Proposed new reactor at Nine Mile Point in Upstate New York officially cancelled!

NRC file photo of Nine Mile PointNRC file photo of FitzPatrickAs documented in the Federal Register, the French Areva EPR ("Evolutionary Power Reactor") targeted at the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant site in Upstate New York, on the Lake Ontario shore, has been officially cancelled.

The location is already heavily burdened by the presence of Nine Mile Point Units 1 & 2, as well as the FitzPatrick atomic reactor. Nine Mile Point Unit 1 and FitzPatrick are General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4. Nine Mile Point Unit 2 is a Mark II, very similar in design to Fukushima Daiichi. Lake Ontario serves as the drinking water supply for many millions of people in New York, Ontario (including Canada's largest city, Toronto), and a large number of Native American/First Nations.

How close are you to a Mark I or II?

This online mapping program by ESRI can tell you your proximity to the nearest atomic reactors. Just allow the program to utilize your current location, or type in any address in the Lower 48, and find out!

This program was included in March 10, 2014 NBC News coverage of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe's 3-year mark, in an article entitled "U.S. Nuclear Agency Hid Concerns, Hailed Safety Record as Fukushima Meltded" by investigative reporter Bill Dedman.

There are 23 GE BWR Mark Is operating in the U.S., and 3 Mark IIs. The former are identical in design to Units 1 to 4 at Fukushima Daiichi, while the latter are very similar in design. Use this program to see if an address you care about is close to one or more Mark Is or IIs, and help us "Freeze Our Fukushimas"!

Statement by The Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance regarding the PSB's decision to grant a Certificate of Public Good to Vermont Yankee

Vermont Yankee is a GE BWR Mark I, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement by The Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance regarding the PSB's decision to grant a Certificate of Public Good to Vermont Yankee

April 1, 2014

The Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance has been working to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant for over 40 years.   The decision on Friday, March 28, 2014 by the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) moves us a significant step closer to the closure of Vermont Yankee and the beginning of its decommissioning. 

We commend the PSB for addressing Entergy’s history of untrustworthiness.   Additionally, the PSB addressed some of our concerns regarding Entergy by over-ruling a number of Entergy’s remaining objections.  The PSB rejected Entergy’s claims for full federal preemption citing a US Supreme Court precedent and asserted dual jurisdiction over areas not involving radiological safety.

We appreciate that by granting the Certificate Public Good (CPG) conditioned on the Memorandum of Understanding negotiated by the state and Entergy the PSB expects Entergy to live up to the commitments signed in the settlement with the state of Vermont.  Our concerns remain the expedited transfer of the dangerous, irradiated spent fuel rods from the pool into dry cask storage; protection of the workers and the community throughout the decommissioning process; continued thermal discharge into the Connecticut River; the creation of a citizen’s advisory board and finally, the shortfall of decommissioning funds.

We are thankful to all the intervening parties and citizen activists who persevered through decades of struggle to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. We continue to be wary of Entergy Nuclear.  Though we are in new stage of endeavor, there remains a critical need for continued public vigilance for a safe, thorough and responsible decommissioning process leading to the final restoration of the site.

Thom Hartmann quotes Beyond Nuclear on need to "Freeze Our Fukushimas!"

On his radio show, Thom Hartmann quoted Beyond Nuclear on the 23 identical twins to Fukushima Daiichi (General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors) operating in the U.S., and the additional 8 similarly designed reactors across this country (Mark IIs). Beyond Nuclear staff are frequent guests on Thom's radio and television programs.

Hartmann referred to an exposé by NBC News on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's numerous cover-ups in the initial days of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, unearthed via the Freedom of Information Act. The exposé, entitled "U.S. Nuclear Agency Hid Concerns, Hailed Safety Record as Fukushima Melted," by investigative reporter Bill Dedman, was published on the eve of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe's three-year mark.

Here is Thom Hartmann's observations, from the transcript:

Thom Hartmann here - on the best of the rest of....science & green news.....

You need to know this. Last week marked the third anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. And, recently released documents show that since then, our nuclear regulators have been playing down the risk of a similar incident happening in the U.S. Emails obtained via a Freedom of Information Request show that the higher-ups at the Nuclear Regulatory Agency told staff to hide information from reporters, to keep quiet about NRC scientists studying risk at US plants, and to change the subject when media asked what a worst-case scenario in our country could look like. At the very same time they were down-playing the risk to Americans, experts at the agency were questioning U.S. safety standards and feverishly working to determine if the NRC needed to implement new rules for nuclear plants in our nation. According to nuclear experts, rules aren't enough to prevent a disaster like Fukushima from happening in the U.S. Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear pointed out that there are 23 nuclear plants in our nation that have exact replicas of the nuclear reactor at Fukushima Daiichi, and eight other reactors are similarly designed. These plants, and many others, won't suddenly be safe if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission institutes a few weak regulations. Our regulators and lawmakers seemed to have learned nothing from Fukushima except how to hide the risk of a similar disaster. It's time that regulators own up to the real dangers of nuclear energy, and it's time that Americans stand up and say "No Nukes."

NRC rejects environmental coalition emergency enforcement petition calling for shutdown of GE BWR Mark Is and IIs

On March 27, 2014 -- the eve of the 35-year mark on TMI's meltdown -- NRC issued "G20130229 - 2206 Petition Closure Letter Re Revoke Operating License for General Electric Mark I and Mark II Boiling Water Reactors." The closure letter is stored on NRC's ADAMS system under ADAMS Accession No.: ML13338A612.

The NRC closure letter rejects an environmental coalition's -- led by Beyond Nuclear's Reactor Oversight Project Director, Paul Gunter -- emergency enforcement petition from March 2013 seeking the immediate shutdown of GE BWR Mark Is and IIs, of which the US has 23 and 8, respectively, still operating. Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4 were Mark Is, but Mark IIs are also very similarly designed.