Fukushima: 7-Week Update
All Things Nuclear
A project of the Union of Concerned Scientists
...Seven weeks later the situation at the facility has improved and stabilized relative to the crisis in the first few weeks, but serious difficulties remain. A better description is that the situation has become less unpredictable than it was.
As noted in my 3-week update on the Fukushima crisis, concern is focused on the fuel in the reactor cores at Units 1, 2, and 3, and the spent fuel in cooling pools at Units 1, 2, 3, and 4...
While details of the damage to the nuclear fuel at the site are not known, it appears that more total fuel damage has occurred during this accident than all previous reactor accidents combined - The hydrogen explosions and release of radioactivity at Fukushima are evidence of rupture and burning of the fuel cladding in some of the reactors and spent fuel pools. There is speculation about fuel melting and relocating, but this can’t yet be confirmed - The Unit 4 spent fuel pool is a particular concern since it contains a large amount of fresh spent fuel that was moved to the reactor from the core a few months ago - Currently all of these reactors and pools are being cooled, although normal cooling systems have not been restored. They will require active cooling for many months or years because of the high levels of radioactivity in the fuel they contain...
IAEA Updates on Ongoing Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Physicians for Social Responsibility Press Conference 4/26/11
Evacuation Zones for Nuclear Reactors (USA)
In the case of a nuclear reactor accident, what can be done?
Do you live within 50 miles of a nuclear reactor? One third of Americans do. Property contaminated by nuclear materials is not covered by insurance, so if your house is affected, you could be displaced permanently and lose everything. Use the tool below to find out if you are within an evacuation zone and are at risk. Also notice the number of people who would have to be evacuated if there was an accident at the plant closest to you. Do you really think that is possible? We don't.
The 25th anniversary of Chernobyl and the continuing crisis at Fukushima -- both Level 7 nuclear disasters -- are clear reminders that standard evacuation zones cannot protect the public from a nuclear accident. Current NRC regulations stipulate a 10 mile evacuation zone around nuclear plants. This is clearly insufficient and 50 miles has been recommended.
You can print the page [] from your browser or by right-clicking on the page and printing the "frame". For more information about why we should look for clean renewable sources of energy rather than nuclear, click here.
Ace Hoffman's Nuclear Failures Reports
Cancer, Deformities and Chronic Diseases: The Future Children of Fukushima
May 3rd, 2011
Dear Readers,
Below is an absolutely stunning, powerful article by Joe Giambrone, published in CounterPunch today and forwarded to me by Tim Seitz in Canada, along with Tim's letter to Stephen Harper, newly-reelected Prime Minister of Canada.
The only thing I would change is I would change the word "bordering on" to "amounting to". See if you don't agree...
"Cancer, Deformities and Chronic Diseases
The Future Children of Fukushima
By JOE GIAMBRONE
"[A] woman in her fourth month of pregnancy was contaminated with 137Cs [radioactive cesium]… The concentration of 137Cs in the mother (0.91 kBq/kg bw) was similar to that in her newborn child (0.97 kBq/kg bw)." 1
Children in Belarus, Ukraine and certain provinces of Russia tell us what to expect from a massive radiation contamination such as Japan is currently experiencing. Radiation attacks the young to a harsher degree than it does adults, and yet we do know that it kills adults. Radioactivity causes numerous illnesses including terminal cancers, and not just from a large initial dose but over time from absorbed emitting particles inside the body.
A senior nuclear adviser to the Japanese Prime Minister, professor Toshiso Kosako resigned in protest from his government. This as the Japanese government raised the level of permissible exposure to schoolchildren twenty fold, from 1mSv/year to 20mSv.
The atomic power industry, it can be proved, has been an unprecedented catastrophe for mankind..."
Recent Fairewinds videos
Where is all that Fukushima radiation going, and why does it matter?
Fairewinds' founder Maggie Gundersen interviews environmental scientist and professional engineer Marco Kaltofen about his ongoing analysis of radioactive fallout from Fukushima.
Russia Today: Gundersen First to Say Fukushima Worse than Chernobyl
April 27th was the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. Six weeks ago, when Gundersen first appeared on Russia Today, he said that Fukushima would be "Chernobyl on steroids". Japanese authorities are now admitting Chernobyl-level releases as the plant continues to leak radioactive gases and liquids.
Fairewinds Calls for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Delay Licensing Until Fukushima Lessons Are Evaluated
Gundersen implores Congress and NRC to think outside the box. Pause licensing of new nukes and 20-year-life extensions until the lessons learned from Fukushima are applied. Fairewinds Associates recommends that regulators look at the feasibility of emergency evacuation plans, containment leakage, and aging management plans for 40-year-old Fukushima model reactors.
Epidemiologist, Dr. Steven Wing, Discusses Global Radiation Exposures and Consequences with Gundersen
Epidemiologist, Dr. Steven Wing and nuclear engineer, Arnie Gundersen, discuss the consequences of the Fukushima radioactive fallout on Japan, the USA, and the world. What are the long-term health effects? What should the government(s) do to protect citizens?
Gundersen Postulates Unit 3 Explosion May Have Been Prompt Criticality in Fuel Pool
NEWS
Mass-Evacuation Tests at Nuclear Plants ‘Difficult,’ Jaczko Says
Bloomgerg | By Jim Snyder - May 2, 2011
Testing the evacuation of residents near U.S. atomic power plants would be difficult before an emergency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko said.
