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U.S. Supreme Court considers forcing changes to reduce Savannah nuclear sites leaking into the river.

The State 18th April 2018 ,Four decades after radiation leaked from a landfill for nuclear waste near
Barnwell, unsafe levels of radioactive pollution continue to contaminate
groundwater near the site, as well as a creek that flows toward the
Savannah River. Now, after 13 years of legal battles between the landfill’s
operator and environmentalists, the S.C. Supreme Court is considering
whether to force changes that would make the site less likely to leak
radioactive contaminants, landfill critics say. http://www.thestate.com/latest-news/article209093444.html

April 20, 2018 Posted by | legal, USA | Leave a comment

America’s Nuclear Posture Reviews (NPR) – inconsistencies, limitations, and questions unanswered

What is US nuclear policy, exactly? Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Adam Mount, Abigail Stowe-Thurston 19 Apr 18,  The US Nuclear Posture Reviews (NPR) are the nation’s primary statements of nuclear weapons policy, and each has been debated closely. However, the 2018 NPR is unusual in that it has been subject not only to debate about the rectitude of its policies, but also about what those policies actually are. Even as press accountsclaim that the review provides for significant, even alarming changes to US policy, four notable experts, writing in Real Clear Defense, recently assured us that the document is “clearly in the mainstream of U.S. nuclear policy.” These widely divergent accounts are not merely a function of incomplete information or expertise, but also due to the fact that statements by the NPR authors and other senior defense officials reveal inconsistencies on several subjects—including the circumstances in which the US would consider using nuclear weapons, the capability of existing forces, and the necessity and mission of two proposed nuclear options.
………there remain serious questions about the administration’s commitment to basic tenets of US nuclear weapons policy. For example, does the administration accept mutual vulnerability with Russia? Does it understand strategic stability as a product of a strategic relationship—one the United States could threaten with its actions—or simply as the ability to deter adversaries? If the United States seeks superiority over other nuclear powers, as the president has suggested, it could influence the answers to those questions and could potentially represent a revolutionary shift in US nuclear policy.A survey of the statements of senior officials and associated authors of the NPR reveal significant inconsistencies on central elements of US policy—including on the definition of non-nuclear strategic attacks, the capability of existing forces, and the necessity and mission of the newly proposed systems……….

The question of whether the United States would respond to a major cyberattack with nuclear weapons has been the subject of considerable concern and debate. In January, days after the draft NPR was leaked, the New York Times cited three anonymous current and former senior government officials confirming that a large cyberattack against the United States could elicit a nuclear response.

The leaked draft of the review stated, “…the President will have an expanding range of limited and graduated options to credibly deter Russian nuclear and non-nuclear strategic attacks, which could now include attacks against U.S. [Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications], in space and cyber space.” Following significant public concern, this sentence was revised and the clause “in space and cyber space” stricken from the final version of the NPR released in February. Nevertheless, the fact that it was included in the leaked draft indicates that the authors initially intended the category of “non-nuclear strategic attacks” to include a scenario in which the United States would retaliate against a major cyberattack.

Though the published document does not explicitly include cyberattacks as an example of “extreme circumstances,” it does not explicitly exclude the possibility of a nuclear response to a cyberattack………..  https://thebulletin.org/what-us-nuclear-policy-exactly11709

April 20, 2018 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Communities that hosted nuclear reactors now stuck with stranded radioactive trash

The township will be stuck with 753 metric tons of nuclear waste because the U.S. has no plan for its disposal.  Oyster Creek’s used nuclear fuel now goes to the plant’s spent fuel pool, a specially designed area where the fuel cools for five years. After that, it’s moved to dry cask storage in metal canisters safely contained within a massive concrete structure. 

Gary Quinn, Lacey’s former mayor and a current committeeman, said the town never anticipated having to deal with the spent fuel, which stays radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years.

With nuke plant shutting down, N.J. community inherits 1.7M pounds of waste WHYY By Catalina Jaramillo April 16, 2018 

As nuclear power plants around the country continue to shut down — 20 reactors are already on their way out, and several more are expected to follow — questions remain about what to do with the nuclear waste they leave behind.

