Still time to say 'no' to radioactive waste from Germany

The public comment period for submitting comments to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on a proposed plan to import radioactive waste from Germany has been extended to January18 from December 30. Salt Lake City-based Energy Solutions, Inc., wants to incinerate German nuclear waste at its Tennessee plant, then ship incinerator ash back to Germany. Incineration can release contaminants into the air that are difficult or impossible to capture in filters including tritium and mercury. Please sign the petition opposing this plan today! And send your written comments to the NRC: Office of the Secretary, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications.

Texas judge halts radioactive waste dump expansion, for now

Will the Lone Star State become the Lone Radioactivity Warning Symbol State?A Texas judge has granted environmentalists a last minute temporary restraining order against a vote by the Texas-Vermont "low" level radioactive waste dump commission that could replace the Lone Star on the state's flag with a Lone Radiation Symbol, opening the state to radioactive wastes from 36 additional states. The vote is being rushed by dump proponents in order to lock in approval of the dump's expansion before the new Governor of Vermont, Peter Shumlin, a Democrat calling for Vermont Yankee's shut down, can appoint new Vermont Commissioners to the panel to represent his opposition to the plan. If approved, Waste Control Specialists' (WCS) dump, on the Texas/New Mexico border very near the new LES/Urenco uranium enrichment facility in New Mexico, would replace the Barnwell, South Carolina national "low" level radioactive waste dump. Barnwell's closure to wastes from all but South Carolina, New Jersey, and Connecticut on July 1, 2008 has meant that most "low" level radioactive wastes in 36 additional states have had nowhere to go, and have piled up at reactor sites. WCS is owned by a Dallas billionaire infamous for his political donations in Texas.

Victory, for now: Bruce Power postpones radioactive steam generator shipment till next spring

The Owens Sound, Ontario Sun Times reports that Bruce Power has decided to postpone its proposed shipment of 16 school bus sized, 100 ton radioactive steam generators until the spring. This represents a huge grassroots environmental victory. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission had planned to simply rubberstamp the risky proposal several months ago, until a groundswell of resistance in the U.S., Canada, and numerous Native American First Nations put the brakes on! See Beyond Nuclear's Canada website section for more detailed information.

Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative submits powerful comments to CNSC opposing radioactive waste shipment

GLSLCI's logo.As announced in a media release, on November 22nd, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (GLSLCI), a binational coalition of over 70 mayors from Quebec, Ontario and the eight Great Lakes States who work to protect, restore and promote the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence, submitted strong comments to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in opposition to Bruce Power's application for a permit to ship 16 radioactive steam generators from Ontario to Sweden via the Great Lakes, connecting rivers, and the Atlantic Ocean for so-called "recycling" into consumer products. Additional information, including earlier submissions by GLSLCI to CNSC, are posted at GLSLCI's website.

GLSLCI's major conclusions are: an accident with this proposed shipment has the potential to exceed Canadian federal standards for radioactivity in drinking water; the proposed shipment exceeds the international allowable safety limits for total amount of radioactivity on a single ship; the environmental review is flawed; the continued difficulty in estimating the radioactivity of the shipment is cause for reevaluation and caution; the public participation process is flawed; emergency preparedness measures need several additions and upgrades to better respond to local conditions; the apparent reversal of burden of proof on environmental safety continues, whereby, ironically, CNSC staff appears to be taking the lead in defending the shipment proposal's merit and safety, rather than Bruce Power; the test of "equivalent safety" in light of the various international safety exemptions requested does not seem to have been met; this proposed shipment is not routine, it appears to be setting the Canadian precedent for the transport, export and processing of used radioactive equipment on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence. GLSLCI's ultimate conclusion is that, "Taken together, the above conclusions suggest that the environmental impacts continue to be underestimated, the process has been flawed, the shipment presents a precedent and that the original and revised reports fail to provide and present adequate information to enable the CNSC to render an informed decision on whether or not to allow the Bruce Power shipment to proceed," leading it to urge the CNSC to not approve the shipment.

U.S. Senators Levin and Stabenow thanked for defending Great Lakes

U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie StabenowBeyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps has thanked U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow (Democrats from Michigan) for defending the Great Lakes against radioactive waste shipping risks in an op-ed published today in the Muskegon Chronicle. Although the Canadian radioactive steam generator shipment at issue would not ply the waters of Lake Michigan (it would originate in Ontario and travel eastward), the Port of Muskegon itself has been targeted by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, under its Yucca Mountain, Nevada dump plan, for barge shipments of high-level radioactive waste. The irradiated nuclear fuel would have been shipped from Palisades nuclear power plant, on the waters of Lake Michigan, to Muskegon for loading onto a train. In 2002, Sen. Stabenow voted against the Yucca dump due in part to this risky proposal. In 2009, President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu cancelled the Yucca dump.