Momentum building of international opposition against OPG DUD

The Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump petition now has nearly 35,000 signatures! If you haven't already signed it yourself, please do. And please continue to circulate it to everyone you know! Beverly Fernandez, spokesperson for Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump, gave powerful testimony last Saturday in opposition to the proposal to "bury poison next to the well" of 40 million people, the Great Lakes, drinking water supply for 8 U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American/First Nations.

On September 23rd, Beyond Nuclear's Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Kevin Kamps, also testified against Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) proposal to bury all of Ontario's so-called "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive wastes (L&ILRWs), from 20 atomic reactors across the province, within a half-mile of the Lake Huron shoreline (see image, left).

OPG refers to its proposal as the DGR, for Deep Geologic Repository. But critics use DUD, for Deep Underground Dump, an apt appellation coined by Dave Martin of Greenpeace Canada.

Dave, along with Irene Koch of Nuclear Awareness Project, published a map of Nuclear Hotspots on the Great Lakes in 1990. It gave an overview of the vast number of uranium fuel chain activities taking place in the bio-region, including scores of atomic reactors on the shorelines. Anna Tilman of International Institute of Concern for Public Health recently updated the map, to include the proposed DUDs. Both maps helped frame Kevin's testimony to the JRP regarding the DUDs.

Kevin's testimony focused on the woeful inadequacy of OPG's environmental assessment of cumulative impacts, as well as synergistic effects, of radiological and toxic chemical hazards in the Great Lakes bio-region caused by nuclear power facilities, as well as other dirty, dangerous and expensive energy industries, such as fossil fuel burning power plants.

The Canadian federal Joint Review Panel, comprised of a majority of two members from the CNSC (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission), and one member from the CEAA (Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency), have posted the transcript of Kevin's testimony (beginning at Page 112, or 116 of 350 on the PDF counter). The JRP has also posted the video recording of Kevin's testimony (beginning at time code 2:26, for two hours 26 minutes into the segment). Kevin's Power Point presentation was based on his previously filed written submission.

More.

Update on September 28, 2013 by admin

Janet McNeill's blog, "Things That Matter," has provided links to much of the news coverage on the DUD hearings thus far. Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps and Janet's testimony before the Joint Review Panel overlapped on Sept. 23 and 24 in Kincardine, Ontario.

And the Sarnia Observer has just reported that "Deep Geological Repository opponents getting leg up at hearings, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley says." Sarnia is the largest city on Lake Huron. Mayor Bradley has long been a Bruce Nuclear watchdog, such as breaking the story on the proposed radioactive steam generator shipments on the Great Lakes, which were eventually cancelled due to public opposition.

Update on September 30, 2013 by admin

The number of resolutions -- in Ontario, Michigan, and Ohio -- opposing the DUD is also growing!

"Power Hungry: Will Angela Merkel Complete Germany's Energy Revolution?"

In this September 26, 2013 article by Paul Hockenos posted at the Foreign Affairs website,

the history of and prospects for Germany's energiewende -- energy transformation, from fossil fuels and nuclear power to efficiency and renewables -- is explored.

The fourth largest econonmy in the world will completely phase out nuclear power by 2022. It will get 80% of its energy from green sources by 2050, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 95%. Germany is doing this through a dramatic expansion of renewable energy production and installation, which has generated hundreds of thousands of jobs. Germany's renewable energy industry is now half as big as its auto industry.

"Japan learns that Olympics and Fukushima radiation don't mix"

Dr. Edwin Lyman, Senior Scientist, Global Security Program, Union of Concerned ScientistsAs reported by EcoWatch, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow interviewed Dr. Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists (photo, left) about the worsening "radioactive soggy mess" at Fukushima Daiichi, two and a half years after the nuclear catastrophe begun, and what can be done about it. Maddow's "One Half-Life to Live" coverage of the nuclear catastrophe comes in the context of Japan's bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, just "two hours" from Fukushima Daiichi.

See EcoWatch's NUCLEAR section for past stories.

Fukushima Daiichi "just one big shell game aimed at pushing off the problems until the future”

Kurokawa at a press conference after the release of the Diet report in July, 2012. A medical doctor, Kurokawa is also an Academic Fellow at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, and is former President of the National Science Council of Japan.The New York Times has published an article, entitled "Errors Cast Doubt on Japan’s Cleanup of Nuclear Accident Site," that provides an update on the worsening situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site, as well as failures involving the purported "clean-up" of surrounding regions. The article includes this quote:

“Japan is clearly living in denial,” said Kiyoshi Kurokawa, a medical doctor who led Parliament’s independent investigation last year into the causes of the nuclear accident. “Water keeps building up inside the plant, and debris keeps piling up outside of it. This is all just one big shell game aimed at pushing off the problems until the future.” (emphasis added)

Kurokawa (pictured, above left) released the Diet's investigative report about the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe in July 2012.

Japanese national government devotes mere $500 million to radioactive "soggy mess" at Fukushima Daiichi

NRC Chairwoman Macfarlane and NRA Chairman Tanaka, Japan, Dec. 2012.As reported by the Washington Post, Japanese Prime Minister Shizo Abe has pledged a mere $500 million towards stabilizing the leakage of highly radioactive water into the ground and ocean at the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site.

Critics regard such a small amount as "chicken feed" or "chump change."

As pointed out by Fairewinds Associates, Inc.'s Chief Engineer, Arnie Gundersen, "clean-up" and decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi site itself will likely cost around $100 billion, while "clean-up" of contaminated regions of Fukushima Prefecture and adjacent prefectures could easily cost an additional $400 billion. So, Abe's pledge of half a billion dollars is very small, compared to that half a trillion dollar price tag!

As the article reports:

'...Last month, Tepco admitted that one storage drum had sprung a leak. Spiking radiation levels around the tanks have raised fears that others could be leaking as well. But it is hard to tell: Water levels in the tanks have not been measured on a regular basis, said Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, at a news conference Monday.

“We believe that management of and monitoring of tanks represents a serious problem,” Tanaka said, adding that regulators have given Tepco “strict instructions” to strengthen its oversight...'.

Tanaka (pictured, above left with U.S. NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane exchanging documents after a signing ceremony with her counterpart at the newly established Japan Nuclear Regulation Authority in Japan in December, 2012; the documents established, among other activities, a joint steering committee between the two regulatory agencies) recently compared the situation at Fukushima Daiichi to a "house of horrors."