False assumptions behind U.S. 10 mile emergency evacuation zones

In a June 5th video posted at the Updates section of the Fairewinds Associates website, nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen explains how false assumptions and speculations by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission undermine the adequacy of current 10 mile emergency evacuation zones around U.S. atomic reactors. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe has shown clearly that NRC's assumptions are overly optimistic. In fact, NRC -- followed by the White House and State Department -- instructed Americans in Japan to evacuate at least 50 miles away from the triple meltdown, pool fire(s), and explosions.

Doug Guarino wins awards for exposing lack of plan and funding for clean up after nuclear accident in U.S.

Inside EPA's Doug Guarino has won a set of awards from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)-Washington Dateline for his series of articles that show how EPA and other government agencies still lack clear policies for how to address the risks of radiation from nuclear power plants and other sources, decades after construction of the first reactors. At the SPJ awards ceremony June 14, Doug not only won first prize in SPJ's newsletter category for which he had been nominated, but he was also selected at the judge's discretion for SPJ's Robert D.G. Lewis Watchdog Award, which is awarded for an entry "that best exemplifies journalism aimed at protecting the public from abuses by those who would betray the public trust." Read both award winning stories here, including the Nov. 10, 2010 "Agencies Struggle to Craft Offsite Cleanup Plan for Nuclear Power Accidents."

Update on June 29, 2011 by admin

Beyond Nuclear board of directors member Kay Drey in St. Louis, Missouri, has written Doug Guarino to congratulate him on his awards. She wrote "As an example of your journalistic excellent, your three articles on West Lake Landfill here in St. Louis were absolutely basic in alerting our political leaders to the hazards and history of the radioactive wastes that were illegally dumped into the Missouri River's urban floodplain back in 1973." Kay has long watchdogged the West Lake Landfill and the Belgian Congo uranium tailings from the Manhattan Project dumped there. That radioactive waste dump is now again at risk, given the historic flooding happening on the Missouri River.

Vermont Yankee donates emergency alert radios to residents of Brattleboro

Entergy Nuclear, whose Vermont Yankee atomic reactor in Vernon is just six miles away, has donated over 500 emergency alert radios to the residents of Brattleboro, the town's newspaper has reported. The article focuses on weather and traffic related emergencies, but does not report if the systems would also work to alert residents to a radiological emergency involving the Vermont Yankee atomic reactor or its over 600 tons of stored high-level radioactive waste.

Can multiple disasters at the same time be prepared for?

NHK public broadcasting in Japan has reported that the International Atomic Energy Agency has found, to no one's surprise, that the March 11th earthquake and tsunami greatly complicated emergency response at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Examples included blocked roads, destroyed communications systems, and government officials distracted by the competing demands of the natural disaster. Of course, it is fair to say that the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe diverted vitally needed resources from rescue and recovery efforts in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami as well -- as true on March 11th as it still is now, three months later. Not mentioned in the news report, but very significant: the possibility of multiple, simultaneous nuclear disasters at the same plant site, and the complications created by radioactivity releases from one reactor unit or high-level radioactive waste storage pool for efforts to maintain adequate cooling on other reactors and pools, to prevent yet more radioactivity releases. 

Inside EPA: "Agencies Struggle to Craft Offsite Cleanup Plan for Nuclear Power Accidents"

On Nov. 10th, Inside EPA's Douglas Guarino broke the story "Agencies Struggle to Craft Offsite Cleanup Plan for Nuclear Power Accidents." It revealed that NRC, EPA, and FEMA disagree about which agency would be responsible for long term cleanup after a major radiation release, and where the funding to do so would come from. Due to the heightened interest surrounding this story, Inside EPA has made the article, including embedded links to the corresponding FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) response documents, available to non-subscribers via the above link.