Friday, January 20, 2012

First Round: Entergy 1, Vermont 0 | ENTERGY | Nuke Waste Piles High | New Nukes



Vermont Yankee News


Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Owner: Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC
Capacity: 605 MW
Reactor Type: Boiling Water Reactor
Reactor Manufacturer: General Electric
Turbine Generator Manufacturer: General Electric
Architect/Engineer: Ebasco
Commercial Operation Date: 11/1972
License Expiration Date: 3/21/2012


does the building look familiar?
- compare to Fukushima
its exactly the same style BWR as at Fukushima. There, the reactors for Units 1, 2, and 6 were supplied by General Electric, those for Units 3 and 5 by Toshiba, and Unit 4 by Hitachi. All six reactors were designed by General Electric.


- the first round in federal court has gone to Entergy, the electrical power production company that does not want to shut down its Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. The state of Vermont has been seeking to close the plant when its initial 40-year federal operating license expires on March 21.

Had the court decision gone the other way and the state had prevailed, it conceivably could have ended there. That’s because the cost of maintaining a reactor and paying the plant’s staff are roughly the same whether it is running or not. If the judge, J. Garvan Murtha in Brattleboro, had sided with the state, Entergy would have faced a painful decision on whether to keep the plant on standby after March 21 while waiting for the issue to work its way through the courts.

Entergy had already rolled the dice by buying fuel in anticipation of a favorable decision...

...The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted a 20-year extension, but Vermont lawmakers had passed a law that effectively gave themselves veto power over renewal of the license. Judge Murtha ruled that federal law trumps the state’s action because “radiological safety” is solely the province of the federal government...



First Round: Entergy 1, Vermont 0 - NYTimes.com

now online: #OCCUPY #NUCLEAR



more entergy

Vermont Yankee plant owner same as for Indian Point, NY, etc.

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.



As of 2008, nuclear power in the United States is provided by 104 commercial reactors (69 pressurized water reactors and 35 boiling water reactors) licensed to operate at 65 nuclear power plants, producing a total of 806.2 TWh of electricity, which was 19.6% of the nation's total electric energy generation in 2008. The United States is the world's largest supplier of commercial nuclear power.

Nuclear power in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are over 100 operating nuclear power plants in America and 16 non-operational power plants, and a large number of nuclear fuel and weapons facilities. The more you know about these places, the more frightened you’ll be -- and should be!

List of nuclear power plants in America
Operating or closed. Including their individual histories, locations, technical details, official contact points, and local activist groups.

January 10, 2012: Renewable energy sources -- wind, water, solar and others -- passed nuclear generation as a share of U.S. power in September, according to the Energy Information Administration.

In the EIA’s latest report on energy sources and usage in the United States, which covers the nine months ended September, the nine-month total for both renewable production and consumption were higher than those for nuclear power.

...In the equivalent periods of 2010 and 2009, nuclear power was significantly ahead of renewables. In the first nine months of 2010, for example, nuclear generation produced 6.354 quads, while renewables produced 6.068 quads.

Renewable energy passes nuclear as U.S. power source - Denver Business Journal



Palisades atomic reactor "an accident waiting to happen"

Beyond Nuclear: As reported by the St. Joe Herald-Palladium, Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps -- as well as other anti-nuclear activists from Don't Waste Michigan -- called for the permanent shutdown of the long problem-plagued Palisades atomic reactor in southwest Michigan, on the Lake Michigan shoreline. The watchdogs spoke out at a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting about two of Palisades' five un-planned shutdowns in 2011, one of which the NRC and even Entergy Nuclear admit was of "substantial siginificance to safety."

Kevin was quoted as saying "We should not be here today, actually. The plant should have been shut down at the end of its 40-year license. This plant was a lemon to begin with. We see Palisades as an accident waiting to happen. The risks are very great. Talk is very cheap. Throw the book at this company. It's way past time to shut (it) down."


Beyond Nuclear - Home



A mountain of waste 70 years high
and no solution in sight


Check out the new Beyond Nuclear pamphlet - The Lethal Legacy of the Atomic Age, 1942 - 2012 - infinity. A Mountain of Waste 70 Years High. (Feel free to download it or email us at info@beyondnuclear.org to request printed copies.) Ever since the first self-sustaining chain reaction occurred on December 2, 1942, no solution has been found to deal with even the first cupful of radioactive waste generated in the US. Shortly, the Department of Energy's Blue Ribbon Commission will be releasing its report which will likely recommend so-called "Centralized Interim Storage" - effectively a parking lot dumpsite whose deadly cargo may never be moved to a "final" destination. Historically, Indian reservations or communities of color are the most likely targets to host such "storage." In addition, the DOE will likely begin a search for a new repository site to replace the wisely canceled and scientifically unsound proposed Yucca Mountain dump. The granite states appear to lead the list of possibilities although all of the 48 contiguous states are in the mix.


Beyond Nuclear - Home


Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools in the US: Reducing the Deadly Risks of Storage - IPS

The price of fixing America's nuclear vulnerabilities may be high, but the price of doing too little is incalculable.

U.S. reactors have generated about 65,000 metric tons of spent fuel, of which 75 percent is stored in pools, according to Nuclear Energy Institute data. Spent fuel rods give off about 1 million rems (10,00Sv) of radiation per hour at a distance of one foot — enough radiation to kill people in a matter of seconds. There are more than 30 million such rods in U.S. spent fuel pools. No other nation has generated this much radioactivity from either nuclear power or nuclear weapons production.

