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IAEA warning after explosions heard near Khmelnitsky nuclear power stations

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi warns that nearby explosions which shattered windows at Ukraine’s Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant “show just how close it was – and underlines the extremely precarious nuclear safety situation … which will continue as long as this tragic war goes on”.

WNN 27 Oct 23

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts stationed at the plant in western Ukraine said air raid sirens sounded at 01:26 local time on Wednesday followed by two loud explosions which they were later told were two drones being shot down 5 kilometres and 20 kilometres from the site.

Although the site was not hit or have its operations affected, the IAEA reported that “shockwaves damaged the windows of several buildings at the site, including the passageway to the reactor buildings, an integrated auxiliary building, a special equipment building, the training centre, as well as other facilities, the plant said. The seismic monitoring stations installed in the vicinity of Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant also recorded the seismic impacts of the blasts”………

Grossi said: “Next time, we may not be so fortunate. Hitting a nuclear power plant must be avoided at all costs.”

Khmelnitsky’s first reactor was connected to the grid in 1987, but work on three other reactors was halted in 1990. Work on the second reactor restarted and it was connected to the grid in 2004 but units 3 and 4 remain uncompleted.

The primary focus of safety concerns for the IAEA since the outbreak of the war has been on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant which has been under Russian military control since early March 2022. It is located on the frontline between the forces, and although it has not been reported to have been hit by shelling in recent months, military activity nearby has continued. In its update on the situation at the weekend, the IAEA said its experts at the site “have continued to hear explosions almost every day and they have also heard occasional machine gun fire”. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/IAEA-warning-after-explosions-heard-near-Khmelnits #nuclear #antinuclear #NoNukes #radiation

October 28, 2023 Posted by | safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Nuclear regulator raps EDF over cyber compliance

The Office for Nuclear Regulation says EDF has come up short on needed measures to improve cyber security standards at several critical UK nuclear facilities

France-headquartered energy giant EDF has been singled out by the UK’s
Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and placed under significantly enhanced
regulatory attention for cyber security – the highest possible level of
scrutiny – after the critical national infrastructure (CNI) operator failed
to comply with previously made commitments to enhance its cyber security
posture.

Computer Weekly 19th Oct 2023

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366556335/Nuclear-regulator-raps-EDF-over-cyber-compliance #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes

October 24, 2023 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Risk of total shutdown of Eskom’s Koeberg nuclear power station continues to increase

The risk of both nuclear reactors at Eskom’s Koeberg nuclear power station in Cape Town being shut down simultaneously for life extension continues to increase…………………………………… (Subscribers only)  https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-10-20-koeberg-nuclear-power-station-rising-risk-of-total-shutdown/ #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes

October 21, 2023 Posted by | safety, South Africa | Leave a comment

Crackdown on nuclear firm after cyber security ‘shortfalls’

“Cyber attacks threaten the security of nuclear facilities by compromising command and control systems and damaging safety, security and emergency responses.”

“Rapidly spreading computer viruses and worms can infect instrument systems and corrupt files.

The Ferret Rob Edwards, October 18, 2023

A multinational nuclear power company has been hit by an official crackdown because of cyber security failures that critics warned were a “very real and present danger”.

Oversight of EDF Energy by the UK Government’s safety watchdog, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, has been “significantly enhanced” to combat “shortfalls” in defences against digital attacks. This means more inspections and increased scrutiny of EDF’s cyber security.

EDF is a French government company that runs one nuclear power station in Scotland, at Torness in East Lothian, and four in England. It is also building a new nuclear station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

Campaigners described EDF’s failure to properly protect its nuclear operations from “potentially dangerous cyber attacks” as “incomprehensible”. Nuclear plants were “vulnerable” to computer viruses that could threaten safety, they said……….

No details of EDF’s cyber security failings have been released for fear of helping would-be hackers. Cyber attacks are on the increase, with many organisations – such as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency – severely impacted.

The Times reported in 2017 that insecure passwords used by EDF nuclear managers had been found in two lists of stolen credentials traded on Russian hacking sites. According to The Telegraph in 2019, UK government intelligence experts had been called in after a cyber attack on an unnamed nuclear power company, suspected to be EDF.

