Category Archives: History

French, German, and Spanish nukes unreliable in heat

Invest in nukes for hot water in rivers damaging plants and animals while there’s less water for agriculture and cities and droughts and summer heat waves cause power shortages. That’s Europe’s experience. Or we could profit by their experience and get on with reliable renewable solar and wind power.

The Guardian, 12 August 2003, Heatwave hits French power production,

France has shut down the equivalent of four nuclear power stations as the heatwave eats into the country’s electricity generating capacities. With temperatures in French rivers hitting record highs, some power plants relying on river water to cool their reactors have been forced to scale back production.

Julio Godoy wrote for OneWorld.net 28 July 2006, European Heat Wave Shows Limits of Nuclear Energy,

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Dr. Jesse Lyle Parrott (1918-2013)

The last several times I saw him he reminded me that his illness was terminal, but it still comes as a shock. I was one of the many babies he delivered. -jsq

Picture from the VDT; obituary via McLane Funeral Services, Jesse Lyle Parrott

the VDT; Born in Salley, SC on Dec. 23, 1918
Departed on Jun. 21, 2013 and resided in Hahira, GA.
Visitation: No Visitation
Service: Private
Cemetery: Private
Jesse Lyle Parrott, M. D.

Dr. Jesse Lyle Parrott, 94, husband of Nancy Wainer Parrott for 58 years, died peacefully at home in Hahira on Friday, June 21, 2013. He was born in Salley, SC on December 23, 1918 to the late Lily Price and Glen Peake Parrott during the historic influenza epidemic. At the age of 12 he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, was baptized and joined the Methodist Church. He attended high school in Collins, Ga during the Great Depression. He worked as a gas station attendant, a “drugstore cowboy” and in the CCC until he entered South Georgia College in Douglas, GA. Eventually he received his Bachelor of Science pre-med degree from the University of Georgia where he was also proctor of the football dormitory. Entering Medical School at the Medical College of Georgia under the Navy program he was commissioned as an intern at the naval Hospital at New Orleans and Pearl Harbor. Following completion of training, Dr. Parrott was assigned to a flotilla of landing craft as the singular medical officer. Duty was principally in the Marshall-Gilbert Islands. In 1945, Dr. Parrott moved to Hahira, GA to join the practice of his brother in law, Dr. Raymond Smith at Smith Hospital. He worked 16-18 hour days in General Practice for 40 years during which he delivered over 5,000 babies, performed thousands of surgical procedures and treated many thousands of patients. The exception to his devotion to patients was his afternoon off every Thursday during which he fished with his father in law, the late David Samuel Wainer or his best friend, H. M. Barfield and then took his bride and family out to dinner. Dr. Parrott abruptly retired from private practice due to macular degeneration. He served another 15 years as the Chief Medical Director of the South District Detoxification Facility at Smith Hospital. Dr. Parrott was President of the South Georgia Medical Society, served as mayor of Hahira from 1957-1958 and again from 1987-1993. He was a long term member of Hahira United Methodist Church serving in many roles as well as Sunday School teacher for the Adult Class. He was also a member of the Valdosta Rotary Club.

Picture by Church Street Coffee

Along with his beloved wife, Continue reading →

Rep. Rusty Kidd urged GA PSC to ask GA Power for solar to replace coal Plant Branch @ GA PSC 2013-06-18

First public witness about the GA Power 2013 IRP at the the Georgia Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday 18 June 2013. GA Rep. Rusty Kidd district 145, who argued for more solar power.

Rep. Rusty Kidd and GA PSC

Rep. Kidd noted coal Blant Branch closing Rep. Rusty Kidd and Press would have substantial economic effect on Putnam County. He said one of his friends was selling his house on Lake Sinclair because he knew Putnam County taxes would be going up. Rep. Kidd urged the Commission to have Georgia Power use the land of Plant Branch for solar energy. He also noted that the more coal plants that closed, the more natural gas would have a monopoly, and then he expected the price of natural gas to go up. So he concluded by urging GA PSC to have Georgia Power put solar power on the Plant Branch property in the near future.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

How to make a rural economy desirable: beyond retirees

Basing a local economy on attracting retirees may not work so well anymore. Fortunately, there are plenty of things we can do here to provide jobs for our graduates and to attract non-retirees.

