Report tracks global success of renewable energy

When arguing the case for or against nuclear energy, you can go with the masters of spin and omission or you can go with the empirical data. We prefer the latter. And for that, there is the welcome annual edition of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report.

After that, the job becomes easy. There IS no case for nuclear power. It’s fundamentally over. Yet governments — mainly those of nuclear weapons states — cling on to it even as their fingers are loosened one at a time from the ledge. They refuse to fall. Why?

These questions are largely answered in the 2018 edition of the WNISR which rolled out in London, UK on September 4, and is available for download — in full or as an executive summary — from the WNISR website. (The US rollout is October 9 in Washington, DC.) Read more about the report.

EPA reaches cleanup decision for radioactive West Lake Landfill Superfund site

Kay Drey, Beyond Nuclear board presidentAs reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

After a grassroots campaign that has lasted not years, but decades, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is poised to announce its Record of Decision (ROD) regarding the West Lake Landfill in metro St. Louis, MO. West Lake Landfill is where Manhattan Project radioactive wastes dating back to the early 1940s were illegally dumped in the early 1970s, and have been leaking out ever since. Beyond Nuclear's board president, Kay Drey, has helped lead that grassroots campaign for decades, including penning a recent op-ed in the Post-Dispatch.

EPA has decided to exhume some 70% of the radioactive waste at the site. How leaving some 30% of the radioactive waste in the floodplain of the Missouri River, upstream of a major metro St. Louis drinking water supply intake, surrounded by residential neighborhoods, is somehow a good idea, is not explained (nor explainable) by EPA.

Also of concern is EPA's indication that it is eyeing sites in Utah, Michigan, Idaho, and Colorado for disposing of the "cleanup." This is another example of "cleanup" simply meaning "transfer" or "re-location" of hazardous radioactive wastes. Don't Waste Michigan, for one -- on whose board of directors Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps has long served -- has fought hard since the 1980s to prevent Michigan from becoming a radioactive waste dumping ground for other states.

Update on September 29, 2018 by admin

The Washington Post has also reported on this story.

Vogtle nuclear plants will continue -- for now

And then there were none? The costs have ballooned to $27 billion. The project is years behind schedule. But construction of two AP 1000 Westinghouse nuclear reactors — Vogtle 3 and 4 in GA — will continue for now. The project partners this week voted to continue construction, inching further out onto the gangplank but refusing to jump. The decision likely just delays the inevitable collapse of the project, a no-win nightmare for all concerned. Sticking with Vogtle will mean even greater financial burdens — which already bankrupted Westinghouse. Dropping it would cause a political firestorm in the state and raise questions about who pays for the enormous sunk costs. If Vogtle falls by the wayside it will mark the welcome end of new nuclear power plant construction in the US. Its sister Westinghouse project in South Carolina was canceled last year. Read the press release from the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

ICAN mark International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons with a banner on BNP bank building

From ICAN: Every year on the 26th of September, people all over the world take action to call for a world free of nuclear weapons. This year, we’re showing the world that nothing about nuclear weapons is acceptable. While responsible states from across the globe are signing and/or ratifying the Treaty at a signing ceremony at the UN, citizens all across the planet are taking action to tell BNP Paribas to stop investing in nuclear weapons.

There were events all over the world. This morning, three German ICAN activists (pictured above) protested against BNP Paribas Bank's investments in nuclear weapons. They unrolled a 20 meter banner with the slogan "Stop Investing in Nuclear Weapons" on the roof of the building where BNP Paribas has their offices.

The French BNP Paribas bank has branches in 73 countries and employs 200,000 staff, making it one of the biggest banks worldwide. The bank supports the nuclear weapons industry with billions of dollars, last year alone amounting to 1.4 billion US dollars in loans and other financial services to companies involved in producing or maintaining nuclear weapons systems, warheads and missiles. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons (ICAN) urged its partner organisations to take part in an action day today to call for an end to BNP Paribas' deadly investments .

Martin Hinrichs of ICAN Germany said: "Investments in nuclear weapons are irresponsible. BNP Paribas is fueling the arms race by using its customers' money to finance their potential death. That has to stop." Recently, Deutsche Bank has shown that it is possible by deciding to change their guidelines to rule out investing in nuclear weapons. ICAN Germany also recently started an online action to get financial institutions in the DZ Group (Volksbank, Raifeissenbank, Spardabank) to end their financing of weapons of mass destruction.

Public comments to NRC needed in opposition to the WCS/ISP CISF scheme, by Oct. 19 deadline!

On August 31, 2018, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced another round of public comment opportunity, open until October 19, 2018. (The day before, NRC had also announced the resumption of the Waste Control Specialists/Interim Storage Partners licensing proceeding for a 40,000 metric ton commercial irradiated nuclear fuel centralized interim storage facility, or CISF. The proceeding had been suspended for a year, due to the CISF proponents' financial difficulties.) As announced by NRC: You may email scoping comments to the Project's email address: WCS_CISF_EIS@nrc.gov.

Click here for more info., including sample comments by Beyond Nuclear, and other groups, that you can use to prepare your own, for submission to NRC by the Oct. 19, 2018 public comment deadline! Please spread the word!