#nuclearpowerplants — Public Fediverse posts

#Trump has undermined the agency tasked with making sure America never has another #nuclear meltdown

By Ella Nilsen, Updated Mar 10, 2026

"The federal regulatory agency tasked with keeping America’s #NuclearPower plants safe and running smoothly is set to make huge cuts to the amount of time its staffers spend on #safety and emergency #inspections, opening the door to more self-policing from the industry.

"As it embarks on a reorganization to fulfill executive orders from President Donald Trump, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission [#NRC] is proposing to dramatically reduce its inspection hours for existing #NuclearPowerPlants, cutting back on the amount of time independent inspectors look for plants’ security procedures, #radiation protection for staff, #maintenance and safety.

"The NRC has been a crucial part of keeping America’s nuclear energy operating for the past 40 years — and experts say its authority is only more necessary than ever as the Trump administration seeks to usher in a new golden age of nuclear energy. But Trump wants to streamline the agency, and staff cuts combined with executive orders are troubling signs that Trump is undoing the NRC’s independence, experts said."

Read more:
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/10/climate/trump-nuclear-regulation-safety-energy-future

#NoNewNukes #NoNukes #USPol #TEPCOLied #HoltecLies #TrumpLies #NoMoreChernobyls #NoMoreFukushimas #SMRs
#NRCFail #RenewablesNow #MakeAmericaRadioactiveAgain

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2026/02/tuesday-february-10-2026/

NUKE WASTE DUMP: #Ojibwe Country once again targeted

May 1, 2025

"#BeyondNuclear’s radioactive waste specialist, Kevin Kamps, presented '#WaterIsLife, #NuclearWasteIsToxic' at the annual meeting of #EnvironmentNorth, in #ThunderBay, #Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of #LakeSuperior, April 23, 2025.

"Environment North is the lead local grassroots organization resisting the Canadian federal #NuclearWaste Management Organization’s (#NWMO, dominated by the nuclear industry, such as #OntarioPowerGeneration - #OPG) designation of the #IgnaceWabigoonLake #OjibwayFirstNation area as the national #RadioactiveWaste dump.

"A number of Ojibway #FirstNation Bands have also passed resolutions opposing the scheme, which would require long-distance, high-risk transportation of highly radioactive waste, from some two-dozen reactors to the east in #Canada, on the Great Lakes, Saint Lawrence, and Atlantic."

Source [includes more info and links]:
https://beyondnuclear.org/nuke-waste-dump-ojibwe-country-once-again-targeted/

#EnvironmentRacism #NoDumpingWithoutConsent #NuclearWasteIsForever #DGR #NuclearPowerPlants #NuclearPowerNoThanks #IndigenousLand

Experts warn #Trump’s #nuclear blitz could trigger ‘Next #ThreeMileIsland'

by Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams
May 24, 2025

"U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a series of executive orders that will overhaul the independent federal agency that regulates the nation's nuclear power plants in order to speed the construction of new fissile reactors—a move that experts warned will increase safety risks.

"According to a White House statement, Trump's directives 'will usher in a nuclear energy renaissance,' in part by allowing Department of Energy laboratories to conduct nuclear reactor design testing, green-lighting reactor construction on federal lands, and lifting #RegulatoryBarriers 'by requiring the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (#NRC) to issue timely licensing decisions."

"The Trump administration is seeking to shorten the yearslong NRC process of approving new licenses for nuclear power plants and reactors to within 18 months.

"White House Office of Science and Technology Director Michael Kratsios said Friday that 'over the last 30 years, we stopped building nuclear reactors in America—that ends now.'

" 'We are restoring a strong American nuclear industrial base, rebuilding a secure and sovereign domestic nuclear fuel supply chain, and leading the world towards a future fueled by American nuclear energy,' he added. [And radioactive waste!!!]

"However, the Union of Concerned Scientists (#UCS) warned that the executive orders will result in 'all but nullifying' the NRC's regulatory process, 'undermining the independent federal agency's ability to develop and enforce #safety and #security requirements for commercial nuclear facilities.'

