-243/

October 26, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Outside Fukushima’s evacuation zone, but kindergarten still not safe

NHK: Kindergarten outside evacuation zone closed because of Fukushima radiation threat — “No one can deny the reality” (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/nhk-fukushima-kindergarten-evacuation-zone-closed-because-radiation-threat-one-deny-reality-contamination-away-video   October 24th, 2012 at 
Watch the NHK report here  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6scs7iE02Vg#t=145s
Source: NHK NewsWatch 9
Published by: Missingsky101
Date Aired: February 2012
Date Published: Oct 23, 2012

[The head of a kindergarten in Minamisoma city, Fukushima Prefecture] decided to close the kindergarten indefinitely […] a history of 60 years […]

[He] says, “No one can deny the reality that the community is exposed to radiation” […]

The director was forthright about lingering concerns of radiation that never went away no matter how hard the school tried to decontaminate the premises […]

October 25, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Resources -audiovicual, safety | Leave a comment

Wider evacuation area plans needed, says Japan’s nuclear regulator

the wide area of forecasted contamination means local governments will face a greater burden in compiling effective disaster management plans.

 Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, has called such plans a minimum requirement before nuclear plants can be cleared for a restart.
If local governments cannot compile effective disaster management plans, it means the security of local residents is not assured. In such circumstances, not only would it be difficult to resume operations at such plants, but the very existence of those plants could be called into question.

Forecast predicts wider evacuations needed if nuclear disaster repeated Nuclear watchdog may broaden definition of active fault lines October 24, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN A forecast of the radiation released in another nuclear accident shows that at four plants, a 30-kilometer evacuation zone would be insufficient for public safety, and that more distant residents would need to flee their homes too. Continue reading →

October 25, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics, safety | Leave a comment

30-km nuke safety zone may not be enough http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121024a3.html Kyodo Radiation doses beyond 30 km from four nuclear plants, including those in Niigata and Fukui prefectures, could reach 100 millisieverts in the first seven days amid a severe meltdown crisis like the one that started in March 2011 at the Fukushima No. 1 complex, according to estimates by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.The NRA is crafting new guidelines on nuclear disaster mitigation measures based on the Fukushima disaster and has proposed a radius of 30 km from a nuclear plant as a rough standard for areas where special preparations against fallout exposure should be made.

The latest simulation results, however, could lead local governments to require preparations in areas beyond the 30-km zone.

The four nuclear power stations are Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima No. 2 plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture, and Chubu Electric Power Co.’s Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka Prefecture.

The NRA assumed two scenarios — one in which the amount of radioactive substances released is as high as in the Fukushima disaster and the other in which all reactors at each plant suffer meltdowns — to identify areas in which exposure could reach 100 millisieverts in the first seven days. The simulation did not take into account the geography around the plants.

For Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, areas located within a 40-km radius of the plant would register 100 millisieverts.

October 24, 2012 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Identifying nuclear reactors that are in dangerous locations

In China 19 of the 27 reactors are being built in areas identified as dangerous.

Scientists pinpoint nuclear plants in high-risk zones http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2012/10/scientists-pinpoint-nuclear-plants-in-high-risk-zones.html 19/10/2012 By Diarmaid Williams  Scientists in the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium have produced a pioneering study, which shows nuclear power plants that are located in zones affected by tsunamis. Continue reading →

October 24, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

How Many Potential Fukushimas in US?

Nuclear Perceptions Fight Reality OpEd News,   By William Boardman, 22 Oct 12,  FUKUSHIMA FREAKOUT OBSCURES REAL ACCIDENT THAT GOES ON AND ON   “……How Many Potential Fukushimas in US?  After discussing the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant surrounded by flood waters in 2011, with five

full-to-capacity dams upstream, Gunderson commented: “Yet the NRC was basically telling everybody, don’t worry be happy.  You know, the probability of a dam failing is pretty low, but so is the probability of a 60 foot high tsunami hitting Fukushima.  We know that low-probability events happen.  And the NRC and Tokyo Electric both basically don’t want to admit that these events can happen.  And we’ve got 34 different Fukushimas in the United States — one third of the nuclear fleet is in danger of an upstream dam failing.”

Currently four U.S. nuclear power plants have been shut down for extended periods of one to four years, while ratepayers continue to pay the operating costs of plants that aren’t operating.  The two shut down reactors at San Onofre in California are costing ratepayers $50 million a month just to maintain the opportunity to re-start the reactors on short notice.

Worldwide, about 60 of the world’s 434 so-called safe, clean, reliable, inexpensive nuclear power plants are shut down, some forever.

