Nuclear lobby out to discredit Joe Mangano – but perhaps he is right!
Study: Nuclear Reactors Are Toxic to Surrounding Areas, Especially With Age 11 March 2014 By Candice Bernd, Truthout | Report “………The Industry and the Government Hit Back, Predictably
Industry and government regulators claim Mangano’s study, as well as his previous peer-reviewed research studying the health impacts of radiation on local communities, is not credible.
“Given Mr. Mangano’s history of discredited reports due to poor science and that this newer report draws on the previously discredited work, PG&E is not giving this report any consideration,” Blair Jones, a PG&E spokesman, told Truthout in a written statement. “Recent assessments performed by the US nuclear industry’s federal regulator, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), demonstrate Diablo Canyon is being operated safely and in a manner that protects the health and safety of the public. The NRC has found our operations continue to meet all safety and security performance objectives.”
And the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), an industry group, reacted even more aggressively, calling Mangano a “fearmonger” and “scaremonger.” The group regularly cites a statistic from the EPA that nuclear power plants only account for 0.1 percent of the radiation an average American is exposed to in the course of a year and that exposures from common medical procedures such as CT scans and X-Rays account for about 50 percent of this overall level.
But Dr. Hosea questions their claims. “At least with medical radiation you know you’re exposed and you can make a decision whether or not it’s worth the risk of getting a cat scan which is very, very small compared to not knowing [about potential risks from reactors] and finding out later that there’s potentially a problem,” he said. “We keep being reassured there’s not a problem, but there very well may be a problem,” he said.
Strontium-90 is not typically released in the radiation patients are exposed to diagnostically, and different radioactive isotopes can be of different qualities in terms of how much harm they can do to the human body.
“In whose interest is it to discount the study and not pay attention to it? It needs further investigation so we can really know the truth,” Dr. Hosea said.
PG&E and the industry group both point to staffers from eight state departments of health and the NRC who have looked into Mangano’s work and have invalidated it. The NEI claims that most of the Strontium-90 in the environment, which has a half-life of 28 years, is a remainder left over from above-ground atom bomb tests in the 1950s and early ’60s, and that there has been no significant change in background levels of radiation near nuclear reactors.
But Mangano’s research has found an overall statistically significant increase in concentrations of Strontium-90 found in baby teeth near Diablo Canyon over time. His previous research has also found that after the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant in Sacramento was closed, public health indicators in the surrounding areas improved.
“What the industry does in the absence of not doing these studies and not liking the results, is calling names,” Brown said. “This is not fifth grade; you do not get to talk about the health and safety of your customers and your neighbors by pointing fingers, and calling names, and trying to discredit, and trying to shoot the messenger.”
“This is not Joe Mangano’s data, this is data that is put out and publicly available by the Centers for Disease Control, by federal statistics and by the California cancer registry,” Brown said.
An NRC spokesman agreed with the industry that Mangano’s latest study lacked credibility. But more than 20 years after a highly cited study claimed there was no increased cancer risk from proximity to nuclear plants, the NRC is finally looking into the matter. The agency has asked National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to perform its own assessment on cancer risk for populations surrounding nuclear reactors, which is still in the works. The NAS has confirmed there are no safe levels of radiation exposure, in contrast with the EPA’s “permissible limits” approach.
“[The NAS assessment] is essentially the study we asked for 20 years ago,” said nuclear engineer David Lochbaum, who directs the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Lochbaum told Truthout that when he asked NRC staffers why they did not address health impacts in a draft environmental impact statement for a nuclear plant seeking a 20-year license extension in 1998, the staffers told him that “human health was outside the scope of their assessments.”
“We applaud the NRC for doing [the health impact study], we just wish it would have been done…” he paused. “I guess better late than never, so we’ll look at the glass as half-full.”
When it comes to the credibility of Mangano’s work, Lochbaum told Truthout more research still needs to be done.
