"Kirk Urges President to Halt Canadian Proposal to Store Nuclear Waste Near Great Lakes"

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL)U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (Republican-Illinois, photo left) has issued a press release, and the text of a letter he sent to President Obama, calling for administration action to protect the Great Lakes against Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) proposed "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive waste dump, targeted at the Lake Huron shoreline at Bruce Nuclear Generating Station.

Sen. Kirk stated: “As co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, I am fighting to keep our lakes free from toxins that could harm our precious ecological system and threaten the drinking water source for more than 30 million Americans. Storing nuclear waste underground along the shores of the Great Lakes directly jeopardizes the wellbeing of this shared natural resource, and I urge the President to work with the Canadian Government to postpone this decision and protect our lakes for generations to come.”

In 2011, and again in 2013, Sen. Kirk sent letters of concern to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. Last year, and again this year, Sen. Kirk has introduced resolutions of disapproval for the site.

In his letter to President Obama, Sen. Kirk stated: "This matter presents an immediate threat to all the Great Lakes, and I ask you to use all diplomatic means available to urge the Canadian government to delay its decision-making process until the proposal has been given all due consideration by the [International Joint Commission."

Sen. Kirk warned: "As a permanent repository, the Kincardine, Ontario facility would hold 7 million cubic feet of nuclear waste for thousands of years. Any leak during that time could unleash toxic material throughout the Great Lakes Basin, and contaminate the largest surface freshwater system in the world while causing irreparable damage to the more than 3,500 [species of] plants and animals that inhabit the ecosystem." (emphasis added)

More information about Canada's Great Lakes shore radioactive waste dump is posted under Beyond Nuclear's Canada website section.

Beyond Nuclear on Thom Hartman's "The Big Picture" re: Indian Pt. fire/oil spill & Chinese proliferation concerns

Thom Hartmann, host of "The Big Picture"Thom Hartmann, host of "The Big Picture," had Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps on to discuss the transformer fires at Entergy Nuclear's Indian Point nuclear power plant, and consequent oil spill into the Hudson River upstream from New York City. Thom and Kevin also discussed the Obama administration's attempt to extend approval nuclear power commerce with China, despite congressional concerns about dual-use technology that could be transferred to China's nuclear submarines, as well as "vertical" and "horizontal" proliferation concerns from reprocessing plutonium (adding to China's own nuclear arsenal, or the spread of nuclear weaponry to other countries or terrorist groups, respectively). (See the segment from the 46:00 minute mark to the 52:15 minute mark.)

Transformer fire at Entergy Nuclear's Indian Point causes thousands of gallons of oil to leak into Hudson River upstream of New York City

As reported by CBS New York, a transformer fire took place at Entergy Nuclear's Indian Point Unit 3 (IP) yesterday. New York Governor Cuomo rushed to the scene, concerned about the potential for leaking oil to reach the Hudson River.

Sure enough, it has. As reported by ABC News, the multiple fires did lead to an oil slick on the Hudson River, when an oil overflow tank's capacity was not enough to stem the leakage. Thousands of gallons of oil have reportedly leaked into the river, some 30 miles north of New York City.

Riverkeeper issued a press release, as well as photos (see left), stating that this latest accident is proof positive that IP should be permanently closed.

Beyond Nuclear just took part in an anti-nuclear summit very near Indian Point, held at Stony Point Conference Center on May 3rd. Hosted by Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, the event focused on high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) and decommissioning issues. Beyond Nuclear's presentation addressed HLRW risks at IP, including radioactive leaks from IP's HLRW storage pools, documented in a Beyond Nuclear report and backgrounder. Representatives from NIRS, Citizens Awareness Network, Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, and Riverkeeper also presented.

Update on May 12, 2015 by admin

The Journal News/Lohud.com reports that residents and businesses on the Hudson River are reporting not only sheens of oils up and down the river, north and south of Entergy Nuclear's Indian Point nuclear power plant, but also the smell of oil. Entergy, meanwhile, is not ready to admit the oil in the river is even from its spill! This despite an NRC admission that thousands of gallons of Entergy's transformer oil leaked into the river.

The guardian of Fukushima's lost animals

The untold human suffering and property damage left in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan has been well-documented, but there’s another population that suffered greatly that few have discussed – the animals left behind in the radioactive exclusion zone. One man, however, hasn’t forgotten – 55-year-old Naoto Matsumura, a former construction worker who lives in the zone to care for its four-legged survivors.

He is known as the ‘guardian of Fukushima’s animals’ because of the work he does to feed the animals left behind by people in their rush to evacuate the government’s 12.5-mile exclusion zone. He is aware of the radiation he is subject to on a daily basis, but says that he “refuses to worry about it.” He does take steps, however, by only eating food imported into the zone. More.