Tag Archives: radioactive

Radioactive tritium leak at Indian Point nuke stopped, but still in groundwater

Papers forged, fire and oil leak into the Hudson River, fracked methane pipeline planned next door, oh, yet built on a fault line, and people are surprised there’s radioactive tritium leaking from Entergy’s Indian Point nuclear plant? Just like at Plant Farley on the Chattahoochee River, Plant Hatch on the Altamaha River and Plant Vogtle on the Savannah River? How about surprised if there are any nukes that don’t leak tritium?

AP, 6 February 2016, Radioactive Material Found in Groundwater Below Nuke Plant, Continue reading →

Palisades nuke down 11 times since 2011

Decrepit nuke leaked radioactive water into Lake Michigan in May 2013, and “The same tank sprang a leak in 2012.” That reactor has been down so many times the reporter couldn’t count them all. When will we realize what Korea and now Japan has: the nuclear industry colludes to hide its mistakes from the public, and the public needs to do something about it.

David N. Goodman wrote for AP 6 May 2013, Nuclear Regulatory Commission: ‘Very slightly radioactive water’ enters Lake Michigan,

Early Sunday morning, the tank was ruled inoperable and the nuclear power plant began powering down. This is reportedly the ninth time that the facility has been shut down since 2011.

Nope, ten times; count ’em:

> Palisades nuke down 11 times since 2011

And it stayed down from May 6th to June 17th 2013. Plus who knows what it’s leaking now that they didn’t bother to take it down for? Continue reading →

Why are you gambling on nuclear instead of solar? –Gloria Tatum @ SO 2013-05-22

Why is SO gambling our health and dollars on Plant Vogtle when Georgia Power could be getting on with solar power? SO CEO Tom Fanning avoided the first part of Gloria Tatum’s question by simply denying it, and danced around the second part by saying the rate hike for Plant Vogtle’s cost overruns would only be 6 to 8 percent, not 12 percent. Do you want to pay 6 or 8 percent more for a radioactive white elephant when you could be getting power from the sun for less?

The floor person at the 22 May 2013 Southern Company Stockholder Meeting introduced Gloria Tatum with 164 shares, representing Nuclear Watch South, and the SO CEO insisted

TF: Call me Tom. Gee whiz.

Gloria Tatum GT: Tom. Hi,Tom. It’s great to be here on this beautiful day.

TF: Thank you. Yes ma’am.

GT: And I know Southern Company’s done many wonderful things, but I want to point out a few things to you today.

First, you know, after the Fukushima meltdown, TEPCO’s $50 billion nuclear complex became a worthless liability. The deadly radiation still circles the planet, polluting the earth and increasing cancer. Other countries have abandoned their nuclear and they’re looking to renewable, but Southern Company’s affiliate, Georgia Power, continues construction on two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. Now Shell Bluff is a community down the stream from Plant Vogtle and it has experienced a 25 percent increase in cancer since Vogtle 1 and 2 have been built.

Another problem with Vogtle Continue reading →

Farley 1 reactor tripped

Nuclear reactor Farley 1, about 125 miles from here tripped off its Reactor Coolant Pump Buses yesterday. They plan to get around to informing the press about it real soon now; they didn’t even tell the NRC until today. Maybe somebody would like to call Farley and ask what’s going on? “The Farley plant resident inspectors can be reached by calling 334-899-3386.” Maybe ask them what caused all those other downtimes at Farley over the years; maybe also about Browns Ferry and Hatch, where new Resident Inspector Phillip Niebaum previously worked. Southern Company CEO Thomas A. Fanning asked us to look at SO’s safety record.

NRC Current Event Notification Report for June 12, 2013,

Event Number: 49106:
Notification Date: 06/12/2013
Notification Time: 01:33 [ET]
Event Date: 06/11/2013
Event Time: 21:05 [CDT]

UNIT 1 AUTOMATIC REACTOR TRIP DUE TO THE LOSS OF A START-UP TRANSFORMER

“This is a report of an automatic RPS actuation and automatic ESF actuation per 10CFR50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) and 10CFR50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A). Additionally, this is to report intentions for a press release per 10CFR50.72(b)(2)(xi).

1 month Farley 1 nuclear reactor status percent power “At 2105 CDT on 6/11/13, Farley Unit 1 experienced an automatic reactor trip from 100% power. The initiating event was the loss of the 1B Start up Transformer which resulted in de-energization of the B-Train ESF 4KV buses and the 1B and 1C Reactor Coolant Pump Buses. The 1B Emergency Diesel Generator auto started and tied to the B-Train 4KV Emergency buses.

“Both MDAFW 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 →

Even the smallest amount of tritium can have negative health impacts, and most nukes leak tritium.