The U.S. Department of Energy made the commitment to remove and dispose spent nuclear fuel from reactors starting in 1998, but a federal plan to store that waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada never came to fruition. And there are no plans in place for a permanent spent fuel repository.

Meanwhile, communities hosting nuclear plants — including Lacey Township, New Jersey — face an uncertain future. Exelon’s Oyster Creek nuclear generating station, the oldest operating in the country, will retire in October. The plant, which sits alongside Barnegat Bay, in Ocean County, has served as the town’s main economic driver for 50 years. Residents are anxious about what will happen next.

“Is it going to bring the town down? As far as empty houses, … lost business and things like that,” asked Richard Rom, community president of Pheasant Run, a senior complex with more than 400 residents. “I’m concerned.” ……..

Lacey is not only losing the economic benefits of hosting the nuclear plant. The township will be stuck with 753 metric tons of nuclear waste because the U.S. has no plan for its disposal.  Oyster Creek’s used nuclear fuel now goes to the plant’s spent fuel pool, a specially designed area where the fuel cools for five years. After that, it’s moved to dry cask storage in metal canisters safely contained within a massive concrete structure.

Gary Quinn, Lacey’s former mayor and a current committeeman, said the town never anticipated having to deal with the spent fuel, which stays radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years.

“When it was first built, it was never agreed upon that it would become a spent fuel storage facility — which … at this point in time appears to be what we’re facing,” Quinn said.

In the case of Oyster Creek, which by the end of 2018 will have approximately 1.66 million pounds of nuclear waste, that would work out to $11.2 million a year for Lacey Township. That’s exactly what the town could be losing in energy tax receipts.

But the bills, which have been referred to committees, have gained no traction……..

right now there’s no guarantee the town will get anything but the radioactive waste, which sits in a concrete structure, next to a parking lot, a few miles from the beach. …..https://whyy.org/articles/with-nuke-plant-shutting-down-n-j-community-inherits-1-7m-pounds-of-waste/

April 18, 2018 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

“No New Nuclear Plants To Be Built in the U.S” – says top Exelon official

Exelon Official: No New Nuclear Plants To Be Built in the U.S. Because of the plants’ size and security needs, the costs become prohibitive.U.S. News  By Alexa Lardieri, Staff Writer April 16, 2018, 

A SENIOR OFFICIAL WITH America’s largest nuclear plant operating company is predicting a dim future for nuclear power in the U.S.

William Von Hoene, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Exelon, said last week that he doesn’t foresee any new nuclear plants being built in the United States due to their high operating costs.

“The fact is – and I don’t want my message to be misconstrued in this part – I don’t think we’re building any more nuclear plants in the United States. I don’t think it’s ever going to happen,” S&P Global quoted Van Hoene as saying at the annual U.S. Energy Association’s meeting in Washington, D.C. “I’m not arguing for the construction of new nuclear plants. They are too expensive to construct, relative to the world in which we now live.”………

“I think it’s very unlikely that absent some extraordinary change in environment or technology, that any nuclear plants beyond the Vogtle plant will be built in my lifetime, by any company,” S&P Global quoted Van Hoene as saying, referring to a plant currently under construction in Georgia.

Von Hoene says because of nuclear plants’ sizes and the security required to monitor them, the costs become prohibitive.https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2018-04-16/exelon-official-no-new-nuclear-plants-to-be-built-in-the-us

April 18, 2018 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Workers allege fraud in the clean-up operations on radioactive shipyard contamination

Workers’ Group Alleges Legislators Aren’t Doing Enough On Shipyard Radiation Contamination. Bay City News Service
SF Gate, April 16, 2018 
A public workers’ advocacy group at a rally in San Francisco today criticized Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, for allegedly failing to do enough about the cleanup of radiological contamination at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.

Members of United Public Workers for Action also charged that the two legislators have failed to protect whistleblowers and called for a criminal investigation of their alleged lack of action.

“This is the largest eco-fraud in the United States,” group member Steve Zeltzer told a crowd of about 30 supporters in front of the Federal Building.