“When I read Joe’s work, it seems plausible,” he said. “When I read industry’s objections, that seems plausible too, and I know they both can’t be right and I don’t know which is. That’s why we advocated … for a health study that included people from the entire spectrum.”…..http://truth-out.org/news/item/22324-study-nuclear-reactors-are-toxic-to-surrounding-areas-especially-as-plants-age?tmpl=component&print=1
NRC list nuclear plants at earthquake risk – includes Plant Vogtle
Plant Vogtle makes Nuclear Regulatory Commission list for earthquake analysis http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2014-05-12/plant-vogtle-makes-nuclear-regulatory-commission-list-earthquake-analysis By Meg Mirshak Staff Writer Monday, May 12, 2014 Plant Vogtle made a federal list of 21 nuclear reactors east of the Rocky Mountains that are vulnerable to earthquakes and need to conduct detailed analyses explaining their ability to withstand damage from seismic activity.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requiring Plant Vogtle in Burke County to submit a detailed risk analysis by June 30, 2017. An expedited review is required by this December to make sure the plant about 30 miles south of Augusta could safely shut down after an earthquake.
The requirements are part of ongoing work by the NRC after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown in Japan. New models of seismic activity showed that earthquake risks beyond the West Coast are more threatening than was understood when many nuclear power plants were built in the 1970s and 1980s.
The NRC reviewed reports from 59 nuclear reactor sites in the central and eastern U.S. with updated earthquake hazard information. A prioritized list of reactors needing further analysis was released Friday. “We’ve examined this information to see how a plant’s new quake hazard compares to the ground movement that the plant’s original design process considered,” said Eric Leeds, the director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, in a news release. “We’re closely following the industry’s response, and we’re confident the plants are safe to continue operating.”
If the expedited safety review due in December shows that equipment needs to be updated, the work must be completed by December 2016.
Other reactors facing scrutiny include Plant Hatch in Baxley, Ga.; Catawba Nuclear Station in York, S.C.; Oconee Nuclear Station in Seneca, S.C.; Robinson Nuclear Plant in Hartsville, S.C.; and V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville, S.C.
Radiation -linked cancers increased around Pilgrim Nuclear Plant
Study: Increase in radiation-linked cancers around Pilgrim “Tobacco Science” versus fact CAPE COD TODAY, OP ED | MAY 10, 2014 BY MARY LAMPERT, PILGRIM WATCH.
Industries that can harm the public have “tobacco scientists” and lobbyists to promote their message. The Pilgrim Nuclear plant is 
no exception, and denies the pattern of radiation-linked cancers and disease around it.
Pilgrim’s spin doctors choose to rely on fiction, not facts. We rely on the National Academies (our nation’s premier scientists). The National Academies’ latest report said there is no safe dose of radiation and that exposure to even very low levels of radiation is three times more dangerous than previously expected – and more so for children and women. We rely also on statistics from the Massachusetts Cancer Registry. In 1982 it began recording data showing a continued increase in radiation-linked cancers in communities around Pilgrim.
A review of Massachusetts Cancer Registry data shows that Plymouth (from 2002-2009) has a statistically significant increased level of leukemia, at a 95% probability level. This means that there is, at most, a 5% chance that the difference between the observed and expected cases of leukemia is due to chance. There also is a statistically significant increased level of prostate cancer, another radiation linked disease.
For the previous two decades, the Massachusetts Cancer Registry shows the “footprints” of radiation linked disease (leukemia, thyroid cancer, multiple myeloma and prostate cancer) in the seven towns most likely to be impacted by Pilgrim – Carver, Duxbury, Kingston, Marshfield, Pembroke, Plymouth, and Plympton. The Cape is downwind from Pilgrim much of the year. It, along with southeastern Massachusetts, has the highest cancer rates in the state. There has not yet been a study to determine if radiation emissions from Pilgrim are the missing variable to explain the high cancer rates there.
A major case-control study by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in 1990 (MDPH) found a four-fold increase in adult leukemia the closer one lived to or if one worked at Pilgrim. Pilgrim did not like the results and cut a political deal allowing it to appoint a second peer review panel to re-review the study and write a report. Even Pilgrim’s hand-picked panel concluded that, “The original study team adhered to generally accepted epidemiological principles… [And] …the findings of the study cannot be readily dismissed on the basis of methodological errors or proven biases… [and last]…the association found between leukemia and proximity to the Pilgrim nuclear facility was unexpectedly strong.” http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/05/10/25347-study-increase-radiation-linked-cancers-around-pilgrim
New Mexico nuclear waste facility will not fully re-open for years
DOE: Could be 3 years to fully reopen NM nuke dump LAKE WYLIE PILOT, BY SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated PressMay 8, 2014 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The head of the recovery effort at the federal government’s nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico said Thursday it could be up to three years before full operations resume at the underground facility.
