Nuclear reprocessing does not belong in a Climate bill
STOP GLOBAL WARMING
Bill Fowlie
1 August 09
Some members of Congress think they have the answer to what to do with high-level radioactive waste: “reprocessing”. Nuclear reprocessing separates plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear reactor fuel. Supporters of this costly and dangerous technology want to add reprocessing provisions to the Senate climate bill that is planned to be debated this fall.Reprocessing would cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, undermine U.S. nonproliferation policy, pollute the environment, and threaten public health. According to the National Academy of Sciences, the cost of reprocessing existing spent fuel in the United States would total more than $500 billion.
The development of reprocessing technology in the US would make it harder to prevent other countries from pursuing this nuclear weapons technology. Moreover, reprocessing complicates the nuclear waste problem, rather than solves it. Reprocessing is the most polluting part of the nuclear fuel cycle and actually increases the amount of waste that must be managed.
Radiation danger to Denver Federal Center workers
Denver Federal Center workers may be putting health at risk
FOX 31 Heidi Hemmat KDVR Investigative ReporterJuly 30, 2009
“……………..Dean says many of his co-workers died of the same type of cancer.Dean believes the cancer was caused the contamination at his work site.
The Denver Federal Center used to be a burial ground for radioactive waste. Uranium, arsenic and other toxins are still present in the soil. The ground water is also radioactive and filled with the cancer causing chemical TCE.
But many of the workers there didn’t know about the hazardous waste until they saw our report on FOX 31 News……………..
FOX 31 medical analyst Doctor John Torres says the health risks of working in a contaminated environment are very real. He says long term exposure to TCE can cause, ” lung cancer, liver cancer, testicular and lymphoma.”
He also says arsenic and uranium can lead to heart problems, central nervous system issues, even death.
Denver Federal Center workers may be putting health at risk – KDVR
Nuclear plans hurting power companies’ credit ratings
FACING SOUTH 31 July 09
Power companies pursuing construction of new nuclear plants may find it harder to get credit — meaning ratepayers could end up shouldering a greater financial burden for the costly and environmentally harmful projects.Moody’s Investors Service, a leading independent credit rating firm, recently released a report that says it’s considering taking a “more negative view” of debt obligations issued by companies seeking to build new nuclear plants.
Titled “New Nuclear Generation: Ratings Pressure Increasing,” the report raises concerns that investing in new nuclear plants involves significant risks and huge capital costs at a time when national energy policy is uncertain. Yet companies investing in new nuclear projects — cost estimates for which are hovering in the $6 billion range — haven’t adjusted their finances accordingly, according to Moody’s:
‘Few, if any, of the issuers aspiring to build new nuclear power have meaningfully strengthened their balance sheets, and for several companies, key financial credit ratios have actually declined. Moreover, recent broad market turmoil calls into question whether new liquidity is even available to support such capital-intensive projects.’…………………………
The financing problems have already caused some companies to back away from nuclear projects. Earlier this month, AmerenUE announced that it was suspending plans to build a new reactor at its Callaway plant in Missouri. A factor was that state’s ban of “Construction Work in Progress,” a financing scheme that allows a nuclear utility to recover the construction costs of a reactor from ratepayers before the reactor is up and running.
California’s nuclear reactor “reliable”?
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS)…………… Reliability Questioned
Examiner.com by Shirley Vaine July 30, 2009
“…………the latest completed performance review by The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on March 4, 2009, for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS)……………the NRC was concerned that “the continuing performance problems are not being effectively addressed,…………..“
……………No one knows how long the reactor will be down even if the replacement goes perfect. Southern California could have an “unknown timetable” of a dismantled reactor …………….
The good news is that California has control over reliability and economics of our power generation, and these issues are not pre-empted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We already endured an “energy crisis” in 2000. Let’s plan not to have another one.An earthquake shut down Japan’s new nuclear reactors in 2007 and they are still down today, costing the company to buy power elsewhere to meet demand and costing the country billions of yen.
