Tag Archives: nuclear power

Dumping of Radioactive Waste into Hudson River Banned After Advocacy by New Yorkers

“Communities have spoken loud and clear that it is unacceptable to use the Hudson River as a dumping ground,” said one campaigner.

By Julia Conley. Published 8-19-2023 by Common Dreams

Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. Photo: Tony Fischer/flickr/CC

Public health advocates in New York celebrated what one organizer called “the power of our communities over corporations” after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation passed two months ago into law, barring companies from dumping nuclear wastewater into the Hudson River.

The Democratic governor’s decision to sign the Save the Hudson Bill (A.7208/S.6893) came weeks before Holtec International was planning to begin discharging 45,000 gallons of wastewater from pools that were used to cool spent nuclear reactor fuel at the former Indian Point nuclear power plant.

Continue reading
Share Button

Fish Near Fukushima Contained Radioactive Cesium 180 Times Over Japan’s Limit

The fish was caught near a drainage outlet where water from melted nuclear reactors flows—some of the same water that is to be treated and released from the power plant starting next month.

By Julia Conley. Published 7-24-2023 by Common Dreams

The Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami Photo: Digital Globe/CC

With the Tokyo Electric Power Company planning to begin a release of 1.3 million tonnes of treated wastewater from the former Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan next month, reports of radioactive fish in the area have raised alarm in recent years—and new reporting on Sunday revealed that the problem is far from mitigated, prompting questions about how dangerous the company’s plan will be for the public.

The plant operator, known as TEPCO, analyzed a black rockfish in May that was found to contain levels of radioactive cesium that were 180 times over Japan’s regulatory limit, The Guardian reported.

Continue reading
Share Button

Any incident at Ukraine nuclear plant ‘would be deliberate act by Russia’

Ukrainian nuclear experts say an accident at the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant would be “almost impossible”

By Kateryna Farbar. Published 6-28-2023 by openDemocracy

The IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) arrives at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant i September 2022. Photo: IAEA Imagebank/flickr/CC

An accident at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant would be “almost impossible” and any damage would be a deliberate act by Russian forces, Ukrainian nuclear personnel have told openDemocracy.

Russia has occupied the plant, in the city of Enerhodar, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Its forces are currently preparing to damage the occupied plant, Ukrainian officials claim, in order to stop Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the country’s southeast.

Continue reading
Share Button

Restarting Michigan Nuclear Power Plant Risks ‘Chernobyl-Scale Catastrophe,’ Coalition Warns

“This more than $10 billion in ratepayer and taxpayer robbery would merely fund an insanely high-risk game of radioactive Russian roulette on the Lake Michigan shoreline,” said one critic.

By Kenny Stancil.  Published 3-22-2023 by Common Dreams

Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert, Michigan. (Photo: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

A coalition of 191 individuals and 185 groups representing thousands of people on Wednesday implored the federal government for the third time not to fund the revival of a roughly 51-year-old nuclear power plant that was shut down last May in Covert, Michigan.

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the coalition warned that providing financial aid to Holtec International, which purchased the Palisades Nuclear Plant (PNP) last June, could lead to a massive public health and environmental disaster that reverberates far beyond the shoreline of Lake Michigan—a source of drinking water for millions of people in multiple states. Continue reading

Share Button

Nuclear Plant, Minnesota Officials Hid 400,000-Gallon Leak of Radioactive Water for Months

Xcel Energy reported a leak of tritium-contaminated water at its Monticello nuclear power plant on November 22. State authorities just acknowledged they’re monitoring the ongoing cleanup effort.

By Kenny Stancil  Published 3-17-2023 by Common Dreams

Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, Unit 1 Photo: NRC/flickr/CC

Xcel Energy in late November told Minnesota and federal officials about a leak of 400,000 gallons of water contaminated with radioactive tritium at its Monticello nuclear power plant, but it wasn’t until Thursday that the incident and ongoing cleanup effort were made public.

In a statement, Xcel said Thursday that it “took swift action to contain the leak to the plant site, which poses no health and safety risk to the local community or the environment.” Continue reading

Share Button

Feds ‘Cave to PG&E,’ Allowing California Nuclear Plant to Keep Operating Sans Safety Review

“This is an ominous warning sign for how independent the NRC will be in evaluating the earthquake risk and the overall operational integrity of the Diablo Canyon reactors,” said one critic.

By Brett Wilkins.  Published 3-3-2023 by Common Dreams

The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Photo: dirtsailor2003/flickr/CC

In a move blasted by one environmental group as a “cave to PG&E,” the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday approved the criminal corporation’s continued operation of California’s last nuclear power plant without a renewed license or safety review while it seeks a 20-year-extension.

The NRC granted an “administrative” exception allowing the Diablo Canyon plant near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County—which began operating in 1985—to remain operational under its current license beyond its scheduled 2025 closure date. The commission said in a statement that the exemption “will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common defense and security.” Continue reading

Share Button

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Relying on Diesel Generators After Shelling

If the generators run out of fuel, “they will stop, and after that there will be a disaster,” said a Ukrainian nuclear expert. “There will be a melting of the active core and a release of radioactivity from there.”

By Kenny Stancil  Published 10-8-2022 by Common Dreams

A worker at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in August 2022. Photo: Just Click’s With A Camera/flickr/CC

The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southeastern Ukraine has been forced to switch to emergency diesel generators after overnight shelling disconnected the facility from the electric grid, Ukraine’s state-run nuclear operator and the United Nation’s atomic watchdog said Saturday.

If the generators run out of fuel, “they will stop, and after that there will be a disaster,” Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s public nuclear enterprise Energoatom, told BBC World News. “There will be a melting of the active core and a release of radioactivity from there. Continue reading

Share Button