Recovery manager Jim Blankenhorn made the announcement when answering questions from the public during a weekly meeting in Carlsbad. He said the timeline continues to be a moving target, but full operations are expected to resume no earlier than 18 months from now.
Crews continue investigating the cause of a radiation release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad that exposed some workers and halted operations in February……..
Los Alamos is under a tight deadline to get the plutonium-contaminated waste off its northern New Mexico campus before wildfire season peaks. The state of New Mexico pressured the lab to hasten the cleanup after a massive wildfire in 2011 lapped at the edges of lab property.
Lab Director Charlie McMillan said Thursday during a news conference in Albuquerque that the recent developments “are very much a cause for concern.” But he said it was too soon to tell if they will have any effect on the lab’s ability to meet the state’s deadline. http://www.lakewyliepilot.com/2014/05/08/2418188/doe-could-be-3-years-to-fully.html
New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn calls for closure of Nuclear waste Facility Panels
WIPP: NM Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn calls for immediate closure of waste panels Current-Argus News, By Zack Ponce zponce@currentargus.com 05/09/2014 CARLSBAD >> 
EIGHTY-FOUR DAYS HAVE PASSED SINCE THE FEBRUARY RADIATION LEAK AT THE WASTE ISOLATION PILOT PLANT AND COMMUNITY LEADERS IN CARLSBAD AND NEW MEXICO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HAVE BEGUN TO REVEAL THEIR IRRITATIONS.
New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn capped the weekly WIPP town hall with a fiery speech about the Department of Energy’s latest theory of what caused the Feb. 14 accident in Panel 7 of the underground nuclear waste facility located 26 miles east of Carlsbad. Flynn called for the immediate closure of all waste panels except Panel 7 at WIPP, as well as complete public transparency.
“I agree that these panels need to be closed and they need to be closed immediately,” Flynn said.
Seven panels have been mined underground at WIPP for nuclear waste storage and three of them remain opened, including Panel 7 where the DOE believes the radiation leak originated. According to the contractual obligations, DOE must now close all open panels where the radiation leak is not suspected to have occurred.
The DOE halted shipments of nuclear waste containers from Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Waste Control Specialists private facility in Andrews County, Texas last week after investigators narrowed the likely cause to the waste makeup from LANL.
Nuclear Waste Partnership Recovery Manager Jim Blankenhorn announced on Thursday that WIPP officials believe the radiation leak was likely caused by nuclear waste that contained nitrate salt which gave off some sort of a chemical reaction. The waste with nitrate salt matched waste stored in drums that originated from three separate waste streams: two of the waste streams originated from LANL and the source of the other was unknown because DOE and NWP refused to name the source. WIPP has stored waste streams from LANL, Savannah River, and Idaho National Laboratory in the past……..http://www.currentargus.com/carlsbad-news/ci_25729464/flynn-calls-immediate-closure-waste-panels-tranparency
Pilgrim Nuclear Plant’s history of poor safety and dodgy radiation monitoring
Study: Increase in radiation-linked cancers around Pilgrim “Tobacco Science” versus fact CAPE COD TODAY, OP ED | MAY 10, 2014 BY MARY LAMPERT, PILGRIM WATCH. “….Pilgrim apologists say that radiation from Pilgrim is closely monitored and controlled. Not so. Pilgrim collects its own environmental samples, fewer now than previous years; analyzes the samples in their own lab; and writes its own reports – the equivalent of letting students write and grade their own exams. MDPH has a very limited offsite monitoring program due to lack of finances. Since 2007, there have been onsite monitoring wells to detect radioactive tritium leaks before they enter Cape Cod Bay. Leaks of tritium are evident but not the source. If more wells were installed, would more releases be detected?