Nearly 40 percent of the radioactivity in U.S. spent fuel is cesium-137 (4.5 billion curies) — roughly 20 times more than released from all atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. U.S. spent pools hold about 15-30 times more cesium-137 than the Chernobyl accident released. For instance, the pool at the Vermont Yankee reactor, a BWR Mark I, currently holds nearly three times the amount of spent fuel stored at Dai-Ichi's crippled Unit 4 reactor. The Vermont Yankee reactor also holds about seven percent more radioactivity than the combined total in the pools at the four troubled reactors at the Fukushima site...



Retox / Vermont Yankee


For Sale: Quaint Vermont fixer-upper from the last millennium. Nestled on the bank of the Connecticut River, this antique nuclear reactor features cozy relations with federal regulators and the new governor is from just down the road!

Enjoy regular visits from local senior citizen ladies’ group, plenty of attention from everyone around, and in just a year or so, you're sure to become a part of Vermont history!

This vintage reactor comes complete with:
- array of 22 cooling towers (more or less)
- on-site transformer/fire pit
- easy access to underground pipes
- tasty pre-tritiated drinking water on site
- limited amounts of dry cask storage
- anemic decommissioning fund (nowhere to go but up!)"



TAKE ACTION:
Shut Down Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant



Greenpeace USA
•   Push for No New Nukes
Nuclear power is neither safe nor clean. There is no such thing as a "safe" dose of radiation and just because nuclear pollution is invisible doesn't mean it's "clean."

Take action right now and tell the President that taxpayers should not take on the risk of building new nuclear plants.

If a meltdown were to occur, the accident could kill and injure tens of thousands of people, leaving large regions uninhabitable. And, more than 50 years after splitting the first atom, science has yet to devise a method for adequately handling long lived radioactive wastes.

For years nuclear plants have been leaking radioactive waste from underground pipes and radioactive waste pools into the ground water at sites across the nation.

In addition to being extremely dangerous, the continued greenwashing of nuclear power from industry-backed lobbyists diverts investments away from clean, renewable sources of energy. In contrast to nuclear power, renewable energy is both clean and safe. Technically accessible renewable energy sources are capable of producing six times more energy than current global demand.

In order to save the future of our planet, we must continue to fight the expansion of nuclear power and instead push for clean, renewable sources of energy. Over the next three years Greenpeace will continue to:

1. Debunk the myth that nuclear provides a “green” source of electricity and detail the threats posed by nuclear reactors and the radioactive wastes they produce.

2. Expose the abysmal economics of new nuclear power.

3. Advocate for the permanent closure of the old, leaky Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in 2012.


TAKE ACTION: Help put an end to the NRC's rubber stamp!

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's mandate is to protect the public, but for too long it has allowed the nuclear industry to put their profits ahead of public health and safety. The disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant is a tragic reminder of the extraordinary dangers of nuclear power.

"The NRC should heed the warnings of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Chairman, I urge you to stop re-licensing old nuclear reactors -- we cannot afford a disaster like the one in Fukuskima. Thank you for considering my views."



who makes these things, anyway? here are two corporations that make nukes: GE & Westinghouse.


UPDATE 2/9: whats up: NRC Approves Southern’s Nuclear-Plant Construction Permit, First Since ’78


GENERAL ELECTRIC - GE ENERGY

now online: #OCCUPY #NUCLEAR

these guys made some of the reactors at Fukushima (designed all of them), and Vermont Yankee, too!

...their front page currently shows a wind power station. how sweet. oh, and besides building nuke plants they like to frack, too.

GE Energy | Nuclear Energy


boiling water reactor

GE Energy says "Today, nuclear energy supplies 16% of the world's electricity, avoiding the emission of about 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year that would otherwise be generated by fossil fuel solutions, such as supercritical pulverized coal."

the argument that nuclear is a "safe and clean" alternative in the global climate crisis debate is, simply put: delusion.

nuclear power kills - it is not clean, it is not cheap, and it is immoral - anyone who says that it is safe is either lying, making money, misinformed and/or delusional.


whats up: Nuclear Safety is an Oxymoron | How will broken-melting-fuming-leaking Fukushima Daiichi weather Monster Typhoon?


WESTINGHOUSE - FIRST NEW U.S. REACTORS IN DECADES ARE IN THE PIPELINE

UPDATE 2/9: whats up: NRC Approves Southern’s Nuclear-Plant Construction Permit, First Since ’78


Idaho Samizdat: Nuke Notes: U.S. Nuclear manufacturers lukewarm on AP1000
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted unanimously on Dec. 22 to approve the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design for use in the United States. The action sets the stage for construction of two of these reactors at Southern's Vogtle site in Georgia and two more at Scana's V.C. Summer station in South Carolina.

As of December 2011, construction by Southern Company on two new nuclear units has begun, and they are expected to be delivering commercial power by 2016 and 2017. But, looking ahead, experts see continuing challenges that will make it very difficult for the nuclear power industry to expand beyond a small handful of reactor projects that "government agencies decide to subsidize by forcing taxpayers to assume the risk for the reactors and mandating that ratepayers pay for construction in advance".

Nuclear power in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plants

"The technology of Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plants is the basis for nearly 50 percent of the world's operating commercial nuclear power plants. The projects of Nuclear Power Plants are varied yet innovative, with customer-driven design and cost-efficient performance."

