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30,000 tons of Chernobyl radioactive waste to last thousands of years

there is no long-term plan for dealing with a radioactive legacy that will remain for several millennia…..no one knows where the radioactive wreckage of the ruined reactor and the roughly 30,000 tons of material containing fuel are to be stored…the water problem remains unresolved.

Beyond the Sarcophagus, The Overwhelming Challenge of Containing Chernobyl, Spiegel Online, By Benjamin Bidder, 1 May 11,   Work on the new sarcophagus meant to contain Chernobyl’s reactor 4 is a decade behind schedule. But significant problems will remain even once it is complete. For one, it is only meant to last for 100 years. For another, no one knows what to do with the vast quantities of radioactive waste left behind. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | safety, wastes | Leave a comment

Fukushima care worker exposed to internal radiation emitter

the worker in question, who is in her 40s, was found to have suffered more internal than external radiation exposure, with the internal exposure reaching 6.71 millisieverts.

She was providing care to workers who had become sick at a building on site that was being used as the operation center for the crisis, the utility known as Tepco said.

Second woman over legally set limit, Worker found overexposed to radiation, Japan Times, 2 May 11,  Kyodo, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday that a woman at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant has been overexposed to radiation, making her the second at the plant to be subjected to more than the legal limit. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Storm shuts nuclear plant for weeks, in Alabama

Alabama Nuclear Power Goes Down During Storm, on Backup Power, Epoch Times By Jack Phillips, 29 April 11,   A nuclear power plant in Alabama went without power on Wednesday when massive storms hit the South but officials say that it will be weeks before it goes back online. The plant was able to prevent a partialmeltdown due to its backup power systems….. The agency said that it is closely monitoring the situation at the power plant, which went down when power lines were severed during the storm.

“Severe storms in the South last night provided a stark reminder that we are not immune to the effects of natural events,” NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko cautioned. He noted that the plant’s three units went offline and had to be shut down…..http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/alabama-nuclear-power-goes-down-during-storm-on-backup-power-55507.html

April 29, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Safety violations at US nuclear plants

News 2 investigates violations at SC nuclear power plants, News 2, 29 April 11,  “……..Since 1990, the Catawba Nuclear Station in York, SC has 8 Severity Level 3 violations, resulting in a total of $250,000 in fines.

The Oconee Nuclear Station in Seneca had 9 Severity Level 3 violations, and 2 Severity Level 2 violations totaling $765,000.

The H.B. Robinson plant in Hartsville had 10 Severity Level 3 violations and 1 Severity Level  2 violation totaling $443,000.

The V.C. Summer plant in Jenkensville had 3 Severity Level 3 violations, with no associated fines.

When it comes to violations and fines, Knight says that not all issues are associated with the danger ofradiation exposure to employees or the public, but “Many such violations, points to a culture of maybe a lack of concern and that’s where I say vigilance and having that safety culture is so critical.”

A further study of the Severity Level 2 violations shows that in 1997 at the Oconee plant there was problem with a 2 pumps over-heating for failing to correctly measure water levels.

In 1998 Oconee had a second Severity Level 2 violation due to faulty instrument calibration which the NRCcalled “a very significant regulatory concern.”….http://www2.counton2.com/news/2011/apr/28/6/news-2-investigates-violations-sc-nuclear-power-pl-ar-1775561/

April 29, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Plutonium danger in Los Alamos nuclear plan

In the event of an earthquake and inadequate safety features, highly carcinogenic plutonium smoke could escape the building, rendering the land beneath the plume too contaminated for use.

“It would be like a dirty bomb,” Mello said. 

Nuclear watchdog groups slam New Mexico plan, By Zelie Pollon, Santa Fe, New Mexico | Wed Apr 27, 2011 (Reuters) – The U.S. government should rethink plans for a multi-billion dollar plutonium complex at Los Alamos after the recent nuclear catastrophe in Japan and the discovery of increased seismic risk in New Mexico, nuclear watchdog groups said. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | safety, technology, USA | Leave a comment

Resistance growing to Jaitapur nuclear plan in seismic area

Former nuclear safety regulator Dr A. Gopalkrishnan revealed that he had been told in 1995 by American nuclear authorities that India would be well advised to close the reactors.

Fears rise in India of Fukushima-style nuclear disaster, By Julian O’Halloran, BBC News, 27 April 2011 Jaitapur, India  A leading campaigner against a massive nuclear power plant in India has pledged that villagers are ready to sacrifice their lives in order to prevent a repeat of Japan’s nuclear disaster. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | India, safety | Leave a comment

USA worries over aging nuclear reactors

Of those granted extensions, more than half received permission to produce more electricity. And some, according to anti-nuclear groups, operate with less government oversight than decades before.

Anti-nuclear groups say the trend does not pose an immediate threat, but they question the wisdom of pumping more power from an aging fleet of reactors.

