Heat danger, even when nuclear reactors are shut down
For Nuclear Power This Summer, It’s Too Darn Hot, Truth Out, 05 August 2012 By Gregg Levine, ”……when it comes to nuclear power, as global temperatures continue to rise and water levels in rivers and lakes continue to drop, an even more disconcerting threat emerges.
When a coal plant is forced to shut down because of a lack of cool intake water, it can, in short order, basically get turned off. With no coal burning, the cooling needs of the facility quickly downgrade to zero.
A nuclear reactor, however, is never really “off.”
When a boiling water reactor or pressurized water reactor (BWR and PWR respectively, the two types that make up the total of the US commercial reactor fleet) is “shutdown” (be it in an orderly fashion or an abrupt “scram”), control rods are inserted amongst the fuel rods inside the reactor. The control rods absorb free neutrons, decreasing the number of heavy atoms getting hit and split in the fuel rods. It is that split, that fission, that provides the energy that heats the water in the reactor and produces the steam that drives the electricity-generating turbines. Generally, the more collisions, the more heat generated. An increase in heat means more steam to spin a turbine; fewer reactions means less heat, less steam and less electrical output. But it doesn’t mean no heat.
The water that drives the turbines also cools the fuel rods. It needs to circulate and somehow get cooled down when it is away from the reactor core. Even with control rods inserted, there are still reactions generating heat, and that heat needs to be extracted from the reactor or all kinds of trouble ensues–from too-high pressure breaching containment to melting the cladding on fuel rods, fires, and hydrogen explosions. This is why the term LOCA–a loss of coolant accident–is a scary one to nuclear watchdogs (and, theoretically, to nuclear regulators, too).
So, even when they are not producing electricity, nuclear reactors still need cooling. They still need a power source to make that cooling happen, and they still need a coolant, which, all across the United States and most of the rest of the world, means water. http://truth-out.org/news/item/10707-for-nuclear-power-this-summer-its-too-darn-hot
Privacy concerns about Department of Homeland Security and drones
Drones tested as tools for police and firefighters, The Department of Homeland Security is trying to accelerate the use of unmanned aircraft for hostage standoffs, hazardous spills and other scenarios. Legal experts worry about civilian privacy. By Brian Bennett, Los Angeles Times August 5, 2012, “…. some legal experts are worried about the effect of surveillance drones in U.S. skies.
“This is putting the cart before the horse where DHS and other federal agencies are looking to put money toward drone use without looking at what it means for privacy and civil liberties,” said Jennifer Lynch, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco.
DHS has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to at least 13 police departments to buy small surveillance drones. But safety restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration — and the fact that some models have proved difficult to use — have kept most on the ground.
That could change soon. Congress this year passed a law requiring the FAA to ease restrictions on commercial drone use in U.S. airspace by 2015. Next year, the administration is expected to issue a rule allowing law enforcement and first responders to fly small unmanned aerial vehicles…. Some lawmakers have also criticized DHS, which has a fleet of 10 Predator B drones for border security, for not addressing safety and privacy concerns earlier.
“DHS seems either disinterested or unprepared to step up to the plate to address the proliferation of drones, the potential threats they pose to our national security, and the concerns of our citizens of how drones flying over our cities will be used, including protecting civil liberties of individuals under the Constitution,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) complained after the department declined to send an official to an oversight hearing he had called about domestic use of drones….. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drones-testing-20120805,0,6483617.story
Radioactive water leaked from Vermont nuclear plant
Vermont Yankee employees allow water to drain from spent fuel pool http://www.commonsnews.org/site/site05/story.php?articleno=5817&page=1 The Commons August 1, 2012 By Anne Galloway/vtdigger.org VERNON—About 2,700 gallons of water from the spent fuel pool at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant drained into a wastewater system on July 22.
The 300,000 gallon pool contains 2,500 spent fuel assemblies removed from the reactor core. The spent fuel assemblies are submerged below more than 20 feet of water.