In 1990, MDPH recommended that Pilgrim place real-time air monitors in off-site communities. Pilgrim refused to do so. MDPH began its own, very limited offsite air monitoring program in 2010.
Pilgrim’s operational history affects us today. Pilgrim began operations with bad fuel and without filtration. In 1982, Pilgrim blew its toxic filters, spewing hot particles into neighborhoods. A state sponsored study showed that weather conditions then were worst-case for holding contamination over local communities and Cape Cod. Environmental samples showed Cesium-137 in milk samples from a close-by farm was 1,000,000 times greater than expected; no Cesium-137 was found in control samples. A similar pattern was recorded by Pilgrim in other environmental samples. Pilgrim claimed it was due, not to it, but to Chinese test bombs. You decide. Did the Chinese have “smart” test bombs that targeted Pilgrim’s indicator samples but not their control samples?
Spin-doctors cannot raise the dead or make the sick well. If the dead and sick with radiation-linked diseases are significantly more prevalent near Pilgrim than in communities distant, the conclusion seems obvious.
Mary Lampert is a resident of Duxbury, founder and director of Pilgrim Watch, and co-chair of the Town of Duxbury’s Nuclear Advisory Committee. http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/05/10/25347-study-increase-radiation-linked-cancers-around-pilgrim
New Mexico nuclear waste facility might close for several years
Video: WIPP nuclear site may close for several years — Explosion in multiple drums suspected — “Very much a cause for concern” — Top official gives ‘fiery speech’ calling for public to be told what has happened — DOE refuses to name source of nuclear waste http://enenews.com/video-wipp-nuclear-site-may-close-for-several-years-explosion-in-multiple-drums-suspected-very-much-a-cause-for-concern-top-official-gives-fiery-speech-calling-for-public-to-be-told
Albuquerque Journal,May 9, 2014: The head of the recovery effort at the federal government’s nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico said Thursday it could be up to three years before full operations resume at the underground facility. […] the focus has turned to a set of waste drums that came from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Officials at the meeting reiterated the possibility that there may have been a chemical reaction inside the drums. […] New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn said the theory of a chemical reaction is based on limited knowledge, and he urged officials during the meeting not to withhold any information. Flynn said he’s concerned the public will lose faith […] “We need to know what happened. We absolutely need to know,” he said. […] Los Alamos is under a tight deadline to get the plutonium-contaminated waste off its northern New Mexico campus before wildfire season peaks. […] Lab Director Charlie McMillan said Thursday during a news conference in Albuquerque that the recent developments “are very much a cause for concern.”
Carlsbad Current Argus,May 9, 2014: […] community leaders in Carlsbad and New Mexico government officials have begun to reveal their irritations. New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn capped the weekly WIPP town hall with a fiery speech [and] called for the immediate closure of all waste panels except Panel 7 at WIPP, as well as complete public transparency. […] after investigators narrowed the likely cause to the waste makeup from LANL. Nuclear Waste Partnership Recovery Manager Jim Blankenhorn announced on Thursday that WIPP officials believe the radiation leak was likely caused by nuclear waste that contained nitrate salt which gave off some sort of a chemical reaction. The waste with nitrate salt matched waste stored in drums that originated from three separate waste streams: two of the waste streams originated from LANL and the source of the other was unknown because DOE and NWP refused to name the source.
Solar panels are back on the White House
White House solar panels power up Barack Obama unveils new solar expansion plans as officials confirm White House panels are now operational http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/09/obama-solar-power-initiatives-california Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent theguardian.com, Friday 9 May 2014 Barack Obama will on Friday unveil several new initiatives intended to expand the deployment of solar power on Friday, as officials confirmed that a set of solar panels on the roof of the White House was now operational.
Obama will – once again – bypass a deadlocked Congress and use his executive authority to announce $2bn funding for energy-saving measures at federal government buildings, as well as new financing and training programmes for solar installations.
The announcements, to be made on a trip to California, cap a climate-focused week at the White House, following the release of an authoritative report on the growing threat posed by heat waves, severe downpours and sea-level rise.
White House officials told a conference call with reporters the initiatives were intended to add momentum to the solar industry, which has seen rapid expansion over the last two years.