" 'This push by the Trump administration to usurp much of the agency's autonomy as they seek to fast-track the construction of nuclear plants will weaken critical, independent #oversight of the U.S. nuclear industry and poses significant safety and security risks to the public,' UCS added.

"#EdwinLyman, director of nuclear power safety at the UCS, said, 'Simply put, the U.S. nuclear industry will fail if safety is not made a priority.'

" 'By fatally compromising the independence and integrity of the NRC, and by encouraging pathways for nuclear deployment that bypass the regulator entirely, the Trump administration is virtually guaranteeing that this country will see a serious accident or other #radiological release that will affect the health, safety, and livelihoods of millions,' Lyman added. 'Such a disaster will destroy public trust in #NuclearPower and cause other nations to reject U.S. #nuclear technology for decades to come.'

"Friday's executive orders follow reporting earlier this month by NPR that revealed the Trump administration has tightened control over the NRC, in part by compelling the agency to send proposed reactor safety rules to the White House for review and possible editing.

"#AllisonMacfarlane, who was nominated to head the NRC during the Obama administration, called the move 'the end of independence of the agency.'

" 'If you aren't independent of political and industry influence, then you are at risk of an accident,' Macfarlane warned.

"On the first day of his second term, Trump also signed executive orders declaring a dubious 'national energy emergency' and directing federal agencies to find ways to reduce regulatory roadblocks to 'unleashing American energy, including by boosting #FossilFuels and nuclear power.

"The rapid advancement and adoption of artificial intelligence systems is creating a tremendous need for energy that proponents say can be met by nuclear power. The Three Mile Island nuclear plant—the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history—is being revived with funding from #Microsoft, while #Google parent company #Alphabet, online retail giant #Amazon, and #Facebook owner #Meta are among the competitors also investing in nuclear energy.

" 'Do we really want to create more #RadioactiveWaste to power the often dubious and questionable uses of #AI?' #JohannaNeumann, Environment America Research & Policy Center's senior director of the Campaign for 100% #RenewableEnergy, asked in December.

" '#BigTech should recommit to solutions that not only work but pose less risk to our #environment and #health,' Neumann added."

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-nuclear-2672196220/

#RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #BigTech #EnvironmentalRacism #UraniumMining #NuclearWaste #TEPCOLies #TrumpLies
#HoltecLies #WaterIsLife #NuclearPowerPlants #Datacenters #AIPollution #MicrosoftSucks #TrumpSucks #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree #CancerRates #Downwinders #NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies

#Jellyfish Keep Attacking #NuclearPowerPlants

By Gabriel Geiger
November 2, 2021

"Jellyfish are continuing to clog the cooling intake pipes of a nuclear power plant in Scotland, which has previously prompted a temporary shutdowns of the plant.

"The #TornessNuclearPowerPlant has reported concerns regarding jellyfish as far back as 2011, when it was forced to shut down for nearly a week—at an estimated cost of $1.5 million a day—because of the free-swimming marine animals.

"In a short comment to Motherboard, #EDFEnergy, which runs the Torness plant, said that 'jellyfish blooms are an occasional issue for our power stations,' but also said that media reports claiming the plant had recently been taken offline because of jellyfish are 'inaccurate.' '[There were] no emergency procedures this or last week related to jellyfish or otherwise,' a spokesperson said. [Um, did they previously work for #TEPCOLies?]

" 'Like many other seaside power plants, the Torness plant uses seawater to prevent overheating. While there are measures in place to prevent aquatic life from entering the intake pipes, according to the #BulletinOfTheAtomicScientists, they are no match for the sheer number of jellyfish that come during so-called 'jellyfish blooms.'

" 'Usually, screens prevent aquatic life and similar debris from being drawn into the power plants’ cooling system,' the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists wrote in a 2015 blog post. 'But when sufficiently large volumes of jellyfish or other aquatic life are pulled in, they block the screens, reducing the volume of water coming in and forcing the reactor to shut down.'

"While the case in Scotland has once again spotlighted concerns regarding the jellyfish and potential power plant shutdowns, these concerns are far from new. In 2008, a swarm of jellyfish shut down a nuclear power plant [#DiabloCanyon -- which had another incident in 2024] in #California, and three years later the same occurred at a plant in Japan [#Shimane]. In 2017, jellyfish clogged a power plant in Israel [#Hadera]."

Source:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/jellyfish-keep-attacking-nuclear-power-plants/

#GlobalWarming #WarmingOceans
#ChangingOceans #OceansAreLife #OceanTemperatures #ClimateCrisis #Overfishing #NoDeepSeaMining #NoNewNukes #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #Oskarshamn #Torness #RethinkNotRestart

LIVE: #WesternMiningActionNetwork in #Montreal

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
November 14, 2024

MONTREAL -- "The Western Mining Action Network is meeting today in Montreal, with speakers from the network's #IndigenousCaucus speaking on the #NuclearFuelChain, defending the water and land, and the rights stated in the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples [#UNDIP].

The Deadly Nuclear Fuel Chain

"#PetuucheGilbert, #AcomaPueblo, said there should be more concern over the #NuclearFuel chain, #radiation and #UraniumMining. The nuclear fuel chain includes the making of the #AtomicBomb, and the #NuclearWaste from #SpentFuelRods in #NuclearPowerPlants.

"In his homeland, in the Grants mining district in #NewMexico, the abandoned #UraniumMines are #radioactive hazards affecting the water, air and the animals on the ground.

"Nearby on the #NavajoNation, there are more than 500 abandoned uranium mines and there are massive #UraniumMill waste sites, where the ore was processed. These all emit #RadonGas. He pointed out that the #McArthurRiver, #KeyLakeUranium Mine and mill in northern #Saskatchewan, Canada is the world's largest uranium mine and mill.

"Petuuche said he believes that the cancers now that the people in his area are suffering from are a result of radioactivity. There was also the atomic bomb testing in Nevada. All of that radioactivity spread over the entire United States. #Downwinders breathing the radioactivity in the air are also radiation victims."

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/live-western-mining-action-network-in.html

#NoUraniumMining #HaulNo #UraniumMills #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI

[Thread] The next installment from #KleeBenally 's book, #NoSpiritualSurrender

“The devastation of #NuclearColonialism, which permanently destroys #Indigenous communities throughout the world, is outright ignored by some of the most devout #ClimateJustice advocates. They claim #NuclearEnergy production is also a #GreenSolution to the #ClimateCrisis. More than 15,000 abandoned #UraniumMines are located within the so-called US, mostly in and around Indigenous communities, permanently poisoning #SacredLands and waters with little to no action being taken to clean up their deadly toxic legacy. There are currently 93 operating #NuclearReactors in the so-called US that supply 20% of the country’s electricity. There are 60,000 tons of #HighlyRadioactive spent waste store in concrete dams at #NuclearPowerPlants throughout the country with the waste increasing at a rate of 2,000 tons per year.

“In 1987 the ‘US’ Congress initiated a controversial project to transport and store almost all of the US’s #ToxicWaste at #YuccaMountain located about 100 miles northwest of so-called #LasVegas, #Nevada. Yucca Mountan has been held holy to the #Paiute and #WesternShoshone Nations since time immemorial. In January 2010 the #ObamaAdminstration approved a $54 billion taxpayer loan in a guarantee program for new nuclear reactor construction, three times what Bush previously promised in 2005. In April 2022, the #BidenAdministration government bailout to ‘rescue’ nuclear power plants at risk for closing. A #Colonial government representative stated, ‘US nuclear power contributes more than half of our #CarbonFree electricity, and President Biden is committed to keeping these plants active to reach our #CleanEnergy goals.’