The water drained about six inches over the course of about 30 minutes when employees who were working on the fuel pool cleanup system left drain valves open. Operators in the control room discovered the problem after an alarm system went off, according to Rob Williams, spokesman for the plant.
The radioactive water drained into a wastewater collection tank….
Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer and former member of a Vermont Yankee oversight panel, said several steps in a procedure were skipped by employees. He is concerned about oversight and employee training at the plant as older workers retire. Procedures, he said, must be much more specific.
“It’s a big deal, it’s a safety-related system, we’re not talking about mowing the lawn at VY,” Gundersen said. “There’s 300,000 gallons in the pool, and it lost 1 percent of the water in 30 minutes. It is radioactive water, it’s not like what you put in a water cooler.”
Secrecy in USA on nuclear plants affected by hot weather
For Nuclear Power This Summer, It’s Too Darn Hot, Truth Out, 05 August 2012 By Gregg Levine, “……..Water that is increasingly growing too warm or too scarce. . . at least in the summer. . . you know, when it’s hot. . . and demand for electricity increases.
In fact, Braidwood is not the only US plant that has encountered problems this sultry season:
[A] spokeswoman for the Midwest Independent System Operator, which operates the regional grid, said that another plant had shut down because its water intake pipes were now above the water level of the body from which it draws its cooling water. Another is “partially curtailed.”
That spokeswoman can’t, it seems, tell us which plants she is talking about because that information “is considered competitive.” (Good to know that the Midwest Independent System Operator has its priorities straight. . . . Hey, that sounds like a hint! Anyone in the Midwest notice a nearby power plant curtailing operations?)
So, not isolated. . . and also not a surprise–not to the Nature Climate Change people this year, and not to the industry, itself. . . 17 years ago. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a non-profit group of scientists and engineers funded by the good folks who generate electricity (a group that has a noticeable overlap with the folks that own nuclear plants), released a study in 1995 that specifically warned of the threat a warming climate posed to electrical generation. The EPRI study predicted that rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide would make power production less efficient and more expensive, while at the same time increasing demand.
And climate predictions have only grown more dire since then….. http://truth-out.org/news/item/10707-for-nuclear-power-this-summer-its-too-darn-hot
Court rules that USA police can use drones to arrest USA citizens
Police can use drones to arrest Americans on US soil: New court ruling August 3, 2012 Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner High tech human rights abuses escalate with court green-lighting drones to arrest Americans on US soil
A North Dakota court has approved using drones to help arrest American citizens on US soil as domestic drone human rights abuses escalate. “The whole thing is full of constitutional violations,” lawyer Bruce Quick told US News. Continue reading
Nuclear Regulatory Commission – a well paid tool of the nuclear industry
“That commission was a tool to the nuclear industry” http://www beyondnuclear.org/nrc/2012/8/2/that-commission-was-a-tool-to-the-nuclear-industry.html U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), long-time champion against the proposed Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste dumpAndrew Marshall, 91, the Pentagon’s man for war-making
A former nuclear strategist, Marshall has spent the past 40 years running the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment, searching for potential threats to American dominance…. a dangerous tendency toward alarmism that is exaggerating the China threat to drive up defense spending.
U.S. model for a future war fans tensions with China and inside Pentagon WP, By Greg Jaffe, August 1 When President Obama called on the U.S. military to shift its focus to Asia earlier this year, Andrew Marshall, a 91-year-old futurist, had a vision of what to do.
Marshall’s small office in the Pentagon has spent the past two decades planning for a war against an angry, aggressive and heavily armed China. No one had any idea how the war would start. But the American response, laid out in a concept that one of Marshall’s longtime proteges dubbed “Air-Sea Battle,” was clear.
Stealthy American bombers and submarines would knock out China’s long-range surveillance radar and precision missile systems located deep inside the country. The initial “blinding campaign” would be followed by a larger air and naval assault.
