The nuclear retreat continues apace. Duke Energy has suspended its application for two new reactor units at its Shearon Harris site in North Carolina. The company said it saw no resource need for two new reactors based on the likely electricity needs of its customers for at least the next 15 years. Although Duke continues to pursue plans for new reactors at Levy, FL and Gaffney, SC it has no firm commitment to either plant.
Wednesday
May012013
More than 2,500 to call on NRC to revoke reactor licenses: Join May 2 call!
Representatives from 24 organizations from across the United States have petitioned the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to revoke the operating license of the General Electric Mark I and Mark II boiling water reactors like those at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear site in Japan. More than 2,500 co-petitioners are calling for the emergency closure. The NRC public meeting will be broadcast live in a webcast and toll-free telephone conference call by the agency on Thursday, May 2, 2013 from 1 to 3PM Eastern. “Anybody paying attention during the Fukushima disaster knows that if a nuclear accident happens here these same reactor designs very likely will not protect us from radiation releases,” said Paul Gunter, Director of the Reactor Oversight Project for Takoma Park, MD-based Beyond Nuclear. Read the full press release.
Monday
Apr292013
LA City Council tells NRC to put the brakes on San Onofre restart
A unanimous Los Angeles City Council has demanded the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conduct extended investigations before any restart at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Writes Harvey Wasserman: "On April 23, Los Angeles’ 11 city council members approved a resolution directing the NRC to “make no decision about restarting either San Onofre unit” until it conducts a “prudent, transparent and precautionary” investigation. The city wants “ample opportunity” for public comment and confirmation that “mandated repairs, replacements or other actions” have been completed to guarantee the public safety."
Remembering Chernobyl, 27 years on. "Life" in the exclusion zone.
"Most of the people who live in the villages around the Zone have diseases caused by radiation. Most of them are old, and their level of mortality is really high." So writes photographer, Arthur Bondar, based in Kiev, Ukraine, who started to visit Chernobyl in 2008, and has returned frequently in the past five years to photograph the villages and the people living near the exclusion zone. He found intense suffering and a resignation to the inevitable fate of living in a highly radioactive area. Read more and view Bondar's photos.
April 26, 2013
"Most of the people who live in the villages around the Zone have diseases caused by radiation. Most of them are old, and their level of mortality is really high." So writes photographer, Arthur Bondar, based in Kiev, Ukraine, who started to visit Chernobyl in 2008, and has returned frequently in the past five years to photograph the villages and the people living near the exclusion zone. He found intense suffering and a resignation to the inevitable fate of living in a highly radioactive area. Read more and view Bondar's photos.April 26, 2013
THE NUCLEAR NEWSREEL
May 3, 2013:
Massachusetts reaches solar power goal four years early; immediately sets new goal six times larger.
Hot News and Actions
April 26, 2013. 48 international organizations sign appeal to prevent uranium mining in Greenland.
April 25, 2013. Four Senators introduce "discussion draft" of major high-level radioactive waste bill. Includes "interim" storage which would unleash massive transport of radwaste across the country. The Senators also ask several questions for further discussion, and two propose accelerated "interim" storage. Link is to Senate Energy Committee site with draft and several related documents.
April 15, 2013. EPA dramatically weakening radiation protection. News release from NIRS & Committee to Bridge the Gap.
March 19, 2013. Rep. Markey blasts NRC Commissoners vote to delay filtered vents at GE reactors. Includes links to several documents Markey's office has produced.
March 11, 2013. VICTORY! CALVERT CLIFFS-3 LICENSE DENIED! For the first time in history, NRC Commissioners uphold denial of a construction/operating license! Commission order on Calvert Cliffs-3. NIRS statement on NRC decision.
