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US govt part of the system that rubber stamps nuclear plant relicensing

AP IMPACT: NRC and industry rewrite nuke history

By JEFF DONN,  AJC NewsThe Associated Press, 29 June 11 ROCKVILLE, Md. — When commercial nuclear power was getting its start in the 1960s and 1970s, industry and regulators stated unequivocally that reactors were designed only to operate for 40 years. Now they tell another story — insisting that the units were built with no inherent life span, and can run for up to a century, an Associated Press investigation shows.

By rewriting history, plant owners are making it easier to extend the lives of dozens of reactors in a relicensing process that resembles nothing more than an elaborate rubber stamp.

As part of a yearlong investigation of aging issues at the nation’s nuclear power plants, the AP found that the relicensing process often lacks fully independent safety reviews. Records show that paperwork of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sometimes matches word-for-word the language used in a plant operator’s application.

Also, the relicensing process relies heavily on such paperwork, with very little onsite inspection and verification.

And under relicensing rules, tighter standards are not required to compensate for decades of wear and tear.

So far, 66 of 104 reactors have been granted license renewals. Most of the 20-year extensions have been granted with scant public attention. And the NRC has yet to reject a single application to extend an original license. The process has been so routine that many in the industry are already planning for additional license extensions, which could push the plants to operate for 80 years, and then 100………………………………NUCLEAR LIFE RENEWED

Relicensing is a lucrative deal for operators. By the end of their original licenses, reactors are largely paid for. When they’re operating, they’re producing profits. They generate a fifth of the country’s electricity.

…..INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT AS PARTNERS

Despite the aging problems, relicensing rules prohibits any overall safety review of the entire operation. More conservative safety margins are not required in anticipation of higher failure rates in old plants, regulators acknowledge.

The approach has turned relicensing reviews into routine approvals……..

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/ap-impact-nrc-and-990073.html

June 28, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Claims that USA govt covering up crisis at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant

A shocking report prepared by Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAAE) on information provided to them by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that the Obama regime has ordered a “total and complete” news blackout relating to any information regarding the near catastrophic meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant located in Nebraska.

US Orders News Blackout Over Crippled Nebraska Nuclear Plant, Salem-News.com,18 June 11 Report notes the “cover-up” of this nuclear disaster by President Obama is based on his “fantasy” of creating so-called green jobs which he (strangely) includes nuclear power into. …….they built this nuclear power plant in the flood plane of the Missouri River, for God’s sake! It reminds us that there are questions over whether nuclear power developers have souls and they don’t even bother making these places on safe high ground. Continue reading →

June 19, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | 1 Comment

The smell of uranium corruption in Virginia lawmakers’ acceptance of extravagant travel gifts

The pitch, in a word, stinks. If state legislators want to educate themselves about uranium mining, that’s commendable. But signing up for $10,000 or more in free travel expenses, although allowable under Virginia law, raises big questions about their integrity…...

A junket powered by uranium, Virginia Uranium Inc., a tiny Chatham-based firm that wants to mine uranium in south central Virginia near Gretna, is flying more than a dozen state legislators to France to drum up momentum to end the state’s ban on uranium mining in next year’s General Assembly.Washington Post 17 June 11By  

The lobbying effort includes all-expenses paid and three days off in Paris so the legislators can visit a closed uranium mine in the city of Bessines in western France, where uranium was extracted for a half a century until the late 1990s. Continue reading →

June 19, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Japan’s’:Nuclear Power Village a cosy closed community of industrialists and govt officials

The nuclear power village is the nickname for a tight circle of government entities, utilities, manufacturers and others involved in the promotion of nuclear power who believe nuclear plants are safe and reject out of hand any opposing views….

But destroying the nuclear village is no easy task. The community involves heavy back-scratching and complex personnel relationships.

NUCLEAR CRISIS: HOW IT HAPPENED / ‘Nuclear power village’ a cozy, closed community, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 16 June 11 Three months have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake triggered a nuclear crisis that shows little sign of ending anytime soon. Continue reading →

June 16, 2011 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Deception and mistrust crippled Japan’s response to Fukushima disaster

many of the residents around the plant who evacuated went north, on the assumption that winds blew south during winter in that area. That took them directly into the radioactive plume, he said — exposing them to the very radiation that they were fleeing….

