An op-ed has been published by Crain's, written by Dave Lundy, director of the Best Coalition. Best Coalition is described as a diverse group of consumer, business and energy interests.
In another retreat on the nuclear power front, Vietnam has decided to abandon plans to pursue nuclear power in that country. Meanwhile, just days later, South Africa announced it would delay plans to develop nuclear power. Both countries had deals with Russia's Rosatom, while Vietnam was also looking to Japan for contracts. A South African-German-Japanese delegation that traveled to Vietnam was instrumental in providing information to the government there which resulted in the cancelation of nuclear plans. Tellingly, it was the first time officials there had ever heard contrary positions (read: "facts") to nuclear promotion. One member, South African economist, David Fig, has written about that development and the lessons there for South Africa and other countries with large rural populations lacking electricity infrastructure and means. Read more.
On Nov. 22nd, Diane Curran of Washington, D.C. and Terry Lodge of Toledo, OH -- legal counsel for an environmental coalition that includes Beyond Nuclear -- filed a motion in the Washington, D.C. federal district court, entitled MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND PLAINTIFFS' CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (see corrected version, dated Nov. 29, 2016).
Dr. Gordon Edwards (Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility) and Dr. Marvin Resnikoff (Radioactive Waste Management Associates) provided expert declarations in support of the coalition's case (click on links at their respective names, above, to see the declarations).
In short, Dr. Edwards testified that a mere couple of ounces, out of just one of the 150 shipments, could radioactively contaminate the massive Georgetown Reservoir, the drinking water supply for the District of Columbia, at very unsafe levels, rendering it unsafe to drink. Dr. Resnikoff testified that the woefully inadequate standards for seals, valves, and O-rings on the jury-rigged shipping containers risks failure and leakage, even in the event of a below-design basis fire temperature and duration.
This is the latest filing in the environmental coalition's challenge against the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) unprecedented scheme to truck highly radioactive liquid wastes. 100 to 150 high-risk truck shipments -- from Chalk River Nuclear Lab, Ontario, Canada to Savannah River Site, South Carolina, U.S.A., more than a thousand miles -- could begin as soon as mid-February, 2017 if the DOE gets its way, and the legal appeal dismissed. The most likely border crossing points include Buffalo and Thousand Island, NY, although DOE is keeping routes and timing secret under a cloak of security.
As reported by Gregg Levine and Caroline Preston in The New Yorker.
The article quotes Beyond Nuclear: One option is consolidated interim storage. Under this plan, the spent fuel would be moved from plants in thirty states to a handful of regional, aboveground storage facilities—what Kevin Kamps, a waste specialist at the watchdog Beyond Nuclear, has called “parking-lot dumps.”
A march through downtown Johannesburg drew several thousand on November 18, 2016. Organized by Earthlife Africa and the Nuclear-Free Future Awards, Beyond Nuclear also participated (along with Awards events and in leading the Think Nuclear-Free Symposium at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.) Below are several consecutive snippets characteristic of the rally. Several days later the South African government opted to delay plans to build nuclear power plants in that country.
December 6, 2016