Westinghouse AP1000


AP1000 pressurized water reactor

"Westinghouse Electric Company once again sets a new industry standard with the AP1000 reactor. Historically, Westinghouse plant designs and technology have forged the cutting edge of worldwide nuclear technology. Today, about 50 percent of the world's 440 nuclear plants are based on Westinghouse technology.

"The AP1000 is the safest and most economical nuclear power plant available in the worldwide commercial marketplace, and is the only Generation III reactor to receive Design Certification from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)."

now online: #OCCUPY #NUCLEAR


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Deaths of ringed seals in Alaska | Fish Eaters



seals deaths could be related to fukushima


Since mid-July, more than 60 dead and 75 diseased seals, most of them ringed seals, have been reported in Alaska, with reports continuing to come in. During their fall survey, scientists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also identified diseased and dead walruses at the annual mass haul-out at Point Lay.

is this from fukushima nuclear catastrophe radiation poisoning? - it could be.

my heart sunk when i saw the seal photos, like it hadn't since i watched the second reactor explosion... visions of dying sea life back then, and now here it is?

Unit 3 of Fukushima I explodes due to the ignition of built up hydrogen gas, on March 13, 2011. This is the reactor which has the extremely dangerous plutonium-laced MOX fuel... (photo enhanced for contrast and enlargement with several layers of noise, sharpening and blurring)

see whats up: SECOND Fukushima Explosion: Japan Nuclear Plant Rocked By Hydrogen Explosion


Is radiation causing Arctic Alaska ringed-seal deaths? | Alaska Dispatch | Alex DeMarban | Dec 23, 2011

The University of Alaska Fairbanks' Institute of Marine Sciences is launching an investigation into whether radiation, including possibly from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power-plant disaster in Japan, has harmed or killed more than 100 ringed seals off Alaska's coasts...

The work so far has yielded at least one important clue: "Tests indicate a virus is not the cause," said a recent press release from NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...

John Kelley, with the Institute of Marine Sciences at UAF, said he's just received a large batch of tissue from afflicted ringed seals and will soon begin the university's hunt for radiation as a possible cause...


SFOS News: SFOS tests ringed seals for Fukoshima radiation | UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences

January 1, 2012 | Fairbanks, Alaska — With more than 135 dead and diseased ringed seals found off the Alaskan coast since July 2011, SFOS Professor Emeritus Dr. John Kelley is leading efforts to test ringed seals for radiation stemming from the March 2011 Fukoshima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan.

i have requested updates from the staff of the marine mammals division


UPDATE Feb 17, from NOAA's NMFS:

see > whats up: update on diseased seals: Preliminary Assessment of Radionuclide Exposure
"At this point, scientists do not believe that radiation is a primary factor in this UME or that radiation is causing the symptoms and deaths in pinnipeds."

UPDATE Feb 8, from NOAA's NMFS:

"Thank you for your interest in this topic. As you know, NOAA is working collaboratively with many marine mammal experts throughout Alaska and the United States, as well as with a number of international scientists on this Unusual Mortality Event. We just posted an update at our website for this disease: http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/protectedresources/seals/ice/diseased/default.htm

"Our team continues to test for a wide variety of possible causes and contributing factors such as bacterial, viral, fungal or toxic agents. In response to your question about possible link to the Fukushima nuclear event, our scientists believe this is highly unlikely. However, we do have scientists at two separate labs analyzing tissue samples for the possibility of radiation exposure. This is a rather complicated process, which includes drying the tissue samples by a particular method before radiation testing can be conducted--which explains the length of time involved in conducting these tests." - Public Affairs Officer, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Region - - ( thank you! )


UPDATE Jan 20:

so far it appears that the NOAA press release is still current with no new info available regarding the cause of the disease - radiation testing is underway. i have received the following via email:

"The NOAA press releases are the most recent information on the diseased seals. News articles also reported on lack of a Fukushima signal in air filter surveys. WE have some tissue for analysis of radioactivity, but those results will not be available for at least a couple of months."

- and -
"...have just returned from the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage and there were a number of presentations on the topic of the seal disease outbreak in the Arctic. It appears that the number of cases is going down, but it is unclear if this is due to a decrease in the actual disease outbreak or a lack of harvest during the winter months by subsistence hunters. Thus far all tests have been negative, so a cause has not yet been established. There a several analyses still pending.

"If you are interested in updates, NOAA has a listserve right now where information on the disease outbreak is being distributed.

"Send a blank email to:
subscribe-arctic_seal_disease@listserver.afsc.noaa.gov"


...Seals and walruses suffering from this disease have skin sores, usually on the hind flippers or face, and patchy hair loss. Some of the diseased mammals have exhibited labored breathing and appear lethargic. Scientists have not yet identified a single cause for this disease, though tests indicate a virus is not the cause...

Necropsies and laboratory tests to date have found skin lesions in most cases, as well as fluid in the lungs, white spots on the liver, and abnormal growths in the brain. Some seals and walruses have undersized lymph nodes, which may indicate compromised immune systems.

Testing continues for a wide range of possible factors that may be responsible for the animals’ condition, including immune system-related diseases, fungi, man-made and bio-toxins, radiation exposure, contaminants, and stressors related to sea ice change.


Walruses and ringed seals in Russia, and ringed seals in Canada, have reportedly suffered similar symptoms. While it is not clear if the disease events are related, the timing and location of the disease suggests the possibility of transmission between the populations, or shared exposure to an environmental cause...


