Category Archives: Politics

Vogtle reactor vessel sitting unprotected at Savannah port

What happened to Plant Vogtle’s new reactor vessel after

it was in a train wreck a week ago?
It went back to Savannah port and sits there unprotected and unguarded.

Thomas Clements wrote for the Aiken Leader 14 January 2013,

Vogtle AP1000 Nuclear Reactor Vessel Discovered Unprotected, Stranded in Savannah Port since December 15 Shipment Failure,




Tom Clements, Alliance for Nuclear Accountability

The reactor pressure vessel (RPV) for the chronically delayed Vogtle
AP1000 reactor construction project near Waynesboro, Georgia sits
stranded and seemingly unprotected in the port of Savannah. The
special railroad car carrying the 300-ton vessel had unknown
mechanical problems on December 15 on exiting the port. The NRC has
said that the vessel only got one-quarter mile before a sound was
heard and the car stopped. Plans by Westinghouse and Southern
Company to move the vessel are unknown. It is also unknown if the
railroad car can be repaired and used or if the railroad company
which owns the line is concerned that the rail car might break down
again on its line in an in accessible place. Meanwhile, the
apparently unguarded reactor might be subject to sabotage and sits
in apparent violation of NRC quality assurance and “administrative
control” regulations.

The article includes links to several more pictures
taken 13 January 2013 by Tom Clements of

Alliance for Nuclear Accountability,
such as this one with the bridge clearly visible:

Continue reading →

Georgia legislature still trying to suck up Tennessee River water

Because Atlanta can’t get a grip on its water usage, the Georgia legislature
is still trying to suck up Tennessee River water.
If the legislature is willing to try that, how long before they
try sucking up our Floridan Aquifer water for Atlanta?



Prefiled in December to be up early as the Georgia legisture starts meeting
today, is a bill to try to move the northern border of Georgia to match
an eighteenth century boundary that just happens to include a bit of the
Tennessee River in Georgia.
HR 4,

Georgia and Tennessee; boundary dispute; propose settlement,
was filed by

Rep. Harry Geisinger, R – Roswell, District 48,
and says in part:

WHEREAS, the State of Georgia proposes to the State of Tennessee
that the dispute be resolved by the states agreeing that the current
boundary between the two states reflecting the flawed 1818 survey be
adopted as the legal boundary between the states except for an area
described as follows which shall be made a part of the State of
Georgia by which Georgia shall be able to exercise its riparian
water rights to the Tennessee River at Nickajack:

Georgia is already in a

three-decade-long dispute with Alabama and
Florida over the Chattahoochee River.
Does adding a dispute over the Tennessee River
seem like a good idea to you?

And how can we best stop Atlanta from coming for our Floridan Aquifer?

-jsq

Overwhelming majority of Americans want clean water and renewable energy –poll



A
new poll
says 94% want new energy balanced with clean air and water, 86% want to shift from coal and nuclear to wind and water power, and 79% are concerned about shale gas fracking affecting water quality.

A few excerpts from the PR

Water is High Priority for Bipartisan Majority of Americans,
10 January 2013,

  • 92 percent of Americans think “U.S. energy planning and
    decision making” should be based on “a comprehensive
    understanding of what our national water resources are”
    — a national water roadmap that Congress asked for, but which
    was never produced. The national water roadmap attracts the support
    of 92 percent of Republicans, 89 percent of Independents, and 94
    percent of Democrats.
  • 86 percent of Americans want leadership on shifting from coal and
    nuclear energy to wind and solar. Support for this approach exists
    across party lines, including 72 percent of Republicans, 83 percent
    of Independents, and 97 percent of Democrats.
  • 86 percent of Americans “support more studies of the health
    and environmental consequences of the chemicals” used in
    fracking. Supporters of this approach include 81 percent of
    Republicans, 84 percent of Independents, and 89 percent of
    Democrats.
  • Three quarters of Americans have heard of fracking, with 51 percent
    saying they are very or somewhat familiar with it. 79 percent of
    Americans are concerned about fracking “as it relates to water
    quality.”

What is to be done?

Continue reading →

The water is not lost. —Forrest H. Williams



Valdosta resident Forrest H. Williams replied in the VDT today to

my op-ed of 6 January.
His information seems a bit out of date.
For example, he cites

Progress Energy’s Crystal River nuke
as a good example, when it’s been

down since 2009
and is still

producing zero percent power,
both according to the NRC.
Readers of this blog know that

the blog version of my op-ed
already links to sources for everything I said.
I may respond more later, but no doubt there are other people
who want to get involved in this discussion.
And I do thank Forrest H. Williams for airing the sort of disinformation
that is out there, so others can dispel it.

Oh, and saying water that is evaporated is not lost is like saying trees that are burned are not lost. Evaporated water is not available for agricultural or wildlife or drinking water use, and thus is indeed lost.

Continue reading →

Crystal River nuke still can’t get insurance payoff



Nobody wants to pay to fix

Progress Energy's Crystal River nuke:
not PGN, not its new owner Duke Energy, not
Nuclear Electric Insurance Ltd. (NEIL).
So maybe this nuke, only

160 miles from here,
will be staying shut permanently?
What say we do the same for the new nukes at Plant Vogtle,
only

200 miles from here,
before they even open?

