NRC: Lapdog or Watchdog?
May 15, 2013
Kevin Hurley talks with Arnie and Maggie Gundersen about the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's (ASLB) decision to hold public hearings about restarting the San Onofre Nuclear Plant.  "This whole issue is about the public's right to know. The nuclear industry and the NRC have developed a process to keep the public out," Arnie says. "Was there a safety risk? Yes," Maggie says, "There was a significant safety risk to the 8 million people in that area of southern California. Was there a radiation release? Yes. It was minor, but it could have been so much more."

Related Documents:
NEI Nuclear Notes - Link
OC Register - Link
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • Digg
Nuclear Regulators Stick Their Heads In The Sand
May 8, 2013
Bad things happen when regulators do not enforce nuclear power plant regulations.  This week's podcast discusses secret, closed-door meetings between top regulators in Japan, as well as the failure of regulation much closer to home: in Michigan.  Kevin and Arnie are joined by Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist with Beyond Nuclear.  Finally, surprising radioactive discoveries at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi site call into question the key assumptions regulators use when trying to decide just how well the public is protected from nuclear power plant accidents.

Click here to check out Kevin Kamp's organization Beyond Nuclear
Nuclear Contamination Knows No Borders
May 1, 2013
On today’s podcast, Arnie and Kevin talk about international nuclear contamination with Dr. Gordon Edwards, President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.  They discuss the differences between American and Canadian nuclear plants in design and regulatory philosophy.  They also discuss Fairewinds Associates recent report on the relicensing of the Pickering Station on the Canadian coast of Lake Ontario, just a 30 minute drive from Toronto.  Fukushima Daiichi may have taught us that nuclear contamination knows no borders, but are the industry and its regulators applying this lesson?

Fairewinds Associates, Inc - Analysis of the Relicensing Application for Pickering Nuclear Generating Station

Dr. Edwards report on Pickering Reactors - Don't Push Your Luck!
Can't Win? Change the Rules!
April 24, 2013
The US and Japan are trying to raise acceptable radiation exposure limits. "If you can't decrease the water level, you elevate the bridge," says pediatrician and author Dr. Helen Caldicott. On today's podcast, Arnie and Helen discuss the associated health risks of various types of radioactive releases, how regulators and the nuclear industry are downplaying those releases, and the current state of the Fukushima clean up. "The recovery of the site will go nowhere as long as Tokyo Electric is in charge," says Arnie.

More about Dr. Helen Caldicott
Too Big to Fail
April 17, 2013
The most striking thing about seeing any nuclear power plant up close is their sheer size. They are such impressive feats of construction and design, and it's hard to imagine that something so robust could fail. In this week's podcast, find out why nuclear power plants fail, and why failure is a fact of life that the industry refuses to acknowledge.
Tipping the Scale: The 3/11 Formula
April 10, 2013
Former NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko was forced out of the NRC by Congress for not adequately supporting the nuclear industry. The NRC claims all nuclear plants are still safe, but how are they doing their math?

New York Times - "Ex-Regulator Says Reactors are Flawed"

Fairewinds - Tokyo Soil Samples Would Be Considered Nuclear Waste in the United States
Nuclear Power and Earthquakes
April 3, 2013
Why is a geologist interested in nuclear plants?  Listen to Fairewinds Board member geologist Dr. Les Kanat talk with nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen and show host Kevin Hurley about seismological events in relation to nuclear power.  Why do east coast nuclear plants have higher Core Damage Frequencies and are more likely to be damaged from an earthquake than those in California?  Do corporate economic concerns mean that nuclear plants are not designed to handle the worst 'quake? Tune in and discover what the NRC has identified as the most dangerous plant in America.
Hot Air
March 27, 2013

TEPCO claims water around Fukushima reactors filtered out the cesium.  Could water really exist at these high temperatures or is it just a bunch of hot air?

Hot Air
March 27, 2013

TEPCO claims water around Fukushima reactors filtered out the cesium.  Could water really exist at these high temperatures or is it just a bunch of hot air?  To watch this presentation click here.

NRC Plays Keep Away...
March 21, 2013
Critical safety documents are continuously withheld from the public with a total lack of openness and transparency.

Fairewinds founder Maggie Gundersen and Enformable's Editor Lucas Hixson meet with Kevin Hurley to discuss the difficulties the public has in obtaining information from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and from reactor owners.  The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been a failure in allowing the public to have access to information that affects the safety of their communities.
Redacted Report Released: Southern California Edison Made Major ███████ to Their ███████ Despite Warnings From ███████
March 13, 2013
NRC released MHI documents show that Edison concealed San Onofre’s flawed steam generator design in order to avoid a public process.

Multimedia submenu

Join the Discussion

Send us an MP3 audio recording with your question or comment to podcast@fairewinds.org for possible use on the podcast.

By submitting a recording you agree that the recording is of you and that you grant Fairewinds permission to use it on our weekly podcast.

Fairewinds Newsletter

 
Email Format
Please consider supporting our work with a donation