News Release: Deaths of ringed seals in Alaska declared an unusual mortality event; walrus pending

more > what next: Deaths of ringed seals in Alaska | Fukushima | Nanuuq's Prey: Ice Seals




Fish Eaters Threatened by Fukushima Radiation


Evidence has emerged that the impacts of the disaster on the Pacific Ocean are worse than expected.

Since a tsunami and earthquake destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant last March, radioactive cesium has consistently been found in 60 to 80 per cent of Japanese fishing catches each month, as tested by Japan's Fisheries Agency.

Overall, one in five of the 1,100 catches tested in November exceeded the new ceiling of 100 becquerels per kilogram. (Canada's ceiling for radiation in food is much higher: 1,000 becquerels per kilogram.)

"I would probably be hesitant to eat a lot of those fish," said Nicholas Fisher, a marine sciences professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Cesium was especially prevalent in certain of the species:

• 73 per cent of mackerel tested

• 91 per cent of the halibut

• 92 per cent of the sardines

• 93 per cent of the tuna and eel

• 94 per cent of the cod and anchovies

• 100 per cent of the carp, seaweed, shark and monkfish

Some of the fish were caught in Japanese coastal waters. Other catches were made hundreds of kilometres away in the open ocean.

There, the fish also can be caught by fishers from dozens of other nations who fish in the waters of the Pacific.

Yet, Japan is the only country that appears to be systematically testing fish for radiation and publicly reporting the results. - The Vancouver Sun (reproduced on ReaderSupportedNews) *

Beyond Nuclear note: Although this story is about seafood concerns in Canada, it is worth noting that the US allowable contamination level is greater that both Japan and Canada, and that the US imports seafood and other foodstuffs from Japan. The Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) of the United States is allowing a contamination level of 1200 Bq/kg of just Cesium 134 and Cesium 137 to be present in food imports from Japan that are not banned outright. Foods banned outright seem mainly limited to only select items grown in the localized areas of contamination within Japan.


Beyond Nuclear

> Canada: Fish Eaters Threatened by Fukushima Radiation | Reader Supported News


UPDATE 2/17: whats up: update on diseased seals: Preliminary Assessment of Radionuclide Exposure: "At this point, scientists do not believe that radiation is a primary factor in this UME or that radiation is causing the symptoms and deaths in pinnipeds."

more > what next: Deaths of ringed seals in Alaska | Fukushima | Nanuuq's Prey: Ice Seals


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

Nuclear Power: Risks and Consequences



Link TV - Nuclear Power: Risks and Consequences



(Earth Focus: Episode 32) Nuclear Power: Risks and Consequences, an original Earth Focus investigative report, looks at the untold stories behind three of the world's largest nuclear disasters: Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. According to government and industry officials, no one died as a result of Three Mile Island and only low doses of radiation -- equivalent to a single chest XRay were released. But many local residents disagree and cite medical evidence that radiation released from the Three Mile Island reactor was severe enough to cause disease and death. It's been 30 years but the controversy continues. Chernobyl was the worse nuclear disaster in history. A new book, Chernobyl: Consequences of a Catastrophe says that almost a million people died as a result of the nuclear accident -- not 4,000 as The World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency claim. A screw up or a coverup? Earth Focus looks at evidence that links radioactive exposure to diminished intelligence, premature aging and a variety of other health conditions. Given the severity of the accident in Fukushima and the inability of the government to provide action to safeguard large portions of its population, the Japanese government moved the goal posts on what is considered safe radiation exposure for children and nuclear workers. Japanese organized crime, the Yakuza, is now becoming actively involved in the cleanup of radioactive waste.


Link TV - Jeffrey Patterson on Nuclear Power and Human Health



Dr. Jeffrey Patterson, former president of Physicians for Social Responsibility talks with Earth Focus about the links between nuclear power and human health. What, if any, dose of radiation is safe? What kind of radiation are we exposed to? Can radiation cause genetic damage? Find out in this Earth Focus interview.


linktv's YoutTube Channel
Link TV ( linktv.org ) is an independent national network providing diverse perspectives on world and national issues, without censorship or commercials.



NUCLEAR playlist on robertcherwink's Channel




-!- fukushima nuclear power plant japan nuclear crisis nuclear disaster radiation catastrophe radioactive fallout nuclear energy safety hazard environment ecology pollution -!-

NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

Saturday, January 14, 2012

No New Nukes! | FUKUSHIMA NOT "SHUT DOWN"



No New Nukes! | Greenpeace


How can we possibly be thinking about building new nuclear reactors? Just one of the following would be reason enough for "No New Nukes!"

An Economic Disaster

If the nuclear industry and Wall Street financiers are unwilling to assume the economic risk of constructing new nuclear power plants, why should the American taxpayer?

Perhaps the Senate is betting that these new reactors will be better than the one hundred and three reactors that already exist? But consider the economic and safety meltdown experienced by the nuclear industry over the past thirty years. The Department of Energy (DOE) compared nuclear construction cost estimates to the actual final costs for 75 reactors. The original cost estimate was $45 billion. The actual cost was $145 billion! Forbes magazine recognized that this "failure of the U.S. nuclear power program ranks as the largest managerial disaster in business history, a disaster of monumental scale." According to Forbes, "only the blind, or the biased, can now think the money has been well spent." Despite the $100 billion cost overrun, Senator Pete Domenici wants to again give the nuclear industry billions in taxpayer dollars and guaranteed loans.

However, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the prospects for a second generation of nuclear reactors are equally abysmal. According to the CBO, the Department of Energy could provide loan guarantees for up to 50% of the construction costs for seven new nuclear power plants. However, the CBO considers the risk of default on these loans to be very high - well above 50 percent. It is little wonder that the three nuclear corporations that are attempting to site new nuclear reactors, Dominion Resources, Entergy and Exelon have stated that the numbers for new nuclear construction just don't add up.

The Most Dangerous Means to Boil Water

But bad economics is only part of the problem. The government's nuclear advisers have determined that these new nuclear designs constitute "a major safety trade-off" because they lack containment domes, the last line of defense protecting the public from a catastrophic release of radiation.

Nuclear power already is the most dangerous and expensive means yet devised to boil water. But when you add to this danger the threat of a terrorist attack, the continued support of nuclear power becomes unconscionable...


> more


TAKE ACTION
Put an end to the NRC's rubber stamp! (Greenpeace)

Tell President Obama: End the nuclear loan program now! (NIRS)

Call for a halt to reactor construction and ultimately, an end to nuclear power in the U.S. (Friends of the Earth)


Beyond Nuclear - FREEZE OUR FUKUSHIMAS:
"Freeze Our Fukushimas" is a national campaign created by Beyond Nuclear to permanently suspend the operations of the most dangerous class of reactors operating in the United States today; the 23 General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors, the same flawed design as those that melted down at Fukushima-Daiichi in Japan.

Act Now | NukeFree.org




Redefining “Cold shutdown” doesn’t hide the truth about Fukushima | Greenpeace

A satellite image shows damage at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant In Fukushima Prefecture after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami (© DigitalGlobe)

The Japanese authorities stated last Friday that Fukushima is in a state of "cold shutdown. This is not true. At first glance, the announcement that the stricken nuclear reactors are now “stable”sounds like some rare good news from the disaster zone. Not at all. As we all know, first impressions can be deceptive.

The industry definition of “cold shutdown” means that the temperature inside a nuclear reactor has stabilized below 95℃ from the hellish temperatures of the nuclear fission process. In the case of Fukushima, this suggests the crisis is over. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, the Japanese authorities have cheated by redefining “cold shutdown” to suit the situation at Fukushima. Only operating nuclear reactors can be put into a state of “cold shutdown”. Reactors that have suffered meltdowns – like those at Fukushima – cannot be. The 260 tons of nuclear fuel inside the Fukushima reactors melted and burned through the steel floors of the containment vessels and into the thick concrete under pads. The melted fuel is far from under control. This means the temperature inside the reactor can’t be regulated by conventional means. Nobody at Fukushima actually knows what state this highly radioactive molten fuel is in or what temperature it is at because it’s obviously far too dangerous to go in and find out.

Also, tens of thousands of tons of water that was pumped into the reactors in the attempt to cool them remains inside and is highly radioactive. The authorities have no idea what to do with it. It’s leaking into the environment with some of it reaching the Pacific Ocean. Last week, Fukushima’s operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) had to abandon plans to dump it in the ocean after protests by local fishermen. Right now, there’s nowhere for it to go, other than to leak into the sea and groundwater.

So, we don’t have a “cold shutdown” at Fukushima...

> more


Search results | Greenpeace: Nuclear



See also

"Mission Accomplished" delusion | Radioactive Dumping

Fukushima "China Syndrome?"

China Syndrome | No cold shutdown possible at Fukushima


whats up: 25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | NUCLEAR "SAFTEY" = NUCLEAR THREAT
All nuclear reactors and their waste should be declared illegal, and can be considered crimes against humanity and the ecosphere - all governments and corporations and their officers should be made directly liable for the immediate decommissioning of all nuclear power plants, and for the security, clean up and management of the eternal quagmire of nuclear waste that they have created.


whats up: Nuclear Power = Crime Against Humanity


whats up: Nuclear Safety is an Oxymoron | How will broken-melting-fuming-leaking Fukushima Daiichi weather Monster Typhoon?
"nuclear power kills - it is not clean, it is not cheap, and it is immoral - anyone who says that it is safe is either lying, making money, misinformed and/or delusional"