Not only is nuclear power financially unpredictable, the safety risk is an intrical part of that harmful fuel. Additional losses would also come from tourist avoiding visiting this potential health hazard area……”
America’s Secret Chernobyl – Uranium Mining & Pollution in the Upper Midwest
RUDSSELL MEANS FREEDOM July 27, 2009
“………………In northwestern South Dakota, the Cave Hills area is managed by the US Forest Service. The area currently contains 89 abandoned open-pit uranium mines. Studies by the USFS show that one mine alone has 1,400 millirems per hour (mR/hr) of exposed radiation, a level of radiation that is 120,000 times higher than normal background of 100 millirems per year (mR/yr)! In the southwestern Black Hills, the US Forest Service reported on 29 abandoned open-pit uranium mines, one of which is about 1 square mile in size.
It is estimated that more than 1,000 open-pit uranium mines and prospects can be found in the four state region from a map developed by the US Forest Service. The water runoff from the creeks and rivers near these abandoned uranium mines eventually empties into the Missouri River which empties into the Mississippi River…………………
This Fact Sheet regarding past and planned uranium and coal mining in the Upper Midwest region should give cause for alarm to all thinking people in the United States. This is the area that has been called “the Bread Basket of the World.” For more than forty years, the people of South Dakota and beyond have been subjected to radioactive polluted dust and water runoff from the hundreds of abandoned open pit uranium mines, processing sites, underground nuclear power stations, and waste dumps.
There needs to be a concerted effort to determine the extent of the radioactive pollution in the environment, and the health damage that has been and is currently being inflicted upon the people of the United States.
America’s Secret Chernobyl – Uranium Mining & Pollution in the Upper Midwest : Russell Means Freedom
Uranium contamination haunts Navajo country
THE NEW YORK TIMES by Luis Hipolito on 07/26/2009
“………….The legacy wrought from decades of uranium mining is long and painful here on the expansive reservation. Over the years, Navajo miners extracted some four million tons of uranium ore from the ground, much of it used by the United States government to make weapons.
Many miners died from radiation-related illnesses, and some, unaware of harmful health effects, hauled contaminated rocks and tailings from local mines and mills to build homes for their families.
Now, those homes are being demolished and rebuilt under a new government program that seeks to identify what are very likely dozens of uranium-contaminated structures still standing on Navajo land and to temporarily relocate people living in them until the homes can be torn down and rebuilt.
Stephen B. Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, and other tribal officials have been grappling for years with the environmental fallout from uranium mining.
“There were a lot of things people weren’t told about the plight of Navajos and uranium mining,” Mr. Etsitty said. “These legacy issues are impacting generations. At some point people are saying, ‘It’s got to end’”.
Perry nuclear plant reduces power
Perry nuclear plant reduces power
WKSU , July 24, 2009
The Perry Nuclear power plant east of Cleveland has reduced power to 37-percent. The plant is operated by FirstEnergy. Company spokesman Todd Schneider says employees found a leak in the system that controls the turbine and reduced power to make repair
The costs and risks of nuclear energy
The costs and risks of nuclear energy
Gainsville.com Diane Forkel 24 July 09 “……………….Progress Energy is looking ahead to increasing energy use. Their plans are to build two new nuclear power plants. However, electric customers beware, excessive cost overruns (and defects and deficiencies) at a Finnish power plant have been reported in the New York Times. If Progress Energy experiences similar problems, utility customers should brace for a double-cost whammy in their electric bills.
Nuclear power plants carry a good deal of financial risk, so the industry is heavily backed by the government. Currently, applications are being made for billions of dollars in loan guarantees, aka government bailouts. And they could end up being just that.
A Union of Concerned Scientist website notes in 1985 Forbes magazine called the nuclear industry bailout of that era “the largest managerial disaster in business history.”……………The nuclear power plant carbon footprint (CF) is also quite large. It encompasses plant construction, plant decommissioning, and construction of a huge waste storage facility, such as Yucca Mountain, and/or other additional storage facilities. I am sure new research buildings and experimental plants for nuke waste technological breakthroughs will also add to CF………………………..
Inexperience is also blamed for Areva’s costly nuclear power plant construction problems in Finland. Yet Areva has more experience than its U.S. counterparts in building nuclear facilities.
Areva’s costly construction issues are unnerving. Structural construction problems raise safety concerns. An accident at any nuclear facility could be devastating in terms of loss of live and long-term environmental damage.
