"Prophets of Oak Ridge" convicted, face up to 30 years in prison

The Washington Post ran a long piece in its Style section on April 30th, telling the story of "The Prophets of Oak Ridge" -- three Plowshares anti-nuclear weapons activists, who penetrated deep into the HEUMF (weapons-grade Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility), supposedly one of the most secure sites in the United States. The coverage included artistic renditions of the Plowshares action (see left, for a depiction of the scene when Y-12 nuclear weapons complex security officers first encountered the three non-violent activists).

Today, a jury in a federal court room in Knoxville, TN convicted Catholic Nun, Sister Megan Rice (age 83), Vietnam vet Michael Walli (age 64), and Catholic Worker Greg Boertje-Obed (age 57) on multiple counts. The three face up to 30 years in prison, for supposedly intending to injure the national security of the United States.

The Washington Post, as well as OREPA (the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance), have provided coverage of the court proceedings. 

A Nuclear-Free Lake Michigan?!

The MI, IN, IL, and WI shorelines of Lake Michigan, as seen from outer space (the bottom of the photo is north, the top is south)Dominion Nuclear permanently shut down its Kewaunee atomic reactor near Green Bay, WI on May 7th. Combined with the permanent shutdowns of Zion 1 & 2 in IL, and Big Rock Point in MI, in the late 1990s, we are halfway to a Nuclear-Free Lake Michigan! But this hopeful vision cannot happen soon enough, as Entergy's problem-plagued Palisades atomic reactor in MI just spilled 80 gallons of radioactive water into the Great Lake.

Beyond Nuclear shares U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton's (R-MI) outrage at Palisades' latest leak, and joins his call for complete replacement of Palisades' Safety Injection Refueling Water storage tank, which has now been leaking for more than two years, mostly through the ceiling of Palisades' safety-critical control room!

Lake Michigan is the headwaters of the Great Lakes: 20% of the world's surface fresh water; drinking water supply for 40 million people in 8 U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations; and the lifeblood for one of the world's single biggest regional economies.

In addition to Palisades, Point Beach 1 & 2 in WI, and Cook 1 & 2 in southwest MI, also still need to be permanently shut down, and their electricity replaced by efficiency and renewables such as wind and solar, in order to protect the safety, purity, and future of the irreplaceable Great Lakes.

U.S. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Upton "outraged" at latest Palisades leak, calls for safety water storage tank's replacement

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI)Beyond Nuclear shares U.S. Representative Fred Upton's (R-MI, photo left) "outrage" at Entergy Palisades' latest leak -- of reportedly 79 gallons of radioactive water into Lake Michigan. However, Rep. Upton's call for the mere consideration of replacing the age-degraded Safety Injection Refueling Water (SIRW) storage tank does not go far enough. The leaky tank should absolutely be required to be replaced before reactor re-start is allowed.

Michigan Radio broke the story on Upton's statement.

Of course, Entergy should think long and hard about whether replacing the SIRW storage tank is even worth the bother. Palisades has a large number of big ticket safety repairs that are now many years overdue: the worst embrittled reactor pressure vessel in the U.S.; steam generators that need replacement for the second time in the reactor's history; a badly corroded reactor lid that is six years overdue for replacement; and long-needed fire safety upgrades. That long list of very expensive needed fixes for fatal flaws has been known since 2006, but the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has allowed Palisades to operate full steam ahead, with no fixes in sight.

To that long list must now be added replacement of the SIRW storage tank; addressing repeated failures (2009; 2011; 2012) of the safety-significant component cooling water and service water systems; concerns about corrosion to electrical circuitry and equipment in the safety critical control room, which has been exposed to leaks from the SIRW storage tank, through the ceiling, being captured in buckets and plastic bottles, for over two years now; and a 41-year history of chronic Control Rod Drive Mechanism (CRDM) seal leaks, as well as CRDM through-wall leaks in 2001 and 2012. The list of problems at Palisades grows ever longer, as the potentially catastrophic age-degradation risks mount. The 46-year-old atomic reactor is very deep into its breakdown phase, and should be shutdown, before it melts down.