“It just shows that the people we’re counting on to protect us, the regulators and the people that own these power plants, can’t be trusted,” Gunderson concluded.  http://www.opednews.com/articles/Nuclear-Perceptions-Fight-by-William-Boardman-121022-931.html

 

October 23, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Warning to Taiwan on its special danger from nuclear power

Taiwan has one of the highest densities of nuclear power plants in the world

 the population density in northern Taiwan is so high that it would be very difficult to evacuate people if a nuclear accident were to occur at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市).
“The evacuation efficiency in northern Taiwan is virtually zero,”

Scientist warns of dangers of Taiwan nuclear mishap Taipei Times 21 Oct 12, By Lee I-chia  A Japanese nuclear scientist and researcher says that if a nuclear accident occurred at one of northern Taiwan’s nuclear power plants, about 30,000 people would die within a short period of time and up to 7 million people could develop cancer from exposure to the nuclear radiation. Continue reading →

October 22, 2012 Posted by | safety, Taiwan | Leave a comment

Flood danger to USA nuclear plants hidden by Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Leaked Report Suggests Long-Known Flood Threat To Nuclear Plants, Safety Advocates Say HUFFINGTON POST 10/19/2012 An un-redacted version of a recently released Nuclear Regulatory Commission  report highlights the threat that flooding poses to nuclear power plants located near large dams — and suggests that the NRC has misled the public for years about the severity of the threat, according to engineers and nuclear safety advocates. Continue reading →

October 20, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

80 year licenses for USA’s old nuclear reactors?

AUDIO “You won’t believe this”: US nuclear regulator meets to discuss 80-year licenses for old reactors -Expert  ) http://enenews.com/you-wont-believe-this-us-nuclear-regulator-meets-to-discuss-80-year-licenses-for-old-reactors-not-just-rolling-the-dice-youre-practically-committing-suicide-expert-video
October 18th, 2012 Title: Interview with David Freeman
Source: IF YOU LOVE THIS PLANET with Dr. Helen Caldicott
Date: Oct. 12, 2012
h/t MsMilkytheclown

David Freeman, a senior advisor with Friends of the Earth’s nuclear campaign […] was appointed chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, where he stopped the construction of eight large nuclear power plants and pioneered a massive energy conservation program. Subsequently, Freeman served for two decades as general manager of several large public power agencies including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the New York Power Authority and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. He is a renowned expert on clean energy, efficiency and the risks of nuclear power.

David Freeman, former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority: And now guess what? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last Thursday, guess what they met on? You won’t believe this… The subject of the meeting was 80-year licenses for old nuclear power plants […]  If you have a plant operating for 80 years [next to an earthquake fault] you’re not just rolling the dice, you’re practically committing suicide […] everyone living within a 50 mile radius is a guinea pig.

October 20, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Russia pulls out of nuclear Threat Reduction program

After 20 Years of US Aid, Russia Goes Solo on Controlling Loose Nukes Voice of America October 18th, 2012 The day that Russia’s government decided last week to end its participation in the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, a huge, mushroom-shaped cloud rose high in the air over Orenburg.
In this case, the dust was kicked up by massive, accidental blasts of conventional weapons, largely stores of Soviet-era artillery shells.

To avoid the real thing, a nuclear explosion, American taxpayers have paid $7 billion over the last 20 years to cut the threat of loose nukes scattered around the former Soviet Union. Continue reading →

October 19, 2012 Posted by | Russia, safety | Leave a comment

Nuclear power UNsafety in India

India questions its own nuclear industry, SMH, October 15, 2012 ”…….India’s comptroller and auditor-general, Vinod Rai, has found the body that oversees nuclear safety in India, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, is ineffective, mired in bureaucracy and negligent in monitoring safety.

Sixty per cent of regulatory inspection reports for operating nuclear power plants in India were either delayed – up to 153 days late – or not undertaken at all. For power plants under construction, the number of regulatory inspections delayed or not done was 66 per cent.

Smaller radiation facilities operate throughout the country with no licences and no oversight at all. In many cases there are no rules for nuclear operators to follow. Despite an order from the government in 1983, the board has still not developed an overarching nuclear and radiation safety policy for India.

And even when laws do exist and are broken, the existing legislation gives the board almost no punitive power. In some cases, the fines for nuclear safety transgressions are as low as 500 rupees – less than $10.

India has had nuclear scares already. In 2010, a gamma irradiation machine containing Cobalt-60 was sold off by Delhi University for scrap. Pulled apart, it unleashed a massive dose of radiation, killing one person and putting another six in hospital.

The Indian government has legislation before parliament to replace the board with a new body, the proposed Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority.

But Prabir Purkayastha from the Delhi Science Forum said: ”It is a very weak piece of legislation, that makes the regulator subservient to a group of ministers. It is a weakening of the current regulation.”  http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/india-questions-its-own-nuclear-industry-20121014-27l0a.html#ixzz29Zt1gRpm

October 17, 2012 Posted by | India, safety | 1 Comment

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