Nuclear Reactors
The nuclear industry is more than 50 years old. Its history is replete with a colossal financial disaster and a multitude of near-misses and catastrophic accidents like Three Mile Island and Chornobyl. Beyond Nuclear works to expose the risks and dangers posed by an aging and deteriorating reactor industry and the unproven designs being proposed for new construction.
.................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Susan Stranahan at iWatch News has reported that nearly four decades after an accidental fire nearly led to a reactor disaster at Browns Ferry Unit 1 atomic reactor in Alabama, and despite U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission fire safety regulations adopted in its aftermath, Browns Ferry remains vulnerable to catastrophic accidents initiated by fires.
CNN has reported that Democratic U.S. Representatives Nita Lowey and Elliot Engel of New York State took U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Greg Jaczko on a tour of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant near New York City, listing for him the numerous concerns they have and calling for the atomic reactors' permanent shutdown.
Susan Stranahan at iWatch News has reported on the risks posed by two high pressure natural gas pipelines that pass just 600 feet from the Indian Point Unit 3 atomic reactor containment building and its vulnerable control room, needed for safely shutting down and cooling a reactor during an emergency.
Beyond Nuclear, in alliance with Don't Waste Michigan, has issued a media release accusing Entergy Nuclear of indefinitely postponing multiple, vital safety repairs -- and NRC of letting them get away with it. The 44 year old atomic reactor, which just began its NRC-approved 20 year license extension on March 24th, needs its reactor lid replaced, its steam generators replaced, its emergency sumps upgraded, and its fire protection regulations upgraded. In addition, Palisades' high-level radioactive waste dry cask storage -- just 100 yards from the water of Lake Michigan -- remains vulnerable to earthquakes; Palisades' indoor pool, storing many hundreds of tons of high-level radioactive waste, remains vulnerable to disruptions of the primary electric grid, as it lacks any backup power. Any one of these risks could lead to Chernobyl- or Fukushima-scale radioactivity releases in the heart of the Great Lakes, source of drinking water for 40 million people in the U.S., Canada, and many Native American First Nations. (In the photo above, Mike Keegan, Alice Hirt, and Kevin Kamps of Don't Waste Michigan's board of director speak out against the reactor and radioactive waste risks at Palisades during the Aug. 2000 Nuclear-Free Great Lakes Action Camp; Palisades' cooling tower steam is visible in the background; the crosses bear the names of surrounding downwind communities that could be ruined in the event of a catastrophic radioactivity release).
Davis-Besse's infamous "red photo," showing boric acid crystal and rust "lava" flowing from reactor lid.Tom Henry at the Toledo Blade has given advance coverage of tomorrow's Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety (sic) and Licensing Board oral argument pre-hearing in Port Clinton, Ohio, near Davis-Besse atomic reactor. Beyond Nuclear, along with allies Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Green Party of Ohio, have submitted four contentions against First Energy Nuclear Operating Company's proposed 20 year license extension: (1) wind as an alternative; (2) solar photovoltaics as an alternative; (3) wind and solar combined as an alternative; and (4) severe underestimation of the casualties and costs that would result from a catastrophic radioactivity release. On February 18, 2011, the ASLB ruled in favor of FirstEnergy's motion to strike, and ordered the environmental coalition to "strike" long sections of its "Combined Reply" rebuttal against the utility's and NRC staff's attacks upon its intervention. This included a backgrounder about Davis-Besse's many close calls with disaster over the past 34 years, compiled by Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps. According to various federal government spokespeople, from the NRC to the Department of Justice, Davis-Besse's hole in the head fiasco of 2002 was the worst incident at a U.S. atomic reactor since Three Mile Island Unit 2's 50% core meltdown in 1979.
May 15, 2011