“We are going to be doing everything we can, with the tools that we have to move forward,” said Dan Utech, special assistant to the president on energy and climate change.
In a largely symbolic move, the White House began installing a small set of solar panels on the roof last summer. The fit was now complete, officials said, releasing a video in which the panels were shown being installed. “The size of the array we established here is the typical size for the average American house, ” said James Doherty, the White House usher. Security concerns had prevented the whole roof being covered, he said.
Depleted uranium pollution of Hawaii by Pentagon’s dirty bombing
The Pentagon’s Dirty Bombers: Depleted Uranium in the USA, Aletho News By David Lindorff – 10/26/2009 The Nuclear Regulator Commission is considering an application by the US Army for a permit to have depleted uranium at its Pohakuloa Training Area, a vast stretch of flat land in what’s called the “saddle” between the sacred mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawaii’s Big Island, and at the Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu. In fact, what the Army is asking for is a permit to leave in place the DU left over from years of test firing of M101 mortar “spotting rounds,” that each contained close to half a pound of depleted uranium (DU). The Army, which originally denied that any DU weapons had been used at either location, now says that as many as 2000 rounds of M101 DU mortars might have been fired at Pohakuloa alone.
But that’s only a small part of the story.
The Army is actually seeking a master permit from the NRC to cover all the sites where it has fired DU weapons, including penetrator shells that, unlike the M101, are designed to hit targets and burn on impact, turning the DU in the warhead into a fine dust of uranium oxide. Hearings on this proposal were held in Hawaii on Aug. 26 and 27.
Uranium particles, whether pure uranium or in an oxidized form, are alpha emitters, and can be highly carcinogenic and mutagenic if ingested or inhaled, since they can lodge in one part of the body—the kidney or lung or gonad, for example—and then irradiate surrounding cells with large, destructive alpha particles (actually helium atoms), until some gene is compromised and a cell become malignant.
Among the sites identified by the NRC as being contaminated with DU are:
Ft. Hood, TX
Ft. Benning, GA
Ft. Campbell, KY
Ft. Knox, KY
Ft. Lewis, WA
Ft. Riley, KS
Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD
Ft. Dix, NJ
Makua Military Reservation, HI
Other locations identified as having DU weapons contamination are:
China Lake Air Warfare Center, CA
Eglin AFB, Florida,
Nellis AFB, NV
Davis-Monthan AFB
Kirtland AFB, NM
White Sands Missile Range, NM
Ethan Allen Firing Range, VT
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
An application for a 99-year permit to test DU weapons at the NM Inst. Of Mining and Technology claimed that that site’s test area was “so contaminated with DU… as to preclude any other use”!
DU weapons have also been used by the Navy at Vieques Island off Puerto Rico (the Navy claimed it was a “mistake.”)………. http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/the-pentagons-dirty-bombers-depleted-uranium-in-the-usa/
EPA acts to protect public from radioactive danger from thorium at Ridgewood Queens, New York
EPA Adds Radiation Site in Ridgewood Queens, New York to the Superfund List EPA 05/08/2014 Contact Information: Elias Rodriguez, (212) 637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov
(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added the Wolff-Alport Chemical Company site in the Ridgewood section of Queens, New York to the federal Superfund list of hazardous waste sites. The soil and nearby sewers were contaminated by radioactive material from past industrial activities at the site. Testing indicates that there is no immediate threat to nearby residents, employees or customers of businesses in the affected area along Irving and Cooper Avenues. Since exposure to the radioactive contamination may pose a threat to health in the long-term, in December 2013, the EPA took action to reduce people’s potential exposure to the radiation and address the potential health risks from the site.
The now-defunct Wolff-Alport Chemical Company operated from 1920 until 1954, processing imported monazite sand and extracting rare earth metals. Monazite contains approximately 6% to 8% thorium, which is radioactive. Radiation can increase a person’s risk of developing cancer such as cancer of the lung or pancreas.