The Ferret revealed in March 2023 that the police force tasked with guarding UK nuclear plants reported 37 security breaches in 2021-22, the highest for eight years. In August we reported that the Ministry of Defence’s nuclear managers had recorded 113 “security concerns” since 2017-18………………………………………………..

Nuclear plants ‘vulnerable’ to cyber attack

Dr Paul Dorfman, a nuclear critic and visiting fellow at the science policy research unit in the University of Sussex, highlighted concerns expressed by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the growing threats posed by cyber attacks.

Nuclear power plants are “vulnerable,” Dorfman said. “Cyber attacks threaten the security of nuclear facilities by compromising command and control systems and damaging safety, security and emergency responses.”

He added: “Rapidly spreading computer viruses and worms can infect instrument systems and corrupt files. EDF’s persisting failure to prepare for the very real and present danger of cyber attack on nuclear facilities is, quite simply, incomprehensible.”

Pete Roche, a consultant and anti-nuclear campaigner based in Edinburgh, pointed out that the Torness nuclear station was due to keep operating until 2028 despite cracks spreading in its graphite core.

“We need an operating company which can give meticulous attention to detail,” he said. “These revelations about cyber security seem to indicate that EDF is not capable of doing that.” …………………………………………………………………more https://theferret.scot/cyber-security-nuclear-security-crackdown/ #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes

October 19, 2023 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

IAEA: Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to move second reactor into hot shutdown

Y! News, Abbey Fenbert, Sat, October 14, 2023

The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) intends to transition a second reactor into hot shutdown, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on Oct. 13.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said authorities at the plant informed the agency they were beginning to move reactor 5 from cold to hot shutdown in order to provide warm water and heating for Enerhodar ahead of the winter season.

Previously, only one unit, reactor 4, was in hot shutdown mode. The IAEA has said that for safety purposes, all units at the nuclear plant should be kept in cold shutdown.

The agency has strongly recommended that the ZNPP find an external source of steam generation. The IAEA experts were told that the plant is looking into purchasing an external steam generator, but that “installation of this equipment is not expected until the first part of 2024, possibly not until after the end of the heating season.”

Occupying authorities at the plant did not tell IAEA inspectors how long unit 5 would remain in hot shutdown. They also said there were no plans to transfer addition units from cold to hot shutdown……………………..  https://news.yahoo.com/iaea-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-move-010453561.html #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 17, 2023 Posted by | safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

SOS – The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power’s Legacy.

A crucial warning
that nuclear power plants’ intensely radioactive waste is putting
communities at grave risk. SOS is an urgent call to action. Will we rally
to implement this lifeline in time?

Filmed over 12 years, this film
dramatically chronicles how Southern California residents came together to
force the shutdown of an aging nuclear power plant only to be confronted by
an alarming reality: tons of nuclear waste left near a popular beach, only
100 feet from the rising sea, that — with radioactivity lasting millions
of years—menaces present and future generations. Film screening on 16th
Oct.

Entertainment Oxygen (accessed) 15th Oct 2023

https://app.entertainmentoxygen.com/feed/e42963ea-7477-4952-a073-31b60e4e280d #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 17, 2023 Posted by | media, safety, USA | Leave a comment

Question from Jamaica: are we being the world’s guinea pig for SMR nuclear power?

Oct 15, 2023 Dennis A Minott, PhD, is a physicist and energy specialist. https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/are-we-being-the-worlds-guinea-pig-for-smr-nuclear-power/

Hard Question #1:

If a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) in the Caribbean goes wrong, who can physically, or by financial means, stop it before it causes widespread harm in our relatively small archipelagic crescent of geographical space?

This question is hard because it forces us to confront the reality of nuclear incidents and accidents, which can be catastrophic and irreversible. Even if we or the owner can summarily replace the top managers of an SMR plant with more “experienced experts”, it may not be enough or in time to avert a disaster. SMRs are a new and unproven technology, and there is no guarantee that they will be safe or that the new hires know anything appropriate to do since the technology would be absolutely novel to them.

How do you fix something like a getaway hazardous process that you do not quite understand when, even at your quickest and brightest, you have no time to learn because “things” are so immediate?

