"Exelon mulls closure of unprofitable Quad Cities nuke plant"

As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Exelon must decide by the end of September whether or not Quad Cities' two reactors will continue operating past May 2017 -- the current cut off for their electricity generation capacity commitments. The dirty, dangerous, expensive, age-degraded and uncompetitive reactors have been hemorrhaging money.

Increasing the likelihood of a permanent shutdown, Exelon's Quad Cities has failed to clear PJM capacity auctions; Exelon lobbyists have failed, thus far, to convince IL state legislators to fork over $1.5 billion of ratepayer money to prop up its troubled reactors; and the DC PSC rejected Exelon's takeover of Pepco, by which it had hoped to funnel Mid-Atlantic ratepayer money to IL to bail out its troubled reactors.

The article did not mention that Quad Cities Unit 1 and 2 are General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4.

Handguns stolen from LaSalle nuclear power plant arsenal in security breach

With  gun violence proliferating at an alarming rate across the United States, federal authorities with Nuclear Regulatory Commission are now investigating a security breach at Exelon's LaSalle nuclear power plant involving the theft of two handguns the sites security arsenal. The ABC news affilitate in Chicago, IL first reported the gun theft and security breach. 

Company officials claim that the theft was not a security breach. The fact of the matter, the event exposed that the arsenal for the nuclear power plant was not secured and the two weapons were apparently slipped past site metal detectors.

Exelon's site security was in the news in 2013 after two of its nuclear power plant workers at the Dresden nuclear power plant were discovered to have been plotting and recruiting other workers to stage an armed robbery of a payroll truck. 

For more on the LaSalle security breach go to Enformable.

VICTORY: DC PSC rejects Exelon Nuclear's takeover of Pepco!

Logo courtesy of Public Citizen's Energy and Climate ProgramThe Washington, D.C. Public Service Commission has voted unanimously to reject Exelon Nuclear's attempted takeover of the Mid-Atlantic electric utility Pepco. This blocks the acquisition, despite other jurisdictions -- including in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and New Jersey -- having already approved the proposal.

As reported by AP: "[D.C. Public Service] Commission chairman Betty Ann Kane says the companies did not meet their burden of showing that the proposed merger would benefit the public."

Beyond Nuclear has been proud, honored, and privileged to be a part of the PowerDC coalition -- led by such groups as Public Citzen's Energy and Climate Program (see logo, left) -- sending out action alerts to our DC supporters, attending rallies, press conferences, and public meetings, bearing witness at Exelon Nuclear CEO Chris Crane's testimony before the D.C. PSC, etc. PowerDC deserves congratulations and thanks. It has consistently warned about the dangers of Exelon taking over Pepco, from the gouging of D.C. ratepayers in order to prop up dirty, dangerous, and uncompetitive old atomic reactors in IL, to the sabotaging of D.C.'s strides in renewable energy and energy efficiency. More.

Volcano near restarted reactor in Japan: chance of large eruption 'extremely high'

"Japan’s weather agency on Saturday told thousands of residents near a southern city to prepare for a possible evacuation as it upgraded a volcanic eruption warning." As if nature itself was snubbing nuclear power, seismic activity around the volcano Sakurajima spiked this past Saturday morning, a few days after the restart of the Sendai nuclear reactor.

"The volcano is about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from a nuclear reactor that was switched on this week, as Japan restarted its nuclear power programme following the 2011 Fukushima crisis when a quake-sparked tsunami set off reactor meltdowns at the now-crippled site.

"Critics have said the restarted reactor at Sendai was still at risk from natural disasters.

"Officials raised their alert to its second-highest level after picking up increasing seismic activity around the volcano, which sits just off the coast of Kagoshima, a city of more than 600,000 people." The Guardian

Seventy-seven people within 2 miles of the volcano have already been evacuated. The Sendai reactor has made no changes in light of the raised warning.

"Japan is home to over 100 active volcanos and lies at the nexus of the North American, Eurasian and Philippine Sea tectonic plates. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis are not uncommon." PRI's The World Consider Fukushima.

Update on August 19, 2015 by admin

See Kevin Kamps in interviewed on the Thom Hartmann show about the Sendai restart and the nearby volcanic activity.

Aug. 16, Rally in Port Huron, MI to stop a nuclear waste dump on Lake Huron shore!

DO sign the petition at, and the spread the word about, http://www.stopthegreatlakesnucleardump.com/August 16th, 1PM at Pinegrove Park in Port Huron, Michigan (1PM - 4PM) to rally to stop a deep underground nuclear dump, proposed for the shores of Lake Huron in Canada.

Here's a Facebook link to the event: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/952971808088757/953145028071435/

Beyond Nuclear will be there, and hope you can too. Please spread the word!

See the flier.

More.