Upton chairs the powerful U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, with direct oversight of the NRC. Upton's pledge to visit Palisades, along with an NRC Commissioner, would mark the third tour of the problem-plagued Palisades atomic reactor in a year by an NRC Commissioner. NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko toured Palisades on May 25, 2012 -- although the already year-long SIRW storage tank leak into Palisades' control room was concealed from him at the time, by both Entergy and NRC staff (it was brought to light by courageous Palisades' whistleblowers, their attorney Billie Pirner Garde of Washington, D.C., and U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA)). On March 26, 2013, NRC Commissioner William Magwood IV also toured Palisades. Both Jackzo and Magwood met with dozens of concerned local residents, and environmental group representatives, including from Beyond Nuclear, during their personal fact-finding trips to Palisades.

Update on May 9, 2013 by admin

WOOD NBC TV 8 Grand Rapids and Enformable Nuclear News have reported on this story. The Kalamazoo Gazette reports that Rep. Upton will tour Palisades on Monday, May 13th along with NRC Commissioner Kristine Svinicki.

High noon for nuclear power: Dominion's Kewaunee atomic reactor permanently shut down!

As reported by Platt's, at 12 PM Noon Central time today, Dominion's Kewaunee atomic reactor was permanently shut down. Last October, Dominion announced its intention to permanently close Kewaunee by mid-2013. Dominion had attempted to sell Kewaunee, but found no buyers. Platt's reports "CMS Energy -- which sold Palisades, its only nuclear station, to Entergy in 2007 -- had considered buying the plant, but decided against it because of low gas prices and investor pushback."

Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates, Inc points out that Kewaunee still had an operating license for another 20 years, but Dominion is unable to operate the reactor economically. Gundersen also points out that the 60-year SAFESTOR plan prior to decommissioning means Kewaunee will not be dismantled and cleaned up until about a century after it commenced operations, in 1973.

Duke Energy's announcement in recent weeks regarding the fatally cracked containment at its Crystal River, FL reactor, and today's final SCRAM at Kewaunee, are the first permanent shutdowns of commercial atomic reactors in the U.S. in about 15 years. Kewaunee joins Zion 1 & 2 in IL, and Big Rock Point in MI, on the list of reactors on the Lake Michigan shore permanently shut down. Point Beach 1 & 2 in WI, as well as Cook 1 & 2 and Palisades in MI, are reactors still operating on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Lake Michigan is a headwaters of the Great Lakes, 20% of the world's surface fresh water, and drinking water supply for 8 U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations.

Update on May 8, 2013 by admin

While Kewaunee's welcome closure means reactor risks are now gone, and no more irradiated nuclear fuel will be generated, as the New York Times reports, decommissioning costs, and the challenges of managing the high-level radioactive waste that has already been generated on-site, are just beginning.

Entergy Wach: Environmental coalition challenges Entergy's financial qualifications to continue operating FitzPatrick, Pilgrim, and Vermont Yankee

"Burning money" graphic by Gene Case, Avenging AngelsAs reported by E&E's Hannah Northey at Greenwire, an environmental coalition including such groups as Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE), Beyond Nuclear, Citizens Awareness Network (CAN), and Pilgrim Watch, has launched an emergency enforcement petition at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, challenging the financial qualifications of Entergy Nuclear to safely operate and decommission such reactors at FitzPatrick in New York, Pilgrim in Massachusetts, and Vermont Yankee. All three reactors happen to be twin designs to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4, that is, General Electric Mark I boiling water reactors. The coalition's petition cited financial analyses by UBS on Entergy's dire economic straits. Representatives from coalition groups, including Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter, testified today before an NRC Petition Review Board at the agency's headquarters in Rockville, MD.