In the event of a nuclear accident the consequences could be devastating for the Caribbean. The islands are densely populated and rely heavily on tourism, which would be severely disrupted by even a hint of a nuclear disaster. The region is also certainly vulnerable to earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters, which could make it difficult to contain a nuclear accident. Jamaican and all Caribbean people deserve a serious and honest assessment of the risks and benefits of SMRs. They need to know that if something goes wrong, there may be no way to stop it.

Hard Question #2: How can we ensure that SMRs are safely designed, built, and operated in the Caribbean?

Hard Question #3: What are the long-term risks of nuclear waste disposal in the region?

Hard Question #4: What are the economic and social costs of nuclear accidents?

Hard Question #5: Are there better proven and practically risk-free green alternatives to SMRs for meeting the Caribbean’s energy needs?

Hard Question #6: Can any Caribbean terrorist gang/insurgents or group of enemy combatants gain the capacity to hold citizens or any governing authority to ransom by occupying or targeting an SMR from 200 Ukraine-like kilometres?

These are just six of the hard questions that need to be answered before any decision is made about whether to deploy SMRs in the Caribbean.

As I recall, Jamaica is still within the Caribbean where even a little 5.0-magnitude shaker near Hope Bay vibrated The Turks & Caicos, Cuba, Florida, and Hispaniola. Within exactly three minutes of 7:31 pm that Thursday, one of my friends in America was calling to know if I was OK.

I hate to break it this way: My friend understands geophysics. My daughter is a Yale teaching fellow geophysics specialist, and my late wife was an ODPEM senior director who understood these matters very well as she taught the stuff at university level for many years, up to months before she died of cancer. As a physicist who communicates with my tribe I would be dishonest if I pretended ignorance of the true reason for my friend’s call. Here it is:

The Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone is a major fault system that extends through Haiti and the Dominican Republic into Jamaica. It is a strike-slip fault where the motion is primarily horizontal, with the Caribbean plate moving eastward relative to the Gonâve microplate. This fault has been associated with significant earthquakes in the past, including the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake which laid claim to 0.25 million human lives in minutes.

Both Jamaica and Haiti are located in seismically active regions, and understanding the fault lines and tectonic activity in these areas is crucial for assessing and mitigating seismic risks to even the best-designed SMR touted by our wealthiest citizens who know money movements but, respectfully, not the deadly movements of neighbourhood tectonic plates. My learned friend in America does, and called me immediately.

Flow’s cables remained unbroken — one more time. #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 16, 2023 Posted by | OCEANIA, safety | Leave a comment

South Carolina nuclear plant gets warning over another cracked emergency fuel pipe

JENKINSVILLE, S.C. (AP) 10 Oct 23— Federal officials have issued a warning about a substantial safety violation at a South Carolina nuclear plant after cracks were discovered again in a backup emergency fuel line.

Small cracks have been found a half-dozen times in the past 20 years in pipes that carry fuel to emergency generators that provide cooling water for a reactor if electricity fails at the V.C. Summer plant near Columbia, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The agency issued what it calls a preliminary “yellow” warning to plant owner Dominion Energy last week.

It is the second most serious category and only seven similar warnings have been issued across the country since 2009, nuclear power expert David Lochbaum told The State newspaper after reviewing records from federal regulators.

A crack first appeared on a diesel fuel pipe in 2003, and similar pipes have had other cracks since then.

During a 24-hour test of the system in November, a small diesel fuel leak grew larger, according to NRC records.

The agency issued the preliminary yellow warning because of the repeated problems………………….

Dominion has recently requested to renew the license for the nuclear plant for an additional 40 years.

Longtime nuclear safety advocate Tom Clements told the newspaper the pipe problems should mean a lot more scrutiny by regulators.

“This incident serves as a wake-up call to fully analyze all such systems prior to a license-renewal determination,’’ Clements said in an email.  https://apnews.com/article/nuclear-plant-south-carolina-dominion-energy-b71d1e3b598b84623259205997602aaf #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 13, 2023 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Zelensky pledged not to directly attack nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia, says IAEA chief

“a number of fragile points apart from the reactors themselves”, including “the spent fuel area which is not fortified” as well as other storage areas holding fresh nuclear fuel.