Received yesterday on Nuclear Plant Hatch radioactive leaks. Tritium (3H, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen) is the stuff nuclear Plant Hatch is letting leak into our groundwater. NRC lists 44 leaking sites out of 65 active reactor locations. No solar or wind plants leak tritium. -jsq

In case you haven’t seen this yet: TRITIUM: HEALTH CONSEQUENCES. Excerpt:

Most studies indicate that tritium in living creatures can produce

Continue reading →

Nuclear Plant Hatch radioactive leaks

The NRC publishes annual Radioactive Effluent and Environmental Reports for every operating nuclear power reactor. The reports for Plant Hatch 1 & 2 say radioactive tritium has repeatedly leaked into the soil and groundwater, but the internal swamp is getting less radioactive. Reports like this are not needed for wind or solar plants.

Plant Hatch Unconfined Perched Aquifer Tritium Concentration November 2011
Annual Radiological Environmental Operating Reports for 2011

According to a 2007 Industry Groundwater Protection Initiative Voluntary Data Collection Questionnaire,

Continue reading →

Fukushima still broken 2 years after

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that heavily damaged four of the six nuclear reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi in Japan on 11 March 2011, also known as 3/11. The broken reactors at Fukushima continue to leak radioactive substances into groundwater, the sea, and the air, where it is carried across oceans to the U.S. and elsewhere. And it could still get much worse: if the No. 4 reactor pool, still suspended in the air, collapses and causes the disintegration of spent fuel rods from all the other reactors there, Tokyo, 200 miles away, will have to be evacuated. Fukushima’s GE reactors are the same GE Mark I design as Southern Company’s Plant Hatch 1 and 2 only 100 miles from here at Baxley, GA, and about 200 miles from Atlanta and Charleston. Hatch is leaking radioactive tritium into our groundwater again. Five more reactors within 500 miles of here are also GE Mark I.

Among the 311 or so facebook pages and websites about Fukushima or against nuclear power is this concise one, Unplug Nuclear Power, which offers a simple action anyone can take tomorrow:

On 3/11, we will mark Fukushima day by using as little utility supplied electricity as possible. This direct Action is designed to punish the utility companies for continuing to push for nuclear power even after the Fukushima disaster has proven that it is just too dangerous. On that day, we will punish them in the only way that they understand, by denying them our money. There will be four levels of participation, go to the website, www.unplugnuclearpower.com for a more complete description. Also, be sure to join the Event. Finally, if you are in a group our organization that can endorse this Action, please let us know.

As Jeremy Rifkin so concisely spelled out, nuclear power is over Continue reading →

Fukushima children: 35.8% thyroid cysts (0.8% in control group)

ENENews reported today that Just 0.8% of children in 2001 Japanese control group had thyroid cysts or nodules — 36% in Fukushima study. Is that a risk we want in Georgia from the new nukes at Plant Vogtle? How about we deploy wind and solar instead, faster, cheaper, and on time, plus solar or wind spills do not cause thyroid cysts.

Now you may say there’s little chance of similar problems in Georgia, since Southern Company CEO Thomas A. Fanning assured us Plant Vogtle is 100 miles inland where there are no earthquakes. Still, the same could have been said of Chernobyl. And TEPCO back in 2001 reassured everyone that tsunamis were not a problem for Fukushima.

Economics, as in the stealth tax rate hike, $8.3 billion loan guarantee, cost overrun passthrough boondoggle sucking up money that could be going to make Georgia a world leader in solar and wind for jobs, energy independence and profit, is the main point. But let’s not forget the health risks of nuclear power, from Three Mile Island to Chernobyl to Fukushima. Or Southern Company’s Plant Hatch, for that matter, leaking radioactive tritium into the ground water 90 miles from here. No tsunami and no earthquake was required to produce that leak. It’s our money and our families’ health Southern Company is experimenting with.

-jsq

Calculate how much Vogtle is costing you —Mandy Hancock

Received yesterday, related to Georgia Power forges ahead with expensive nukes. -jsq
For those of you concerned about nuclear energy, here are some quick, meaningful actions you can take today. Maybe you aren’t concerned about nuclear energy. I bet you ARE concerned about $$$$.

Learn more about how Georgia Power is getting your money at the state and federal level. All US taxpayers all over the US are basically cosigning a loan for $8.3 B for the Vogtle reactors. Simultaneously, Georgia Power is raising your electric rates to fund the pre-construction costs by pulling the same advanced cost recovery scheme as SC and FL. You can learn more about the controversy surrounding the loan guarantees here

Calculate how much Vogtle is costing you on your monthly bill

(Look for “Nuclear Construction Cost Recovery Rider:”)

-Mandy Hancock