"Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment" available online for free

Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment, Dec. 2009, 335 pages, published by the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), is viewable online at no charge in PDF format. Go to: http://www.nyas.org/Publications/Annals/Detail.aspx?cid=f3f3bd16-51ba-4d7b-a086-753f44b3bfc1. Then click on “Full Text.” Then, under “Annals Access,” next to “Nonmembers,” click on “View Annals TOC free.” This will allow you, chapter by chapter, to download and/or view the entire text of the book, for free. As the 25^th commemoration of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe approaches (April 26, 2011), this vital book could not be more timely. It is written by Alexey V. Yablokov of the Center for Russian Environmental Policy in Moscow, Russia; Vassily B. Nesterenko, and Alexey V. Nesterenko, of the Institute of Radiation Safety in Minsk, Belarus. Janette D. Sherman-Nevinger of the Environmental Institute at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A. has served as the Consulting Editor. Please help spread the word about this significant scientific study, and its availability online at no charge. Its hardcopy sale price from the NYAS has been a whopping $150 for nonmembers – out of reach, of course, for most all-volunteer anti-nuclear groups. Besides that, NYAS only printed 700 hardcopies of the book to begin with. Now, no copies are left, and it is unknown if more will be printed.

Davis-Besse "red photo," showing boric acid crystal/rust "lava" flowing from dangerously corroded reactor lid.Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps has written a fully referenced overview of major near-misses that have occurred over the decades at FirstEnergy's Davis-Besse atomic reactor near Toledo in light of its recent application for a 20 year license extension. These near misses include a 1977 Three Mile Island precursor, a 1985 steam generator dryout that blocked cooling to the core, a 1998 tornado direct hit and dicey electricity supply for safety critical cooling systems, a 2002 "hole-in-the-head" (see photo to left), a 2010 beginning of a new "hole-in-the-head," and numerous additional incidents.

Beyond Nuclear warns of accidents waiting to happen at Palisades atomic reactor on Lake Michigan shore

In light of the forced shut downs of two Entergy Nuclear reactors -- Indian Point 2 near New York City, and Vermont Yankee -- in the space of one hour on Sunday evening due to a transformer explosion and yet another radioactive water leak, respectively, Beyond Nuclear issued a media release warning that Entergy Nuclear's indefinitely postponed major safety repairs -- replacement of steam generators, replacement of the reactor lid, upgrade on the sump, and addressing the highly embrittled reactor pressure vessel -- risk radioactive Russian roulette on the Great Lakes shoreline.

Ohio Sierra Club speaks out against 20 year license extension at risky Davis-Besse atomic reactor near Toledo

At a recent environmental scoping public meeting, Patricia Marida, Chair of the Nuclear Issues Committee of the Ohio Sierra Club, made a powerful statement against FirstEnergy's application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20 year license extension at its problem-plagued Davis-Besse atomic reactor near Toledo.

Hole and corrosion found in containment at Turkey Point reactor

Workers at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant in South Florida have discovered a rusty quarter-sized hole in the steel liner of  the containment of one of the two reactors there along with a 30-inch section of corrosion. The hole and corrosion were found during a refueling shutdown. Turkey Point is now the fourth reactor to have discovered a containment liner hole in the last two years but the problem is feared to be widespread within the aging U.S. reactor fleet. According to Arnie Gundersen, a Vermont-based nuclear engineer and consultant who produced a report detailing holes and cracks at half a dozen U.S. reactors, a hole such as that found at Turkey Point could allow enough radiation to escape to threaten public safety.