TEPCO loses over 7 billion dollars in 2012
TEPCO announced on Tuesday that it had felt a group net loss of over $7 billion dollars in 2012, the third year running that the company has remained in the red. Utility officials…
Without permission to restart Unit 2 Edison may announce decision to decommission San Onofre by end of year
In 2013, Edison International has been focused on narrowing the uncertainties which surround the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station after a first-of-a-kind event shut down the nuclear reactors. The licensee submitted a plan…
NRC expanding social outreach efforts with new live chat next week
In 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum to executive agencies which outlined guidance for the use of social media to increase outreach efforts. In January 2011, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission launched its first…
Safe energy organizations heed former NRC chairman’s call to revoke operating licenses of nuclear reactors
At the 2013 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington, DC on April 8th and 9th, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko called for the phase out of all 103 operating reactors…
Germany to make nuclear power operators pay for nuclear waste repository
This week, German Environment Minister Peter Altmaier was interviewed by N24 television, when he said that German nuclear power operators will be forced to bear the estimated $2.6 billion dollar costs of dealing…
EDF plagued by financial problems which could derail Hinkley plans
A former energy advisor to the French government, Mycle Schneider, was being interviewed by BBC this week when he questioned the French utility EDF’s ability to build new nuclear power plants in Britain….
Japan’s nuclear power plants to be forced to assess risks from volcanoes
Japan, one of the most densely populated nations in the world, lies in a zone of extreme crustal instability named the Ring of Fire, where 90% of the world’s earthquakes and a large…
Japanese utilities face 1.2 trillion yen burden every year nuclear plants shut down
In Japan, a fierce debate is taking place over the future of the nation’s energy supply. Protests in Tokyo last July held more demonstrators than the 1960s protests against a security treaty with…
Plans for new nuclear plant construction scrapped
Tohoku Electric first announced plans to construct the Namie-Odaka nuclear power plant 10 kilometers north of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in 1968. After the proposed site was one of the areas…
Is Duke Energy taking a page from the TEPCO playbook?
There have been many flood-related concerns about the safety of nuclear power plants in the United States in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, documents released through the Freedom of Information…
NRC and Edison to discuss license amendment request for San Onofre Unit 2
On April 3rd, 2013, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and representatives from Southern California Edison will meet in Rockville, Maryland to discuss the utility’s plan to submit…
Impeached governor inked secret deal to construct fast breeder reactor
Former governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, Benigno R. Fitial stands alone in history as the first governor of any U.S. territory to be the subject of impeachment, but only the ninth United…
Watchdog experts evicted from post-Fukushima conferences
This week Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility attorney John Geesman, seismologist consultant Dr. Douglas Hamilton, and outreach coordinator David Weisman traveled to a three day workshop in Oakland, which was a part of the…
Atomic Energy of Canada nearly doubles nuclear liability estimate
Around the world, the costs of operating nuclear reactors are continuing to climb almost as much as the additional liability costs are. The Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd released a statement late Tuesday…
Edison holding San Onofre open house tonight in Oceanside
Officials from Southern California Edison’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station will host an open house on Thursday, March 21, from 4:30-7:30 pm at the Oceanside Public Library, 330 North Coast Highway, Oceanside, CA….
New assessment of San Onofre reactor shortens operational lifespan estimates
Today, Southern California Edison released a report conducted by Intertek APTECH that estimates it would be too risky to operate the Unit 2 reactor at full power for more than 11 months, which…
Japan’s post-Fukushima energy policy advisory board resumes discussions after purging members
In September 2012, after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Japan elected to support an energy policy which was designed to phase out nuclear power, after government polls in August had found nearly half…
Thoughts on nuclear power and nuclear weapons
With the second anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster this week, with North Korea having just threatened a “pre-emptive nuclear attack” against the United States and a U.S. senator saying this would…
Redacted version of Mitsubishi root cause analysis of San Onofre replacement steam generators released
This week, a redacted version of a root cause analysis performed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of the San Onfore Unit 2 and Unit 3 replacement steam generators was released publicly for the first…
San Onofre issues leave operators with no money and more problems
There have been a lot of questions asked over the last year about the future of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Generating Station, amidst a constant hailstorm of forward-looking (aka marketing 101) statements…
NRA says no to Japan’s nuclear reactor restart
This week on Monday, the head of AREVA, a French supplier of nuclear technology and fuel to Japan said that Japan would restart 6 reactors before the end of the year, and that…http://enformable.com/category/nuclear_news/
