Huge and unprecedented problems in Fukushima nuclear cleanup
The scale and complexity of the challenge is unprecedented. No nuclear reactor has ever been fully decommissioned in Japan, let alone the four certain to be dismantled at Fukushima
Nuclear Cleanup Plans Hinge on Unknowns, NYTimes.com, By HIROKO TABUCHI April 14, 2011 “…..he widely divergent outlooks underscore the basic uncertainties clouding any forecast for Fukushima: when cooling stems will be restored and radiation emission halted; how soon workers can access some parts of the plant; and how bad the damage to the reactors, their fuel, and nearby stored fuel turns out to be. Continue reading
The taxpayers’ bill for nuclear wastes continues to rise
Regional plants have a bleak history of underestimating plant decommissioning costs by hundreds of millions, sometimes loading those unanticipated costs onto taxpayers and ratepayers far into the future……
“If a nuclear renaissance were to take place — if it were not just a figment or wishful thinking — we would need another Yucca Mountain every few years,”….”Independent analysis suggests that new nuclear power is more expensive than nearly every other energy source, including solar, wind, biomass and geothermal energy,” …… “Given that reality, I cannot understand why we would continue to pour massive taxpayer subsidies into nuclear power.”.
Taxpayers, utility ratepayers face mounting nuclear bills, Maggie Mulvihill, Shay Totten and Matt Porter, New England Center for Investigative Reporting, April 2, 2011Over three decades, New England’s electricity consumers and nuclear plant owners have poured close to $1 billion into a federal nuclear-waste storage fund, holding up their end of a 1982 deal with the federal government to finance the permanent storage of thousands of tons of spent fuel from the region’s reactors. Continue reading
Even an undamaged nuclear reactor takes decades to decommission
Experts: Scrapping Fukushima plant could take decades, asahi.com（朝日新聞社）2 April 11, “…..Even an undamaged nuclear reactor takes decades to decommission. After the fuel rods are removed, all of the pipes to the core have to be sealed. The inactive reactor then has to be kept airtight for five to 10 years, allowing radiation levels within the core to fall. The core is then dismantled and removed. Finally, the building that houses the core is taken down. In order to stop radiation from leaking into the atmosphere, more contaminated parts of the building have to be removed before parts with low levels of radiation….”asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：Experts: Scrapping Fukushima plant could take decades – English
How to deal with dead nuclear reactors?
“The need for national and international mechanisms for early planning, adequate funding and long-term strategies applies not only to decommissioning, but also to radioactive waste management and spent fuel management.”
Closing old atom plants poses safety challenge: IAEA By Fredrik DahlMar 24, 2011 VIENNA (Reuters) – The closing of aging nuclear reactors is expected to peak in 2020-30, posing a major challenge in terms of safety and the environment, a draft U.N. atomic agency report says. Continue reading
Don’t let Entergy off the hook on nuclear waste cleanup
SAFSTOR “would let Entergy off the hook” for cleanup and waste disposal for years or even decades, wrote the delegation.
“While Entergy may prefer leaving the plant to sit like an abandoned factory because it has not saved the necessary funds to fully decommission the plant, this is not the safest option for Vermonters,” Leahy, Sanders and Welch wrote..
Leahy, Sanders, Welch say no to SAFSTOR, Brattleboro Reformer By BOB AUDETTE / Reformer Staff March 2, 2011 BRATTLEBORO — Vermont’s congressional delegation is urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure it will force Entergy to clean up the site of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant as soon as it closes down. Continue reading
UK’s plan for new nuclear plants add to danger of Sellafield radioactive waste problem
Experts in the field say the ongoing problems at Sellafield are worrying, especially in light of the possibility of waste that will be created from new-build nuclear…The consultation process on how to deal with nuclear waste and new nuclear plants across the country has been clearly lacking,
Sellafield is where we house the toxic legacy of our failed nuclear industry’ Industry experts say the government must deal with legacy waste before committing to new nuclear in the UK Nidhi Prakash, 27 January 2011, guardian.co.uk There are many uncertainties about the renaissance of nuclear power in the UK, particularly surrounding the level of public subsidy, but one thing remains constant: the industry’s waste problem hasn’t gone away. Continue reading
Costly new attempt to make Chernobyl nuclear reactor safer
New shelter over Chernobyl nuclear reactor to be built in 2015, ITAR-TASS, KIEV, December 13 — A new shelter over the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant will be commissioned in 2015, Ukrainian Minister of Emergency Situations Viktor Baloga said during a visit to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with Administrator of the U.N. Development Programme Helen Clark on Sunday……Under the project a new arch-shaped shelter 108 meters high and 150 meters long will be built over the current sarcophagus. The facility will be equipped with modern radiation security control systems. The new Chernobyl shelter will have 100 years of service life… ITAR-TASS
Cleanup of nuclear plant will be delayed, and full cost unknown
according to its decommissioning plan, the company said it would wait as many as 60 years to dismantle the plant ……Exelon has collected more than $651 million to pay for the cleanup of radioactive material. This does not include the cost to dismantle the plant’s hulking superstructure surrounding the reactor…….
