Corruption of the nuclear power industry
2019 ended with major news headlines in Canada regarding the corruption of a leader of its nuclear industry, SNC-Lavalin:
SNC-Lavalin pleads guilty to fraud for past work in Libya, will pay $280M fine
Company will pay a $280M penalty over 5 years and be placed on probation
As reported by CBC
This is the Canadian company Holtec International has partnered with to do nuclear power plant decommissioning, and irradiated nuclear fuel management, in the U.S.
Learn more about the skeletons in both companies' closets:
Among Holtec's own skeletons is the tax break scandal in New Jersey, in which Holtec made off with hundreds of billions of dollars of tax breaks, thanks to lying on its application form, under oath. The lie -- uncovered by ProPublica and WNYC -- has revealed widespread profiteering by Democratic southern New Jersey kingmaker Donald Norcross III. His own brother, a corporate attorney, authored the tax break law in the first place. And another Norcross brother, a U.S. Rep., has voted in favor of and even co-sponsored, legislation that would make Holtec lots of money at taxpayer and ratepayer expense, by speeding the opening of Holtec's high-level radioactive waste dump in New Mexico.
But the headline story above also harkens back to FirstEnergy Nuclear in Ohio, which secured a $1.1 billion bailout, at ratepayer expense, with the Republican majority Ohio state legislature's and Republilcan governor's approval, for two dangerously age-degraded atomic reactors on the Great Lakes shore, Davis-Besse and Perry.
FirstEnergy's ill gotten money grab required intervention by the Trump 2020 campaign in Ohio; a PR campaign of lies and deceptions costing tens of millions of dollars; and, when opponents of the bailout tried to put it on the ballot in November 2020, physical assaults, physical intimidation, and a Red China fear mongering campaign, to block petition gatherers.
The headline story above also harkens back to Exelon Nuclear's corruption. Here is a recent update from Dec. 13th:
In response to a federal investigation into Exelon’s and ComEd’s lobbying activities, Illinois lawmakers introduce legislation to revoke ratepayer bailouts for two Exelon nuclear plants. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show.
January 16, 2020