HALEU IN PORTSMOUTH, OH? Nuclear weapons proliferation and other grave risks!

U.S. Department of Energy info. graphic on HALEU. For legible size, see link in web post.The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is poised to forego a more comprehensive National Environmental Policy Act review of American Centrifuge Plant/Centrus's scheme to generate High Assay Low Enriched Uranium in Portsmouth, OH, containing up to nearly 20% Uranium-235, considered weapons-grade. This HALEU "demonstration" is intended for use in so-called Small Modular Reactors or other "advanced" designs, by both the military and commercial nuclear power industry, both domestically and overseas. However, Tom Clements of Savannah River Site Watch alerted Ohio Nuclear Free Network legal counsel Terry Lodge of Toledo, who, along with 104 endorsing groups, has demanded NRC undertake a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, to address the scheme's grave proliferation, security, safety, health, and environmental risks.

READ MORE

PSR WI petitions to intervene and requests hearing in opposition to NextEra Energy Point Beach's 80-year operating license application

Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant, NRC file photo.Petition for Leave to Intervene and Request for an Adjudicatory Hearing, filed by attorney Terry Lodge of Toledo, Ohio, on behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility Wisconsin (PSR WI).

The NextEra Energy Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant Atomic Reactor Units 1 and 2 are located in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, on the Lake Michigan shoreline (see photo, left).

Accompanying the petition and request were expert witness declarations:

Declaration of Arnold Gundersen, M.E., Nuclear Engineering, Chief Engineer, Fairewinds Associates, Inc.;

Declaration of Alvin Compaan, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Physics at University of Toledo, and President of Lucintech, Inc.;

Declaration of Mark Cooper, Ph.D., Senior Fellow for Economic Analysis at the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School, and Director of Research at the Consumer Federation of America.

See PSR WI's press release, here.

As New Report Warns of Rising Threat of Domestic Terrorism, What About the Nuclear Risks?

As reported by the New York Times: President Biden requested the intelligence community complete the assessment shortly after taking office, and his administration has made fighting domestic terrorism a priority.

University of Chicago Professor Kathleen Belew has warned, on C-SPAN's "Q&A," that far right, white supremacist extremists and Neo-Nazis have threatened in the recent past to attack nuclear power plants in order to unleash catastrophic mass casualty events. See the C-SPAN "Q&A" interview with Belew, here.

Belew is referring to the domestic terrorist group, Atomwaffen Division. Atomwaffen means nuclear weapons in German. See the PBS Frontline special "Documenting Hate: New American Nazis," that aired on Nov. 20, 2018. It documents an apparently disrupted Atomwaffen Division plot to attack the Turkey Point nuclear power plant in southern Florida.

Protecting our Earth -- Citizens Resistance at Fermi Two (CRAFT) Fukushima 10-year commemoration

Fermi 2, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission file photo.Beyond Nuclear's radioactive waste specialist, Kevin Kamps, was honored and privileged to make a presentation at a very moving Fukushima commemoration on March 11th, focused on the largest twin design reactor in the world, Fermi Unit 2 (a General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactor, almost as large as Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 and 2 put together). Following is a March 16th follow-up message from the event organizer, Jesse Deer In Water of CRAFT, starting just beneath their beautiful logo.

Fermi 2 is located on the Lake Erie shore in southeastern Michigan (see photo, left). CRAFT has been a grassroots watchdog on Fermi 2 for several decades.

Kevin's slides would not show during his presentation, unfortunately, due to a technical glitch. But here are the slides, posted online, along with brief notes for each slide (as they were meant to be explained verbally).

Dear Old Friends and New Family,

From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank all the folks who made it to our March 11th event for taking the time from your personal lives to share digital space with us during such a special time. We'd also like to invite the rest of you to share in the blessing by checking out the video of the event and/or the presenters. We set intentions to be serious and honor the earth while uplifting the stories of our speakers in a good way. For years CRAFT has been putting in the work, while honoring earth and people, and we intend on continuing that tradition. We also would like to extend an arm of gratitude to all who contributed their efforts and energy to putting the event together, as well as the speakers, and musicians. These are the folks that helped make this moment so special and moving.

We're excited to share this recording of the event and info on the speakers and musicians that stepped up with us. We'd love for y'all to keep up with the work. Below, we're also sharing some really easy and digestible info for you to remember about the Fermi 2 facility and share if you would like.

I don't know how much I can thank you all for being a part of our work and we welcome you to the whole.

Many Wados! (thanks)

Jesse Deer In Water 

CRAFT

1) No Extended Licenses for Aging Dangerous Reactors (Like Fermi 2)

the wear and tear on the reactor leads to it degrading and becoming more unstable, and waste is piling up in the waste pool while the pools themselves contunue to degrade as well. terms- "EMBRITTLEMENT" and "REACTOR FATIGUE"

2) Secure the Radioactive Waste at Sites Like Fermi 2 (they have these densely packed spent fuel ponds which are degrading)

last year CRAFT intervened in this issue last year, there was "neutron absorbing material"(which keeps the waste stable) degrading and losing its abilities, and dte was supposed to remove and replace it in a license condition but filed to leave it in place and cover it up, we were denied, not because we were wrong, but because we didn't have the factual law that dte broke, it sucked because they were literally writing the law in this case.

3) No New Nukes

as old nuke tech begins to fade and renewable tech begins to come more to light, the nuke industry scrambles to keep a horse in the race. the small modular reactors are their bet. many issues could be brought up, who wants a small modular nuclear reactor in the middle of their city? with the waste and releases? they don't support our native brothers and sisters who bear the burden at the source of the mining and radioactive waste storage sites. The tail will be the same as big nukes.

Fukushima 10 years later: It still could happen here

An article by Dr. Edwin Lyman of Union of Concerned Scientists, published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.

Initially, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission had declined to take a closer look at the risks of a core meltdown at Duane Arnold atomic reactor in Iowa, severely damaged by a derecho in August 2020. (Duane Arnold never recovered, but instead announced permanent shutdown.) But an NRC staffer dissented, forcing the agency to take that harder look.

Update on March 17, 2021 by admin

Lyman has tweeted the following:

The @NRCgov has released the final risk analysis of the derecho that struck the Duane Arnold #nuclear plant in #Iowa in August 2020 and caused a loss of offsite power. The mean risk of core damage was 1/1250, but without FLEX credit was nearly 1 percent. https://nrc.gov/docs/ML2105/ML

As Arnie Gundersen, chief engineer at Fairewinds Energy Education, has put it, "This was a close call."