LINKS PAGE
VIDEOS PAGE
TOP OF BLOG for more recent posts

• recent Fukushima & related updates for nuclear news, background info, links and actions -
free downloads | anti-nuclear art☢ RAGE AGAINST NUCLEAR ☢
TEPCO says it 'no longer owns' Fukushima fallout
Tell President Obama: End the nuclear loan program now!
Nukespeak is a classic! | Karl Grossman
Help watchdog nuclear safety risks by calling in
Is cancer an epidemic in America?
"Mission Accomplished" delusion | Radioactive Dumping
FUKUSHIMA UPDATE | The Fukushima Updates blog
Fukushima "China Syndrome?"
webcasts | FREEZE OUR FUKUSHIMAS | Strong Children Japan
Unthinking the Thinkable | Nukespeak | Marginalized Media
China Syndrome | No cold shutdown possible at Fukushima
NUCLEAR VIDEOS: The Retrosic - bomb & "Victory At Sea"
Beyond Nuclear - Radiation & Health What's New - Cancer panel to issue final report.
telling the truth about radiation
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Atomic Cover-Up: The Hidden Story Behind the U.S. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Truth About Nuclear Power | Lethal Levels of Radiation
Diablo Canyon | Need To Know | It Can Happen Here
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Three Nuclear Meltdowns, Radiation Leaked into Sea; U.S. Waste Poses Deadly Risks
Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe Update | Related News
Nuclear Safety is an Oxymoron | How will broken-melting-fuming-leaking Fukushima Daiichi weather Monster Typhoon?
What's going on at Japan's damaged nuclear power plant?
End the nuclear loan program now | Quaint Vermont fixer-upper
Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed
abolish atomic - new art | news from Beyond Nuclear | TAKE ACTION
Learning from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster? | Unsafe at Any Dose
We do not want atom!
Fallout? | Delay Licensing! | Evacutation? | Taxes?
NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW - Flyer
Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 | Downwinders | Nuclear Law
25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | NUCLEAR "SAFTEY" = NUCLEAR THREAT
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Arnie Gundersen on Current Fukushima Daiichi Situation
Deepak Chopra homebase: Fukushima ~ Indian Point, NY
Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth
Fukushima a "Ticking Time Bomb"
Nuclear Catastrophe in Japan “Not Equal to Chernobyl, But Way Worse”
Nuclear Power = Crime Against Humanity
Obama: No Money for Nukes!
Pacifica Nuclear Teach-in | The Code Killers by Ace Hoffman
Nuclear Obama, Radioactive Boars & Frogs of Fukushima
fukushima plutonium
Fukushima still fuming - nuclear catastrophe update
MARCH ARCHIVE

CHECK FOR NEWS
google news ~ "Fukushima + nuclear"
news feeds below

-!- fukushima nuclear power plant japan nuclear crisis nuclear disaster radiation catastrophe radioactive fallout nuclear energy safety hazard environment ecology pollution -!-


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

free downloads | anti-nuclear art



no nukes!


abolish atomic


the attached file is suitable
for high resolution photo printing at 4 x 6
- please print some and pass them around :)


whats more: abolish atomic -
Roseadjoa says waking up isn't easy when living a nightmare ♥

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fukushima art


The "outer building" surrounding Unit 3 of Fukushima I explodes due to the ignition of built up hydrogen gas on March 13, 2011. This is the reactor which has the extremely dangerous plutonium-laced MOX fuel.

the attached file is suitable for 4x6 high resolution photo prints - please print some and pass them around - no nukes!


whats more: fukushima art -
Einstein said, "The splitting of the atom changed everything save man's mode of thinking; thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe." He also said, "Nuclear power is a hell of a way to boil water."

please consider making a donation. thank you!


NO NUKES | RETOOL NOW flyer

PRINT OUT & HAND OUT | POST | EMAIL

http://rceezwhatsup.blogspot.com/2011/05/no-nukes-re-tool-now-flyer.html


click here for print-quality PDF


whats up: NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW - Flyer | Shut San Onofre | Code Killers -
"something to keep in mind:
anyone who tells you that nuclear energy is safe is either lying, making money, misinformed and/or delusional"


TAKE ACTION

call, write, and email legislators, banks, utility companies, EPA, NRC, IAEA

sign petitions (greenpeace, friends of earth, etc.)

boycott nuclear investors, banks, manufactures, institutions which invest (check your portfolio!)

demonstrate

and reduce demand for electricity

> LINKS


PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION. THANK YOU!



see also

downloads: Buddhist Art


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

Friday, January 13, 2012

☢ RAGE AGAINST NUCLEAR ☢




NUCLEAIRE : STOP AU MASSACRE!

a really great slideshow with Rage Against the Machine's "Killing In The Name" as its soundtrack


more rage -


NUCLEAIRE : OMS - AIEA : ARRETONS-LES !


e film reveals that at the heart of Western civilization, rich and technologically advanced scientific programmed a crime has been ongoing for 25 years in senior positions in the general indifference and misinformation. An agreement signed by WHO and the IAEA, promoter of the nuclear industry, knowingly condemns millions of human guinea pigs to experiment in their bodies new diseases in the vast open-air laboratory of the territories contaminated with Chernobyl.

This video is posted on the chain IndependentWHO, a group created in 2007 and fighting for the World Health Organization (WHO) to fulfill its mission of protecting the people affected by radioactive contamination.

For more information:
www.independentwho.info

e film révèle qu'au coeur de la civilisation occidentale, riche et technologiquement avancée, un crime scientifique programmé se perpétue depuis 25 ans sous de hautes responsabilités, dans l'indifférence générale et la désinformation. Un accord signé par l'OMS et l'AIEA, promotrice de l'industrie nucléaire, condamne sciemment des millions de cobayes humains à expérimenter dans leur corps des pathologies nouvelles dans le vaste laboratoire à ciel ouvert des territoires contaminés par Tchernobyl.

Cette vidéo est mise en ligne sur la chaîne d'IndependentWHO, un collectif créé en 2007 et qui lutte pour que l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) remplisse sa mission de protection des populations touchées par la contamination radioactive.

Pour plus d'informations :
www.independentwho.info


flashmob -


Mort subite au trocadero, Flashmob Anti-nucleaire Paris Trocadero 2011e


> collectirrad's Channel - YouTube



see also

whats up: Videos

whats up: Links

whats up: 25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | NUCLEAR "SAFTEY" = NUCLEAR THREAT

whats up: China Syndrome | No cold shutdown possible at Fukushima


-!- atom bomb nuclear war fukushima nuclear power plant japan nuclear crisis nuclear disaster radiation catastrophe radioactive fallout nuclear energy safety hazard environment ecology pollution -!-


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

TEPCO says it 'no longer owns' Fukushima fallout



RICK WALLACE, TOKYO CORRESPONDENT The Australian December 27, 2011:
IN terms of sheer chutzpah, Tokyo Electric Power Co's claim that it no longer owns the radioactive isotopes that spewed out of its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March takes some beating.