“Why are most of the politicians silent?” he said.

The claimed fraud concerns the U.S. Navy’s former contract with Tetra Tech EC of Pasadena to remove contamination, including radioactive soil and materials, from about 500 acres of the former shipyard slated for development for industry, offices and housing.

 A preliminary investigation by the Navy concluded in September that there was evidence of data manipulation or falsification on soil samples taken from two parcels after the cleanup of those sections was supposed to have been completed. The two parcels make up about 40 percent of the property.

The Navy said that 49 percent of the soil samples for one parcel were suspect and 15 percent were suspect for the other parcel.

A second review of the information by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and two state agencies in December revealed more widespread alleged falsification.

 The EPA review concluded that a total of 97 percent of the samples in one parcel and 90 percent in the other were suspect. The two agencies joining the EPA were the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and Department of Public Health.

“In summary, the data analyzed showed a widespread pattern of practices that appear to show deliberate falsification, failure to complete the work in a manner required…or both,” John Chesnutt, a regional EPA Superfund manager, wrote to the Navy on Dec. 17, 2017.

Chesnutt’s letter was made public last week by Washington, D.C.-based Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility after that organization obtained it in a Freedom of Information Act request.

……….The Navy began investigating Tetra Tech in 2012 after learning that some purported soil samples came from outside the cleanup locations.In 2016, according to a Navy fact sheet, former cleanup employees additionally alleged that potentially contaminated soil samples were swapped for clean samples, potentially contaminated soil was placed in open trenches in other areas around the shipyard, misleading data reports were prepared and computer data was tampered with to indicate lower levels of radiation. https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Workers-Group-Alleges-Legislators-Aren-t-Doing-12839607.php

April 18, 2018 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

USA government keen to promote Westinghouse sales of nuclear power projects to India

U.S. backs Westinghouse to finish nuclear power projects in India, Reuters Staff, Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Sudarshan Varadhan; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Susan Fenton  NEW DELHI (Reuters) 17 Apr 18  – Westinghouse Electric, which filed for bankruptcy last year, is now “lean and mean and ready to get to work” on its projects to build nuclear reactors in India, U.S. energy secretary Rick Perry said on Tuesday.

The show of support by Perry came after Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse’s bankruptcy filing had raised doubts about the proposed construction of six nuclear reactors in India’s Andhra Pradesh state.

 The agreement to build reactors, announced in 2016, was the result of a decade of diplomatic efforts as part of a U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement signed in 2008.

“Nobody in the world makes better reactors than Westinghouse,” Perry told journalists after a meeting with India’s oil and gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi.“They had some challenges in the past from its business practices. We leave that where it is. The bottom line is, that’s all behind them. They are lean and mean and ready to get to the work.”

Westinghouse, owned by Japan’s Toshiba Corp (6502.T) which is to be bought by a unit of Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc (BAMa.TO) (BAM.N), is one of the world’s leading suppliers of nuclear fuel and provides some form of service to 80 percent of the world’s 450 commercial reactors.

Perry and Pradhan released a joint statement to “reaffirm their strong commitment to early and full implementation of our civil nuclear partnership, including the Westinghouse civil nuclear project”. They also said the two countries would deepen cooperation on oil and gas, power, renewable energy and coal.

April 18, 2018 Posted by | India, marketing, USA | Leave a comment

Trump is being urged by Electric Power Supply Association to reject bailout for coal, nuclear

Power plant owners press Trump to reject bailout for coal, nuclear, Washington Examiner by John Siciliano, April 13, 2018 Power plant owners are urging President Trump to reject a plea by a Ohio power provider to save its fleet of coal and nuclear plants that are slated to shut down in the next three years, saying it would be legally wrong and jeopardize his America First agenda.

April 16, 2018 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Donald Trump to demand “full denuclearisation” of North Korea, in exchange for US embassy in Pyongyang’

Donald Trump ‘to tell Kim Jong-un to scrap nuclear arsenal within year in return for US embassy in Pyongyang’ ,  

President Donald Trump is expected to demand that Pyongyang abolish its nuclear weapons capability within a year when he sits down for talks with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, but will offer to open an embassy in the North’s capital and provide humanitarian assistance as an incentive.