Oyster Creek nuclear cleanup plan could take 60 years – pressofAtlanticCity.com, By MICHAEL MILLER, 9 Dec 10, LACEY TOWNSHIP – The Oyster Creek nuclear plant will be around long after it closes in 2019, judging by papers its owner filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Continue reading
Possibly, a partial solution to unsolved problem of dead nuclear reactors
EnergySolutions cannot dispose of all the waste. Clive is licensed only for the least contaminated material. And the spent nuclear fuel is in the same situation as used reactor fuel all over the country: the Energy Department is under contract to take it, but has no place to dispose of it. Until a permanent repository is built at the proposed Yucca Mountain facility in Nevada or another location, the waste will stay at the Zion site in steel and concrete casks designed to last for decades.
Vermont nuclear reactor ready to be dead and buried
Nuclear Reactor in Vermont Needs to be Shut Down, Greenpeace on the Case – Planetsave.com 16 Nov 10, An old nuclear reactor in Vermont, the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, has had a number of problems lately and Greenpeace has taken notice. “ The 38-year-old reactor has a history of contamination issues, including a recent leak of radioactive water,” Becky Striepe of our sister site Ecoscraps writes. Continue reading
Another dead nuclear reactor problem – Hanford
The other cocooned reactors are being left in long-term storage for 75 years to let radioactivity decay to more-manageable levels.
Energy Department wants to remove Hanford reactor | Seattle Times Newspaper,The Associated Press Tri-City Herald.20 Oct 10, TRI-CITIES, Wash. —The Energy Department wants to tear down the K East Reactor at Hanford rather than cocooning it like five other old reactors on the nuclear reservation. Continue reading
Taxpayer cops endlessly rising costs of decommissioning nuclear reactor
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) said that costs changed over time and were constantly being reassessed.
Cost of clearing Suffolk nuclear plant set to soar to nearly £1bn – Norfolk News – EDP24, 4 Oct 10, The estimated cost of clearing the Sizewell A nuclear power station site on the east coast is now a massive £927m, according to new figures.Taxpayers will pick up most of the bill Continue reading
Disposing of dead nuclear reactors – problem not yet solved
Russia to retire uranium-graphite reactors Voice of Russia, Oleg Nekhai , Sep 30, 2010 Russian nuclear scientists intend to shut down uranium-graphite reactors on a mass scale. Continue reading
Radioactive Dounreay fast breeder nuclear reactor site dangerous for over 300 years
Doomsday for Dounreay dome as site is too costly to develop – Herald Scotland David Ross, 17 Sep 2010“……… plans are being finalised to demolish the Dounreay’s nuclear reactor’s iconic golf- ball dome. Continue reading
Vermont Yankee nuclear plant’s ‘decommissioning’ funds inadequate
Auditor: More Oversight on Yankee Shutdown Fund Needed. Report on Fund Doesn’t Reveal Details Of Shortfall , WPTZ Plattsburgh, August 31, 2010 MONTPELIER, Vt. — Perhaps you’ve noticed your 401-k account isn’t what it used to be? Neither are the balances in most of the nation’s nuclear power plant decommissioning funds, money used to pay to decontaminate and cleanup each site. Continue reading
1 This Month
No Nuclear in Cwm Llynfi! Stop the nuclear power station near Maesteg.
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