Rafael Grossi says president personally assured him Ukraine ‘will not directly bomb or shell’ plant in counteroffensive

Dan Sabbagh, Guardian, 11 Oct 23

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says Volodymyr Zelenskiy has promised him that Ukraine will not attack Europe’s biggest nuclear plant as part of its counteroffensive against Russia.

In an interview with the Guardian, the nuclear watchdog chief said he was most concerned about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant becoming engulfed in fighting between the two sides, but insisted he had obtained a commitment from the Ukrainian president.

“President Zelenskiy has personally assured me that they will not directly bomb or shell it,” Grossi said, although he added that Zelenskiy had told him “all other options are on the table” in terms of taking it back.

That means Ukraine would comply with the first of the five new nuclear safety principles – “do not attack a nuclear power plant” – initially outlined by Grossi at the UN security council at the end of May to avert “a catastrophic accident”.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station was captured by Russia in March 2022, the first time any reactor has been captured in war, prompting fears of a fresh incident in the same country where an explosion at Chornobyl spread radioactivity across Europe in 1986.

Grossi said the danger was that “anything can happen at any time” given the prevailing military situation. “I’m often asked, is [the power station] safe now? No. It’s in the middle of a war zone with a counteroffensive,” he said.

He said he believed there “were two main problems”, the most significant of which was “a direct attack, hit” on one of the less secure areas of the plant, while the secondary concern was the maintenance of water cooling, necessary even as the six reactors are in shutdown……….

Grossi said he was particularly concerned by “a number of fragile points apart from the reactors themselves”, including “the spent fuel area which is not fortified” as well as other storage areas holding fresh nuclear fuel.

“The fresh fuel halls, let me remind you, were hit in August 2022,” he added, describing the aftermath of an attack that left holes visible to satellite imagery on the roof of the power station’s key facility.

A few days later, Grossi crossed the frontlines to pay one of three personal visits since the start of the war to the nuclear plant, where he said he saw the damage caused by the attack where “a few metres down, you have the racks containing the fresh fuel”.

Though the damage was likely to have come after a Ukrainian attack, Grossi said he would not say who was responsible. “I don’t have a forensic capacity [to determine who was responsible],” he said. “The Russians would certainly say that [the Ukrainians did it].”

IAEA monitors are permanently based at the nuclear power plant, although last week Greenpeace said their number – at four – was too small and they were unable to provide effective assurances about safety because they had to give a week’s notice of their inspection requests…………..

Russia’s Rosatom nuclear agency has taken over the management of the plant, but has had to rely on a fraction of the prewar Ukrainian staff to keep it operational. Staffing levels plunged from 12,000 before the war to, Grossi said, about 2,000 today, although he added it was “growing again” with more native Russians coming onsite.

Concerns about maintaining water cooling increased sharply after the Nova Kakhovka dam downstream was blown in June, draining the Dnipro reservoir around the plant and leaving its reserve cooling water pond exposed…………………….

Grossi said he regretted how the plant had been used in military brinkmanship between the two sides. “We were not expecting a war with these kind of characteristics,” he said………… https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/10/zelenskiy-promises-not-to-attack-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-says-iaea-chief #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 12, 2023 Posted by | safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Regulators reject request to shutter nuclear reactor

The Journal Record, By: Associated Press//October 9, 2023

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Federal regulators have rejected a request from two environmental groups to immediately shut down one of two reactors at California’s last nuclear power plant.

Friends of the Earth and Mothers for Peace said in a petition filed last month with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that long-postponed tests needed to be conducted on critical machinery at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, located midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. They argued the equipment could fail and cause a catastrophe.

In an order dated Tuesday, the NRC took no action on the request to immediately shut down the Unit 1 reactor and instead asked agency staff to review it.

……………. According to the groups, the last inspections on the vessel took place between 2003 and 2005. The utility postponed further testing in favor of using results from similar reactors to justify continued operations, they said.

The commission found there was no justification for a hearing.

The groups said in a statement that the decision showed “a complete lack of concern for the safety and security of the people living near” the plant, which started operating in the mid-1980s……………..

The petition marked the latest development in a long fight over the operation and safety of the seaside plant, which sits on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. In August, a state judge rejected a lawsuit filed by Friends of the Earth that sought to block PG&E from seeking to extend the operating life of the plant.