The details offer a sense of the rapid pace of progress towards talks although analysts suggest the timetable may be overambitious.

Quoting sources in Washington, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said Mr Trump rejected Pyongyang’s proposals for “phased and synchronised” steps to eliminate the North’s nuclear arsenal and will instead insist that full denuclearisation is completed within 12 months of their meeting. …….https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/13/donald-trump-tell-kim-jong-un-scrap-nuclear-arsenal-within-year/

April 14, 2018 Posted by | North Korea, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Radioactively-hot particles detected in dusts and soils from Northern Japan

Radioactively-hot particles detected in dusts and soils from Northern Japan by combination of gamma spectrometry, autoradiography, and SEM/EDS analysis and implications in radiation risk assessment, Science Direct

Author links open overlay panel MarcoKaltofenaArnieGundersenb

April 14, 2018 Posted by | environment, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

Helicopter to monitor radiation ahead of Boston Marathon – precaution in view of terrorism risks

Chopper will measure radiation ahead of Boston Marathon, With the Boston Marathon around the corner, more security efforts are underway. Metro US News By  Statehouse News ServiceApril 11, 2018 

A helicopter equipped with radiation-sensing technology will make several low passes over the Boston Marathon route later this week to measure naturally occurring background radiation ahead of the 122nd Boston Marathon next week.

Between Thursday and Sunday, the National Nuclear Security Administration will use the chopper to measure background radiation along the 26.2-mile marathon route and slightly beyond, flying a twin-engine Bell 412 helicopter in a grid pattern at about 150 feet above the ground at speeds of about 80 miles per hour, the agency said.

The NNSA said measuring baseline levels of radiation is “a normal part of security and emergency preparedness for major public events”

According to the United States Government Accountability Office, “the surveys can be used to compare changes in radiation levels to (1) help detect radiological threats in U.S. cities more quickly and (2) measure contamination levels after a radiological attack to assist in and reduce the costs of cleanup efforts.”…….https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/boston/boston-marathon-chopper-radiation

April 14, 2018 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Radioactive Sludge Barrel Ruptures at Idaho Nuclear Site

U.S. News U.S. officials say a barrel of radioactive sludge has ruptured at an Idaho nuclear site., April 12, 2018, By KEITH RIDLER, Associated Press, 

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A barrel containing radioactive sludge ruptured at an Idaho nuclear facility, federal officials said Thursday, resulting in no injuries and no risk to the public but possibly slowing progress in shipping waste out of the state.

The U.S. Department of Energy said the 55-gallon (208-liter) barrel ruptured late Wednesday at the 890-square-mile (2,305-square-kilometer) site that includes the Idaho National Laboratory, one of the nation’s top federal nuclear research labs.

The rupture triggered a fire alarm, and three Idaho National Laboratory firefighters extinguished the smoldering barrel and pulled it away from a dozen other barrels nearby.

When the firefighters left the building, emergency workers detected a small amount of radioactive material on their skin, said department spokeswoman Danielle Miller………

Federal officials said it’s the first known rupture of a barrel containing radioactive sludge at the site but might not be the last.   https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/idaho/articles/2018-04-12/incident-reported-at-idaho-nuclear-site-crews-responding

April 14, 2018 Posted by | incidents, USA | 1 Comment

Nuclear subsidy approved, could cost New Jersey ratepayers $billions

North Jersey.com Nicholas Pugliese, State House Bureau, @nickpugz  April 12, 2018  

April 14, 2018 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Informational tour by groups opposing construction of spent nuclear fuel facility

New Mexico Political Report 11th April 2018 , Groups opposed to construction of a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel
from the nation’s commercial reactors are on a tour this week to make sure people know what’s being proposed for southern New Mexico.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a proposal from Holtec International to build and transport the waste, now stored in casks at various nuclear power plants around the country, to southern New Mexico.