I have to wonder if this country is adequately prepared to handle radiation fallout from a nuclear accident. And the financial burden of a nuclear accident, or even just a huge bailout, could cause the country’s soaring deficit to shatter and crash.
Waste storage is dark cloud over nuclear power industry |
Burlington Free Press By Crea Lintilhac • July 20, 2009 –
“……………decommissioning of civilian nuclear reactors has been performed only seven times in the industry’s 60-year history and there is a shortage of data to make projections. Moreover, in recent times, the decommissioning of Connecticut Yankee ran half a billion dollars over budget and Yankee Rowe of Massachusetts ran four times over the projected costs. Since the financial collapse, I think we all believe that forecasting our financial future is ever more challenging…….
…….The lack of a disposal site is the dark cloud hanging over the entire enterprise of nuclear power. Until a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel opens, existing spent fuel should be stored in dry casks; the 150-ton concrete and metal cylinders each holding 10 tons of spent fuel and placed at the 104 reactor sites throughout the U.S…………
…………here are some of the critical points about the dangers of reprocessing and why it’s not the way to go as a waste disposal solution. To “reprocess” spent fuel, different elements like plutonium, are separated so they can be used in new fuel. The problem is, separated plutonium can be readily used to make nuclear bombs…………..
……….The Ford administration, and later the Carter administration, concluded that reprocessing was both uneconomic and dangerous.
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……………..In June 29, President Obama decided to scrap nuclear reprocessing in the United States. It is an encouraging first step towards building an international consensus on reducing the threat from nuclear weapons.Even if no new reactors are built, it is estimated that by mid century, the amount of spent fuel will double………..……We have only a temporary solution with dry cask storage. In the meantime we should at least shut the faucet off and stop generating more waste for the sake of our children’s future.
Nuclear Title May Not Be Enough to Push Senate Climate Bill Over the Top –
Nuclear Title May Not Be Enough to Push Senate Climate Bill Over the Top The New York Times By KATHERINE LING Reporters Allison Winter, Alex Kaplun and Darren Samuelsohn contributed. 17 July 09 While supporters of nuclear energy ardently proclaim the power source is necessary to combat climate change, incentives for nuclear power may not be the silver bullet sponsors need to pass climate legislation in the Senate this year…………………………………The energy committee bill has several perks for nuclear energy including a Clean Energy Development Administration, training programs for nuclear education, and exclusion of new nuclear generation or capacity upgrades through efficiency at existing nuclear plants from the power sales baseline used to measure the renewable electricity standard (RE………………..The House climate bill, H.R. 2454 (pdf), also contains a Clean Energy Development Administration — although it prevents any technology from using more than 30 percent of total available funds. It also includes the exclusion of new nuclear generation from the power sales baseline used to calculate the RES………………………………..The underlying question for sponsors: If nuclear incentives are not enough to get undecided senators on board with cap and trade, what is the point of including them at all?…………………..The nuclear issue dominated much of the debate at a hearing on Tuesday………………………”What we are hopeful for in any climate bill are those provisions. One, the recognition of nuclear as a clean energy source so if someone has nuclear in their portfolio they should be recognized for that and, two, recognition that to move forward we are going to have to private-public partnership of government and private enterprise,” said Derrick Freeman, senior director, of NEI’s legislative programs.
Nuclear Title May Not Be Enough to Push Senate Climate Bill Over the Top – NYTimes.com
Sloppy work at Perry nuclear power plant concerns Nuclear Regulatory Commission –
Sloppy work at Perry nuclear power plant concerns Nuclear Regulatory Commission CLEVELAND.COM July 18, 2009 John Funk Plain Dealer Reporter
“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is concerned about sloppy workmanship and employee inattention to detail at the Perry nuclear power plant.The NRC wants plant owner FirstEnergy Corp. to explain how it plans to correct these problems……………………..orkers have continued to make small mistakes on routine, day-to-day jobs, in a number of unrelated areas.
Such mistakes are not in themselves a safety concern, but they are often the first signs at a nuclear plant that the culture of “safety first” is eroding and attention to safety is slipping……………..”
