"New Containment Flaw Identified at the BWR Mark I"

Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen (pictured at left), in a video now posted at the homepage of Fairewinds Associates, explains that a non-radioactive test performed at the Brunswick, North Carolina General Electric Boiling Water Reactor of the Mark I design 40 years ago, supports his theory that the primary reactor containment head at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 lifted, due to elongation of bolts, allowing hydrogen gas generated by the meltdown in the reactor core to escape into the secondary or outer reactor containment building. "It only took a spark" to then detonate the hydrogen gas, destroying the reactor containment building. Thus, and very significantly, all the talk (including in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Fukushima Task Force deliberations) about "hardening" the vents at U.S. and other Mark Is around the world is irrelevant. This is a flaw in the Mark I design that any hardening of the vents to make them "new and improved" cannot solve. Arnie shows a photo revealing that the vent at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 appears to have been functioning before the explosion -- steam is visible exiting the top of the Unit 1 "smoke stack." Despite this, it did not prevent the explosion that followed.

Remarkably, NRC partially supports Beyond Nuclear contention on concrete shield building cracking at Davis-Besse

U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) asks "Why won't FirstEnergy tell the truth about Davis-Besse?" regarding the extensive cracking, of unknown origin and extent, in its 225 foot tall, 2.5 foot thick concrete shield building, an integral component of its overall radiological containment structure. On Nov. 21, 2011, Rep. Kucinich called for a public meeting on the cracking problem, which NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko supported. The NRC public meeting took place at Camp Perry, Ohio on January 5, 2012, at which Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps testified. On Jan. 10th, Beyond Nuclear and environmental allies submitted a contention on the cracking to the NRC Atomic Safety (sic) and Licensing Board panel presiding over FirstEnergy's application for a 20 year license extension at Davis-Besse, urging that the proposal be blocked. (The 60 page cracking contention can be viewed here.) FirstEnergy has urged the ASLB to reject the contention. NRC staff, for its part, also urges the ASLB to reject most of the contention, although, remarkably, given its long track record of strenuously opposing environmental interveners at every twist and turn of ASLB proceedings, does partially support the contention's admission for a hearing on the merits. Environmental interveners have until Monday to rebut the counter arguments to its Davis-Besse cracking contention.

NRC "event notification reports" reveal two separate radiological/toxic leaks at Prairie Island in 5 days

NRC file photo of Prairie Island nuclear power plantXcel Energy's Prairie Island nuclear power plant has made what appears to be two admissions of separate toxic chemical and radiological spills in less than a week. Residents, and the tribal day care center, of the Prairie Island Indian Community are located within hundreds of yards of the nuclear power plant. NRC most often "washes its hands" of tritium's risks to human health. Its philosophy is one of "dilution is the solution to tritium pollution." But tritium is a potent radioactive hazard, especially so when embedded in a human DNA molecule. Read more...

Update on February 8, 2012 by admin

The Saint Paul, Minnesota Pioneer Press ran a front page article about the recent spills at Prairie Island nuclear power plant, quoting Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps responding to Xcel Energy's and the NRC's downplaying of the risks of the tritium spills:

"But Kevin Kamps, a radioactive-waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear, a Maryland-based watchdog group that focuses on the nuclear power industry, said it was irresponsible to claim that there was no danger.

'We do take exception to that flippant disregard they have. Tritium is a clinically proven cause of cancer, birth defects, and genetic mutations,' Kamps said. 'It's long known that any exposure carries a health risk.'

...But just because the level is below the EPA's limit does not mean there's no risk, Kamps said.

'It's long known that any exposure to radioactivity, no matter how small, still carries a risk of cancer," he said. "And those risks accumulate over a lifetime."

The articles reports that Xcel Energy did not notify the Prairie Island Indian Community, located 600 yards from the nuclear power plant, about last November's spill until last week, and waited till Monday to notify them about last Friday's spill, as it had occurred "after business hours" just before a weekend.

NEIS reveals apparent NRC deception regarding radioactive steam release at Byron

Last week, the Byron nuclear power plant released steam containing tritium to the environment after a transformer fire cut a reactor off from grid power. NRC spokeswoman Viktoria Mytling was quick to assure the public that the tritium concentrations in the escaping steam must be exceedingly low, as on site radiation monitors were not detecting any. However, as revealed by Nuclear Energy Information Service of Chicago, the State of Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety admits that it has no radiation monitors on site at Byron that can detect tritium levels in real time. Samples must be collected, sent out to a lab, and returned -- a process that can take an extended period of time. NRC's continual downplaying of tritium's health hazards are alarming, given its clinically proven hazards as a cause of cancer, birth defects, and genetic damage, and its ability to go wherever hydrogen goes in the environment and human biology -- including right down to the DNA molecule level, which it can lodge and deliver a very harmful blow.

Safety significant brand new replacement parts failing at aging atomic reactors

A tube rupture in a brand new replacement steam generator at San Onofre Unit 3 last week, and a defective brand new replacement reactor head at Palisades, show that safety significant structures at atomic reactors are of questionable integrity and quality assurance. Three Mile Island and Arkansas Nuclear One have also experienced premature degradation of new replacement steam generators, manufactured by Areva of France. Of these, Paliades, Arkansas Nuclear One, and Three Mile Island have already had their 20 year license extensions rubberstamped by NRC.