In Nuclear Crisis, Crippling Mistrust NYT, By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER, June 12, 2011 “…..it became clear that a prime minister who had built his career on suspicion of the collusive ties between Japan’s industry and bureaucracy was acting nearly in the dark. He had received a confusing risk analysis from the chief nuclear regulator, a fervently pro-nuclear academic whom aides said Mr. Kan did not trust. He was also wary of the company that operated the plant, given its history of trying to cover up troubles… Continue reading →

June 14, 2011 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Murky background to plan for nuclear plant in Belarus

Rep. Dan Burton: 25 Years After Chernobyl, Russia and Belarus Still Don’t Get It, HUFFINGTON POST, 13 June 11“…..a new nuclear power plant set for construction this fall on former Soviet territory raises alarm at how little has been learned.What set Chernobyl apart from Fukushima more than anything else was the way the closed Soviet regime responded to the disaster, remaining in denial for weeks that a catastrophe was unfolding. The same could occur in Belarus, which is currently ruled by an autocratic leader who falsified his own reelection last December. Belarus and Russia’s mishandling of the proposal to build a reactor near Astraviec, a town in western Belarus, is a warning sign the West should not ignore. Again, we see the potential lack of transparency, international coordination, and communication……..
Rep. Dan Burton: 25 Years After Chernobyl, Russia and Belarus Still Don’t Get It

June 14, 2011 Posted by | Belarus, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

UN reports on Syria’s nuclear program

U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Presses Case Against Syria, NYT, By  June 9, 2011 UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations nuclear watchdog voted Thursday to report Syria to the Security Council, citing Syria’s construction of a covert nuclear reactor and its failure to cooperate with investigators, diplomats said……Citing a lack of confidence that Syria’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and pointing to a history of concealment by Damascus, the I.A.E.A. resolution says that the destroyed Dair Alzour site was “very likely a nuclear reactor and should have been declared by Syria.”

The 15-member Security Council has the power to rebuke Syria by urging it to cooperate with the I.A.E.A. and imposing sanctions against the country, as it has done in the case ofIran’s nuclear program. But Russia and China, two veto-wielding members of the Security Council, voted against the resolution, underlining international divisions over how to approach Damascus and signaling that punitive measures against the Syrian government were unlikely.

Syria has said the Dair Alzour site was a non-nuclear facility and has denied having a secret nuclear program. It has urged the I.A.E.A. to focus on Israel and allegations about its own covert nuclear activities…..http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/world/middleeast/10nations.html

June 10, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Syria | Leave a comment

A big conflict of interest in the International Atomic Energy Agency

…it controls research on health issues surrounding radiation that should then feed into its safety standards.

.. it promotes nuclear power. According to the statutes of the agency, the objective of the IAEA is to ‘accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy’.

Can you begin to see the conflicts of interest here? An organisation charged with promoting nuclear power around the world also controls nuclear safety and health standards. It’s like expecting a tobacco company to prevent lung cancer.

No confidence in the International Atomic Energy Agency, Greenpeace International  by Justin – June 3, 2011 The IAEA was at Fukushima to assess the situation at the disaster site in its role as the global nuclear watchdog and regulator. The problem is that that’s not the organisations only role. The IAEA is a four-headed beast: Continue reading →

June 4, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Japanese actor punished for his anti nuclear stance

“I received an email from my manager today. ‘Your planned role in a July 8 drama has gone away because of your statements regarding nuclear power plants.’”…

It’s Not Easy Being Antinuclear – Japan Real Time – WSJ* May 30, 2011, By Yoree Koh It’s a difficult time to trumpet the virtues of nuclear energy in Japan, but it appears naysayers are finding that speaking out can have negative consequences. Continue reading →

May 31, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, Japan | Leave a comment

Japanese buying Geiger counters, don’t trust govt information on radiation

Demand for personal Geiger counters soars in Japan, Reuters, By Chiaki Kawase, TOKYO  May 25, 2011  – With a nuclear plant just 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo still leaking radiation, demand for personal Geiger counters has skyrocketed in the Japanese capital and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the demand…..With many people unsure of who to trust for their information, some buy Geiger counters to check for themselves……

plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) confirmed on Tuesday that the fuel rods at three reactors at the plant had melted down. Radioactive traces exceeding national safety standards have been found in various foods grown in areas around the plant as well as in tap water in places as far away as Tokyo, keeping residents on edge.

