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ARTICLE ARCHIVE

Radioactive Waste

No safe, permanent solution has yet been found anywhere in the world - and may never be found - for the nuclear waste problem. In the U.S., the only identified and flawed high-level radioactive waste deep repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada has been canceled. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an end to the production of nuclear waste and for securing the existing reactor waste in hardened on-site storage.

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Entries by admin (643)

Wednesday
Jul292020

What if high-level radioactive waste had been aboard?! -- Arizona train derailment and fire described as 'a scene from hell'

Arizona train derailment and fire described as 'a scene from hell'

as reported by CNN.

Depending on the temperature and duration of a fire, high-level radioactive waste shipping containers could be breached. The design criteria for such containers is for a 1,475 degree Fahrenheit fire, burning for only 30 minutes. Many real world fires burn hotter, and longer, than that. A breach of a container, and the release of even a small fraction of the volatile contents of a cask (such as Cesium-137), would cause a disastrous or even catastrophic release of hazardous radioactivity into the environment.

And if a train bridge collapses above water, the underwater submersion of a high-level radioactive waste shipping container could cause a breach, depending on the depth of the water, and the duration of the submersion. As a Public Citizen backgrounder documents, design criteria for shipping containers only account for a 3 foot submersion, for a damaged container; the design criteria for undamaged casks is for a depth of 656 feet, for one hour. But many bodies of surface water are deeper than 3 feet. And the containers weighing as much as 180 tons, or more, these days, it would require a special crane to lift them -- something that would take much longer than an hour to bring in, set up, and activate. A breach and release could cause catastrophic hazardous radioactive contamination of drinkinging water supplies, fisheries, etc.

In addition, infiltrating water could spark an inadvertent nuclear chain reaction, if a critical mass of fissile material (U-235, Pu-239) forms inside the irradiated nuclear fuel container. This would potentially make emergency response a suicide mission, given the fatal doses of gamma and neutron radiation emitted by a chain reaction. But doing nothing could mean catastrophic releases of hazardous radioactivity into the surface water. See this backgrounder, for more information about such risks.

Friday
Jul102020

Public comments opposing Holtec's high-level rad. waste dump targeting New Mexico urgently needed by Sept. 22nd!

As announced by the NRC:

The public may submit written comments on the draft EIS before September 22, 2020. [The deadline had been July 22nd, but has been extended by two months.]  A notice published in the Federal Register (FR) on April 27, 2020 (85 FR 23382; https://www.federalregister.gov/), announced the availability of the NRC’s draft EIS and provided instructions for submitting written comments.

The draft EIS can be found on the NRC public webpage for the Holtec CISF license application at https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/cis/holtec-international.html.  If you do not have internet access, contact the NRC Public Document Room at 800-397-4209 for assistance.

[Please see the links below for sample comments you can use to write your own, instructions on how to submit them to NRC by the Sept. 22nd deadline, and additional action you can take to stop the environmental racist, highly dangerous, and even unnecessary Holtec International/Eddy Lea Energy Alliance irradiated nuclear fuel consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) dead in its tracks!]

Thursday
Jul092020

Please submit public comments opposing the ISP/WCS CISF in TX by Nov. 3!

Monday
Jul062020

Guest column: New Mexico nuclear facility is bad news

Friday
Jun262020

Canadian utility formally drops underground radioactive waste storage next to Lake Huron

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