PG&E agreed in 2016 to shutter the plant by 2025, but at the direction of the state changed course and now intends to seek a longer operating run for the twin reactors. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who once was a leading voice to close the plant, said last year that Diablo Canyon’s power is needed beyond 2025 to ward off possible blackouts as California transitions to solar and other renewable energy sources.  https://journalrecord.com/2023/10/09/regulators-reject-request-to-shutter-nuclear-reactor/

October 11, 2023 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Slovenian nuclear plant to stay closed until leak fixed.

Reuters, Tue, October 10, 2023 

SARAJEVO, – Expert teams at Slovenia’s only nuclear power plant Krsko (NEK), jointly owned by Slovenia and Croatia, have narrowed down the location of the leak which led to the plant’s shut down last week, the NEK said on Monday.

The leak occurred on the connection system of the primary circuit, NEK said on its web page, adding it will analyse the cause and draw up a plan to fix it.

“All this will require more time, probably several weeks; however, it is currently too early to assess the forecast for the power plant’s return to operation,” the company said.

Since Friday, the plant had been first placed under safe state of so-called hot-standby and then under so-called cold shutdown, which allowed the teams to determine the precise location of the leak that had been found in the primary system within the containment building, the company said…………………

NEK was built in cooperation with U.S. company Westinghouse Electric Corporation and started operating in 1982. In 2016 Slovenia and Croatia agreed to prolong its lifespan by 20 years until 2043. (Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Louise Heavens) https://finance.yahoo.com/news/slovenian-nuclear-plant-stay-closed-130321224.html #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes

October 11, 2023 Posted by | EUROPE, safety | Leave a comment

Loud Explosion Heard In Pakistan’s Dera Ghazi Khan City With Nuclear Facility; Officials Say ‘Sonic Boom’

The loud thud in the vicinity of Dera Ghazi Khan town in southern Punjab caused panic and soon it started trending on social media.

BQ Prime 6 Oct 23

Pakistan authorities on Friday said that the sound of a loud explosion in Punjab province could be due to a sonic boom as there was no information of a bombing incident or an act of sabotage. The loud thud in the vicinity of Dera Ghazi Khan town in southern Punjab caused panic and soon it started trending on social media. Videos circulating on X showed people vacating the area even as rescue teams and police personnel were moving around.

Pakistan’s nuclear research site is in the neighbourhood…………………….

Read more at: https://www.bqprime.com/politics/loud-explosion-heard-in-pakistans-dera-ghazi-khan-city-with-nuclear-facility-officials-say-sonic-boom

October 10, 2023 Posted by | incidents, Pakistan | Leave a comment

Residents closest to Dounreay and Vulcan to be excluded from the nuclear emergency planning zone.

By Iain Grant, 06 October 2023    https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/nearby-homes-to-be-outside-of-dounreay-emergency-zone-for-fi-328741/ #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

Residents closest to Dounreay and Vulcan are for the first time to be excluded from the emergency planning zone around the redundant nuclear sites.

It is being shrunk to reflect the perceived reduction in risk to the public presented by the adjoining plants.

The zone would be the focus of the response to what is considered a worst-case scenario involving a radiation release.

Up until the plug was pulled on Dounreay’s fast reactor programme in the mid-1990s, its zone extended to five kilometres. The equivalent at Vulcan was two kilometres.

Dounreay’s limit was subsequently cut to 1.5km and reduced further in 2020 when a new linked zone taking in both sites was set at 700 metres.

October 10, 2023 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Repeated malfunctions reveal safety issues in Fukushima discharge

CGTN 6 Oct 23 #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

Japan started the second discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, despite strong opposition from local fishermen as well as neighboring and Pacific island countries.

The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said it plans to carry out the release over 17 days to discharge 7,800 tons of the radioactive wastewater, about the same amount as the first discharge which ended on September 11.

Currently, more than 1.3 million tons of nuclear-contaminated wastewater has been accumulated in storage tanks at Fukushima.

The company’s key facility for nuclear-contaminated water treatment, the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), is a multi-filter system that can remove radioactive materials through a series of chemical reactions. The international community has had doubts about the safety, effectiveness and sustainability of the system, due to its treatment capacity and incidents of malfunction.  

