MSNBC's Rachel Maddow reports on flood risks at Nebraska reactors

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has reported on the risks posed to the Fort Calhoun and Cooper atomic reactors in Nebraska by the historic flooding of the Missouri River. She also reports on the A.P. exposé about 3/4ths of U.S. reactors leaking tritium, and gives the latest news on the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe.

Arnie Gundersen warns a dam break on Missouri River upstream could be an "inland tsunami" for Ft. Calhoun atomic reactor in Nebraska

Image from http://www.cartoradiations.fr/Fort_Calhoun.phpIn a 36 minute long radio interview with Robert Knight of Pacifica Radio's "Five O'Clock Shadow" broadcast from WBAI in New York City, Fairewinds Associate's nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen (pictured at left) warned that a dam break upstream of Fort Calhoun, Nebraska could send a wall of water down the Missouri River, the water of which is already lapping at the edges of the nuclear power plant. Gundersen also translates from "Nukespeak" into plain English the Ft. Calhoun "event report" about a fire that cut power to cooling pumps in the high-level radioactive waste storage pool, resulting in the water's heat up at a rate of 2 degrees per hour. Eventually, the pool could have boiled dry, and the high-level radioactive waste could have caught on fire, had not the circulation pumps been restored. Pools are not considered safety significant by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, so backup power is not required. Also, pools are not located within a primary containment structure, so potentially catastrophic releases of radioactivity would be released directly into the environment.

Kevin Kamps to speak at Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch event against Oyster Creek, June 20

Oyster Creek atomic reactor, of the same Mark 1 General Electric Boiling Water Reactor design as Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch has invited Beyond Nuclear's Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Kevin Kamps, to speak at an event in Toms River, NJ on Monday, June 20th. Entitled "THE TRUTH ABOUT JAPAN IS BEING WITHHELD FROM OUR CITIZENS!", the meeting will take place at 7pm in the Ocean County Library's Mancini Hall at 101 Washington Street. Dr. Titus North, Executive Director of Citizen Power Pennsylvania, is also scheduled to speak. As conveyed on the Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch flyer promoting the event: 

"The truth about the Japan nuclear disaster is being withheld from our citizens.  Radiation from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is still leaking and spreading all over the globe.  This nuclear disaster has sparked legitimate fears about nuclear power. The Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant is the same flawed design as the failed Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. We need to have a voice in our energy policy."

For more information, contact Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch at Phone:  732-240-5107 or 732-818-0402, or contact Edith Gbur by email at gbur1@comcast.net 

Dave Brower's torchbearers warn against nuclear risks

David Brower, founder of FOE and Earth Island Institute.In their respective (and respected!) newsletters, both the Earth Island Institute and Friends of the Earth have quoted passages from their founder, David Brower, from decades ago, warning about the risks of nuclear power. The Arch Druid, as biographer John McPhee dubbed Brower, was an early and prominent voice against atomic energy. Another classic Brower quote: "Have fun saving the world, or you are just going to depress yourself."

"Reactor & Radioactivity Risks 101" by Dr. Gordon Edwards of CCNR

Dr. Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility in Montreal, Quebec -- the Canadian co-chair of Great Lakes United's Nuclear-Free/Green Energy Task Force -- gave the keynote presentation at the International Roundtable on Nuclear Threats to the Great Lakes and Transition to Safe, Clean Energy in Dearborn, Michigan on May 14th. Here is a YouTube video showing Dr. Edward's presentation.