Jim Galloway wrote for the AJC Saturday, Rural areas a less populated place as Baby Boomers shy away,

This week, the U.S. Census Bureau issued 2012 population estimates showing that, for the first time ever, the rural population of America has suffered a measureable drop.

“First time ever”? I guess Galloway has never heard of Continue reading →

The wind from the Cattenom nuke in France blows into Germany

From France to Berlin is as close as 32 nuclear reactors to here. Here’s a scenario for “Core meltdown accident in the nuclear power plant Cattenom (France) contamination of leafy vegetables by radioactive iodine with wind from the southwest”:

I was in Germany shortly after Chernobyl, when all the cows were inside so they would not eat the radioactive grass, and all the salads were frozen.

Here’s a scenario for radioactive iodine in mother’s milk, with a similar map: Continue reading →

Fire at nuclear reactor in France

Not just for Plant Vogtle anymore: this nuclear reactor site fire was at one of EDF’s flagship plants at Cattenom, Lorraine, France, on the Moselle River.

ENENews quoted MarketWatch yesterday, Photo: “Fire broke out at nuclear reactor” — “Plumes of black smoke could be seen from a considerable distance”

French state-controlled power group Electricite de France SA said Friday a fire started on a transformer at its nuclear plant in Cattenom, eastern France, adding that it was outside the nuclear-processing area.

A picture tweeted from France: Continue reading →

Birds stop cleanup work at closed Hanford plutonium plant

Birds nested using radioactive mud from WW II-era nuclear bomb production plant, stopping attempts to clean up some of the worst leaking atomic waste, much of which is liquid in leaking tanks near the Columbia River. We have nuclear plants leaking radioactive tritium next to the Chattahoochee and Altamaha Rivers, and radiation is detectible in the Savannah River near Plant Vogtle. How many radioactive solar panels or windmills have you heard of?

Annette Cary wrote for the Tri-City Herald yesterday, Birds at Hanford vit plant spread contaminated waste,

Work stopped Wednesday morning at parts of the Hanford vitrification plant after radioactive contamination was detected under a bird’s nest, according to Bechtel National.

The contamination is suspected of coming from mud used for the nest, which may have belonged to a swallow, said Bechtel spokesman Todd Nelson. Only a small amount of contaminated soil was found, and the contamination was at a low level.

Should workers believe that?

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Remerton Mill demolition –WCTV

Maybe Nina King’s elegy on the sad demolition of Remerton’s Strickland Mill will spur enough people to get involved in the community so next time a monument is threatened with demolition we can find the resources to save it, and we can bring things the community needs now, like fast affordable Internet access for all.

Nina King Greg Gullberg reported for WCTV 11PM News last night, Demolition Of Remerton Mill Has Begun, in which Nina King said:

“Well, it breaks my heart, and it’s so sad. And I don’t understand why anybody would want a historic old building torn down like this.”
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How much will trash collection rates go up in Lowndes County? @ LCC 2012-10-09

Speaking of Veolia winning its high bid for garbage collection, here’s a clue to how much more its rates may go up.

Remember ADS Veolia was bought hardly a month later by ADS, owned by Highstar Capital of New York City? Look at ADS’s bid for Proposal D: $18.39.

That’s $220.68 a year. Which is even higher than Wakulla County, Florida’s $196 a year, which Gretchen warned us all about more than a year ago. And more than double the $100 a year for the former county waste collection sites.

Want to guess how much ADS’s monthly rates will rise? Maybe Continue reading →

County picked the highest bid from Veolia for trash pickup @ LCC 2012-10-09

The facts don’t match County Chairman Bill Slaughter’s assertion (according to the VDT Thursday):

That decision was made in a good-faith effort to find the lowest possible rate for garbage service for the citizens of Lowndes County, he said Tuesday.

Commissioner Richard Raines moved and the Commission voted to approve 9 October 2012 Proposal D and awarded it to the lowest bidder for that specific proposal, which was Veolia. But that wasn’t the lowest-priced proposal, according to the sheet of choices they were using in that meeting:

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