Running “mass evacuations on a trial basis” is a challenge, Jaczko said today in Washington, answering a question from Ralph Nader, founder of Public Citizen, which opposes nuclear power.
Evacuation plans are being examined in the agency’s 90-day review after a 9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami knocked out power to reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, leading to the release of radiation.
Policy makers such as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, say Entergy Corp. (ETR)’s Indian Point plant, which is about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of Manhattan, is too close to New York City and should be shut.
Nader said Jaczko would be in charge of “possibly the most difficult evacuation process in U.S. history” in the event of a nuclear accident or reactor sabotage that threatened to release radiation. He said “real-life drills” should be conducted of all evacuation plans.
State, local and utility officials conduct exercises every two years at nuclear plants to test emergency communications. He called those test “a reasonable approximation for how the evacuations should work,” Jaczko said.
Gwen DuBois, a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said she wasn’t confident the commission “would ask all the very hardest questions” about plans for worst-case scenarios at nuclear facilities.
The U.S. called on Americans living within 50 miles of the damaged facility in Japan to evacuate after the March 11 accident. The commission requires plant operators to plan for evacuations outside a 10-mile radius of a reactor. Jaczko has said the commission is reviewing whether to expand the required evacuation zone in its review of safety rules.
ENTERGY
Coakley urges halt to relicensing of Pilgrim nuclear plant
The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA - May 02, 2011 - Attorney General Martha Coakley on Monday petitioned the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to delay its decision on relicensing the Pilgrim nuclear power plant until mpore is known about what went wrong at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.
Entergy, the owner of Pilgrim, has applied for a 20-year renewal.
Pilgrim Nuclear Station Plymouth MA
Owner: Entergy Nuclear Generation Co.
Reactor Type: Boiling Water Reactor
Reactor Manufacturer: General Electric
Turbine Generator Manufacturer: General Electric
Architect/Engineer: Bechtel Power
Commercial Operation Date: 12/9/1972
License Expiration Date: 6/8/2012
| Close Indian Point Riverkeeper Indian Point Campaign |
Entergy is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States
Entergy operates twelve nuclear units at ten plant sites
Arkansas Nuclear One Units 1 and 2 near Russellville, Ark.
Cooper in Brownville, Neb.*
James A. FitzPatrick in Oswego County, N.Y
Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Port Gibson, Miss.
Indian Point Energy Center Units 2 & 3 in Westchester County, N.Y.
Palisades in Covert, Mich.
Pilgrim Nuclear Station in Plymouth, Mass.
River Bend Station in St. Francisville, La.
Vermont Yankee in Vernon, Vt.
Waterford 3 in Taft, La.
Entergy Corporation Executive Vice President and CFO to Speak at Deutsche Bank Securities 2011 Alternative Energy, Utilities & Power Conference
New Orleans, La. – Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Leo Denault plans to provide a presentation on Wednesday, May 11, during the Deutsche Bank Securities 2011 Alternative Energy, Utilities & Power Conference at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. The presentation is expected to start at approximately 1:40 p.m. EDT. A live webcast and copy of the presentation slides will be available on the Investor Relations section of Entergy’s corporate website at www.entergy.com. A replay of the webcast will be available later that day and archived on the website for approximately one year.
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.
April 29, 2011
Entergy Services, Inc.
Entergy Reports First Quarter Earnings and Announces Agreements to Purchase Hinds and Hot Spring Facilities
New Orleans, La. -- Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) today reported first quarter 2011 as-reported earnings of $248.7 million, or $1.38 per share, compared with $213.8 million, or $1.12 per share, for first quarter 2010. On an operational basis, Entergy’s first quarter 2011 earnings were $248.7 million, or $1.38 per share, compared with $253.7 million, or $1.33 per share, in first quarter 2010...
Texas lawmakers should reject radioactive waste importation
Allowing radioactive waste to be trucked into Texas and stored there is a bad idea that Texas lawmakers should reject. Doing so poses a risk of an unfunded taxpayer liability, risk from a radioactive waste truck accident and risk of contaminating the nation’s largest aquifer.
PUBLIC CITIZEN AND WE TEXANS PRESS RELEASE:
APRIL 28, 2011
Radioactive Waste Report Released, Public Citizen Recommends ‘No’ Vote on Legislation
Former Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Claims Unfunded Taxpayer Liability
AUSTIN, TX – A report released today by Public Citizen criticizes radioactive waste importation legislation because there is risk of an unfunded taxpayer liability, risk from a radioactive waste truck accident, risk of contaminating the nation’s largest aquifer, and risk that there won’t be adequate space for Texas and Vermont reactors’ and other radioactive waste. Bills HB 2184, introduced by Trion Lewis, and SB 1504, introduced by Kel Seliger, which would authorize the importation of out of state radioactive wastes currently are being debated in the Texas legislature.
In an ongoing, if unexpected, alliance, consumer and environmental group Public Citizen was joined by Debra Medina, a conservative grassroots organizer and former Republican gubernatorial candidate, at a press conference Thursday to release the scathing report about the impacts of radioactive waste importation on Texas.
“HB 2184 and SB 1504 divorce risk from profit in the Texas radioactive waste industry,” Medina said at the press conference, which was held in the State Capitol. “This kind of crony capitalism is far too common, and I can’t think of a worse industry than radioactive waste to take risk away from the companies involved and put it on taxpayers...”
See also:
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• VIDEOS PAGE
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Fukushima a "Ticking Time Bomb"
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Nuclear Power = Crime Against Humanity
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