In defending a lawsuit from a Fukushima Prefecture golf club, lawyers said the radioactive cesium that had blighted the Sunfield Nihonmatsu golf course's fairways and greens was the club's problem. The utility has taken a similarly hard line defending claims from ryokan (inn) and onsen (spa) owners.

TEPCO's lawyers used the arcane legal principle of res nullius to argue the emissions that escaped after the tsunami and earthquake triggered a meltdown were no longer its responsibility. "Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant belong to individual landowners, not TEPCO," the utility told Tokyo District Court...

> more:
TEPCO says it 'no longer owns' Fukushima fallout | The Australian


CHECK FOR NEWS
google news ~ "Fukushima + nuclear"
news feeds below

-!- fukushima nuclear power plant japan nuclear crisis nuclear disaster radiation catastrophe radioactive fallout nuclear energy safety hazard environment ecology pollution -!-


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

Tell President Obama: End the nuclear loan program now!



NO TAX MONEY FOR NEW NUKES!


Forlorn World wallpaper by Benedykt Szneider | No Mutants Allowed :: Album

For each of the past two years, the Obama administration has asked Congress to approve $36.5 Billion in new taxpayer loans for reactor construction. But thanks to your activism and the work of an ongoing informal coalition of DC groups (NIRS, PSR, FoE, UCS, NRDC & TCS), he didn't get it.

This year, the administration shouldn't even ask for it. Let's tell President Obama that now: take action below.

The new FY 2013 budget is scheduled to be released on February 7. Now is the time--before it's in print--to tell President Obama to stop trying to bail out the nuclear power industry at taxpayer expense.


Tell President Obama: End the nuclear loan program now!

That $36.5 Billion previously requested would have been on top of the $18.5 Billion provided during the Bush Administration (along with $4 Billion for unneeded uranium enrichment plants). $8.2 Billion of that has been conditionally approved for the Vogtle nuclear project in Georgia; $10.3 Billion remains in the pot.

But as the Solyndra solar collapse shows, these loan programs are inherently financially risky. And no energy project is riskier than nuclear power. Add to that the fact that the Vogtle loan alone is about 15 times more taxpayer money than Solyndra ever received!

Not only should President Obama request no more money for nuclear loans, he should end the entire nuclear loan program and withdraw the approval of the Vogtle loan. Now that would be a budget move that makes a lot of sense--and would make Americans safer to boot! Tell him that now.

After Fukushima, there is simply no excuse to continue this loan program. Fukushima showed the world that nuclear power is simply too dangerous to continue. Germany, Italy, Switzerland and others have gotten the message. It's time the U.S. got the message too. The first step is to end taxpayer funding for new reactors. President Obama can do that with the eraser at the end of his pencil. Tell him now is the time to use that eraser.


Tell President Obama: End the nuclear loan program now!


-!- nuclear power plant nuclear crisis nuclear disaster radiation catastrophe radioactive fallout nuclear energy safety hazard environment ecology pollution -!-


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Nukespeak is a classic! | Karl Grossman



Nukespeak is a classic!



Award-winning investigative journalist Karl Grossman interviews Nukespeak co-author Rory O’Connor on Grossman’s nationally-aired TV program, Enviro-Close-Up. Grossman has been a journalist for more than 40 years, and is a professor of journalism at the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury. He is also the chief investigative reporter for WVVH-TV.

Grossman said he was happy to be talking about the 30th anniversary updated edition of Nukespeak: “Of the books written about nuclear technology through the years, Nukespeak is a classic. The new edition of Nukespeak has been updated — with four new chapters — and added to its title is: The Selling of Nuclear Technology from the Manhattan Project to Fukushima. It tells how nuclear promoters have been — and continue — using Orwellian language to try to hide the truth about the deadly dangers of nuclear technology.”

Grossman’s show is available now on Blip TV, and will be broadcast in coming weeks on Free Speech TV’s network of 200 cable TV systems and the DISH and DIRECTV satellite networks.

Grossman is the author of six books, including several about nuclear issues: Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power; Power Crazy; and The Wrong Stuff: The Space Program’s Nuclear Threat to Our Planet. *


Nukespeak is a classic! | Nukespeak

* i am credited in The Wrong Stuff's acknowledgements as a webmaster, along with Ace (Russell) Hoffman, for work i did during the Cassini nuke in space debate back in the 90's. thanks Karl!


