Decommissioning: Trust Fund or Slush Fund
/During the past two years, FIVE nuclear reactors have shut down...
During the next three years, THREE more atomic power plants will close...
This is just the TIP of the iceberg. Most plants in the USA are 30-40 years old and face numerous aging issues such as: reactor embrittlement, leaking pipes, containment degradation, wiring degradation, and fire protection. No plant in the world has a working emergency evacuation plan, as proven by the nightmares at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima Daiichi. Atomic waste sites are nonfunctioning as proven at Hanford, Savannah River Site, and WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Program).
Fairewinds' Submitted Report to the NRC:
Fairewinds Energy Education has submitted a new decommissioning report entitled: The Nationwide Failures of Decommissioning Regulation: Decommissioning Trust Funds or Slush Funds? to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Research was funded by a Lintilhac Foundation Grant. Last year, Fairewinds submitted a decommissioning report to the NRC that specifically focused on the Vermont Yankee atomic reactor and the NRC sanctioned SAFSTOR process Entergy had chosen to decommission Vermont Yankee. This year’s submission by Fairewinds Energy Education to the NRC focuses on decommissioning and SAFSTOR from a national perspective.
Developed by the NRC, SAFSTOR is a subsidy that benefits nuclear power plant owners, like Vermont Yankee owner Entergy, by providing them with a 60-year window to decommission nuclear plants. With an increasing number of aging atomic power plants shutting down in the United States, Fairewinds’ report is an ongoing case study of the decommissioning process at Vermont Yankee where nuclear energy corporations have been allowed by the NRC to raid decommissioning funds procured by ratepayers like you and me. From unregulated withdrawals of funds, a 60-year timeline with no basis in science, to zero responsibility in regards to emergency planning, it’s clear that NRC regulations are benefitting corporations and not the public.
Fairewinds in the News:
EnviroNews:
The Fairewinds Crew invites you to watch the following news reels of the first and second installments in a 15-part mini-series titled, Nuclear Power in Our World Today, featuring Fairewinds’ Chief Engineer Arnie Gundersen. The special encompasses a wide span of topics, ranging from Manhattan-era madness to the continuously-unfolding crisis on the ground at Fukushima Daiichi in eastern Japan.
KPFA Radio and Rising Up with Sonali:
Listen to Chief Engineer Arnie Gundersen discuss the meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi five years later, and the resulting cover up by both Japan’s government and the nuclear industry in order to push their atomic power agenda.
