#nuclearplants — Public Fediverse posts

SimplyInfo.org: 15th Anniversary Report #FukushimaDaiichi

March 2, 2026

Excerpt: "This TV Asahi investigative report from March 2025 [linked below] paints a sobering picture of the enormous challenges still facing the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi, fourteen years after the accident. While #TEPCO achieved a milestone the previous November by extracting roughly 0.7 grams of #NuclearFuel debris for the first time, experts interviewed for the piece emphasized that debris removal is just one piece of a far more complex puzzle. Around 1,000 fuel assemblies
still remain in the spent fuel pools of Units 1 and 2, untouched since the accident, and officials from the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (#NDF) described clearing these pools as the single most urgent priority — in part because another
#earthquake or #tsunami could strike at any time.

"Before large-scale debris removal can even begin, the area around the reactor buildings must be cleared of heavily contaminated structures and exhaust stacks to make room for the massive equipment required. Because humans cannot safely approach the highly radioactive debris, all removal work must be done remotely. Radiation levels outside the buildings remain dangerously high — a dosimeter near #Unit2 showed particularly elevated readings — and contaminated water continues to be generated at a rate of roughly 80 tons per day as #rainwater and #groundwater contact radioactive materials on site, despite TEPCO having already released about 80,000 tons of treated [but still radioactive] water into the ocean.

"Perhaps the most troubling concern raised in the article is what happens to the debris and #RadioactiveWaste after it is removed. Hiroshi Miyano, chairman of the Decommissioning Review Committee of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, was blunt in his criticism, saying no serious thought has been given to managing this waste over the coming century or two.

"The Fukushima debris is uniquely complicated because it is a mixture of melted nuclear fuel and structural materials, and experts warned that removal may not even be possible until a concrete disposal plan is in place. General decommissioning superintendent Toyoshi Fukada warned that without proper storage facilities ready in advance, the entire decommissioning effort could eventually grind to a halt simply because there would be nowhere to put the waste."

Read more:
https://simplyinfo.org/2026/03/simplyinfo-org-15th-anniversary-report-fukushima-daiichi/

Asashi investigative report [pdf]:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ysaf6a7hj62286sv4hoql/alps_water_d250130_14-j_translated.pdf?rlkey=3u397ndoafdtiq6fgjczg4a74&st=845tdf30&dl=0

#FukushimaIsntOver #TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #NuclearPlants #NuclearDisaster #Remember311

SimplyInfo.org: 15th Anniversary Report #FukushimaDaiichi

March 2, 2026

Excerpt: "This TV Asahi investigative report from March 2025 [linked below] paints a sobering picture of the enormous challenges still facing the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi, fourteen years after the accident. While #TEPCO achieved a milestone the previous November by extracting roughly 0.7 grams of #NuclearFuel debris for the first time, experts interviewed for the piece emphasized that debris removal is just one piece of a far more complex puzzle. Around 1,000 fuel assemblies
still remain in the spent fuel pools of Units 1 and 2, untouched since the accident, and officials from the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (#NDF) described clearing these pools as the single most urgent priority — in part because another
#earthquake or #tsunami could strike at any time.

"Before large-scale debris removal can even begin, the area around the reactor buildings must be cleared of heavily contaminated structures and exhaust stacks to make room for the massive equipment required. Because humans cannot safely approach the highly radioactive debris, all removal work must be done remotely. Radiation levels outside the buildings remain dangerously high — a dosimeter near #Unit2 showed particularly elevated readings — and contaminated water continues to be generated at a rate of roughly 80 tons per day as #rainwater and #groundwater contact radioactive materials on site, despite TEPCO having already released about 80,000 tons of treated [but still radioactive] water into the ocean.

"Perhaps the most troubling concern raised in the article is what happens to the debris and #RadioactiveWaste after it is removed. Hiroshi Miyano, chairman of the Decommissioning Review Committee of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, was blunt in his criticism, saying no serious thought has been given to managing this waste over the coming century or two.

"The Fukushima debris is uniquely complicated because it is a mixture of melted nuclear fuel and structural materials, and experts warned that removal may not even be possible until a concrete disposal plan is in place. General decommissioning superintendent Toyoshi Fukada warned that without proper storage facilities ready in advance, the entire decommissioning effort could eventually grind to a halt simply because there would be nowhere to put the waste."

Read more:
https://simplyinfo.org/2026/03/simplyinfo-org-15th-anniversary-report-fukushima-daiichi/

Asashi investigative report [pdf]:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ysaf6a7hj62286sv4hoql/alps_water_d250130_14-j_translated.pdf?rlkey=3u397ndoafdtiq6fgjczg4a74&st=845tdf30&dl=0

#FukushimaIsntOver #TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #NuclearPlants #NuclearDisaster #Remember311

SimplyInfo.org: 15th Anniversary Report #FukushimaDaiichi

March 2, 2026

Excerpt: "This TV Asahi investigative report from March 2025 [linked below] paints a sobering picture of the enormous challenges still facing the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi, fourteen years after the accident. While #TEPCO achieved a milestone the previous November by extracting roughly 0.7 grams of #NuclearFuel debris for the first time, experts interviewed for the piece emphasized that debris removal is just one piece of a far more complex puzzle. Around 1,000 fuel assemblies
still remain in the spent fuel pools of Units 1 and 2, untouched since the accident, and officials from the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (#NDF) described clearing these pools as the single most urgent priority — in part because another
#earthquake or #tsunami could strike at any time.

"Before large-scale debris removal can even begin, the area around the reactor buildings must be cleared of heavily contaminated structures and exhaust stacks to make room for the massive equipment required. Because humans cannot safely approach the highly radioactive debris, all removal work must be done remotely. Radiation levels outside the buildings remain dangerously high — a dosimeter near #Unit2 showed particularly elevated readings — and contaminated water continues to be generated at a rate of roughly 80 tons per day as #rainwater and #groundwater contact radioactive materials on site, despite TEPCO having already released about 80,000 tons of treated [but still radioactive] water into the ocean.

"Perhaps the most troubling concern raised in the article is what happens to the debris and #RadioactiveWaste after it is removed. Hiroshi Miyano, chairman of the Decommissioning Review Committee of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, was blunt in his criticism, saying no serious thought has been given to managing this waste over the coming century or two.

"The Fukushima debris is uniquely complicated because it is a mixture of melted nuclear fuel and structural materials, and experts warned that removal may not even be possible until a concrete disposal plan is in place. General decommissioning superintendent Toyoshi Fukada warned that without proper storage facilities ready in advance, the entire decommissioning effort could eventually grind to a halt simply because there would be nowhere to put the waste."

Read more:
https://simplyinfo.org/2026/03/simplyinfo-org-15th-anniversary-report-fukushima-daiichi/

Asashi investigative report [pdf]:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ysaf6a7hj62286sv4hoql/alps_water_d250130_14-j_translated.pdf?rlkey=3u397ndoafdtiq6fgjczg4a74&st=845tdf30&dl=0

#FukushimaIsntOver #TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #NuclearPlants #NuclearDisaster #Remember311

SimplyInfo.org: 15th Anniversary Report #FukushimaDaiichi

March 2, 2026

Excerpt: "This TV Asahi investigative report from March 2025 [linked below] paints a sobering picture of the enormous challenges still facing the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi, fourteen years after the accident. While #TEPCO achieved a milestone the previous November by extracting roughly 0.7 grams of #NuclearFuel debris for the first time, experts interviewed for the piece emphasized that debris removal is just one piece of a far more complex puzzle. Around 1,000 fuel assemblies
still remain in the spent fuel pools of Units 1 and 2, untouched since the accident, and officials from the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (#NDF) described clearing these pools as the single most urgent priority — in part because another
#earthquake or #tsunami could strike at any time.

"Before large-scale debris removal can even begin, the area around the reactor buildings must be cleared of heavily contaminated structures and exhaust stacks to make room for the massive equipment required. Because humans cannot safely approach the highly radioactive debris, all removal work must be done remotely. Radiation levels outside the buildings remain dangerously high — a dosimeter near #Unit2 showed particularly elevated readings — and contaminated water continues to be generated at a rate of roughly 80 tons per day as #rainwater and #groundwater contact radioactive materials on site, despite TEPCO having already released about 80,000 tons of treated [but still radioactive] water into the ocean.

"Perhaps the most troubling concern raised in the article is what happens to the debris and #RadioactiveWaste after it is removed. Hiroshi Miyano, chairman of the Decommissioning Review Committee of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, was blunt in his criticism, saying no serious thought has been given to managing this waste over the coming century or two.

"The Fukushima debris is uniquely complicated because it is a mixture of melted nuclear fuel and structural materials, and experts warned that removal may not even be possible until a concrete disposal plan is in place. General decommissioning superintendent Toyoshi Fukada warned that without proper storage facilities ready in advance, the entire decommissioning effort could eventually grind to a halt simply because there would be nowhere to put the waste."

Read more:
https://simplyinfo.org/2026/03/simplyinfo-org-15th-anniversary-report-fukushima-daiichi/

Asashi investigative report [pdf]:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ysaf6a7hj62286sv4hoql/alps_water_d250130_14-j_translated.pdf?rlkey=3u397ndoafdtiq6fgjczg4a74&st=845tdf30&dl=0

#FukushimaIsntOver #TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #NuclearPlants #NuclearDisaster #Remember311

The #Trump Administration exempts new #nuclear reactors from #environmental review

Geoff Brumfiel, February 2, 20263:09 PM ET

"The Trump Administration has created an exclusion for new experimental reactors being built at sites around the U.S. from a major environmental law. The law would have required them to disclose how their construction and operation might harm the environment, and it also typically required a written, public assessment of the possible consequences of a #NuclearAccident.

"The exclusion announcement comes just days after NPR revealed officials at the Department of Energy had secretly rewritten environmental, safety and security rules to make it easier for the reactors to be built.

"The Department of Energy announced the change Monday in a notice in the Federal Register. It said the department would begin excluding advanced nuclear reactors from the #NationalEnvironmentalPolicyAct. The act requires federal agencies to consider the environment when undertaking new projects and programs.

"The law also requires extensive reporting on how proposed programs might impact local ecosystems. That documentation, known as an #EnvironmentalImpactStatement, and a second lesser type of analysis, known as an #EnvironmentalAssessment, provide an opportunity for the public to review and comment on potential projects in their community."

Read more:
https://www.npr.org/2026/02/02/nx-s1-5696525/trump-nuclear-safety-regulations-environmental-review

#NoNukes #NoNewNukes #NuclearPlants #USPol #PublicReview #Secrecy #NuclearSafety #NuclearPollution #EnvironmentalImpact
#NoNukesWithoutConsent #EnvironmentalLaw #TrumpAdministration #NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies

Public lands are #StolenLands! #LandBack! No cities for #TechBros!

"One proposed Freedom City site lies within the National #Conservation Area on the Utah–Colorado border, just west of Grand Junction, but local officials note that the area lacks adequate #water. Another target is the #Presidio, part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, in the heart of San Francisco, a rare urban parkland that offers green space, a trail system, historic buildings and museums, and beach access. The proposal would take this public #GreenSpace and convert it into a commercial and #RealEstate #SacrificeZone, robbing the city’s residents of a priceless natural amenity.

"Then there’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal, which despite its name, is no longer a military site but a a #NationalWildlifeRefuge — one of the largest to showcase High Plains grassland ecosystems. Ten miles from downtown Denver, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bills the area as 'a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of busy urban life where time moves at nature’s pace.' Other areas identified for potential conversion include public lands near Boise, Idaho and Bend, Oregon.

"These groups are calling for congressional legislation, because without it, the core principles of the concept would probably be illegal. Waiving the #NationalEnvironmentalPolicyAct, granting tax incentives, waiving #CivilRights regulations, and fast-tracking #NuclearPlants are on the menu, a tempting prize for the pro-development #corporatists. To address this problem, legislation has already been proposed by Tom Bell, a libertarian legal consultant and tech entrepreneur, to create a Freedom Cities Board that would be empowered to waive state and federal laws within the bounds of lands carved out to become Freedom Cities. Senator #MikeLee’s (R-UT) recently-introduced HOUSES Act, which would authorize the sale of federal public lands for housing development, has also been trumpeted by Freedom Cities promoters as a possible avenue to advance their agenda.

"It should come as no surprise that the Freedom Cities initiative has its roots in communist China, where the government created #SpecialEconomicZones (#SEZ) to attract foreign investment through deregulation and tax incentives. The most prominent of these is Shenzhen, created by Deng Xiaoping as the ultimate experiment of unregulated capitalism, a place with special tax breaks and incentives, fewer labor protections, and greater freedom from regulation than was prevalent in mainland China. "

https://westernwatersheds.substack.com/p/freedom-cities-a-tech-bro-fantasy

#TechBrosSuck #NoNukes #WaterIsLife #NatureIsLife #CorporateColonialism

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2025/11/tuesday-november-25-2025/

#Palisades power plant will restart. Here's where on the #GreatLakes #NuclearPlants operate

Story by Sarah Moore, Lansing State Journal, 2/27/2025

"Owners of Michigan's Palisades nuclear energy plant this week announced a new five-year program aimed at restarting the power station while adding two smaller, modular reactors to the existing facility.

"Holtec has launched 'Mission 2030,' a program to build America’s first small modular reactors — Holtec’s SMR-300 — at the Palisades site in Covert Township, Michigan, with a target of 2030 for first commercial operation.' Holtec International said in a release. "The new SMR-300s will be co-located with the existing 800-megawatt Palisades plant, which is on track to restart after an extended outage following shutdown in 2022.'

"The program was discussed at a ceremony Feb. 25, at which #Holtec said it has joined forces with #Hyundai Engineering & Construction to build a 10-gigawatt fleet of SMR-300s in North America, the release said.

"Nuclear energy production is seeing growing interest for power generation because it requires no fossil fuels and can help reduce greenhouse gases. The systems, however, generate tons of highly #RadioactiveWaste that has to be stored. In #Michigan, waste is stored within a short distance of the #GreatLakes in some locations."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/palisades-power-plant-will-restart-heres-where-on-the-great-lakes-nuclear-plants-operate/ar-AA1zUV7D
#RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #Renewables #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #RadioactivePollution #HoltecLies

#Wildfire risks high at #US #NuclearPlants

Posted on January 19, 2025 by beyondnuclearinternational

The GAO identifies a number of US nuclear power plant sites that are vulnerable to the possible outbreak of #wildfires where they are located.

"'According to our analysis of U.S. Forest Service and NRC data, about 20 percent of nuclear power plants (16 of 75) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire,' the GAO report states. 'More specifically, more than one-third of nuclear power plants in the South (nine of 25) and West (three of eight) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire.' The GAO goes on to identify 'Of the 16 plants with high or very high potential for wildfire, 12 are operating and four are shut down.'

"To analyze exposure to the wildfire hazard potential, the GAO used 2023 data from the U.S. Forest Service’s Wildfire Hazard Potential Map. 'High / very high refers to plants in areas with high or very high wildfire hazard potential. Those nuclear power stations described by GAO as 'high / very high' exposure to wildfires and their locations are excerpted from GAO Appendix III: Nuclear Power Plant Exposure to Selected Natural Hazards.

Table 1: Potential High Exposure to 'Wildfires' at Operating Nuclear Power Plants

–AZ / #SAFER, one of two mobile nuclear emergency equipment supply units in the nation, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–CA / #DiabloCanyon Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–FL / #TurkeyPoint Units 3 & 4 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / #EdwinIHatch Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / #Vogtle Units Units 1, 2, 3 & 4, nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #BrunswickNC Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #McGuireNC Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #ShearonHarris Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH /VERY HIGH”
–NB / #CooperNuclearPowerStation, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–SC / #Catawba Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–SC / #HBRobinson Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–WA / #ColumbiaNuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”

Table 2: Potential High Exposure to “Wildfires” at Shutdown Nuclear Power Plants

–CA / #SanOnofre Units 1 & 2, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–FL / #CrystalRiver, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NJ / #OysterCreek, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NY / #IndianPoint Units 1, 2 & 3, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”

"Wildfires can transport #radioactive contamination from nuclear facilities

"A historical review of wildfires that occur around nuclear facilities (research, military and commercial power) identifies that these events are also a very effective transport mechanism of radioactivity previously generated at these sites and subsequently released into the environment by accident, spills and leaks, and careless dumping. The radioactivity is #resuspended by wildfires that occur years, even decades later.

"The fires carry the radioactivity on smoke particles #downwind, thus expanding the zone of #contamination further and further with each succeeding fire. The dispersed #radionuclides can have very long half-lives meaning they remain biologically hazardous in the environment for decades, centuries and longer."

Read more:
https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2025/01/19/wildfire-risks-high-at-nuclear-plants/
#Downwinders #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #NuclearSafety #ClimateCrisis

Back before the #BananaMan took over anything nuclear ("Radiation is harmless! It's even in bananas!"), there was actual reporting on the dangers of #NuclearPower (and weapons)!

#Radioactivity in the Ocean: Diluted, But Far from Harmless

With contaminated water from Japan’s crippled #Fukushima nuclear complex continuing to pour into the Pacific, scientists are concerned about how that radioactivity might affect marine life. Although the ocean’s capacity to dilute radiation is huge, signs are that nuclear isotopes are already moving up the local #FoodChain.

By Elizabeth Grossman • April 7, 2011

"Over the past half-century, the world has seen its share of incidents in which radioactive material has been dumped or discharged into the oceans. A British nuclear fuels plant has repeatedly released radioactive waste into the Irish Sea [#Sellafield] , a French nuclear reprocessing plant has discharged similar waste into the #EnglishChannel, and for decades the Soviets dumped large quantities of radioactive material into the #ArcticOcean, #KaraSea, and #BarentsSea. That radioactive material included reactors from at least 16 Soviet #nuclear-powered submarines and icebreakers, and large amounts of liquid and solid #NuclearWaste from USSR military bases and weapons plants."

Read more:
https://e360.yale.edu/features/radioactivity_in_the_ocean_diluted_but_far_from_harmless

#OceansAreLife #NoNukes #PlutoKun #NoNuclearWeapons #NuclearPollution #NuclearPlants #FloatingNuclearPlants #RethinkNotRestart #NoNuclearWar

#Fukushima Up Close, 13 Years Later

by Robert Hunziker
October 13, 2023

"The world is turning to #NuclearPower as a solution to #GlobalWarming, but it is postulated herein that it is a huge mistake that endangers society. One #nuclear #meltdown causes as much damage over the long-term as a major #war. Moreover, according to Dr. #PaulDorfman, chair of the Nuclear Consulting Group, former secretary to the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Internal Radiation: 'It’s important to understand that nuclear is very likely to be a significant climate casualty.'

"#BeyondNuclearInternational recently published an article about the status of Fukushima as well as an exposé of how the nuclear industry gets away with responsibility for #radiation-caused (1) deaths (2) chronic conditions like #cancer (3) #genetic deformities: A Strategy of Concealment, September 24, 2023, by #KolinKobayashi, who is a Tokyo-born France-based anti-nuclear #activist journalist also serving as president of Echo-Exchange. Kobayashi’s work was posted by CounterPunch under the title: How Agencies That Promote Nuclear Power Are Quietly Managing Its Disaster Narrative.

"The following synopsis, including editorial license that adds important death details which defy the nuclear industry’s bogus claims about nuclear safety, opens closed pathways to what’s really going on.

"After thirteen years, the declaration of a State of Emergency for #FukushimaDaiichi Nuclear Power Plant still cannot be lifted because of many unknowns, as well as ubiquitous deadly radiation levels. The destroyed reactors are tinderboxes of highly radioactive spent fuel rods that contain more cesium-137 than eighty-five (85) #Chernobyls. Cesium-137 in or near a human body erupts into a series of maladies, one after another in short order, depending upon level of exposure: (1) nausea (2) vomiting (3) diarrhea (4) bleeding (5) coma leading to death.

"The spent fuel rods at the Fukushima nuclear reactor site are stored in pools of water on the top floor of compromised reactor buildings 100 feet above ground level, except for Unit 3 which completed removal of its spent fuel rods in 2019, an extremely slow, laborious process that’s highly dangerous.

"Stored spent fuel rods in open pools of water are the epitome of high-risk. 'If the 440 tonne vessel collapses, it could hit the storage pool next to it. If this pool is damaged, even partially, another major disaster could occur.' (Kobayashi) In that regard, there’s significant risk of collapse in the event of a strong #earthquake. And #Japan is one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world. 'The city (Tokyo) government’s experts reckon there is a 70% chance of a magnitude 7, or higher, quake hitting the capital within the next 30 years.' (Source: Japan is Preparing for a Massive Earthquake, The Economist, August 31, 2023)

"If exposed to open air, #SpentFuel rods erupt into a sizzling zirconium fire followed by massive radiation bursts of the most toxic material on the planet. It can upend an entire countryside and force evacuation of major cities. According to the widely recognized nuclear expert Paul Blanch: 'Continual storage in spent fuel pools is the most unsafe thing you could do.' Paul Blanch, registered professional engineer, US Navy Reactor Operator & Instructor with 55 years of experience with nuclear engineering and regulatory agencies, is widely recognized as one of America’s leading experts on nuclear power.

"#FukushimaDaichi Nuclear Power Plant will remain a high-risk explosive scenario for decades ahead. After all, a program for future decommissioning is unclear and overall radiation guesstimates are formidable. All the structures where decommissioning will take place are highly radioactive and as such nearly impossible for the dangers to worker exposure."

Read more:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/10/13/fukushima-up-close-13-years-later/

#FukushimaWater #WaterIsLife #TEPCOLies
#NuclearPlants #NoNewNukes #ClimateChange #PacificOcean #Pollution
#Bioaccumulation #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart

And the #BidenAdministration should give #Holtec more money to restart #PalisadesNuclearPlant? Ummmm...

#NRC Fines #Holtec Once Again - Red Flags for #OysterCreek

January 28, 2022

Media Contact: [email protected]

"Holtec Decommission International was fined again by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Holtec agreed to pay a $50,000 fine after the plant’s armorer #falsified documents at the #OysterCreekNuclearPlant in #LaceyTownship. According to the NRC investigation, the agency found that the plant’s armorer failed to perform mandatory firearms inspections and falsified related records. This is the second fine in two months for Holtec. In December, the company agreed to pay a $150,000 penalty for security related violations, however this time neither NRC nor Holtec disclosed the details of the violation due to the sensitivity of it.

“This is the second time in two months that Holtec has been fined for security related violations for the former Oyster Creek #NuclearPlant. It's the latest red flag in a series of red flags when it comes to Holtec. These violations should be an alarm bell going off for NRC not just to hold Holtec accountable, but to intervene in Holtec’s security and management of the site. It’s good that NRC conducted investigations and penalized Holtec, however that is clearly not enough, as this continues to happen,' said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, New Jersey Director of the Sierra Club.

"The public is concerned about Holtec’s plan to move still-hot nuclear waste out of water pools and into dry cask storage in half the usual time, typically 5 years. They claim their casts are proprietary and have not disclosed details about their design to the public. Until the rods are out of the spent-fuel pools and put into dry cask storage, the plant is extremely vulnerable. If there is a power outage, storm surge, or flood, the rods could melt down and create serious public health and environmental damage.

“The NRC and New Jersey must make sure there is proper oversight and to ensure Holtec is following safety protocols. This area is impacted by sea-level rise and climate change. During Sandy, the floodwaters came up onto the site at Oyster Creek. Storing nuclear waste in a site that already presents safety flaws is incredibly dangerous. If Holtec isn’t storing nuclear rods correctly, it could lead to major public health and environmental problems. That is why we need to make sure Holtec is not cutting corners [because as we all know, Holtec gets to keep what it doesn't spend] and will ensure transparency,' said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, New Jersey Director of the Sierra Club."

https://www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey/blog/2022/01/nrc-fines-holtec-once-again-red-flags-for-oyster-creek
#NuclearPlants #Holtec #NRCViolations #RethinkNotRestart #HoltecLies #RenewablesNow

A timeline of incidents at #Palisades #Nuclear Power Plant since 2007

Published: May. 12, 2013

"COVERT TOWNSHIP, MI -- The leak that shut down Palisades Nuclear Power Plant May 5 is one of a series of incidents that have bedeviled the nuclear reactor in recent years.

"#Entergy Corp. bought Palisades from Consumers Energy in 2007 for $380 million. The one-reactor plant, which is located along #LakeMichigan in #CovertTownship, supplies about 20 percent of the utility's power. The facility came online in 1971 and its license runs until 2031 [it was decommissioned in 2022].

"Below is a timeline of incidents at Palisades since 2007, based on NRC reports and previous MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette articles.

2007 -- Palisades' head of security resigned amid revelations he had fabricated some of his credentials.

2008 -- An NRC safety assessment found Palisades failed "to recognize and assess the impact of radiological hazards in the workplace." The NRC found that Palisades failed to determine how much radiation employees were exposed to after radiation monitors worn by the workers warned of an exposure.

August 2008 -- Five workers were trapped for 90 minutes inside a high-temperature area when a hatch malfunctioned. The NRC launched a probe and found the plant did not take proper precautions to prevent such occurrences.

2009 -- During an inspection, the NRC found that workers failed to notice a problem in the pool where spent fuel rods are kept. The finding, labeled a "low to moderate safety" risk that did not endanger the public, kept Palisades on the NRC's list of plants that required additional regulatory oversight for a second year. The plant's 2009 safety assessment also found problems with human performance regarding "error-prevention techniques."

May 2010
-- A Palisades manager left the control room without following protocol and the event was not reported within 24 hours, the NRC found.

January 2011
-- Palisades operated at 55 percent power for eight days after a cooling-water pump lost power when an electrical bus failed. The event did not represent a threat to health and safety, the NRC said.

May 2011
-- While NRC inspectors were conducting a routine test of the plant’s auxiliary feed water system, a turbine-driven pump was tripped. Investigators found a component of the pump that was greased and should not have been. The NRC classified the event as a "low to moderate" safety significance.

August 2011
-- The NRC launched a special inspection after the failure of a coupling that holds pipes together. It found Palisades did not follow industry standards when choosing the coupling and the cracking was preventable. Palisades replaced all couplings.

September 2011
-- Palisades shut down between Sept. 16 and Sept. 20 for repairs, after workers discovered a leaking valve in the system that cools the reactor.

September 2011
-- Palisades shut down for a week after a breaker fault in the plant's electrical system Sept. 25, when a worker performing maintenance on an electrical panel when a piece of metal came into contact with another metal piece and caused an arc. There were no injuries reported. The NRC launched a special investigation, the second in two months. The investigation found that during the incident, which it named of "substantial significance to safety," Palisades did not follow proper safety protocols before the shutdown.

November 2011
-- The NRC bumped Palisades down a level to the Regulatory Response column as a result of the May 2011 incident.

January 2012
-- Palisades shut down for 3-1/2 days to repair a wearing seal on a control rod mechanism.

February 2012
-- The NRC downgraded Palisades to the third regulatory column, making it among the four-worst performing reactors in the U.S. The downgrade came as a result of the two special investigations launched in 2011.

June 2012
-- Palisades shut down for a month to repair a leak in its safety injection refueling water tank. Numerous cracks were found within the 300,000-gallon storage tank, according to reports. When the plant returned to service, the tank was still leaking, but due to its size, it did not pose a safety risk, the NRC found.

July 2012
-- An independent review of Palisades found "examples of a lack of accountability at all levels."
The study, conducted by Conger & Elsea Inc. in January and February 2012, looked at plant operations related to human performance, safety-conscious work environment, problem identification and resolution.

August 2012
-- Palisades shut down for 18 days to repair a leak in the control rod mechanism drive in the containment building. The NRC sent a three-inspector team and launched a special inspection of the pressure-boundary leak. During the 30 days before the location of the leak was discovered, up to 10,000 gallons of radioactive water leaked from the containment vessel. The water was contained and did not pose a safety risk to the public, the NRC found.

September 2012
-- An NRC inspector found what it characterized as a small leak in a valve in the service water system. The water was not radioactive and did not represent a health or safety risk, the NRC said.

November 2012
-- Palisades shuts down for three days to repair a steam leak inside the plant's auxiliary building.

November 2012
-- The NRC upgraded Palisades after an 11-day inspection in September found that Entergy had made improvements and addressed deficiencies. The NRC ordered an additional 1,000 hours of inspections in 2013, on top of the standard 2,000 hours.

February 2013
-- Palisades shut down for six days to repair a leak in the component cooling water system. It was leaking 35 gallons of non-radioactive water an hour before the shutdown, the NRC said. The leak did not represent a threat to the public or the plant, the NRC said.

March 2013
-- Palisades was one of three U.S. plants with significant safety events, or "near-misses" in the past three years, according to a report by the independent Union of Concerned Scientists. The near-misses at Palisades resulted from long-standing problems, the UCS said, and it charged the NRC with failing to enforce violations.

May 2013
-- On May 5, Palisades shut down after the leak in the safety injection refueling water tank accelerated from one a day to 90 gallons within a 24-hour period, the NRC said. On May 4, before the shutdown, some 79 gallons of radioactive water from the tank went down a drain into a capture basin, where it was extremely diluted, according to the NRC, and ended up in Lake Michigan. The NRC has sent an additional inspector to Palisades, and one of its health physicists is also investigating the incident. As of May 10, Palisades was still offline while workers and inspectors search for the source of the leak and make repairs."

Source:
https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2013/05/palisades_nuclear_power_plant_14.html

#Michigan #NuclearPlants #PalisadesNuclearPlant #Holtec #Entergy #NRC #Violations #HoltecLies #RethinkNotRestart #RenewablesNow

#PalisadesNuclearPlant has a long history of problems. And #Holtec a long list of violations. They were made for each other [sarc]

#Palisades #nuclear plant gets $150 million in #Michigan budget

By Sheri McWhirter, Jul. 03, 2023

"Michigan lawmakers included $150 million toward the effort to restart the Palisades nuclear plant as part of a record $81.7 billion state budget passed last week.

"State officials contributed the millions in taxpayer dollars toward #Holtec International’s effort to get the nuclear plant upgraded and fired back up to provide 800 megawatts of carbon-free, base load power as the energy sector transitions away from fossil fuels. If it happens, it would be the first nuclear plant nationwide to return to generating power after being decommissioned.

"The plant was closed last year when its fuel ran out and the owner sold the facility to Holtec. The new owner has now twice applied for federal money to help get the plant operational again.

"The Biden administration has a $6 billion fund within the U.S. Department of Energy intended to preserve the U.S. nuclear reactor fleet and energy sector jobs.

"[...] Power generation at nuclear plants does not generate greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change, like burning fossil fuels does. However, some #environmental advocates remain concerned about ecological #degradation from needed #uranium #mining and #radiation risk from #ToxicWaste nuclear plants produce."

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2023/07/palisades-nuclear-plant-gets-150-million-in-michigan-budget.html
#UraniumMining #NuclearPlants #NuclearWaste #HoltecLies #RethinkNotRestart #RenewablesNow