“By placing the Wolff-Alport Chemical Company site on the Superfund list, the EPA can address the contamination to protect people’s health in the long-term,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. he Wolff-Alport Chemical Company site includes 1125 to 1139 Irving Avenue and 1514 Cooper Avenue in Ridgewood, on the border of Brooklyn and Queens. During its years of operation, the facility occupied three structures and two yard areas at 1127 Irving Avenue. The company did not operate out of 1125 Irving Avenue or 1514 Cooper Avenue, but those properties were affected by the contamination. Today the site includes six parcels of land with five buildings that house several small businesses, office space and warehouses. Until 1947, the company disposed of thorium waste in the sewer and on its property. The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission ordered the company to stop those practices in 1947.
The EPA assisted New York State and New York City in conducting radiological surveys in the area. These surveys identified waste material and radioactivity throughout the property, beneath adjacent public sidewalks and streets and in nearby sewers above levels expected to be found in a comparable urban area. The EPA, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Department of Health are working together to reduce potential long-term exposure to radiation from the site.
Beginning in August 2012, the EPA took samples to assess the site and determine what immediate cleanup work would be necessary. The EPA used the results of this sampling to take steps to protect people from exposure in the short-term. At Intermediate School 384, radioactive gas was coming from a hole in an unoccupied storage area. The hole was sealed with concrete and follow-up sampling results showed levels below the action level established by the technical experts. At the Terra Nova Construction Company, the EPA installed a mitigation system that reduced radiation levels to below the action level.
Additional EPA actions included:……….To learn more about the Wolff-Alport site, please visit:http://www.epa.gov/region02/waste/wolff/index.html.http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/609e310b78c3ef7a85257cd20055a13a?OpenDocument
The Pentagon in denial about the harmful effects of depleted uranium
The Pentagon’s Dirty Bombers: Depleted Uranium in the USA, Aletho News By David Lindorff – 10/26/2009 “……The Pentagon continues a long history of claiming that DU–which is the uranium that is left after the fissionable isotope U-235 is removed to make nuclear fuel and bombs–is not dangerous, although this official stance is belied by the warnings it has given to its troops (though not to civilians in battle zones), to stay well clear of tanks and other equipment destroyed by US tanks, which used DU weapons as the ordnance of choice in both the Gulf War and the current Iraq War. During both wars, DU ammunition was used by Army and Marine tanks, by the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the A-10 ground support jet, the Marine Harrier jet, and specially equipped F16 fighter jets. The Navy also switched from DU ammunition to tungsten ammunition in its Phalanx anti-missile ship defense system because of health and environmental concerns with the DU ammo.
In both wars, a high percentage of troops have returned with many physical ailments–auto-immune problems, cancers, and later, birth defects in offspring–which have been referred to as Gulf War and now Iraq War Syndrome. As many as a quarter of returning vets from the Gulf War have reported strange illnesses and cancers and the numbers are rising for Iraq War vets. As well, statistics from the National Institutes of Health show that counties hosting bases and test facilities where DU has been uses also show high cancer rates. This is certainly true for Hawaii’s Big Island, which has the highest cancer rates for the Hawaiian archipelago. Meanwhile, the lung cancer rate for the Ft. Knox area is 105-127 per 100,000 for the 2001-2005 period, high by state and national standards. The rate is among the highest in the state of Washington for Pierce County, where Ft. Lewis is located.
The Pentagon denies that it uses depleted uranium in bombs, missiles and cruise missile warheads, but military personnel have reported their use in all three delivery systems, and reports exist of DU bunker-buster bombs, DU-tipped penetrator warheads on Tomahawk cruise missiles and on some air-to-ground missiles.
It’s a good bet that all US munitions containing DU have been widely tested at various US military bases and testing grounds.
The bottom line is that at the same time that US government is continuing to warn about the danger of terrorists acquiring the materials to make a “dirty” bomb that could spread radioactive material in the US, the US military has for years been doing exactly that, and continues to do so, with no intention to clean up its messes, many of which are allowing depleted uranium to percolate into ground water or flow down streams to more populated areas.
Of course, it could have been worse. The M101 mortar that litters Pohakuloa was actually designed as a range-finder for the Davy Crocket mortar, which back in the late 1950s and the 1960s, and up until 1971 was designed to allow infantry troops to fire a small “tactical” nuclear mortar shell at targets just one to two miles distant. Some 700 of these “little nukes”, that had a power of “just” several kilotons or less, were made and actually made their way into the arsenals of troops in Europe and elsewhere during the Cold War. Fortunately there are no reports of any of them having been fired off at any of the military’s firing ranges–especially given that their radiation effect radius was larger than their firing range, meaning that launching one was an automatic suicide mission.