“I don’t think that the information you got are the real information in Japan. That’s the problem,” said restaurant chef Bruno Menard, noting that a French company he had checked with that morning for radiation levels had said levels were very high around Fukushima.

“Especially when it’s raining we have to be concerned.”….Demand for personal Geiger counters soars in Japan | Reuters

May 26, 2011 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

France’s nuclear weapons program secretly was helped by USA

US secretly helped French nuclear program: documents, Google News By Shaun Tandon (AFP) – 26 May 11, WASHINGTON — The United States secretly helped France develop advanced nuclear weapons in the 1970s as part of a bid by the Nixon administration to sow divisions in Europe, declassified US documents showed. Continue reading →

May 26, 2011 Posted by | history, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Broadening spying on Julian Assange – Australian govt introduces new law

Last week the government introduced legislation to define ASIO’s role more broadly to include collection of intelligence ”about the capabilities, intentions or activities of people or organisations outside Australia.”..

ASIO eye on WikiLeaks,The Age 23 May 11, “………declassified official briefings do not support Ms Gillard’s public assertion that Assange broke Australian law by publishing leaked US government secrets. Continue reading →

May 23, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, civil liberties | Leave a comment

Texas environmental agency covered up radiation level in drinking water

Alpha radiation is emitted from radionuclides such as uranium and radium. While health scientists have said it poses little danger if someone is externally exposed to it, the experts maintain that ingesting even the smallest amount of the particles can cause damage to DNA, and in rare cases, cause cancer.

AUDIO  http://www.khou.com/home/-Texas-politicians-knew-agency-hid-the-amount-of-radiation-in-drinking-water-122205439.html  Texas politicians knew agency hid the amount of radiation in drinking water by Mark Greenblatt / KHOU 11 News May 19, 2011  HOUSTON— Newly-released e-mailsfrom the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality show the agency’s top commissioners directed staff to continue lowering radiation test results, in defiance of federal EPA rules. The e-mails and documents, released under order from the Texas Attorney General to KHOU-TV, also show the agency was attempting to help water systems get out of formally violating federal limits for radiation in drinking water. Without a formal violation, the water systems did not have to inform their residents of the increased health risk. Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Criminal cover up of workers’ radiation exposures at Piketon former nuclear plant

One of the first signs of trouble, Lawson said, was an irregularity with the badge worn by Walburn and other employees that detected and record radiation exposure.

“When I went to the health physics department and asked about it, they said, ‘We were told that he might sue, and they’re trying to make it easier to understand by saying he got a zero dose.'”

Lawson said Walburn’s worker’s compensation claims were denied in part because of altered records. Court records obtained by 10TV News detailed a pattern of changing dose level records of workers.

Ex EmployeesAllege crimes at Former Piketon Nuclear Materials Plant  May 19, 2011  WBNS-10TV , PIKETON, Ohio — The future of a site where nuclear materials were once developed was being debated on Thursday, as former employees came forward with allegations of criminal conduct.

For nearly 60 years, the Pike County plant enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons, 10TV’s Glenn McEntyre reported. Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Radioactive pollution dumping in Malaysia, by Australian company Lynas

Fuziah Salleh is critical of what she says are lower environmental standards in Malaysia and double standards from Lynas…SINGH: If it’s reasonably that good, why don’t they do the processing within Australia, why send it to Malaysia? it is a classic example of a polluting industry being exported to a developing country………

Demonstrators are planning to rally outside the Australian Embassy in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpor on Friday. Radio Australia, 19 May 11,  They’ll be protesting against the Australian mining company Lynas and its plans to process rare earths in Pahang state. Local communities and environmental groups have raised concerns over the management of radioactive waste. They say the waste product thorium will affect fishing, tourism and public health .. while the Malaysian government has also asked for more information.

Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | ASIA, AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

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