USA « nuclear-news

Confidence in nuclear power safety falling, after oil safety failure

this story is especially pertinent now, as the nation reexamines its energy policy in the wake of the calamitous BP Gulf spill.

Nuclear Reactor Eaten by Leaky Acid, Again : TreeHugger, 9 June 2010, Back in 2002, an Ohio nuclear power plant developed a leak that allowed highly pressurized cooling water containing boric acid to seep out. That acid ate away a football-sized hole into the 6-inch steel lid to the nuclear reactor, leaving the reactor’s integrity at grave risk. The cause of the narrowly averted disaster was thought to have been fixed, but the New York Times reports that signs of even more leakage have been showing up again — Continue reading →

June 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste casks, pools, piles, are ticking time bombs

(USA) Ticking time bombs: what should we do with nuclear waste?, SmartPlanet, By Andrew Nusca | Jun 8, 2010 “……..the WSJ report outlines some scary figures:

More than 800 filled casks await a final destination, holding 14,000 metric tons of waste.
Another 49,000 metric tons is being held in spent-fuel pools, waiting to be placed in vessels.
A further 2,000 metric tons of nuclear reactor waste is created every year.

The problem is that the next wave of nuclear reactors are already on the drawing board.

June 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation | Leave a comment

New U.S. renewable energy office for Eastern States

Renewable energy office to be in Va. – baltimoresun.com, 8 June 2010 RICHMOND, Va. —Virginia will be the home of a new regional renewable energy office.The news was contained in an announcement Tuesday that Gov. Bob McDonnell and governors of nine other East Coast states have joined to form a federal consortium to promote the development of offshore wind energy. Renewable energy office to be in Va. – baltimoresun.com

June 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Far from being deterrence, nuclear weapons are a lethal liability

The George W. Bush administration was the first to admit nuclear deterrence would not work against terrorists, now perceived to be the greatest threat to Americans…The key is to see nuclear disarmament as a security-building process, moving from an outdated adversarial mindset to a co-operative one where nuclear weapons are recognized as a lethal liability….

Nuclear Deterrence Scam Blocking Progress to a Safer World, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Robert Green, 7 June 2010, “……………The nuclear weapon states’ blocking of any serious moves towards honoring their obligation in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to get rid of their nuclear arsenals is driven by their uncritical acceptance of nuclear deterrence. Yet my carefully considered conclusion is that nuclear deterrence is a huge confidence trick – an outrageous scam cooked up fifty years ago by the US military industrial monster created by the Manhattan Project and now dominating US politics. Continue reading →

June 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

A nuclear bomb on the oil gusher would NOT be OK!

Nuclear Follies: How Not To Stem the BP Oil Gusher, Daily Kos:, by Page van der Linden, 7 June 2010, “…….Never has it been more apparent that there’s a lot of misunderstanding (deliberate or otherwise) regarding nuclear weapons than recently. I’m talking about the appalling, misguided idea that we can “just nuke” the BP oil gusher and it will some how “be okay”.Here’s the Global Security Newswire’s “Quote of the Day” from June 3, 2010:
The use of a nuclear weapon to stop the BP oil gusher is not an option. It is, in fact, the worst possible thing we could do. Here’s why. Continue reading →

June 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive | 1 Comment

Increasing exposure of Americans to ionising radiation

nuclear reactors produce a number of radioactive isotopes not found in the environment,….the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s policy of including reactor-generated radionuclides as part of the average background radiation is misleading…….”Nature does not expose human beings to the several hundred radioactive isotopes that that are generated by and routinely released from the nuclear fuel cycle,”

Americans are exposed to increased levels of radiation, Brattleboro Reformer, By BOB AUDETTE June 5, 2010 BRATTLEBORO — The average American receives 620 millirems of background radiation every year, as opposed to the 360 millirems as is often stated in the press.The number has crept up in the last two decades, from 180 millirems to 300 millirems, then to 360 millirems and most recently, in 2006, to 620 millirems. Continue reading →

June 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

In USA renewable energy electricity growing, coal-fired dwindling

Why the Renewable Energy Sector Will Prevail Simple Math Proves Cleantech SuperiorityBy Nick HodgeThursday, May 20th, 2010 Numbers Don’t Lie In 2005 — just 5 years ago — there were 5,000 MW of installed solar capacity in the United States.Today, there are more than 23,000 MW — a rise of 360%.In 2005, there were just 9,000 MW of installed wind capacity in the U.S.; today, there are more than 35,000 MW — a rise of 289%.Now consider this…In 2005, the United States consumed 1.037 billion short tons of coal to produce electricity.Today, we use even less than that (about 936.5 million short tons in 2009) for a loss of about 9.7%. Why the Renewable Energy Sector Will Prevail

June 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | antinuclear, energy efficiency, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Nuclear bomb to solve oil spill crisis – a crazy idea, says USA

Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says, NYTimes.com, By WILLIAM J. BROAD : June 2, 2010 The chatter began weeks ago as armchair engineers brainstormed for ways to stop the torrent of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico: What about nuking the well?…. Stephanie Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department, said that neither Energy Secretary, Steven Chu nor anyone else was thinking about a nuclear blast under the gulf. The nuclear option was not — and never had been — on the table, federal officials said. “It’s crazy,” one senior official said.