(Actually firing it would have been suicide.)
Then again, the Pentagon doesn’t exactly have a sterling record about telling the truth where nuclear weapons and DU weapons are concerned. (You start to notice as you look into this stuff that with uranium weapons, the military’s attitude towards troop safety is not a whole lot better than its attitude towards the people at the downrange end of the line.)
Nor is the NRC to be relied on to protect the American public. As an administrative judge wrote in a ruling on a case involving DU contamination at Jefferson Proving Ground in Indiana, the NRC exhibited a “more than casual attitude with regard to decommissioning of sites on which radioactive materials remain as a potential threat to public health and safety and to the environment.”
In another case, involving cleanup of the ShieldAlloy Metallurgical Corp.’s site in Newfield, NJ, where DU weapons were made, a judge said, “at the very least, the (NRC) staff has countenanced…a situation that will leave the citizens in the area surrounding the activity site in doubt for close to two decades regarding what measures will ultimately be taken for their protection.” http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/the-pentagons-dirty-bombers-depleted-uranium-in-the-usa/
US Senators oppose changes that would weaken nuclear safety regulations
Senators oppose changes to nuclear plant emergency regulations Relaxed alerts sought for closed Kewaunee plant postcrescent.com 8 May 14 Richard Ryman CARLTON — Dominion Resources Inc., owner of Kewaunee Power Station, wants to reduce the level of emergency response at the closed nuclear plant, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved at other reactors being decommissioned.
But five U.S. senators are challenging the NRC’s approval of such requests. In a recent letter to the commission, they pointed out that the NRC granted exemptions for each of the 10 requests made. Their concern is for spent nuclear fuel, which can be stored in water pools or dry casks.
Kewaunee spokesman Mark Kanz said Dominion requested exemptions for evacuation zones and siren alerts………..
They could remain there for 60 years, the amount of time Dominion is allowed to decommission the plant, or longer. The federal government has failed provided a national spent fuel repository as required by law and there is no indication when one will be created………
The senators who wrote to the NRC said National Academy of Sciences and NRC studies determined that draining of a spent nuclear fuel pool can lead to fires, large radioactive releases and widespread contamination. They said emergency protection zones, which can extend up to 50 miles from a reactor, should be maintained.
The senators include Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Barbara Boxer of California, Benard Sanders of Vermont, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. All are Democrats except Sanders, who is independent but votes with Democrats on most issues.
They said exemptions are under review for four nuclear plants, including Kewaunee, Crystal River in Florida, San Onofre in California and Vermont Yankee in Vermont. They cited both the Fukushima, Japan, nuclear incident and the potential for terrorist attacks as reasons for refusing the exemptions……..http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20140508/APC03/305080514/Senators-oppose-changes-nuclear-plant-emergency-regulations
Obama launches renewable energy actions, aided by corporations
With corporate help, Obama announces actions on renewable energy http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL2N0NU2OG20140509 WASHINGTON May 9 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday will announce executive orders to increase the use of solar panels, boost energy efficiency in federal buildings and train more people to work in the renewable energy field, the White House said.
The president, who will make the announcement during a visit to Wal-Mart in Mountain View, California, will also highlight commitments by corporations to lift solar generation at their facilities. Wal-Mart, Apple Inc, Yahoo Inc, Google Inc and Ikea were among the companies making such commitments.
Several financial institutions, including Citigroup Inc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, were announcing new plans for “large scale investment and innovative programs” to develop solar and renewable energy installations, the White House said.
Obama’s executive actions would support efforts at community colleges so that 50,000 workers would join the solar industry by 2020, it said.
Another initiative would press for $2 billion in energy efficiency upgrades for federal buildings over the next three years, building on another $2 billion commitment from 2011.
Actions to strengthen building codes were also part of the mix. “Investing in solar and efficiency makes sense to reduce our carbon emissions, but also for our pocketbooks and for our economy,” said Dan Utech, an energy adviser to Obama, during a conference call on Thursday to preview Obama’s announcement.
