Help stop dangerous LIQUID high-level radioactive waste transports from Canada!

An infrared photo of a high-level radioactive waste rail shipment. The high temperature of such shipments, however, is the least of our worries. A severe accident, or attack, involving such a shipment could breach the container, leading to disastrous releases of hazardous radioactivity. This is true for solid irradiated fuel shipments, but all the more so for unprecedented, unanalyzed liquid HLRW truck transports.YOUR URGENT ACTION IS NEEDED to help stop dangerous LIQUID high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) transports from Canada. Despite having done little to no environmental analysis on such unprecedented liquid HLRW shipments, which also contain weapons-usable Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed dozens of truckloads, from Chalk River, Ontario, likely through New York and other eastern U.S. states, bound for Savannah River Site (SRS), South Carolina, in the near future.

TWO actions are needed! (1) Sign your organization onto a letter to New York Governor Cuomo, and (2) Sign your organization onto a resolution drafted by Dr. Gordon Edwards of Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR). Thus far, 66 groups have signed the resolution.

Please reply to Barbara Warren, Executive Director of Citizens' Environmental Coalition at warrenba@msn.com, with your name, title, organization, and email address; tell her whether your organization can support one or both of these actions.

DEADLINE: Tuesday, July 2nd, Close of Business.

Citizens' Environmental Coalition of New York and Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) have drafted this urgent letter to New York Governor Cuomo, asking him to take action in demanding a full environmental review of this unprecedented and dangerous plan. Beyond Nuclear has been happy to endorse it.

As this letter is addressed to the Governor of New York, New York organizations are especially needed, but the more U.S. organizations from any states, the better.

Last April, Beyond Nuclear compiled and posted numerous background documents on this unprecedented, dangerous proposal.

Radiation Expert Exposes Danger to Ohioans from Fracking Waste

Dr. Marvin Resnikoff of RWMADr. Marvin Resnikoff of Radioactive Waste Management Associates has authored a report, Hydraulic Fracturing Radiological Concerns for Ohio, on behalf of the FreshWater Accountability Project Ohio. FWAPOH also put out a press release, "Radiation Expert Exposes Danger to Ohioans from Fracking Waste," which calls for better public protections from the State of Ohio and the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District [MWCD]. 

Resnikoff points out that much of the highly-radioactive solids such as rocks and soils pulled up during drilling, and contaminated muds and sands are cheaply disposed of in municipal landfills in Ohio, irrespective of actual radioactivity content, for 1/100th of the cost of disposal of comparable low-level radioactive waste from nuclear weapons and nuclear power generation in the nation's three facilities for that purpose. In Ohio, he stated, "It is evident that environmental concerns are trumped by the economics beneficial to the unconventional shale drilling industry." Similarly, Dr. Resnikoff identified evidence that the Patriot water treatment facility in Warren, Ohio, which delivers pretreated water to the Warren public water treatment plant, is likely sending radium-laden water into the Mahoning River watershed. "On a daily basis, Patriot does not test for gamma emitting radionuclides and for radium-226," he observed. 

"Dr. Resnikoff's work illustrates that Ohioans, from common citizens to truck drivers to landfill workers, are daily being exposed to radiation exposure or poisoning because the Governor, General Assembly and even a large conservancy district, the MWCD, are sacrificing public protections to prop up frackers' profitability," asserted Terry Lodge, attorney for SEOSOW. "Under the guise of 'austerity,' the state government is destroying protective regulations for everyone, while creating a business environment where those who threaten public health and the environment pay little to nothing. And even huge corporate welfare breaks aren't saving this dirty, low-productivity con game."

Lodge also serves as the attorney for environmental coalitions, including Beyond Nuclear, opposing the proposed new Fermi 3 atomic reactor in southeast MI, as well as the 20-year license extension, and the proposed steam generator replacement, at Davis-Besse in northwest OH.

Fracking was exempted from such federal laws as the Safe Drinking Water Act by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the same law which automatically subsidized nuclear power to the tune of $13 billion, while additionally leading to the approval of $22.5 billion in nuclear loan guarantees thus far.

On May 22nd, Beyond Nuclear joined with 67 other groups to chastise Environmental Defense Fund for joining into a greenwashing alliance with the fracking industry.

NEIS: "SoCal Edison Pulls the Plug on Two Nuke Reactors -- Could Have Serious Implications for Illinois"

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release                                                   Contact:  Dave Kraft, 773-342-7650, neis@neis.org

June 7, 2013                                                                            630-506-2864 cell

SoCal Edison Pulls the Plug on Two Nuke Reactors – Could Have Serious Implications for Illinois

CHICAGO—The old crumbling nukes continue their non-radioactive decay, it seems, as Southern California Edison (SCE) today announced its decision to permanently close the damaged San Onofre twin nuclear reactors (SONGs).

The two reactors had been idled for over a year after serious steam tube generator leaks forced a shutdown of the facility.  SCE had wanted to restart the reactors at 70% power, hoping it could operate while finishing repairs.  The NRC denied approval of this plan.

“It seems to be a clear case of utility "overreach," in the sense that SCE gambled on NRC allowing them to continue flying with cracked wings --  like NRC IS doing at Palisades, in Michigan -- and lost,” says David Kraft, director of the Illinois nuclear watchdog organization Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS). “I guess this problem was just too egregious for even the NRC's usually accommodating tastes.”

Earlier this week two former NRC Commissioners and the former Prime Minister of Japan participated in a press event in San Diego, where they publicly stated what a hazard SONGs (and other reactors) have become.  This certainly didn't help SONGs’ PR case.

This closure could, unfortunately have serious negative consequences for Illinois moving forward.

