"I Told You So" - great new anti-nuclear song by John Hall

Waste commission rubberstamps more nuclear but rejects reprocessing - for now

A year and a half after its creation, on July 29th Energy Secretary Chu’s “Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future” (BRC) has published its draft report of recommendations for dealing with the mountain of U.S. high-level radioactive waste now nearly 70 years high.

The good news: The BRC rejects reprocessing for now. The report states: “No currently available or reasonably foreseeable reactor and fuel cycle technology developments—including advances in reprocess and recycle technologies—have the potential to fundamentally alter the waste management challenge this nation confronts over at least the next several decades, if not longer. Put another way, we do not believe that today’s recycle technologies or new technology developments in the next three to four decades will change the underlying need for an integrated strategy that combines safe, interim storage of SNF with expeditious progress toward siting and licensing a permanent disposal facility or facilities.”

The bad news: The BRC recommends continued funding for the industry that caused unsolvable radioactive waste problem in the first place and advocates centralized interim storage – and ultimately a permanent repository site – both of which raise transportation as well as on-site security risks among other problems. Beyond Nuclear is in  consensus with the position of a broad coalition of national, regional, and grassroots environmental groups that recommend hardened on-site storage at reactor sites as an interim measure to address ongoing, unacceptable risks with pools and dry casks. Despite repeated recommendations to the BRC, this option was not embraced by commission. Due to is safety and security risks and disproportionate targeting of indigenous lands, there is widespread opposition to centralized interim storage and the unnecessary radioactive waste transportation it would require. The BRC says it is open to public comment on its draft. Its final report is due out in early 2012.

Read the Beyond Nuclear press release for our more detailed take on the BRC draft report.

 WHAT YOU CAN DO

Register your disapproval with the BRC for advocating “consolidated interim storage.” Urge them instead to address the current, potentially catastrophic risks posed by the storage of radioactive waste in indoor pools and in outdoor dry casks, and advocate instead for hardened on-site storage as a medium-term alternative.

Contact President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu, again urging hardened on-site storage, rather than “consolidated interim storage” for radioactive wastes that already exist. Urge them that nuclear power be phased out so that no more radioactive waste is generated.

Urge your two U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative to oppose the bill introduced by U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), two long-time supporters of the nuclear power industry, or any similar legislation that would rush risky radioactive waste shipments onto our roads, rails, and waterways.

See Beyond Nuclear's backgrounder for more information on radioactive waste risks, and ideas to communicate to your elected representatives in Congress, as well as Executive Branch officials.

Fukushima to provide lifetime thyroid tests in wake of nuclear crisis

"The Fukushima Prefectural Government decided on July 24 to provide lifetime thyroid gland tests for some 360,000 prefectural residents aged 18 and under to help detect thyroid cancer triggered by radiation from the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.

'The free tests will be launched in October. Eligible residents will be tested once every two years until the age of 20, and once every five years thereafter. The prefectural government's move is said to be unprecedented." The Mainichi Daily News

Japanese Scientists Push for More Radiation Tests to Assess Seafood Risks

"Japan’s government has to release more data from ocean radiation tests to accurately assess the contamination threat to seafood, according to a statement by the Oceanographic Society of Japan.

'The government should release radiation readings in sea water that are below its minimum measurement level, because even at those low quantities the radioactive elements may pose a danger when concentrated in seafood, the group, which counts 1,860 marine scientists as its members, said yesterday.

' 'Depending on the species, fish have been known to accumulate as much as 100 times the amount of pollutants in the environment...” Bloomberg

Vermont Yankee challenges state shutdown decision with nuclear fuel order

Entergy Nuclear, the New Orleans-based owner and operator of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power station, announced that it is ordering more nuclear fuel for its Vermont Yankee nuclear power station. Entergy plans to refuel the GE Mark I Boiling Water Reactor in October 2011.  The announcement is in defiance of the State of Vermont February 24, 2010 decision not to allow the Fukushima-style reactor to operate beyond March 21, 2012 at the end of its original 40-year license. 

After a 5 year licensing challenge before a federal relicensing board, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted to extend the reactor's operating license by another 20 years just days after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan on March 11, 2012.  

The Entergy announcement was not a surprise to many engaged in the legal challenge that goes to trial on September 12, 2011 as well as a citizen mobilization gearing up for mass nonviolent direct action to oppose the continued operations.