He said the U.S. solar energy industry had expanded dramatically under Obama’s watch, with installations increasing to an amount enough to power more than 2 million homes.
“So momentum is increasing,” Utech said. “Since President Obama took office we’ve increased production from U.S. solar electricity more than tenfold, and in the last year, U.S. production of electricity from solar energy was double what it was just two years ago.”
An Obama spokesman also announced the completion of a project to install solar panels at the White House itself. The panels were American-made and part of an energy “retrofit” for the building that would improve its energy efficiency.
“The project, which helps demonstrate that historic buildings can incorporate solar energy and energy efficiency upgrades, is estimated to pay for itself in energy savings over the next eight years,” spokesman Matt Lehrich said. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Agua Caliente, Florida – the first of many big solar power arrays
World’s Largest Solar Array Set to Crank Out 290 Megawatts of Sunshine Power Megaplants like Agua Caliente in Arizona herald a new efficiency in solar-sourced electricity Megaplants like Agua Caliente in Arizona herald a new efficiency in solar-sourced electricity Scientific American May 9, 2014 |By Roni Jacobson
Global climate change is here, and it’s only going to get worse, according to a White House report released on Tuesday. To combat rising sea levels and blistering summers, the Obama administration has been pushing for clean, renewable energy sources that cut down on carbon emissions. Now one of its projects is poised to pan out: Agua Caliente, the largest photovoltaic solar power facility in the world, was completed last week in Arizona.
The plant comprises more than five million solar panels that span the equivalent of two Central Parks in the desert between Yuma and Phoenix. It generates 290 megawatts of power—enough electricity to fuel 230,000 homes in neighboring California at peak capacity. The Agua Caliente Solar Project represents a significant advance in the technology compared with just four years ago, when the largest solar facility in the U.S. generated only 20 megawatts. “Solar has completely arrived as a competitive energy resource,” says Peter Davidson, executive director of the Loan Programs Office at the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE).
The project, which cost a total of $1.8 billion to construct, received a million-dollar loan from the Loan Programs Office. Under its “SunShot” initiative (so-named in the spirit of president John F. Kennedy’s “moon shot” program), the DoE provides guaranteed loans to unproved ventures in solar power in the hopes of promoting innovation and making the technology more cost-effective.* Although Agua Caliente (owned by U.S. energy giant NRG Energy and partner MidAmerican Solar) is now the largest photovoltaic solar facility in the world, it probably will not hold that distinction for long. …….
But as solar power becomes cheaper, Davidson predicts that utilities will pass those savings on to consumers. And as the technological advancements emerging from megaplants like Agua Caliente become more widely available, individual solar power adopters may eventually see savings as well. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/world-s-largest-solar-array-set-to-crank-out-290-megawatts-of-sunshine-power/
US Democrats lose bid to monitor costs of nuclear weapons
House Democratic Bid to Question Nuclear Weapons Plan Fails in Panel Vote National Journal, By Douglas P. Guarino, 8 May 14 House Democrats on Wednesday sought to include in the annual defense authorization bill requirements for formal studies and reports on the necessity of various nuclear weapons and how much it would cost to maintain them.
The minority party in the House Armed Services Committee, however, had to settle for more narrow provisions requiring only less formal, oral briefings from the Obama administration on these issues. The Republican majority rejected Democratic amendments that went any further.
The Democratic effort followed a January report by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies that asserted the current U.S. plan for modernizing the nation’s nuclear arsenal is so expensive that it could not realistically be implemented.
Congress and the executive branch do not yet fully know the cost of the plan’s various components, said the report. Its sole recommendation was for lawmakers to require the administration “to annually produce an integrated nuclear deterrence budget” that projects the full cost of each system in the nuclear arsenal.
The version of the defense authorization bill that the House committee approved on Wednesday does not include provisions that would require anything so broad and detailed, though……..http://www.nationaljournal.com/global-security-newswire/house-democratic-bid-to-question-nuclear-weapons-plan-fails-in-panel-vote-20140508
1 This Month
23-25 October – on Zoom – World BEYOND War’s annual global conferenc
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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