John Downey
wrote for the Charlotte Business Journal,

Crystal River nuke plant stymies Duke Energy
Utility facing penalties, high costs for repairs,

After two mediation sessions, Progress Energy Florida and its
insurer haven't agreed how much of the potential repair costs for
the utility's crippled Crystal River nuclear unit are covered.

It appears all but certain that Progress — a Duke Energy Corp.
subsidiary — will have to pay millions of dollars as a penalty
for failing to make a timely decision on whether to repair the
plant.

Repair expenses have been calculated at between $1.5 billion and
$3.4 billion, plus what it costs to buy power to replace what
Crystal River would have produced while it is being repaired.

What kept shut Crystal River down from 2009 on was

a concrete containment separation.
Maybe those

errors in pouring concrete at Plant Vogtle
are

Continue reading →

Gretchen LCDP v. Austin Scott GA-08 on WCTV


Gretchen with LAKE video camera
Hearing a representative was in town, Gretchen took the LAKE video camera
down to the Chamber of Commerce.
Greg Gullberg of WCTV invited her to rebut Rep. Austin Scott (R GA-08)
in her role as Chair of the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP).
After some back and forth,

the WCTV story
shows transparency winning, and Gretchen with the last word.


Rep. Scott GA-08

Gretchen as LCDP Chair

But their [sic] is one thing they both agree on.

“I quite honestly think both sides ought to put their budgets on
C-Span and maybe we ought to have those negotiations on C-Span,”
said Scott.

“So I’m all for having everything all out on the table for all
citizens to see,” said Quarterman.


Scott speaking

Gretchen speaking



Hey, what if

the Lowndes County Commission put its board packets and budgets out on the web
for all us taxpayers to see?

Here’s
the WCTV video.
The video Gretchen took will follow.

Continue reading →

Videos: money and transparency @ LCC 2013-01-08



The new Commission with the new portrait got to hear about money and
transparency right away.
And a surprise alcoholic vote caused by their lack of transparency.




Crawford Powell (Dist. 3), Richard Raines (Dist. 2), Bill Slaughter (Chairman),
Joyce Evans (Dist. 1), John Page (Dist. 5), Demarcus Marshall (Dist. 4).

Here’s

the agenda,
with links to videos,
and a few notes,
followed by

a video playlist.
See also
the Monday Work Session.

Continue reading →

How are we paying on something that was 100% paid off? —John S. Quarterman @ LCC 2013-01-08



Why are we furloughing librarians to save $30,000
when we apparently floated bonds for unbudgeted millions on the county palace?
That’s essentially what I asked
the Lowndes County Commission at their

8 January 2013 Regular Session.
Nobody had an answer.

Just to add to what Commissioner Lee said,
in addition to everyone appreciating all your service, I’m sure
we all appreciate all his long years of service.

Of course there are some things that have come up since he was first
on the Commission.
For example, Internet access.

The Internet is the roads of the future.

Perhaps funding that might be as important as

striping roads.
It’s a thought.

For more on that, see
what Idelle Dear said just before.



And I really appreciate that clock there.
It’s a sign that sometimes change is good.

At least they are doing a few things differently.



When this building complex was opened in 2010,
the county put out a double-sheet flyer saying it
was completely paid off out of SPLOST money,
with zero dollars owed.
I’m wondering how it is that then, either in November or December,
the Commission just before your one here,
refinanced bonds that included I think it was six or seven million dollars
for this very building complex?
I’m very confused by that.
I wonder if someone could clarify how we’re
paying on something that was completely 100% paid off with zero owed.

It’s actually about $8.9 million.
Why are we paying that?
Nobody answered.
County Manager Joe Pritchard, pictured below,

on that 2010 flyer I mentioned,
paid no attention.

A prominent local member of the fourth estate said nobody was
allowed to answer.
Actually, the Commission’s own

Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to be Heard
include these lines:

Continue reading →

Make available packets Commisioners see? —Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 2013-01-08


Gretchen Quarterman thanked and congratulated Commission members
at

the 8 January 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

Then she reminded them

she ran on a platform of transparency, and she
asked them to make Commission packets available to the public,
and move CWTBH to the beginning of the meeting so citizens can comment
before the commissioners vote.

Here’s

the video:


Make available packets Commisioners see? —Gretchen Quarterman

Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 January 2013.

-jsq

$30,000 saved by library furloughs, $millions for building construction —Idelle Dear @ LCC 2013-01-08



Idelle Dear noted we’re up to 12 library furlough days,
and reported a flaw in that picture to

the 8 January 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

I looked across the street
and there are millions of dollars being spent on the construction of the
hospital, construction of the VSU Health Sciences building.
And yet what is happening, because
this is a mandatory furlough for all employees,
is that people who are employed by the South Georgia Regional Library,
most of whom are minimum wage, work part time,
rely on the income: they are going to lose out….

We’d heard about these

state-mandated furlough closings at a library board meeting.
Idelle Dear spelled out some of the consequences, and made
some telling comparisons.

Something is wrong with this picture,
and I realize there are different kinds of money,
but something is wrong with this picture if we can spend
millions and millions of dollars on construction of these buildings
and yet shut down the library and the employees who are in low income
are going to be affected.

She said she wasn’t sure most people even knew about all this.
And she heard somebody had said most people have Internet at home, but

Continue reading →