Sloppy work at Perry nuclear power plant concerns Nuclear Regulatory Commission – Cleveland.com
Too hot for nuke power
Too hot for nuke power Deseret News 16 July 09
Proponents of nuclear power in Utah probably have not noticed an article in the UK Times (July 13, 2009) regarding the problems France is having with its nuclear-power plants, problems that bear on the feasibility of nuclear power in Utah.France is in the grips of another hot summer, with air temperatures in the 80s. Water temperatures have exceeded the limits under which plants cooled by river water can safely operate.As a result of the heat, France has had to reduce power generation by one-third and is now importing power from England. Much the same thing happened during the heat wave of 2003.
Reading this, I couldn’t help thinking about the nuclear plant proposed for Green River, where summer temperatures are regularly in high 90s. T
he water temperature of the Green River at Jensen on July 13, 2009, was 23.5 degrees Celsius, almost as high as the maximum allowed for water returned to rivers from France’s nuclear plants. During the drought of 1999-2005, Green River water temperatures reached 25.4 degrees.
As the earth warms, high river temperatures will become commonplace. Nuclear plants, especially those dependent on rivers, will become untenable. Utah should avoid this boondoggle now.
Navajos mark 30th anniversary of uranium spill
Navajos mark 30th anniversary of uranium spill
By SUE MAJOR HOLMES (AP) – CHURCH ROCK, N.M. —
The leader of the Navajo Nation marked the 30th anniversary of a massive uranium tailings spill by reaffirming the tribe’s ban on future uranium mining.Speaking in Navajo and English, President Joe Shirley Jr. addressed about 100 people who made a seven-mile walk Thursday to the site of the July 16, 1979 spill and to the land of Navajo ranchers who live near another contaminated site.
What Shirley called “the largest peacetime accidental release of radioactive contaminated materials in the history of the United States” occurred when 94 million gallons of acidic water poured into the north fork of the Rio Puerco after an earthen uranium tailings dam failed.Within days, contaminated tailings liquid was found 50 miles downstream in Arizona.
Shirley said the spill — the same year as the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania — barely registered on the consciousness of the United States but will not be forgotten by the by Navajo and non-Navajo residents “who still worry today about the potential impacts of this tragic accident.
“It also helped mobilize the effort that resulted in the Navajo Nation’s 2005 ban on uranium mining and processing until adverse economic, environmental and human health effects from past uranium activities are eliminated or substantially reduced to the satisfaction of the Navajo Nation Council, Shirley said.”We will stand our ground until the terms of the Dine (Navajo) Natural Resources Protection Act are met,” he said……………
………Shirley said decades of mining activity in the Church Rock area “contributed more radioactivity than the spill did,” adding to the difficulty of tracking the effects of uranium mining and milling and discharges over a long period of time.
The Associated Press: Navajos mark 30th anniversary of uranium spill
Alarming increase in Thyroid Cancer
Alarming increase in Thyroid Cancer Doctors advise ‘check your neck’ 12 News 14 July 09 by Jill Hanks – Jul. 13, 2009 04:50 PM12 NewsThyroid cancer rates have increased more than 6 percent per year over the last decade, making it the fastest-increasing cancer in the U.S. But experts aren’t sure why…………….
……………Women are much more likely than men to develop thyroid problems, according to Dr. Verso and they are also three times more likely to develop thyroid cancer.
Uranium mining and Indian country
Uranium Mining and Indian Country Native America Discovered and Conquered , Robert J. Miller, 6 July 09 For some “strange” reason, over 50% of the uranium mined in the U.S. has been taken from Indian lands. This has led to numerous problems and claims of cancers and deaths, most notably on the Navajo Nation Reservation.A recent story shows that this problem extends to many other reservations.“A report from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry warns members of the Spokane Tribe of Washington not to hunt, fish or gather medicinal plants near a defunct uranium mine.The report also said tribal members shouldn’t use water from the Blue Creek due to contamination from the old Midnite Mine. People who go near the site shouldn’t stay more than an houri in order to limit exposure to radiation, the agency said.
Native America, Discovered and Conquered » Blog Archive » Uranium mining and Indian country
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19 November – Webinar – The Reality of Reprocessing
Time: 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada) / 2:00 PM Eastern / 7:00 PM UK / 8:00 PM CET
Register for the Zoom Event Here
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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