Fuel Removal - Potential 'Apocalyptic' Scenario, says CommonDreams.org
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Fairewinds gets a mention in this article on TEPCO's plans to remove fuel rods at a marathon pace from the notoriuous Reactor 4 in Fukushima:
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NRC Strips Whistleblower Protections
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In sworn testimony in Monroe, Michigan, the NRC admitted that it has stripped whistleblower protection from the licensing of new nuclear power plants. By flip-flopping on what it means to be an applicant, the whistleblowers who are truly looking to protect the public health and safety are having their lives and livelihoods jeopardized. Fairewinds Chief Engineer Arnie Gundersen discusses what this means as utilities look for short cuts and cheaper ways to build new nukes.
Read MoreLet The Games Begin
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Today [Wednesday, October 30, 2013], The Games Began in Monroe Michigan as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (NRC ASLB) started hearings on Detroit Edison’s "Fermi 3 Licensing Project". Outgunned? Fairewinds’ Arnie Gundersen and the seven expert witnesses retained by the NRC staff and Detroit Edison agree that there was no Quality Assurance (QA) program in place for two years as required by federal law, but the seven industry experts say build it anyway! Damn the safety regulations; full speed ahead to the pork-barrel federal loan guarantees to build a one of a kind Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor. Listen as Maggie, Arnie, and host Nathaniel White-Joyal discuss the stacked deck on this week’s Fairewinds Energy Education Podcast.
Read MoreA Road Less Taken: Energy Choices for the Future - Fairewinds' Johnson State College Presentation
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This week Fairewinds' compares the paradigm of 20th century large nuclear power plants to the new 21st century paradigm utilizing smaller interconnected renewable sources of power in what is called distributed generation. View "A Road Less Taken: Energy Choices for the Future", Arnie's presentation at Vermont's Johnson State College.
Read MoreRadioactivity level spikes 6,500 times at Fukushima well
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Radioactivity levels in a well near a storage tank at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan have risen immensely on Thursday, the plant’s operator has reported.
Officials of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said on Friday they detected 400,000 becquerels per liter of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances - including strontium - at the site, a level 6,500 times higher than readings taken on Wednesday, NHK World reported.
Read MoreHow Accurate Are The Instruments in Nuclear Reactors?
/Accurately measuring the reactor water level in a nuclear power plant is critical to safe operation, yet nuclear power reactor water monitoring systems do not work correctly. What would happen today if your car’s speedometer read 60 miles per hour, but in actuality, you might be driving at 40-mph or even 95-mph? Listen to today’s Fairewinds Energy Education podcast as Dave Lochbaum from the Union of Concerned Scientists and researcher Lucas Hixson discuss the dangerous dilemma reactor operators face when a reactor has an emergency shutdown and operators simply do not know if the reactor has enough water to keep it cool!
Read MoreFukushima on the Hudson: Could a nuclear accident happen near NYC?
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The crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear facility again grabbed headlines in recent weeks after reports of radioactive water leaks into the Pacific Ocean and repeated exposure of plant workers to dangerous levels of radiation once more focused attention on the disaster and its aftermath. A massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami in March 2011 damaged the Japanese plant's reactor containment and cooling systems, triggering explosions and three core meltdowns. After a string of troubling revelations surrounding Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games, the Japanese government has finally expressed a more open attitude toward international help to deal with the crisis.
Read More'Japanese government doesn't give enough money for cleanup' after Fukushima disaster - expert
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Radiation levels in seawater outside one of the crippled Fukushima reactors has spiked to the highest level in two years. That’s according to TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. It said that radiation levels on Wednesday, the day six workers were exposed to highly radioactive water, jumped 13 times the previous day's reading. A TEPCO spokesman said that the sudden spike in radiation was caused by construction work near the No. 2 building.
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