KARL GROSSMAN

"I have specialized in doing investigative reporting in a variety of media for 45 years. I teach as well as practice journalism. I am a professor of journalism at the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury where my courses include Investigative Reporting. For 20 years I have hosted the nationally-aired TV program Enviro Close-Up and have written and narrated TV documentaries for EnviroVideo -- www.envirovideo.com. These include The Push to Revive Nuclear Power, Three Mile Island Revisited and Nukes In Space: The Nuclearization and Weaponization of the Heavens. I am the chief investigative reporter for WVVH-TV -- www.wvvh.com. I am the author of six books including Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power; Power Crazy; and The Wrong Stuff: The Space Program's Nuclear Threat to Our Planet. I contribute regularly to websites including The Huffington Post, CommonDreams and CounterPunch. My commentaries on Long Island on the Internet appear at www.lipolitics.com. Honors I have received for journalism including the George Polk, James Aronson, Generoso Pope and John Peter Zenger Awards. My weekly newspaper column runs in Press Newspaper Group papers including The Southampton Press www.southamptonpress.com and is syndicated in other papers. I have given presentations in the U.S. and around the world and am represented in lecture appearances by Lordly & Dame www.lordly.com. My blog is at karlgrossman.blogspot.com. Visit it, too! I can be reached at kgrossman@hamptons.com.. My mailing address is: Box 1680, Sag Harbor, NY 11963"


EnviroVideo presents Enviro Close-UP with Karl Grossman on blip.tv
A EnviroVideo produces environmental and social justice programs for television - including interview and news shows, specials, and documentaries. The underlying premise of EnviroVideo is that there are critical environmental issues at hand that can best be communicated to large numbers of people through the media most favored for news and information - television and the Internet. And if there is broad public awareness, pressing environmental matters can be dealt with and action taken to truly resolve them.


Nukespeak


Nukespeak is the language of the nuclear mindset — the worldview or system of beliefs of nuclear developers and enthusiasts.

The word “Nukespeak” is a tribute to George Orwell, who in his novel 1984, used the term “Newspeak” as the name of the language of Big Brother and the totalitarian state. Unlike a living language, the state was constantly removing words from common usage, with the ultimate goal to make it (literally) impossible for a citizen to think a seditious thought.

In the world of “Newspeak,” vast numbers of people spent their days frantically revising the records of the past in order to make those records correspond with the political reality of the present: “He who controls the past, controls the future.”


Nukespeak | Nuclear Language, Myths and Mindset



see also


Unthinking the Thinkable | Nukespeak | Marginalized Media


Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 | Downwinders | Nuclear Law


China Syndrome | No cold shutdown possible at Fukushima
“I just checked in to see what condition my condition is in.”

One of the truly scary but perversely enjoyable characteristics of nuclear developers is their penchant for making it up as they go along – and then creating new Nukespeak words and concepts to describe what they’re up to as they do.

The latest example concerns the situation at Japan’s still-dangerous Fukushima Daiichi plant...


-!- fukushima nuclear power plant japan nuclear crisis nuclear disaster radiation catastrophe radioactive fallout nuclear energy safety hazard environment ecology pollution -!-


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Help watchdog nuclear safety risks by calling in



In the Great Lakes: Davis-Besse, OH & Palisades, MI

Please help the anti-nuclear movement of Ohio and Michigan by calling in to Nuclear Regulatory Commission meetings about serious safety risks at the Davis-Besse atomic reactor near Toledo on the Lake Erie shoreline (Jan. 5), and at the Palisades atomic reactor, just across Lake Michigan from Chicago (Jan. 11).

The subject matter, dates, times, and call-in numbers are:
1. Re: cracking in the 35 year old Davis-Besse atomic reactor shield building/secondary containment structure in northwest Ohio, on the Lake Erie shoreline
Thursday, Jan. 5, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern time

Call in to the toll-free teleconference number 1-800-369-1122 and enter passcode 7687149.

2. Re: 5 un-planned shut downs in 2011 of the over 40 year old Palisades atomic reactor in southwest Michigan, on the Lake Michigan shoreline
Wednesday, Jan. 11, starting at 9:00 a.m. Central (Chicago) time, and starting again at 1:30 p.m. Central time

Call in to the toll-free teleconference number 1-888-283-3870 and enter passcode 7515976.

Click here for more in depth background information on all of the above. (including on how to attend in person if you live close enough!)

If you can call-in, please RSVP to Kevin Kamps at Beyond Nuclear, so he can keep NRC informed about how many phone lines are needed: kevin@beyondnuclear.org, or (240) 462-3216. Thanks!

> Beyond Nuclear: Safety - Help watchdog nuclear safety risks in the Great Lakes by calling in: Davis-Besse, OH (Jan. 5) & Palisades, MI (Jan. 11)

Beyond Nuclear - Home



See also

LINKS PAGE
VIDEOS PAGE
news feeds below


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Is cancer an epidemic in America?


The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) is a nuclear power plant located on the Pacific coast of California. The 84-acre (34 ha) site is in the northwestern corner of San Diego County, south of San Clemente, and surrounded by the San Onofre State Park and next to the I-5 Highway. This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons

...My friend is not a nuclear activist and wasn't talking about Fukushima and its aftermath. She just was wondering why so many people seem to have cancer these days.

"Could be Fukushima" I said.

"What's that?" she responded.

"...Remember that nuclear accident in Japan last spring? It's still spewing radioactive poisons into the environment, and is still out of control. We need to shut them all down, including San Onofre." (SanO is our local pair of poorly-run nuclear reactors, about 15 miles away.)

"Where will we get our energy?" she asked.

I answered that San Onofre only supplies about 7% of California's power, which could easily be replaced by solar, wind, etc.. If I had more time, I would have made her aware of some other considerations besides just where our electricity will come from...


more > Ace Hoffman's Nuclear Failures Reports: Is cancer an epidemic in America?

Ace Hoffman's Nuclear Failures Reports



see also

whats up: NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW - Flyer | Shut San Onofre | Code Killers

whats up: Diablo Canyon | Need To Know | It Can Happen Here

whats up: Anti-nuclear movement | California Nukes


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW