Nuclear Power
Nuclear power cannot address climate change effectively or in time. Reactors have long, unpredictable construction times are expensive - at least $12 billion or higher per reactor. Furthermore, reactors are sitting-duck targets vulnerable to attack and routinely release - as well as leak - radioactivity. There is so solution to the problem of radioactive waste.
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Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps presented this power point at the meeting of the local grassroots group Michigan Safe Energy Future at the Kalamazoo Public Library on Feb. 27, 2013.
In his March 15th article entitled "Entergy's Power Struggle" (which appeared in The Street's "Real Money"), Glenn Williams -- despite a clear pro-nuclear industry bias -- lays bare the many challenges faced by Entergy at multiple atomic reactors operating in multiple states. In fact, Williams concludes "Entergy faces every challenge imaginable. Simultaneously, it faces outdated federal regulations, hostile states and declining power markets."
Palisades
119 people watchdogged a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Webinar on Palisades reactor pressure vessel (RPV) embrittlement on March 19th. Palisades has the worst embrittled RPV in the U.S., at risk of pressurized thermal shock (PTS), which could cause a RPV breach, Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA), reactor core meltdown, catastrophic radioactivity release to the environment, and thousands of deaths and injuries, as well as over $100 billion in property damage, downwind and downstream. 85 questions were asked during NRC's arbitrarily short Webinar, few of which have yet to be addressed. Media coverage reported that Palisades' violation of NRC PTS safety standards could force the reactor's permanent shutdown by 2017 led to defensive, official denials by both Entergy and NRC.
On March 25, 20 concerned local residents and environmental group representatives met with NRC Commissioner William Magwood IV, as well as his Chief of Staff Patty Bubar, NRC Region 3 Administrator Chuck Casto, and NRC Region 3 Branch Chief Jack Geissner. The meeting, which lasted three hours, took place in South Haven, near Palisades, which the NRC delegation toured the next morning. The environmental-citizen coalition communicated their many concerns about the problem-plagued plant.
On April 2nd, NRC will hold its annual End of Cycle performance review public meeting near Palisades. On April 11th, the Union of Concerned Scientists' David Lochbaum will present his concerns about Palisades in two west Michigan presentations.
Vermont Yankee
Entergy's woes in the Green Mountain State continue to mount.
Mechanical errors have beset the plant for the past couple weeks. Last week, three system failures lined up in a reactor building blow out panel incident. And this week, flood control seals failed, allowing water to creep precariously close to safety-significant electrical cables.
Although the State Supreme Court has, for now, rejected New England Coalition's (NEC) lawsuit seeking immediate VY shutdown due to the lack of a Certificate of Public Good (CPG) from the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB), NEC's attorneys remain hopeful that they will prevail once their case becomes ripe. The PSB is set to decide whether or not to grant a new CPG to Entergy this August.
Even the NRC is questioning Entergy's financial qualifications to safely operate, and ultimately decommission, VY, after the company admitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission that VY's sale price has lost two-thirds of its value.
And the Safe and Green Campaign will join with the Bread and Puppet Theater this Saturday, March 30, to make one year of "Leaks, Lies, and Lawyers" since VY's original 40 year operating license expired, and its NRC-rubberstamped, Vermont-opposed 20-year license extension kicked in.
As reported by Vermont Public Radio, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has submitted a request for additional information to Entergy Nuclear, seeking to determine if the company is financially qualified to run its Vermont Yankee atomic reactor safely, and to decommission it once it is permanently shutdown. The investigation comes after Entergy reported a two-thirds decrease in the sale price of VY to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), down from $517 million to $162 million.
As reported by the Brattleboro Reformer and the Barre Montpelier Times Argus, the State of Vermont Supreme Court has rejected, for now, a lawsuit brought by the New England Coalition (NEC) on Nuclear Pollution, seeking the immediate shutdown of Entergy's Vermont Yankee atomic reactor due to lack of a valid Certificate of Public Good from the State of Vermont Public Service Board (PSB). However, NEC attorneys expressed hope that they will ultimately prevail, once the Vermont Supreme Court considers the issue ripe for their reconsideration. The PSB is scheduled to rule on whether or not to grant Entergy a new CPG this August.
As reported by the Barre Montpelier Times Argus, failed flood seals at Entergy's Vermont Yankee allowed water to flow 400 feet from the Connecticut River's edge, to the atomic reactor's switchgear room, where it was beginning to fill a manhole immediately next to safety-critical electrical cables.
The article quoted Chris Recchia, commissioner of the Department of Public Service:
“We need to wait for their report and see if it’s a newer problem or an older problem. But like the problem last week, I have concern about the aging of the system and what’s required to keep the plant running well.” (emphasis added)
If it had been a regular flood, “there could have been serious damage,” he said. “Clearly the system, and the seal, were not functioning well. Whether it was one of the new seals or an old seal, I don’t know.”
"The problem last week" to which Recchia referred was the blow out of a panel from the VY reactor building, as reported by the Rutland Herald. By Recchia's count, three systems failed in the blow out panel incident. As reported by the Herald:
'...an exhaust fan and exhaust louver in the reactor building both didn’t work as expected, and when the panel blew out, it flew onto the roof of the nearby turbine building.
According to design, the panel was supposed to be attached by a wire rope, and was supposed to fall back into the reactor building.
Recchia said that he asked the NRC whether the systems had been reviewed during the relicensing process conducted by the federal regulators.
“After all, this is believed to be original equipment on Vermont Yankee,” Recchia said.'
March 30, 2013