Gundersen: Forever deadly radioactive waste, versus renewables

Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer, Fairewinds Associates, Inc.As Fairewinds Associates, Inc.'s Chief Engineer, Arnie Gundersen (photo, left), concluded his keynote presentation at the Beyond Nuclear/FOE/NEIS "Mountain of Radioactive Waste 70 Years High" conference in Chicago in Dec. 2012:

"What we're seeing is that the cost of solar is plummeting while nuclear is rising," Gundersen said, adding that he often hears the rebuttal that the sun doesn't shine day and night. "But if you believe that man can build a repository to store nuclear waste for a quarter of a million years, surely those same people can find a way to store electricity overnight." ---GAZETTENET.com, November 16, 2012

Gundersen serves as the expert witness for an international environnental coalition (Beyond Nuclear, Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and Sierra Club, Ohio Chapter) that has challenged the risky, experimental steam generator replacements at Davis-Besse.

An overlapping coalition (including the Green Party of Ohio) has raised the radioactive waste dilemma and the renewables alternative as major arguments against the 20-year license extension at Davis-Besse.

International coalition opposed to 20 more years at Davis-Besse cites radioactive waste dilemma, renewable alternatives

Environmental coalition attorney Terry Lodge of ToledoThe environmental coalition opposing the 20-year license extension sought by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) at its problem-plagued Davis-Besse atomic reactor on the Lake Erie shore east of Toledo has spoken out at NRC Environmental Impact Statement public comment meetings. The coalition issued a press release, focused on the unsolved dilemma created by Davis-Besse's ongoing generation of forever deadly high-level radioactive waste, as well as the renewables alternative (wind power, solar PV, etc.) to a risky, dubious 20 more years of atomic reactor operations.

The press release quoted Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps: “The worsening cracking of Davis-Besse’s concrete containment, the corrosion of its inner steel containment vessel, the risks of its experimental steam generator replacement, and its recently revealed Shield Building wall gap are clear signs that this atomic reactor is overdue for retirement and decommissioning.”

The international coalition includes Beyond Nuclear, Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Green Party of Ohio. Terry Lodge of Toledo serves as the coalition's legal counsel.

Update on March 25, 2014 by admin

As the column in Bulletin of Atomic Scientists by Robert Alvarez of Institute for Policy Studies makes clear, the troubled Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico is used for disposal of trans-uranic nuclear weapons complex wastes. However, as testimony to NRC by Terry Lodge (photo, above left) shows, WIPP's radioactivity leakage also has significance for commercial irradiated nuclear fuel -- undermining NRC assumptions which form the basis for Davis-Besse's current operating license, as well as its proposed license extension.

US Rep. Kildee warns against Canadian radioactive waste dump on Great Lakes shore in light of WIPP leak

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI)As reported on the website of the group Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump, U.S. Congressman Dan Kildee (D-MI, photo left) has issued a press release in light of the radioactivity release from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. Ontario Power Generation's proposed Deep Geologic Repository for burial of so-called "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive wastes from 20 reactors across the province, within less than a mile of the Lake Huron shore, is modeled closely after WIPP.

United Tribes of Michigan joins resistance to Ontario's proposed radioactive waste dump on Great Lakes shore

As reported at the website of Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump, in a press release alongside state legislative leaders Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor) and Sarah Roberts (D-St. Clair Shores), the United Tribes of Michigan (UTM) has spoken out against Ontario Power Generation's proposed burial site for so-called "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive wastes, from 20 reactors across the province, at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, less than a mile from the waters of Lake Huron.

2/28 Webinar featuring Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps on HOSS

Friday, February 28th @ 12 noon (Eastern)

Keep It Up! Alternatives to Deep Burial of Nuclear Waste

While deep burial of irradiated nuclear fuel has been the nuclear industry's objective since the 1970s, there are other, broadly supported ideas for immediate safety upgrades that have long been ignored. Kevin Kamps from Beyond Nuclear (USA) will discuss Hardened On-Site Storage as an alternative, interim means of increasing security for high level nuclear fuel waste for the near- to mid-term.

Nuclear Waste On-line

February 2014 Webinar Series

Please join us for our February 2014 series of on-line workshops about nuclear waste in Canada. This webinar series is offered free of charge using the on-line meeting service at www.anymeeting.com. Visit Northwatch's page at www.anymeeting.com/Northwatch for webinar details, to register, and /or to join the workshops.