Congress is currently drafting legislation that could call for the “temporary” warehousing of the high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) in the form of spent reactor fuel from closed reactors like SONGs, Kewaunee (WI), Crystal River (FL) and Zion (IL) – all closed nuclear reactors.

“If Sen. Wyden's Energy Committee drafts their legislation to include language calling for "centralized interim storage" (CIS) facilities being built, the reactors that get closed are the first priority to move waste; and, Illinois is a prime candidate to host such a facility,” Kraft points out. 

A 2012 study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory¹ states:

“…the consolidated ISFSI [spent fuel storage] site in Illinois is the single optimized site for an ISFSI solution when only [spent nuclear fuel] at orphaned reactors is considered relative to siting a consolidated ISFSI.”

“The CIS sites would allegedly be "temporary," but we've been covering the HLRW issue for 31 years now.  The Federal Government's notion of ‘temporary’ is laughable. Illinois could become the nation’s de facto permanent HLRW dump for decades,” Kraft says.

NEIS has been trying for weeks to get face to face meetings with Senators Durbin, Kirk and Governor Quinn to discuss this impending catastrophe, but without success. An Illinois CIS facility could get well over 6,200 additional tons of HLRW, above and beyond the 8,600 tons it already stores at Illinois reactors run by Exelon, according to the Oak Ridge report.

“Since 2002 NEIS and hundreds of other environmental and safe energy organizations have suggested a method called “hardened onsite storage” (HOSS) as a means of storing HLRW relatively safely at reactor sites until the federal government constructs a permanent disposal facility.  We have been ignored.  It’s time that Illinois’ politicians start paying attention, before the trucks start rolling in,” Kraft warns.

                                                                        --30--

¹ The Oak Ridge NL report, titled "Application of Spatial Data Modeling Systems, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and Transportation Routing Optimization Methods for Evaluating Integrated Deployment of Interim Spent Fuel Storage Installations and Advanced Nuclear Plants" (http://info.ornl.gov/sites/publications/files/Pub37008.pdf)

Dr. Gordon Edwards on the in's and out's of radioactive steam generators

Given all the attention being directed at steam generators due to San Onofre 2 & 3's closure, Dr. Gordon Edwards (photo, left), President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, has prepared a backgrounder on the subject. In doing so, he has shown yet again why he was awarded the Nuclear-Free Future Award in 2006: "for his enduring role in demystifying nuclear technology helping the public to understand its radioactive predicament."

In 2010, tremendous controversy was generated throughout the Great Lakes, in both the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Europe, when Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Kincardine, Ontario proposed shipping 64 radioactive steam generators, by boat, to Sweden. Bruce wanted to "recycle" the radioactive steam generators' outer shells into the metal recycling steam. Bruce CEO, Duncan Hawthorne, admitted at Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission hearings in Sept. 2010 that there were no emergency plans in place if one of the shipments sank. 

Dr. Edwards documented the radiological hazards contained in the steam generators. TheGreat Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative documented that the breach of a single steam generator, and release of even a fraction of its radioactive contaminants, could cause a federal radiological emergency in Canada, leading to the shutdown of nearby drinking water intakes. The Great Lakes are the drinking water supply for 40 million people in 8 U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations.

The Bruce shipping plan was stopped dead in its tracks, thanks in large part to a resolution,signed by scores of Quebec municipalities representing hundreds of thousands of residents along the St. Lawrence leg of the route, as well as pledges by Mohawk First Nations to not allow the shipment to pass through their territory.

Background links on the shipment of LIQUID high-level radioactive waste, containing HEU, from Chalk River, Ontario, Canada to SRS, USA

Shipment of Highly-Radioactive Liquid Waste Backgrounder, by Anna Tilman, Vice-President, International Institute of Concern for Public Health

Sierra Club Canada's "Stop the Radioactive Road Trip" action alert

March 2013, U.S. Department of Energy [DOE], EIS-[Environmental Impact Statement]-0279-SA [Supplement Analysis]-01: SUPPLEMENT ANALYSIS, Savannah River Site Spent Nuclear Fuel Management (DOE/EIS-0279-SA-01 and DOE/EIS-0218-SA-06). [See April 5, 2013 DOE Amended Record of Decision, below]

March 5, 2013 blog by Dr. Gordon Edwards of Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsiblity, "Highly Enriched Uranium [HEU] and the Production of Medical Isotopes." (That's the very source of the liquid high-level radioactive waste at Chalk River, medical isotope production, via the unnecessary, and risky, use of HEU.)

March 6, 2013 letter from Anna Tilman, Vice-President, International Institute of Concern for Public Health, to Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver, RE: Shipment of Liquid Radioactive Waste from Chalk River Laboratories to the U.S.

March 11, 2013 Council of Canadians press release, "Council of Canadians joins growing opposition to Highly Enriched Uranium shipment."

March 11, 2013 letter from Council of Canadians to Canadian Department of Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, Canadian Transport Canada Minister Denis Lebel, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission President Michael Binder, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane, U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman, and others, RE: Transportation of Highly Enriched Uranium Nuclear Waste in Canada.

March 22, 2013 article by Ian Macleod in the Ottawa Citizen entitled "Trans-border nuclear waste shipment meeting increased resistance." (Includes helpful background information on various aspects of this issue.)

April 2, 2013 article by Ian Macleod in the Ottawa Citizen entitled "U.S. says radioactive waste shipments safe, nixes full environmental assessment."

April 5, 2013, U.S. Department of Energy, EIS-0279: AMENDED RECORD OF DECISION, Spent Nuclear Fuel Management at the Savannah River Site.

April 5, 2013, Beyond Nuclear action alert, "Unprecedented, high-risk shipment of liquid high-level radioactive waste approved by Obama White House," included in Beyond Nuclear weekly email bulletin (includes Dr. Gordon Edwards of CCNR's April 1st backgrounder)