U.S. nuclear strategy worries scientists…More than half the nation’s reactors, including Virginia’s four, received license extensions, Daily Press, By Cory Nealon 26 April Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

No room for complacency about Japan’s nuclear reactors

Every functional nuclear plant is being pushed to the limit and beyond in order to maintain a semblance of normality – but they are ALL in bad repair and are sitting ducks for the next mega-quake….or for ONE overworked plant manager to make a bad decision. Or simply overuse…………There also seem to be problems at :

Onagawa reactor #3
Fukushima Daini reactor #3
Tokai Reactor #3
Kashiwazaki reactor #3……the core is generating deadly radiation

Fukushima Could Be Worse — And It Will Be, April 25, 2011, Hawaii News Daily, By Tom Burnett “……..I  have information from Yoichi ‘boots on the ground’ that smoke was emitting from Kashiwazaki last week after the MAG 7,1 EQ. which occurred off Honshu on 7 APR 2011.  Continue reading →

April 27, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Al Qaida plot to use nuclear weapon?

WikiLeaks unveils Al-Qa’ida plot, Montreal Gazette, BY HOLLY WATT, LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH APRIL 25, 2011 LONDON – Guantanamo interrogators have uncovered a determined attempt by Al-Qa’ida to attack Western countries using chemical or nuclear weapons, according to files made public through WikiLeaks…
… One of the terrorist group’s most senior figures warned that Al-Qa’ida had obtained and hidden a nuclear bomb in Europe that would be detonated if Osama bin Laden was killed or captured. Continue reading →

April 26, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

San Onofre Nuclear Plant sits on earthquake area

How safe is San Onofre? Los Angeles Times,25 April 11, Edison and federal regulators must stop the continuing deterioration of the safety culture at the nuclear power plant.  By Najmedin Meshkati, April 26, 2011, The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station sits on a beach in a seismically active area of Southern California, just three miles south of San Clemente. Continue reading →

April 26, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

90 million people potentially endangered near nuclear plants

Population concentration near a reactor is not a measure of danger, which depends on numerous factors including earthquake risk, quality of maintenance, regulatory oversight and the amount of radioactive material on site. But it does suggest how many people will be at risk if something does go terribly wrong, as happened in Fukushima, and in Chernobyl

90 million live within 30 km of a nuclear reactor,  Montreal Gazette, 24 April 11, Study outlines number of people at risk in case of serious accident About 90 million people worldwide live within 30 kilometres of a nuclear reactor, equivalent to the exclusion zone around Japan’s crippled Fukushima plant, a study released Friday shows. Continue reading →

April 24, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

15 metre wall planned to protect Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant

Tepco to Build Wall for Nuclear Plant After Fukushima Disaster Bloomberg, By Tsuyoshi Inajima – Apr 21, 2011   Electric Power Co. will build a seawall to protect its biggest atomic power station from a tsunami like the one that knocked out its Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, causing the worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.

Japan’s biggest power company, known as Tepco, plans to construct a wall to a height of 15 meters (50 feet) above sea level off the coast of its Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant northwest of Tokyo, spokeswoman Ai Tanaka said by phone. Three of seven reactors remain shut at the station after an earthquake in 2007 caused radiation leaks.

Tepco has been battling to contain radiation spewing from the Fukushima plant after a magnitude-9 quake on March 11 unleashed a tsunami that flooded the station, knocking out cooling systems. The company won’t get approval to start the remaining reactors at Kashiwazaki until it resolves the crisis at Fukushima, a local government official said on April 6.

Japan’s government last week raised the severity rating of the Fukushima crisis to the highest on an international scale, the same level as the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The station, which has withstood hundreds of aftershocks, may release more contamination than Chernobyl before the crisis is contained, Tepco officials said. …..http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-22/tepco-to-build-wall-for-nuclear-plant-after-fukushima-disaster.html

April 22, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

32 Asian nuclear plants at risk from earthquakes

.Like Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant they lie within a few hundred miles of the type of fault known to unleash the largest tsunami-spawning earthquakes…..At least 32 plants in operation or under construction in Asia are at risk of one day being hit by a tsunami, nuclear experts and geologists warn…..

Asia nuclear reactors face tsunami risk, Google News (AP)  19 April 11, JAKARTA, Indonesia — The skeleton of what will soon be one of the world’s biggest nuclear plants is slowly taking shape along China’s southeastern coast — right on the doorstep of Hong Kong’s bustling metropolis. Three other facilities nearby are up and running or under construction. Continue reading →

April 19, 2011 Posted by | ASIA, safety | Leave a comment

Anti nuclear protestor killed by police

Anti-nuclear activists were planning further protests this weekend in Maharahstra to demand that the Jaitapur and other nuclear power plant schemes be scrapped,

Indian police kill protester in anti-nuclear demo, Google News, (AFP) – 19 April 11, MUMBAI — Indian police opened fire on hundreds of protesters — killing one — at a demonstration against the proposed construction of a nuclear power station, police and the government said Monday… Continue reading →

April 19, 2011 Posted by | India, safety | Leave a comment

Internet leak of nuclear submarine secrets

Nuclear secrets leaked in redaction gaffe, Information Age, 18 April 11,  Ministry of Defence redacted secret parts of nuclear documents just by changing the background colourThe UK’s Ministry of Defence accidentally published nuclear secrets online after staff used an easily reversible technique to redact sensitive parts publically available documents.The documents were published online following a Freedom of Information request from anti-nuclear campaigners. Certain sensitive parts of documents were supposed to be redacted, but staff simply changed the background colour of the text to black – a procedure that is easily reversed by copying and pasting the text into another document.The gaffe revealed top secret emergency response procedures for UK nuclear submarines, and details of US nuclear subs too…… Nuclear secrets leaked in redaction gaffe

April 18, 2011 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

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