The concept, the details of which are classified, has angered the Chinese military and has been pilloried by some Army and Marine Corps officers as excessively expensive. Some Asia analysts worry that conventional strikes aimed at China could spark a nuclear war. Continue reading
Bingaman Proposes Overhaul Of Nuclear Waste Disposal, By Erica Teichert Law360, Washington (August 02, 2012,) –– Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., introduced a bill Wednesday that could alter the country’s approach to nuclear waste management policy based on recommendations of a presidential panel, saying he hoped the bill
would foster more constructive bipartisan negotiations on the issue.
The bill — S. 3469, the Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2012 — pushes for a new oversight body separate from the U.S. Department of Energy to oversee nuclear waste management and recommends a content-based approach to determine the sites for waste
repositories….. Subscriber only
http://www.law360.com/energy/articles/366065/bingaman-proposes-overhaul-of-nuclear-waste-disposal
Julian Assange and US government’s campaign to intimidate human rights activists
Assange’s mother stated, “The US government feels that it can seek to try my son for espionage, and possibly executing him simply for doing the job of a good investigative journalist, which is telling the truth about power.”
Assange’s mother justifiably fears U.S. would torture, maybe kill him http://www.examiner.com/article/assange-s-mother-justifiably-fears-u-s-would-torture-maybe-kill-him?CID=examiner_alerts_article, AUGUST 3, 2012 BY: DEBORAH DUPRE
The mother of WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange is seeking refuge in the small safe haven nation, Ecuador, due the Assanges’ fear of United States persecution, a justified concern, according to The Guardian on Thursday. The American government, that claims world leadership in press freedom and democracy, is using Assange as an example of what will happen to other journalists and human rights defenders who expose high-level government corruption, The Guardian reports.
Assange’s and his mother’s concerns of U.S. persecution are justified on two counts, according to The Guardian:
“A grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, empanelled to investigate violations of the Espionage Act – a statute that by its very nature targets speech – has subpoenaed Twitter feeds regarding Assange and WikiLeaks. An FBI agent, testifying at whistleblower Bradley Manning’s trial, said that “founders, owners and managers” of WikiLeaks are being investigated.
“And then there is Assange’s 42,135-page FBI file – a compilation of curious heft if the government is “not interested” in investigating its subject.”
In considering whether Assangs’s concerns about being treated inhumanely if extradited to the US,The Guardian reports, “One need only consider how the US treated Bradley Manning, the army private who allegedly leaked the cables to WikiLeaks to see why.” Manning spent nearly a year in 23 hours a day solitary confinement and then eight months “under conditions designed to pressure him into providing evidence to incriminate Assange”: stripped of clothing and made to stand nude for inspection.
Thousands of people, including legal scholars and the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, have condemned the U.S. treatment of Manning as inhumane and torturous.
“There is no reason for Assange to expect he will be treated any better.” Continue reading
Lucrative business for America’s weapons and drones makers
War business booming: Pentagon orders $531 million worth of drones, 
TECHNOLOGY, JULY 20, 2012 Business booming for Pentagon’s war on terror contractors As Americans slide further down the rough path of service cuts, unprecedented surveillance and other related human rights abuses, the Pentagon has had defense spending spree this week, $24.5 billion over five days on defense contracts including $531 million worth of drones, a situation requiring more from lawmakers, Congressman Michael McCaul toldHomeland Security.
“General Atomics, the people behind the wildly successful Predator and Reaper drones, just scored two huge contracts this week,” reportsBusiness Insider Military & Defense on Friday.
“One contract is $411 million for Gray Eagle systems, a derivative of the Predator drone. The second contract is for $120.6 million and will buy MQ-9 Reaper spares for the Air Force. They’ll also get ground support systems and spares.”
Business Insider says, “America … enjoy your latest purchases.”
This week, the 2013 Defense Appropriations bill passed in Congress with 326 “Yea” and 90 “Nay.”
