UCS questions NRC on status of shield building prior to Davis-Besse restart

NRC inspector examines cracking in Davis-Besse atomic reactor shield building wallDavid Lochbaum, Director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists, has written the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission questioning whether or not NRC has adequately inspected cracking in the Davis-Besse atomic reactor's exterior shield building, and whether this aspect of the design can still fulfill its radiologically protective function against external threats, such as tornado missiles. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has reported upon this story, as has Canada's Windsor Star. On October 20th, NRC issued a Preliminary Notification of Occurrence (PNO). Beyond Nuclear, along with Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario (quoted extensively in the Windsor Star article), Don't Waste Michigan, and the Ohio Green Party, have won standing and the admission for hearing of several contentions against the 20 year license extension sought by FirstEnergy nuclear utility at its problem plagued Davis-Besse atomic reactor.

TransCanada Pipelines also a nuclear utility!

Congratulations to environmental allies who have successfully pressured the Obama administration to postpone -- and hopefully ultimately cancel -- TransCanada Pipelines' proposed Keystone XL Pipeline for Canadian tar sands crude oil. But tar sands crude oil isn't the only "dirty, dangerous, and expensive" energy source TransCanada dabbles with. According to its website, it also owns 48.8% of the 3,000 Megawatt-electric (MW-e) Bruce A nuclear power plant, and 31.6% of the 3,200 MW-e Bruce B nuclear power plant. Bruce -- a 9 reactor and radioactive waste complex located in Ontario on the shore of Lake Huron just 50 miles from Michigan -- is the largest nuclear power plant in the Western Hemisphere, and the second biggest in the world. TransCanada entered the nuclear power business despite warnings by NIRS in late 2002 about serious financial and environmental risks.  (A primary bone of contention over the Keystone XL pipeline is its proposed route over the irreplacable Ogallala Aquifer; the Waste Control Specialists radioactive waste dump in Texas also threatens the Ogallala.)

Justice Department memo reveals NRC thwarted criminal investigation into company falsifying documents to site North Anna nuke on earthquake fault

A recently surfaced US Department of Justice document from May 11, 1977 reveals that the NRC thwarted a criminal investigation of Virginia Electric Power Company’s (aka Dominion) willful withholding and falsification of documents to the federal licensing agency in the originally siting of the North Anna on an earthquake fault. The North Anna nuclear power plant has been shut down since the August 23, 2011 earthquake that rattled the East Coast and is now confirmed to have exceeded the reactors’ design safety margin.  Company officials are pressuring the NRC to allow the restart amid dozens of aftershocks and an even shakier history of obfuscation, corruption and collusion.  Dominion is hoping to get the plant up and running soon without going through a thorough inspection of both units. Despite the fact that the earthquake exceeded the design basis for the reactors, Dominion is seeking make plant design changes without going through a formal license amendment process that would open them tothe transparency of public hearings and a review of the sordid siting history.

The newly surfaced document comes with a letter from Project on Government Oversight (POGO) written to NRC Chairman Greg Jazcko requesting that the agency release withheld documents archived at the University of Virginia that are potentially relevant to the proposed restart of the quake-rattled North Anna nuclear power plant in Mineral, Virginia.  POGO simulataneously released the May 11, 1977 Justice Department memo regarding the role of first the United States Atomic Energy Commission and then the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission role in the systematic cover-up and obstruction of justice in falsification of documentation in the original siting, construction permit and operation licensing process of the North Anna nuclear power plant in Mineral, Virginia.

Beyond Nuclear filed a November 2, 2011 supplement to an October 20, 2011 emergency enforcement petition  incorporating the DOJ document and further calling on the NRC to suspend the restart and operation of the reactors until a formal license amendment is filed by Virginia Electric Power Company (Dominion) with full public hearings opportunities.

"Humpty Dumpty, King Kong spotted at Davis-Besse protest"

King Kong applied nuclear-grade duct tape to a very cracked Humpty Dumpty at an "I Have a Scream!" Halloween protest held in Toledo in solidarity with Beyond Nuclear's rally at the Department of Energy's headquarters in Washington D.C. The Toledo street theater called attention to cracks in the Davis-Besse atomic reactor's shield building first revealed on October 1st. Just today, further cracking was admitted by FirstEnergy, as reported by Bloomberg. Beyond Nuclear, along with Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Ohio Green Party, have intervened against the 20 year license extension sought by FirstEnergy at Davis-Besse, despite the reactor's many close calls with disaster over the past 34 years. Toledo attorney Terry Lodge represents the environmental coalition pro bono.

Groups petition NRC to delay restart of quake-centered N. Anna reactors

Awaiting the announcement that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will approve the restart of Units 1 and 2 at North Anna, a coalition of concerned citizens locally and regionally have filed an Emergency Enforcement Petition to stop the reactors while the regulatory body actually collects input from the community.  Members of Not On Our Fault Line and the People's Alliance for Clean Energy will be speaking to press about the reasons we're asking the NRC to slow down the restart process.  See the petition here. Groups filing are: Beyond Nuclear, Not On Our Fault Line, Peoples Alliance for Clean Energy. The groups will be holding a press conference on Friday, October 21st at 1pm at 512 Mineral Ave. Mineral, VA 23117 (the Post Office in Mineral). Map courtesy of PSR.