#nuclearplants — Public Fediverse posts

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

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

#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

Nuclear Expansion Sparks Concerns from Scientists of '#CatastrophicFailure'

Story by Jordan King
June 19, 2024

"A group of scientists has spoken out against a new bill that aims to accelerate the development of #nuclear energy.

"The U.S. Senate passed the #ADVANCEAct on Tuesday, which, among other things, makes it easier and quicker for companies to apply for permits and creates new incentives for advanced #nuclear reactor technologies.

"It was passed with bipartisan support (88-2 votes), with Democrats getting behind it for environmental reasons and Republicans seeing it as a way to ensure electricity supply and create jobs.

"An example of how the bill could be applied is with the Bill Gates-backed company #TerraPower, which has so far been unable to secure a permit to build a $4 billion #Natrium Reactor on an old #coal plant site in Wyoming, Reuters reports.

"But the Union of Concerned Scientists, a science advocacy nonprofit, is worried about the #safety implications of the bill, which is now on its way to President Joe #Biden to sign into law.

"The organization's director of nuclear power safety Dr. #EdwinLyman compared the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's [#NRC] relaxing of rules to the Federal Aviation Administration doing the same with air transport."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nuclear-expansion-sparks-concerns-from-scientists-of-catastrophic-failure/ar-BB1ovdL7

#BigOilAndGas #Greenwashing #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #UnionOfConcernedScientists #NuclearPowerPlant #NuclearPlants #Greenwashing #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree

So, it seems the #SeabrookNuclearPlant survived the recent storms without incident, but if there was a problem, there is NO WAY nearby residents would have been able to evacuate. I came across this letter to the #NRC from the group #NoMoreFukushimas expressing their concerns about #ClimateChange and #NuclearPlants in 2012!

Concerns regarding the #SeabrookStation

No More Fukushimas letter to the NRC.

The Honorable Allison M. Macfarlane, Chair
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
11555 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852

November 8, 2012

Dear Chairwoman Macfarlane:

We appreciated receiving a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) response to the August 28, 2012, letter that we sent to the NRC concerning Seabrook Station relicensing. The NRC's response (October 17, 2012) came from Dennis Morey, Chief, Project Manager 1, Projects Branch Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (Docket No. 50-443).

In our letter, we highlighted a concern openly discussed NRC meeting April 26, 2012, on Seabrook relicensing held in Hampton, New Hampshire. Data indicates that due to climate change there could be an increase in #SeaLevels and storm surges that would affect the Seabrook plant. Obviously, the flooding of the Seabrook plant campus should be a cause for concern, especially since it the flooding is projected to occur within the timeframe of the relicensing period, 2030-2050.

In his response to our letter, Mr. Morey categorically rejected the idea that this rising sea level information was of any relevance to the relicensing of the Seabrook plant:

"Regarding your concerns about the current design-basis flood level calculations.... please note that these issues are not part of the NRC's review of a license renewal application. A license renewal review is not a re-review of the facility licensing basis; rather, it is focused on managing
the age-related degradation of passive systems, structures, and components to ensure they will fulfill their safety-related functions, as specified in the current licensing basis.

"The NRC has multiple processes to evaluate the adequacy of current plant operations and licensing bases. Should the NRC become aware at any time of information calling into question the continued safe operation of any nuclear power plant, including Seabrook Station, the NRC will take the appropriate actions as part of the agency's ongoing safety oversight, regardless of
whether those plants have sought or are seeking a renewed license."

In the twists and turns of bureaucratic thinking, Mr. Morey may be technically correct that climate-
change-related flooding is not an "age-related" deterioration artifact. But, Mr. Morey seems to brush off the fact that new global climate conditions could completely reconfigure the safety profile of the plant. We believe that whether or not climate-change-related flooding falls within "design-basis flood calculations" is a hairsplitting issue for bureaucrats. However, for those of who live near the plant it's a major safety issue. Therefore, if necessary, we respectfully recommend that NRC modify its relicensing concerns to include global climate change/rising sea levels in its license renewal framework.

Furthermore, Mr. Morey must know that the NRC has identified "alkali-silica reaction (ASR)" as a potential long-term threat to the reliability of the Seabrook plant and that structural degradation due to
#ASR is currently under the NRC's relicensing review. The flooding water will obviously raise levels of saltwater saturation, which will accelerate concrete degradation so, on that basis alone, the flooding should be within the Seabrook relicensing purview.

Finally, since Mr. Morey did not identify the steps the NRC plans to take to address flooding at the Seabrook plant, we surmise that the NRC does not consider flooding due to sea-level rise to be a problem. Our concern has escalated since researchers at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University in an October 31, 2012, piece in the Washington Post reported that they had conducted a study that assessed the vulnerability of #NuclearPlants flooding around the world.

The Stanford researchers collected information on plant height, #SeaWall height and the location of emergency power generators for 89 nuclear plants that lie next to water. They compared this to
historical information on high waves triggered by various sources, such as #earthquakes, #landslides and #hurricanes. The study found that the U.S. plants most vulnerable to inundation are the Salem and #HopeCreek plants on the New Jersey / #Delaware border; the #Millstone plant in Connecticut; and the Seabrook plant in New Hampshire (italics added). We strongly urge you to contact the researchers and obtain this invaluable information from them directly.

That said, we ask the NRC-as we did in our August letter-to review the risk that rising sea levels, #StormSurges or increased groundwater saturation of concrete poses to residents who live in the vicinity of the Seabrook nuclear power plant. As we have stated, we believe it is entirely appropriate to do so within the purview of the license renewal process. But, in the spirit of public safety, which we believe should be paramount-we urge the NRC to use whatever regulatory tools are needed to investigate this critical issue.

Sincerely yours,
Bruce Skud and Joanna Hammond
Co-founders, No More Fukushimas!

https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1232/ML12321A328.pdf

#SeaLevelRise #HamptonNH #SeabrookNH #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #ClimateCrisis #Flooding #ClimateCatastrophe #WaterIsLife #AlkaliSilicaReaction #GlobalSeaLevelRise #SeabrookNuclearPlant #MillstoneNuclearPlant #HopeCreekNuclearPlant #NewJersey #Connecticut

#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