Government and private nuclear experts agreed that using a nuclear bomb would be not only risky technically, with unknown and possibly disastrous consequences from radiation, but also unwise geopolitically — it would violate arms treaties that the United States has signed and championed over the decades and do so at a time when President Obama is pushing for global nuclear disarmament.Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says – NYTimes.com

June 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Occupational health danger at Hanford nuclear facility

Workers … may develop chronic beryllium disease, an incurable and often debilitating lung disease, if they breath in fine particles of the metal

Hanford workers need more prevention against berylium disease, Yakima Herald By ANNETTE CARYTRI 3 June 2010, RICHLAND, Wash. — Hanford needs to do more to prevent chronic beryllium disease in its workers, moving more quickly and aggressively to implement a new protection program, according to the report on a three-month investigation released Wednesday. Continue reading →

June 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | Leave a comment

Oyster Creek nuclear plant ordered to clean up radioactive water leak

N.J. orders Oyster Creek nuclear plant to beef up water monitoring after leak, NJ.com, By Brian T. Murray/The Star-LedgerJune 03, 2010, he state Department of Environmental Protection invoked the state’s “Spill Act” today, ordering the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station to drill new test wells, increase monitoring on existing wells and review its data on tritium contamination around the Lacey Township plant. The tests are part of a new monitoring plan ordered by DEP Commissioner Bob Martin, who has been pushing Exelon Generation Co., the Illinois-based owner of the electrical generating facility, to expedite a cleanup of the tritium pollution discovered more than a year ago……. Continue reading →

June 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Vermont Yankee’s history of nuclear problems and radiation leaks

Latest leak at Vermont Yankee didn’t occur “overnight” | Vtdigger.org, by Anne Galloway on June 1, 2010, Vermont Yankee is leaking radioactive liquid again — two months after the first two leaks found at the plant in January were repaired.Larry Smith, spokesman for Vermont Yankee, made the announcement on Saturday.The original leaks of tritium, a radioactive isotope, were discovered at the 680-megawatt nuclear power plant in Vernon on Jan. 7.
The latest leak comes on the heels of other problems for the 38-year-old reactor on the banks of the Connecticut River. Continue reading →

June 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

No solution to ever-growing nuclear wastes

the intractability of the nuclear-waste problem confronting the power sector and the failure of policymakers to find a permanent solution.……the president and the energy secretary are looking to a new blue ribbon commission to recommend “a safe, long-term solution” to the waste problem

Solutions Remain Few on Issue of Nuclear- Waste Storage – Atomic Waste Gets ‘Temporary’ Home, WSJ.com, JUNE 1, 2010 By REBECCA SMITH Three months after the U.S. cancelled a plan to build a vast nuclear-waste repository in Nevada, the country’s ad hoc atomic-storage policy is becoming clear in places like Wiscasset, Maine. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Solar thin films promise cheaper, more efficient energy

to produce considerably more material a lot more rapidly and much more cost efficiently.

University of Illinois Scientists Show Us Little Known Techniques to Produce More Productive Solar panels, Original article for Antinuclear, by Shannon Combs, 2 June 2010, Although silicon is actually the market standard semiconductor in the majority of electronic devices, which includes the photovoltaic cells that photovoltaic panels use to transform sunshine into power, it is hardly the most efficient material readily available. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, solar | 1 Comment

U.S. govt in legal trouble over nuclear wastes

Solutions Remain Few on Issue of Nuclear- Waste Storage WSJ.com, JUNE 1, 2010 By REBECCA SMITH “……….Utilities have filed more than 70 lawsuits against the government accusing it of breach of contract because it hasn’t taken the waste. So far, $1.3 billion has been paid out. The Department of Justice estimates the liability will top $12 billion if a waste facility is not opened by 2020…….utilities continue to contribute $770 million a year to a Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for a permanent repository that now isn’t even on the drawing board.In April, a group of utilities sued the federal government, demanding that these storage fees be suspended. Ellen Ginsberg, general counsel of the Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade group, says, “We don’t want to pay any more fees until the government has a waste plan.”

Solutions Remain Few on Issue of Nuclear- Waste Storage – WSJ.com

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Thousands of tons of nuclear wastes in above ground casks

– Atomic Waste Gets ‘Temporary’ Home, WSJ.com, JUNE 1, 2010 By REBECCA SMITH “……Power companies are likely to rely on casks even more in coming years. About 80% of reactor sites in the U.S. intend to move used fuel to casks because their storage pools are filling up.

So far, more than 800 casks have been filled and they sit tucked away behind fences on reactor sites. They hold 14,000 metric tons of waste, an amount that is steadily growing. There is an additional 49,000 metric tons being held in spent-fuel pools, used fuel’s first stop after it leaves reactors. Each year, another 2,000 metric tons of nuclear reactor waste is created. Continue reading →