Hole and corrosion found in containment at Turkey Point reactor

Workers at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant in South Florida have discovered a rusty quarter-sized hole in the steel liner of  the containment of one of the two reactors there along with a 30-inch section of corrosion. The hole and corrosion were found during a refueling shutdown. Turkey Point is now the fourth reactor to have discovered a containment liner hole in the last two years but the problem is feared to be widespread within the aging U.S. reactor fleet. According to Arnie Gundersen, a Vermont-based nuclear engineer and consultant who produced a report detailing holes and cracks at half a dozen U.S. reactors, a hole such as that found at Turkey Point could allow enough radiation to escape to threaten public safety.


Environmental interverers against Fermi 3 new reactor proposal defend contention against toxic algae "blooms" in Lake Erie

Environmental intervenors -- Beyond Nuclear, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination (CACC), Citizens Environmental Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and Sierra Club Michigan Chapter -- have defended one of their contentions against the Fermi 3 new reactor proposal. Last summer, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board admitted for hearing a contention asserting that thermal and chemical discharges from Fermi 3 would significantly worsen the outbreak of a toxic blue-green algae (or cyanobacterium) called Lyngbya wollei in Lake Erie's western basin, scene of infamous, ecosystem choking infestations of algae in the 1970s. The environmental coalition's attorney, Terry Lodge of Toledo, Ohio, has filed a defense of the contention against Detroit Edison's motion for summary dismissal. Although Detroit Edison has now committed to not discharge algae-stimulating phosphorus from its Fermi 3 cooling tower system, intervenors have pointed out that calcium discharges from the excavation of Fermi 3's foundation in the underlying limestone geology would still "feed" the algae's growth. The combination of thermal and chemical discharges from Detroit Edison's Fermi nuclear power plant, as well as its giant 3,000 megawatt-electric coal burner just miles down the shore -- plus other sources of chemical and thermal pollution in the immediate area (including additional fossil fuel and nuclear power plants) -- risk an outbreak of this toxic algae that can cause acute skin rashes as well as chronic immune system suppression. 

Gas lines pose risk to Indian Point nuke

Natural gas pipelines running close to the Indian Point nuclear power plant pose a threat with potentially catastrophic consequences, according to Paul Blanch, an independent energy consultant. The pipelines pose what Blanch described as "a low probability" event but with "unimaginable" consequences if there should be an explosion causing a fire. Such an event is well within the bounds of possibility since it already occurred in San Bruno, CA where a large gas line exploded killing eight people and destroying 37 homes. Blanch has filed a petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission  that questions whether the NRC has properly studied the effects of an explosion of the lines or planned for such an accident.

The State of New Hampshire backs Seabrook relicensing twenty years before expiration of the license-the devil's in the yet to be disclosed details

As the saga of the relicensing of the controversial Seabrook nuclear power plant unfolds, the State of New Hampshire Attorney General's office has struck a deal with the Seabrook reactor owners (Florida Power & Light) and will not oppose the plant's requested 20-year license extension for the 2030 to 2050 timeframe. Although the details of the deal are  not presently public, the AG said he was happy with the agreement including how the miles of inaccessible and deteriorating buried pipes under the reactor site that carry radioactive water are to be managed twenty years from now. The AG said he is pleased about  the utility's "commitment to undertake additional monitoring and assessment of key systems and components at Seabrook Station." Given the industry's  neglectful record for self-monitoring and reporting of uncontrolled and unmonitored radioactive leaks from these systems, the AG appears to have capitulated on this point to industry pressure and chosen to risk water quality and the neighboring state residents rather than intervene in and engage with Seabrook's outrageously premature request to renew its operating license 20 years before the current one expires.

Tritium detected in deep drinking water aquifer at Vermont Yankee

The Brattleboro Reformer reports that radioactive tritium contamination has been detected at a depth of 200 to 220 feet below ground in an aquifer that was used up until Feb. 2010 for drinking water. The well was no longer used for drinking water once Vermont Yankee's tritium leaks to groundwater were discovered. While both Entergy Nuclear and NRC spokespeople denied this latest finding has any implications for human health or safety, Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates warns that Vermont Yankee must continue to extract tritium contaminated groundwater, lest tritium or even other radioactive isotopes such as Cesium-137 and Strontium-90 leak downward into the deep aquifers, threatening neighboring drinking water supplies.