Beyond Nuclear thankful for indefinite delay on Great Lakes nuclear waste dump, vows to redouble efforts to nip the "DUD" in the bud

The Great Lakes serve as the drinking water supply for 40 million people in eight U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations.The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Canada's federal Environment Minister, has announced a major delay in the approval process for Ontario Power Generation's request to construct and operate a radioactive waste dump on the shoreline of the Great Lakes. Previously, Minister McKenna had set a March 1st deadline for making the final decision on whether or not to endorse a Joint Review Panel Environmental Assessment Report recommendation to allow the DGR (Deep Geologic Repository) to proceed, despite the high risks and countless uncertainties. Minister McKenna has ordered OPG to provide an estimate, by April 18th, as to how long it will need to provide the extensive additional information requested. The consequent delay in this proceeding could prove lengthy.

Beyond Nuclear, which has long helped lead the growing international national grassroots environmental opposition to the dump (which we prefer to call the DUD -- for Deep Underground Dump -- a phrase coined by Dave Martin of Greenpeace Canada), welcomed the announced delay. Beyond Nuclear released this response to Minister McKenna's announcement.

However, our coalition must remain vigilant, and use this opportunity to stop the DUD once and for all. And then move on to deepening and expanding our work to address the many other radioactive risks faced by the Great Lakes, including at the targeted DUD site itself: the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, the largest nuclear power plant on Earth, in terms of number of reactors. More.

TVA will declare two unfinished Bellefonte reactors "surplus"

After withdrawing last Friday its license application for planned reactors 3 and 4 at its Bellefonte, AL site, TVA has now abandoned the two incomplete reactors there, Bellefonte 1 and 2.  The Tennessee Valley Authority has announced it will consider "declaring as surplus and entertaining the sale of the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant site." Bellefonte 1 and 2 began construction more than 40 years ago until the project was halted in 1988 after squandering $4.6 billion.  TVA also holds the record for the longest reactor construction time at Watts Bar 2, which, if the reactor is indeed started this summer, will have taken 43 years from start to finish.

Alabama abandons two planned reactors

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy reports that plans to build two new reactors in Alabama, at Bellefonte have been abandoned.   The decision to ditch two AP1000 "new" reactors comes as nuclear energy becomes an ever less appealing financial option and as renewable energy soars.

The SACE press release reads:

"Dealing yet another blow to the nuclear power industry, today the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) finally announced they were abandoning plans to build two new Toshiba-Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors at their Bellefonte site in Hollywood, Alabama. The utility will file a motion with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) to withdraw their combined operating license application (COL), which they had originally filed in October 2007."

Perhaps TVA did not fail to notice the ballooning costs at two other reactor construction sites in the South. As the SACE press release pointed out:

"While the costs of solar, wind and energy efficiency have plummeted in recent years, costs for new nuclear reactors have skyrocketed. In the U.S. the four under-construction AP1000 reactors (two at Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle in Georgia and two at SCANA’s V.C. Summer plant in South Carolina) have experienced massive cost overruns and significant construction delays. Both projects are at least 39-months delayed. Recent developments before the Georgia Public Service Commission have led to total estimated project costs increasing from approximately $14 billion in 2009 to nearly $22 billion.  Read the full press release.

Mum's the word as radioactive leak at Indian Point gets worse

Entergy’s Indian Point nuclear power plant at Buchanan, NY is leaking more radioactive tritium at higher concentrations into groundwater draining into the Hudson River. Failure of a sump pump needed for filtering radioactivity in contaminated water accumulated from a refueling outage is believed to be the cause of this latest spill picked up in three onsite monitoring wells next to Unit 2. 

The depth, breadth and flow rate of the underground contaminated plume remains unknown. One monitoring well (MW-32), which is 57 feet deep, first tested positive for high levels of tritium, radioactive hydrogen, at 8 million picoCuries per liter (pCi/L). In a press release, Entergy “voluntarily” admitted that a more recent follow-up test for tritium has now increased by 80%. Beyond Nuclear badgered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for more transparency to find that tritium levels in three monitoring wells have soared.  Tritium concentrations  have risen in MW-30 from 1.5 million pCi/L to 2.7 million pCi/L, MW-31 from 38,100 pCi/L to 9.5 million pCi/L and MW-32 is now 14.8 million pCi/L.  

But "voluntary" compliance automatically ducks reliable reporting, federal regulations and enforcement action.

Beyond Nuclear repeatedly called NRC for two days. Entergy publicly posted a dismissive, detailess Event Notification to the NRC website that they "voluntarily" neglected to post when the tritium leak was first detected nearly a week earlier. Entergy's account is more evidence of the inconsistency and non-transparency to be expected of voluntary reporting of corporate pollution. Contaminated groundwater is flowing offsite into the Hudson River where according to the NRC and the nuclear power company dilution is the solution to pollution. Actually, its more a cheap substitute for compliance with the federal licensing agreement to control and monitor all radioactive effluent pathways to the environment.

Uncontrolled releases of radioactive effluent through unmonitored pathways into the environment are violations, albeit unenforced, of NRC’s “minimum requirements” and performance criteria (GDC 60 & 64) stipulated in Entergy’s operating licensing agreement. This most recent radioactive leak is more evidence of deteriorating systems where Entergy has lost control of the radioactive effluent coursing through reactor buildings and migrating offsite into the river. Of equal concern, the NRC has abdicated its regulatory authority to nuclear industry's “voluntary initiative” (aka the Groundwater Protection Initiative). Once again, Indian Point's leaks are just the latest demonstration of an errosion in public health oversight and the control and monitoring of radioactive water to “Nuclear Regulatory Capture.”

Take action to stop the Great Lakes nuclear waste dump!

Visit Stop the Great Lake Nuclear Dump's website at www.stopthegreatlakesnucleardump.comPlease act ASAP. Canada's Environment Minister has announced a decision by March 1st at the latest, on whether or not to proceed with a radioactive waste dump on the Great Lakes shore -- drinking water supply for 40 million people in eight U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations. She could act at any time, and is certainly formulating her decision as we speak, so please act right away!

Write to Canada's Prime Minister and Environment Minister, respectively: Justin.Trudeau@parl.gc.ca & Catherine.McKenna@parl.gc.ca. (yes, even if you are American!)

Urge them to decide NO! on Ontario Power Generation's proposed Deep Geologic Repository for radioactive waste on the Great Lakes shore! More.