DHS drones to dominate U.S. skies in two and a half years Plans exist to allow the widespread use of unmanned aircraft, or drones, in civilian airspace,violating numerous human rights that prompted experts and members of the U.S. Congress told a House committee this week that lawmakers must do more to protect privacy and reduce the likelihood of sabotage….
In May, a young Pakistani filmmaker of the award-winning movie about drones, The Other Side,was denied entry into the United States to receive his prestigious award at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth in Seattle. His film follows a child whose entire family was killed by a drone. http://www.examiner.com/article/war-business-booming-pentagon-orders-531-million-worth-of-drones
Big oil companies fight renewable energy through “think tanks”
rather than providing the public with education for the greater good, faux “think tanks” like Manhattan Institute and the Heartland Institute masquerade as “pro-free market” organizations yet they defend oil subsidies and attack renewable energy support. The organizations are funded by fossil fuel companies like Exxon,
New report outlines coordinated attacks by big oil on renewable energy Examiner, AUGUST 2, 2012 BY: ALICIA BAYER A new report released today by the Sierra Clubshows that over the past decade the fossil fuel industry and its well-funded backers have mounted a coordinated campaign to discredit renewable energy and hinder its growth. Continue reading
Serious security breach at Oak Ridge nuclear weapons plant
the activists had passed through four fences and walked for “over two hours” before reaching the uranium storage building, on which they hung banners and strung crime-scene tape.
“It is unbelievable this could happen,” Stockton said. “The significance is outrageous. If they were terrorists, they could have blown open the door and got inside.” Stockton said the security breach was the “worst we’ve ever seen.”
Oak Ridge uranium plant shut after protesters breach 4 fences, reach building By Mark Hosenball, Reuters NBCNews US, 2 Aug 12, The U.S. government’s only facility for handling, processing and storing weapons-grade uranium has been temporarily shut after anti-nuclear activists, including an 82-year-old nun, breached security fences, government officials said on Thursday. Continue reading
Future of Crystal River nuclear plant in doubt, as costs rise
Repair costs rise at Crystal River nuclear plant Tampa Bay Times, By Ivan Penn, Times Staff Writer Aug 02, 2012 The cost to fix the broken Crystal River nuclear plant appears to be on the rise.
The previous top estimate of $1.3 billion is likely too low, Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers confirmed in an interview Thursday.
The utility has not decided whether to repair or permanently shutdown the plant. An independent technical evaluation commissioned on the facility by Duke’s board is expected to be complete in about a month, Rogers said…… http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/repair-costs-rising-at-progress-energys-troubled-crystal-river-nuclear/1243770
Mystery still shrouds uranium tailings storage
It is presently unknown what type of containment system —if any — would offer any degree of protection to groundwater or for how long at Coles Hill.
Mystery still shrouds uranium tailings storage, Star Tribune, Karen B. Maute August 1, 2012 Virginia Uranium Inc.’ website states: “Much of the tailings will be mixed with a cement-like substance and put back into the mine shafts and drifts, and the rest will be stored in heavily-monitored and regulated below-grade storage facilities.” Continue reading
USA’s B61 nuclear warhead – useless but oh so costly!
A Golden Mistakehttp://www.ploughshares.org/blog/2012-07-30/golden-mistake BY BENJAMIN LOEHRKE JULY 30, 2012 The B61 life extension program gets a gold medal for setting records as the most expensive nuclear warhead in U.S. history. It also gets another ignominious recognition – costing more than its weight in solid gold.
The B61 bombs are the oldest bombs in the operational arsenal – first deployed in the 1960s. The Life Extension Program is intended to update and overhaul the warheads to keep them in the arsenal for decades to come, allowing the B61 to continue serving as the last remaining tactical nuclear warhead in the arsenal. The bombs remain deployed in Europe, despite broad recognition that they have no military utility. Continue reading
1 This Month
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
-
Archives
- October 2026 (247)
- September 2026 (339)
- August 2026 (330)
- July 2026 (355)
- June 2026 (287)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (267)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