Don Hancock, director of the Southwest Research and Information Center’s nuclear-waste program, said New Mexico shouldn’t be the repository for 60
years’ worth of nuclear waste generated on the East Coast.
http://nmpoliticalreport.com/824292/groups-fight-nuclear-waste-storage-proposal-in-n

April 14, 2018 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

Massachusetts State Presses Pilgrim Nuclear Station Owners On Radiation Standards

State Presses Pilgrim Plant Owners On Radiation Standards https://www.capenews.net/falmouth/news/state-presses-pilgrim-plant-owners-on-radiation-standards/article_47fd3789-2730-5963-8647-d2c5fa940269.html, By STEVEN WITHROW , 13 Apr 18

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health submitted a request Tuesday, April 10, to the Entergy Corporation, operator of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, that they reach a specific agreement on cleanup standards related to the decommissioning of the power station, according to a statement from State Senator Viriato M. (Vinny) deMacedo (R-Plymouth).

Specifically, the department has requested that Entergy comply with the commonwealth’s unrestricted release level of residual radioactivity of less than 10 millirems per year for all pathways, the statement said.

 “I want to thank the Department of Public Health for their leaderships on this issue,” the senator said. “As we draw closer to the decommissioning of Pilgrim, it is important that the commonwealth assert its rights and protect its residents in every way possible. Reaching agreement on this release standard is an important first step in making sure our residents are protected after the plant closes.”

Limiting the amount of radiological activity at the site of Pilgrim after decommissioning is completed was identified as one of the priorities of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel, the statement said. The panel was formed by the Legislature to research decommissioning activities at other nuclear power plants and identify ways the commonwealth could protect itself before the plant entered decommissioning.

The panel identified an issue at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vernon, Vermont—that the federal standard for radiological release at a former nuclear power plant is currently 25 millirems per year—the statement said. The state of Vermont reached an agreement limiting the site to a radiological dose limit of 15 millirems per year from all pathways combined, with no more than 5 millirems per year from liquid effluents.

“I appreciate the work done by the NDCAP in identifying this issue,” said Sen. deMacedo, who sponsored the language creating the panel. “Pilgrim is situated in an ideal location in our community, and it is important that site be cleaned to the highest possible standard. I look forward to continuing to work to ensure that it is.”

April 14, 2018 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

For years, Insiders Doubted SCANA’s Ability to Manage Nuclear Project

Insiders Doubted SCANA’s Ability to Manage Nuclear Project, PowerMag, 04/12/2018 | Aaron Larson Santee Cooper executives doubted SCANA Corp.’s ability to properly manage the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion project for years before the project was ultimately abandoned in July 2017, according to an article published by The Post and Courier, a Charleston, S.C., newspaper.Santee Cooper—a state-run utility—partnered with SCANA as owners of the project; SCANA holds a 55% stake in the facility while Santee Cooper holds a 45% share. Yet, even as Santee Cooper insiders lamented SCANA’s “ineptitude,” the utility failed to raise red flags with state lawmakers or ratepayers and continued to pour money into the project.

According to The Post and Courier story, Santee Cooper leaders did prod SCANA to hold contractors responsible, and SCANA’s then-CEO Kevin Marsh did respond by complaining to Westinghouse and CB&I—the contractors on the job at the time—but little improvement was made. Santee Cooper’s vice president of nuclear energy reportedly called SCANA’s team “a status quo group.”

For years, Santee Cooper allegedly tried to convince SCANA to hire an outside firm to manage the project. It wasn’t until CB&I negotiated its way out of the project that SCANA finally agreed to bring in Bechtel Corp. to do a project audit at a cost of more than $1 million. But even then,

Santee Cooper insiders felt SCANA was resistant to the process and restricted access to at least some engineering and scheduling documents. However, The Post and Courier reported that a SCANA spokesperson refuted that claim. The audit was ultimately completed.

The 130-page report dated February 5, 2016, provided a scathing assessment of the situation. ……http://www.powermag.com/insiders-doubted-scanas-ability-to-manage-nuclear-project/

April 14, 2018 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment