#nuclearplants — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #nuclearplants, aggregated by home.social.
-
-
#Kansas town is getting an underground #nuclear reactor [whether they like it or not!]
Story by Jessie Williams, July 29, 2026
"A pilot project to bury a #NuclearReactor one mile underneath a town in Kansas has split the opinion of local residents, with some fearing the #EnvironmentalImpacts while others hope it will create economic opportunities.
"The so-called #GravityReactor is being proposed by #DeepFission, a California-based start-up from a father-daughter duo, #LizMuller and #RichardMuller, emeritus professor of physics at University of California, and an inventor.
"It will be the first time a commercial nuclear reactor operates underground.
"The startup has raised around $150 million in the past year, with $40 million of that going to fund the work in #ParsonsKS, a rural town in Kansas with a population of 9,600.
"So far Deep Fission has drilled one test hole with a second due to be completed this year, and a full-scale prototype canister intended to test installation procedures.
"Their plan is to send the canister loaded with nuclear fuel into a third hole to heat water a mile underground and generate electricity on the surface in 2027 or 2028.
"But some people in Parsons are worried about the short time frame by industry standards and the impact on the #environment and their #WaterSupply.
"Each reactor would generate 15 megawatts of electricity from inside a 30-inch borehole, enough to power 12,000 homes. But Muller wants 100 or more reactors, providing more than a gigawatt – which would be enough for a #datacentre.
"The design relies on established pressurised water reactor technology, but with the reactor one mile underground, Deep Fission says it could remove some of the most expensive parts of conventional #NuclearPlants, as rock and water pressure could replace some costly #safety structures, such as #cooling and #containment.
"Nuclear only generates about a fifth of US electricity, but the Trump administration is seeking to kickstart a '#NuclearRenaissance,' aiming to quadruple America’s nuclear-power generation by 2050. It comes amid skyrocketing demand for electricity, mainly driven by data centres for AI."
#NoNukesForAI #AISucks #TrumpSucks #USPol #AIDatacenters #Datacenters #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #WaterIsLife #NuclearPowerPlant #SafetyStandards #EnvironmentalCosts
-
Europe's #heatwave curbs French #NuclearPlants
By Forrest Crellin and Hugo Lhomedet
June 24, 2026"The heat has reduced output at the #SaintAlban2 and #Bugey 3 reactors on the Rhone river in eastern France, and the #Nogent2 reactor on the Seine southeast of Paris.
"The #Golfech2 reactor on the Garonne river in southwest France went offline late Monday due to the heat.
"French environmental regulations force nuclear operator #EDF to reduce output when river temperatures reach a certain threshold to protect local ecosystems.
"It was not certain how long the current heatwave, driven by a weather pattern known as an #OmegaBlock due to its shape, which allows temperatures to build day after day, would last.
"Europe is warming at more than twice the global average, the World Meteorological Organisation has said, which makes prolonged heat episodes increasingly likely."
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/europes-heatwave-curbs-french-nuclear-plants-2026-06-24/
#NoNukes #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Heatwaves #NuclearPlants #France
-
#SouthernCalifornia #wildfires force evacuations, and one is threatening a #nuclear facility
Evacuations remain in place for fires burning in #Ventura and #Riverside counties. The Sandy Fire in #SimiValley is burning near the #SantaSusanaFieldLaboratory, a former #NuclearReactor site, raising #AirQuality concerns.
By Emilee Speck, AccuWeather staff writer
Published May 21, 2026 1:08 PM EDT | Updated May 22, 2026 12:04 PM EDT
Excerpt: "Due to the Sandy Fire’s proximity to the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a former nuclear reactor and rocket testing facility, officials are conducting air quality monitoring around the fire perimeter.
" 'Monitoring equipment has been proactively deployed to establish background air quality readings and to help assess conditions should the fire advance further into the area,' according to CAL Fire. 'At this time, the fire has not crossed into the Field Laboratory property.'
"Nuclear cleanup continues more than 50 years after a nuclear reactor mishap at the #Rocketdyne site. Fire crews are prioritizing the protection of the facility and the surrounding communities. "
-
"In a detailed report released last week, titled The Urgent Case Against #DataCenters, #FWW pointed to some of the 'documented harms caused by #AI and data centers,' including:
- Enormous #energy footprints: A single hyperscale data center can consume as much energy as 2 million US households.
- A lifeline for #FossilFuels: The thirst for fuel is being met by keeping old #coal-fired power plants running and by building new natural gas ones. [And restarting old #NuclearPlants]
- Skyrocketing electricity costs: Increased #EnergyDemand can raise residential rates, which soared 31% from 2020 to 2025 (compared to 4% from 2015 to 2020).
- Drained water resources: By 2028, AI data centers could use as much water as 18.5 million households, just for cooling their servers.
- An investment bubble: A handful of companies are investing in one another and increasingly turning to risky debt structures to hide the threat of the bubble.
- A litany of other harms: This includes massive amounts of electronic waste (#EWaste), unrelenting noise pollution, loss of #farmland, political instability from #deepfake videos, lost revenue from data center tax incentives, and #ChildEndangerment from #AI #chatbots."#NoDatacenters #NoAI
#NoNukesForAI #UnrestrictedGrowth #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution
#AISucks #USPol -
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
-
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
-
U.S. faces electricity challenge as AI energy demand soars
By : Chip Minty//The Journal Record//September 25, 2025
"They say that artificial intelligence (AI) will be the most transformative technological development ever. Pick any revolutionary advancement you can think of — the Internet, smartphones, air travel, automobiles, the conveyor belt. You can go back as far as fire itself, and experts say AI has a chance to outshine them all.
"As a consequence, there’s an international winner-take-all race to supremacy underway that involves the United States, China and Europe, and the victor stands to emerge at the top of the world’s economic pecking order.
"Much is at stake as industry and institutions are ramping up microchip production, data center construction and educational programs customized to a new AI economy. But behind the billions of dollars in technology infrastructure investment, policymakers and industry visionaries still don’t know if the United States will have enough electricity available to feed the AI behemoth once it reaches maturity.
"No one is quite sure how much more electricity the United States will need, but estimates suggest the nation’s emerging AI machine could demand 60 gigawatts or more within the next couple of years. That volume far exceeds the needs of major U.S. cities, such as New York.
"Adding that much power to the grid will be no small undertaking, experts say, especially for a nation that has focused the last quarter century on a clean energy transition that still is looking for traction. Wind and solar energy can play a role, but inconsistent production limits their ability to meet spikes in power demand.
"So, what’s left? No one is talking about coal. That leaves #NaturalGas to carry the burden. And then there’s #nuclear, an emerging darling of the power industry, winning bipartisan support from policymakers who are now willing to set aside the 1979 #ThreeMileIsland disaster, which practically paralyzed the industry for decades.
"The Oklahoma City-based Hamm Institute for American Energy has made the issue one of its core concerns, bringing leaders together from across the United States and from key international trading partners, such as Japan and South Korea.
" 'The United States has the resources it needs. What it lacks is speed, certainty and alignment,' said Ann Bluntzer Pullin, executive director of the Hamm Institute.
'This initiative is about turning urgency into action so that America and its allies can lead in both energy and AI.''" I feel like you’ve got these two giants, the tech industry and the energy industry at this unbelievable moment in time where they can both rise to the occasion and literally move society forward in a way where everyone’s quality of life goes up,' she told leaders at a recent roundtable event.
"There’s a growing number of AI systems housed in an expanding network of data centers, which store, process and manage critical data and their applications. The giant facilities’ large assemblies of servers, storage drives and other hardware are known for their enormous appetite for electricity."
Read more / listen:
https://journalrecord.com/2025/09/25/ai-energy-demand-us-power-challenges/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/VKXi7#NoNukesForAI #NoNukesForDatacenters #FossilFuels #NuclearPlants #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #CorporateGreed
-
Maybe #SamAltman should put the #NuclearPlants in HIS BACKYARD!!!
#OpenAI and #Nvidia’s $100B AI plan will require power equal to 10 #nuclear reactors
By Benj Edwards, September 22, 2025
"On Monday, OpenAI and Nvidia jointly announced a letter of intent for a strategic partnership to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems for OpenAI's AI infrastructure, with Nvidia planning to invest up to $100 billion as the systems roll out. The companies said the first gigawatt of Nvidia systems will come online in the second half of 2026 using Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform.
"Everything starts with compute," said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, in the announcement. "Compute infrastructure will be the basis for the economy of the future, and we will utilize what we're building with NVIDIA to both create new AI breakthroughs and empower people and businesses with them at scale.""
#NoNukesForAI #NuclearPower #NoNukes #AISucks #FuckTechBros #TechBros #TechBrosSuck #techoligarchy
-
#French #NuclearPower production expected to be reduced on Wednesday
By Reuters
August 12, 2025PARIS, Aug 12 (Reuters) - "Power production at France's #Bugey3 #nuclear reactor in the east of the country is expected to be reduced by 500 megawatts (MW) on Wednesday, data from operator #EDF showed on Tuesday, as high river temperatures reduce the plant's ability to intake cooling water.
"A #heatwave throughout #France has led to multiple warnings of power reductions at a number of #NuclearPlants, particularly on the #RhoneRiver in the east and the #GaronneRiver in the west."The #Bugey 3 reactor has a maximum capacity of 910 MW, which will be reduced to 410 MW from 2:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) to midnight on Wednesday as the reactor is required to meet environmental safety measures, EDF's data showed.
"The high water temperature warnings for the #SaintAlban plant - down river of the Bugey site - and the #Golfech site in the west were moved to August 14, but restrictions have not yet been issued.
Average temperatures in the country are expected to continue to peak throughout the week, reaching a high of 28.5 degrees Celsius (83.3°F) on Saturday, LSEG data showed."#NuclearPower accounts for about 70% of total French power consumption annually, but August is the main holiday season throughout the country and electricity demand is often limited."
#EuropeHeatWaves #France #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPowerPlants #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
#LeNucléaireNonMerci -
#Jellyfish Shut Four French #NuclearReactors as #HeatWave Builds
By Eamon Farhat
August 11, 2025"#Electricite de France SA [#EDF] was forced to shut four #AtomicReactors after a swarm of jellyfish clogged up filter drums at its #Gravelines power plant.
"The 'massive and unforeseen' [um, not if you read my posts -- very much FORESEEN] presence of jellyfish in the filter drums of pumping stations closed four out of six reactors at Gravelines on the north coast of France, EDF said in a statement on Monday. Pumping stations for coastal #NuclearPlants usually draw in sea water for cooling, sometimes exposing them to marine life.
"A #MarineHeatWave is intensifying off the west coast of France, with unusually warm waters in the English Channel near Gravelines, data from #Copernicus Marine Service show. Jellyfish populations can 'bloom' at such times, and France has closed several beaches in recent weeks due to invasions of the eight-legged molluscs, according reports compiled by the beach information app Meduseo."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/bahil#EuropeHeatWaves #France #Jellyfish #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPowerPlants #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
#LeNucléaireNonMerci -
The #HeatWave of late June threatens French #nuclear production
Written by Justine Dumont, Energy Renovation Expert Editor on 24 June 2025 at 08:00
"#EDF plans to reduce the production of its nuclear fleet, in particular that of the #Bugey power plant in Ain, as of Wednesday 25 June, due to the expected high temperatures. This decision comes at a time when Météo-France has placed 16 departments in orange-heat-wave vigilance since Friday 20 June."
Read more (en Français):
https://france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/normandie/manche/nucleaire-la-pleine-puissance-de-l-epr-de-flamanville-repoussee-d-ici-a-la-fin-de-l-automne-3196599.html#EuropeHeatWaves #NuclearPowerPlants #NuclearPlants #NoNukes #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPlants #Heatwaves #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #LeNucléaireNonMerci -
Invasion of #jellyfish, heat, water too hot: #GlobalWarming threatens the functioning of #NuclearPowerPlants
Several reactors are regularly forced to stop to protect river #biodiversity. While cuts in periods of high heat still have a very limited impact on supply, electrification of uses and #ClimateChange could make a difference.
Marie Toulgoat , Published 11 August 2025
"When nature paralyses the French nuclear park. Four units of the Gravelines nuclear power plant (northern) are at a standstill on Monday 11 August due to the 'mass and unforeseeable presence of jellyfish; at the water pumping stations used for the cooling of the reactors, EDF announced.
"These automatic stops of units 2, 3, 4 and 6 'have had no consequences on the safety of the installations, the safety of personnel or on the environment', #EDF assures on its site. The plant is thus temporarily completely shut down, as its other two production units 1 and 5 are currently under maintenance.
"On Sunday, 29 June, no steam volutes escaped from the chimneys of the Gulf nuclear power plant (Tarn-et-Garonne). Due to the intense #HeatWave in #France, the reactor in operation at the site was shut down. In the middle of the summer of 2024, the nuclear power plant had already been forced to reduce its production."
Read more (en Français):
https://www.humanite.fr/environnement/canicule/meduses-canicule-eau-trop-chaude-quand-le-rechauffement-climatique-menace-le-fonctionnement-des-centrales-nucleairesArchived version (en Français):
https://archive.ph/zNGD2#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPowerPlants
#NuclearPowerNoThanks
#NuclearPlants #Heatwaves
#ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #Atomkraft #AtomkraftNeinDanke #LeNucléaireNonMerci -
[Paywall] From 2021: Increase in frequency of nuclear power outages due to changing climate
by Ali Ahmad
Nature Energy volume 6, pages 755–762 (2021)
Abstract:
"Climate-related changes have already affected operating conditions for different types of energy system, in particular power plants. With more than three decades of data on changing climate, we are now in a position to empirically assess the impact of #ClimateChange on power plant operations. Such empirical assessments can provide an additional measure of the resilience of power plants going forward. Here I analyse climate-linked outages in #NuclearPowerPlants over the past three decades. My assessment shows that the average frequency of climate-induced disruptions has dramatically increased from 0.2 outage per reactor-year in the 1990s to 1.5 in the past decade. Based on the projections for adopted climate scenarios, the average annual energy loss of the global nuclear fleet is estimated to range between 0.8% and 1.4% in the mid-term (2046–2065) and 1.4% and 2.4% in the long term (2081–2100)."
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-021-00849-y
#NuclearPlants #NuclearPowerNoThanks #ClimateChange #Heatwaves #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI
-
We’re having a #heatwave...
And #NuclearPower can’t cope. Worse still, it’s actually a liability under ever more extreme climate conditions, write Karl Grossman and Harvey Wasserman
Posted on July 27, 2025, by #BeyondNuclear
"At the core of the latest attempted 'renaissance' of nuclear power is the big lie that #AtomicReactors are an answer to #GlobalWarming. In fact, they are significant sources of heat.
"There are more than 400 nuclear power plants in the world today that fission atoms at 300 degrees Centigrade, (572 degrees Fahrenheit). More are under construction or proposed. As the International Atomic Energy Agency states, 'water-cooled reactors offer heat up to 300 degrees Celsius. These types of reactors include pressurized water reactors (PWRs), boiling-water reactors (BWRs), pressurized heavy-water reactors, and light-water-cooled graphite-moderated reactors (LWGRs).'
"Some heat is absorbed in the water—drawn from water bodies—used to cool these nuclear power plants and then returned, still with considerable heat, to #rivers or #seas.
"The heatwave going on in recent weeks in Europe, in combination with this discharge of heated water from nuclear plants, has caused #NuclearPlants there to shut down.
"Consider these headlines from recent days:
" '#France and #Switzerland shut down nuclear power plants amid scorching heatwave,' was the July 3rd headline on Euronews. As the piece explained: “To cool down, nuclear power plants pump water from local rivers or the sea, which they then release back into water bodies at a high temperature. However, Europe’s ongoing heatwave means that the water pumped by nuclear sites is already very hot, impacting the ability of nuclear plants to use it to cool down. On top of this, nuclear sites run the risk of posing a dangerous threat to local #biodiversity, by releasing water which is too hot into rivers and seas.'
"A New York Times article, also dated July 3rd, related how in Europe, 'operators shut down one of the two reactors at the #Golfech nuclear power plant in southern #France after forecasts that the #GaronneRiver, from which it draws water and then discharges it after it is used in the plant as coolant, 'could top…82 degrees Fahrenheit.' The Times continued: 'The #Beznau Nuclear Power Plant in #Switzerland, built along the #AareRiver followed suit, shutting down one of its reactors on Tuesday and the other on Wednesday.' "
Source:
https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/blog/#ExtremeHeat #ClimateChange #NuclearPowerPlants #NuclearPowerNoThanks #RenewablesNow! #WaterIsLife #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI
-
CA #wildfires: a warning to #NRC on #ClimateChange
January 16, 2025
"The NRC’s actions to address the risks from natural hazards do not fully consider potential climate change effects on severe nuclear accident risks. 'For example, NRC primarily uses historical data in its licensing and oversight processes rather than climate projections data,' the GAO report said.
"Beyond Nuclear has uncovered similar findings during our challenges to the NRC’s extreme relicensing process for extending reactor operating licenses, now out to the extreme of 60 to 80 years and talk of 100 years. We found that the agency’s staff believes and stubbornly insists that an #environmental review for climate change impacts (#SeaLevelRise, increasingly severe #hurricanes, extreme #flooding, etc.) on reactor safety and reliability is 'out of scope' for the license extensions hearing process.
"The GAO report points out to the NRC that wildfires, specifically, can dangerously impact US nuclear power stations operations and public safety with potential consequences that extend far beyond the initiating natural disaster. These consequences can include loss of life, large scale and indefinite population dislocation and uninsurable economic damage from the radiological
consequences:" 'Wildfire. According to the NCA (National Climate Assessment), increased heat and drought contribute to increases in wildfire frequency, and climate change has contributed to unprecedented wildfire events in the Southwest. The NCA projects increased heatwaves, drought risk, and more frequent and larger wildfires. Wildfires pose several risks to nuclear power plants, including increasing the potential for onsite fires that could damage plant infrastructure, damaging transmission lines that deliver electricity to plants, and causing a loss of power that could require plants to shut down. Wildfires and the smoke they produce could also hinder or prevent nuclear power plant personnel and supplies from getting to a plant.'
"Loss of offsite electrical power (#LOOP) to nuclear power stations is a leading contributor to increasing the risk of a severe nuclear power accident. The availability of alternating current (AC) power is essential for safe operation and accident recovery at commercial nuclear power plants. Offsite fires destroying electrical power transmission lines to commercial reactors therefore increase the probability and severity of nuclear accidents.
"For US nuclear power plants, 100% of the electrical power supply to all reactor safety systems is initially provided through the offsite power grid. If the offsite electrical grid is disturbed or destroyed, the reactors are designed to automatically shut down or 'SCRAM'. Onsite emergency backup power generators are then expected to automatically or manually start up to provide power to designated high priority reactor safety systems needed to safely shut the reactors down and provide continuous reactor cooling, pressure monitoring, but to a diminished number of the reactors’ credited safety systems. Reliable offsite power is therefore a key factor to minimizing the probability of severe nuclear accidents.
"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 shutdown.'"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 #NuclearPower 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 / #EdwinI. Hatch Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / $Vogtle Units Units 1, 2, 3 & 4, nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #BrunswickNPP Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #McGuire Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #ShearonHarris Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH /VERY HIGH”
–NB / #Cooper nuclear power station, “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 / #ColumbiaNuclearPower 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."
cc: @Cyclist @stfn @collectifission
Read more:
https://beyondnuclear.org/ca-wildfires-are-a-warning-to-nrc-on-climate-change/#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearPlants #NuclearPowerPlants #ClimateCrisis #Radiation
-
Four days ago: #Spain Signals Openness to Keeping #NuclearPowerPlants Open
By Daniel Basteiro and Thomas Gualtieri
April 24, 2025"Spain is signaling for the first time that it’s open to reconsidering the shutdown of #NuclearPlants over the next decade amid a global revival of #AtomicEnergy.
While that’s not the plan agreed with nuclear plant operators, and it would be up to them to present concrete proposals, extensions are not ruled out, Environmental Transition Minister Sara Aagesen said in an interview." 'Nuclear energy will be present in our mix at least until 2035' but could go beyond that if companies propose extensions, which hasn’t happened yet, she said prior to an International Energy Agency summit on the future of energy security. 'We’re not considering anything because there is no specific proposal on the table.' "
Today [April 28th] "Spain's nuclear power plants automatically stopped, but diesel generators were activated to keep them in 'safe condition', officials said."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/cJiGM#RethinkNotRestart #RenewablesNow #Hydropower #Solar #Geothermal #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #ExtremeHeat #ExtremeFlooding #NuclearMeltdowns #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #Blackout
-
#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."
#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 20852November 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
-
#Japan says no abnormalities reported in #NuclearPlants after quakes
1/1/2024, 11:30 AM
"No abnormalities have been reported SO FAR [emphasis mine] after a series of major earthquakes rocked central Japan on Monday, the government said.
"'It has been confirmed that there are no abnormalities at Shika nuclear power plant (in #Ishikawa) and other stations as of now,' government spokesman Yoshimasa #Hayashi said.
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/No-abnormalities-reported-at-Japanese-nuclear-plan
#TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #JapanEarthquake2024 #JapanEarthquake #ShikeNuclearPlant #KashiwazakiKariwa
-
#Japan says no abnormalities reported in #NuclearPlants after quakes
1/1/2024, 11:30 AM
"No abnormalities have been reported SO FAR [emphasis mine] after a series of major earthquakes rocked central Japan on Monday, the government said.
"'It has been confirmed that there are no abnormalities at Shika nuclear power plant (in #Ishikawa) and other stations as of now,' government spokesman Yoshimasa #Hayashi said.
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/No-abnormalities-reported-at-Japanese-nuclear-plan
#TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #JapanEarthquake2024 #JapanEarthquake #ShikeNuclearPlant #KashiwazakiKariwa
-
#Japan says no abnormalities reported in #NuclearPlants after quakes
1/1/2024, 11:30 AM
"No abnormalities have been reported SO FAR [emphasis mine] after a series of major earthquakes rocked central Japan on Monday, the government said.
"'It has been confirmed that there are no abnormalities at Shika nuclear power plant (in #Ishikawa) and other stations as of now,' government spokesman Yoshimasa #Hayashi said.
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/No-abnormalities-reported-at-Japanese-nuclear-plan
#TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #JapanEarthquake2024 #JapanEarthquake #ShikeNuclearPlant #KashiwazakiKariwa
-
#Japan says no abnormalities reported in #NuclearPlants after quakes
1/1/2024, 11:30 AM
"No abnormalities have been reported SO FAR [emphasis mine] after a series of major earthquakes rocked central Japan on Monday, the government said.
"'It has been confirmed that there are no abnormalities at Shika nuclear power plant (in #Ishikawa) and other stations as of now,' government spokesman Yoshimasa #Hayashi said.
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/No-abnormalities-reported-at-Japanese-nuclear-plan
#TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #JapanEarthquake2024 #JapanEarthquake #ShikeNuclearPlant #KashiwazakiKariwa
-
#Japan says no abnormalities reported in #NuclearPlants after quakes
1/1/2024, 11:30 AM
"No abnormalities have been reported SO FAR [emphasis mine] after a series of major earthquakes rocked central Japan on Monday, the government said.
"'It has been confirmed that there are no abnormalities at Shika nuclear power plant (in #Ishikawa) and other stations as of now,' government spokesman Yoshimasa #Hayashi said.
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/No-abnormalities-reported-at-Japanese-nuclear-plan
#TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #JapanEarthquake2024 #JapanEarthquake #ShikeNuclearPlant #KashiwazakiKariwa
-
#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