When the amount of nuclear-contaminated water is too large, the chances to replace the filters are limited and the performance of the ALPS is significantly degraded, said Ryota Koyama, a professor at Fukushima University in Japan.

“If nuclear-contaminated water is discharged, I think there must be a problem. If the Japanese government or the TEPCO really wants to discharge the contaminated water into the sea, they need to explain in more detail,” Koyama told China Media Group (CMG) in an interview……………………………..

The ALPS has failed to remove isotopes adequately, with the adsorbents used to remove radioactive isotopes being replaced less often than they were supposed to be. As a result, 70 percent of the water in the storage tanks still contains non-tritium radionuclides at a concentration that exceeds the regulatory standards applicable for discharge into the environment.

Since its trial operation in 2013, the ALPS has frequently experienced malfunctions. Just before the first discharge in August, TEPCO found leaks in a hose used to transfer nuclear-contaminated water, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK………………..

In June, the government of Republic of Korea said that there have been eight confirmed cases of malfunction with the ALPS between 2013 and 2022, which concerned corrosion of facilities and issues with filters, after its experts conducted an on-site inspection, said the country’s public broadcaster KBS.

According to previous reports, TEPCO found that there were at least 10 breakages on the ALPS’ filters used to absorb nuclides in August 2021. In the process of replacing the broken filters, the company discovered that 24 filters were damaged. A month later, TEPCO announced that five more filters in the ALPS were found to have been damaged, and radioactive contamination had been detected near some of the filters.

Hikaru Amano, senior researcher of the Nuclear Science Research Institute, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, told CMG that another problem with the ALPS is that there is little room to store used filters.

Amid concerns of Japan’s discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater, the Republic of Korea (ROK) plans to raise the number of testing spots to nearly 250 next year, increasing from the 75 coastal locations where emergency radiation tests were conducted about a month ahead of Japan’s first release in August, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported……………  https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-10-06/Repeated-malfunctions-reveal-safety-issues-in-Fukushima-discharge-1nFOJHDPdgQ/index.html

October 9, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, safety | Leave a comment

NRC Commissioners Fail to Take Action on Critical Safety Issue at Diablo Canyon

San Luis Obispo, CA, October 4, 2023  https://mothersforpeace.org/nrc-commissioners-fail-to-take-action-on-critical-safety-issue-at-diablo-canyon/?fbclid=IwAR1A_L1NhvPiZW4tMjfCTfu-4Ov7duSTtEOyamayx97DjaRb4fGQ7UGVjZI #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

— San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (MFP) and Friends of the Earth (FoE) today deplored a decision of the Commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for demonstrating a complete lack of concern for the safety and security of the people living near the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. 

Disregarding expert evidence presented by MFP and FoE that the Diablo Canyon Unit 1 pressure vessel is at risk of dangerous embrittlement due to decades of neglect by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) and lax oversight by the NRC technical staff, the Commissioners refused to grant the groups’ hearing request or to order the immediate shutdown of the reactor for comprehensive testing of the reactor vessel’s condition.  

Instead, the Commissioners bucked the groups’ shutdown request back to the agency’s technical staff to consider whether to take enforcement action against PG&E. 

“We are appalled that the Commissioners are entrusting this important safety review to the same agency staff who for fifteen years has given PG&E repeated extensions of deadlines for essential tests and inspections,” said Diane Curran, attorney for MFP. Curran noted that the groups had intentionally petitioned the Commissioners, as the highest officers of the NRC, to exercise their legal responsibility for oversight of the technical staff.  

Nevertheless, the groups vowed to persevere. Hallie Templeton, Legal Director for FoE, said, “We plan to continue our rigorous watchdogging of PG&E and the NRC.” She added, “The Commissioners’ decision has raised a red flag to all of us. Anyone, including California politicians, who thinks the safety of Diablo Canyon can be entrusted to the federal government unquestioningly has just received a big wakeup call.” 

Linda Seeley, spokesperson for MFP, renewed the group’s call to the State of California to “go back to the original plan to close Diablo Canyon when it reaches its 40-year operating license limit in 2024 (Unit 1) and 2025 (Unit 2). Enough is enough.”  

October 8, 2023 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

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