“They, along with Climate Justice activiists, cite nuclear energy as necessary to combat #GlobalWarming, all while ignoring the devastating percent impacts #IndigenousPeoples have faced. There is nothing clean about energy produced from nuclear colonialism. From its weapons (including #DepletedUranium) to its #Mining and its waste; Indigenous bodies, lands, and waters continue to be sacrificed to heat water with radioactive materials which creates steam that moves generators to change batteries made from #Lithium extracted from other Indigenous sacred lands so #Teslas can mo you forward into a ‘just’ climate future.

“A green economy sustains and advances colonial progress, which means mitigated selective and ongoing destruction of #MotherEarth.”

Pages 139-140

#IndigenousAnarchy
#Ecosystem #HaulNo #DefendTheSacred
#CorporateColonialism #NoDAPL #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife #ClimateDefenders #NoCopperMiningWithoutConsent #NoLithiumMining #CorporateColonialism #NoMiningWithoutConsent #LithiumMining #CopperMining #Greenwashng #NuclearWeapons #RestInPowerKleeBenally #RIPKleeBenally #StopCanyonMine

[PDF] National Association of Marine Laboratories
Position Paper

Scientific opposition to Japan’s planned release of over 1.3 million tons of radioactively contaminated water from the #FukushimaDaiIchi #NuclearPowerPlant
disaster into the #PacificOcean.

December 2022

“The National Association of Marine Laboratories (#NAML), an organization of more than
100 member laboratories, opposes Japan’s plans to begin releasing over 1.3 million tons of radioactively contaminated water from the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean commencing in 2023. This opposition is based on the fact that there is a lack of adequate and accurate scientific data supporting Japan’s assertion of safety.

"Furthermore, there is an abundance of data demonstrating serious concerns about releasing radioactively contaminated water.

“The Pacific Ocean is the largest continuous body of water on our planet, containing the greatest biomass of organisms of ecological, economic, and cultural value, including 70 percent of the world’s #fisheries. The health of all the world’s #OceanEcosystems is in documented decline due
to a variety of stressors, including climate change, over-exploitation of resources, and pollution.

"The proposed release of this #contaminated water is a #transboundary and #transgenerational issue of concern for the health of marine ecosystems and those whose lives and livelihoods depend on them. We are concerned about the absence of critical data on the radionuclide content of each tank, the Advanced Liquid Processing System, which is used to remove radionuclides, and the assumption that upon the release of the contaminated wastewater,
‘dilution is the solution to pollution.’

“The underlying rationale of #dilution ignores the reality of biological processes of #OrganicBinding,
#bioaccumulation, and #bioconcentration, as well as accumulation in local seafloor sediments. Many of the radionuclides contained in the accumulated waste cooling water have half-lives ranging from decades to centuries, and their deleterious effects range from #DNADamage and
#cellular stress to elevated #cancer risks in people who eat affected marine organisms, such as clams, oysters, crabs, lobster, shrimp, and fish.

"Additionally, the effectiveness of the Advanced Liquid Processing System in almost completely removing the over 60 different #radionuclides present in the affected wastewater—some of which have an affinity to target specific tissues, glands, organs, and metabolic pathways in #LivingOrganisms, including people—remains a
serious concern due to the absence of critical data.

"The supporting data provided by the Tokyo Electric Power Company and the #JapaneseGovernment are insufficient and, in some cases, incorrect, with flaws in sampling protocols, statistical design, sample analyses, and assumptions, which in turn lead to flaws in the
conclusion of safety and prevent a more thorough evaluation of better alternative approaches to disposal. A full range of approaches to addressing the problem of safely containing, storing, and disposing of the radioactive waste have not been adequately explored, and alternatives to ocean dumping should be examined in greater detail and with extensive scientific rigor.

“NAML calls on the Government of #Japan and International Atomic Energy Agency (#IAEA) scientists to more fully and adequately consider the options recommended by the #PacificIslandsForum’s Expert Panel. We believe public policy decisions, regulations, and actions must keep pace with and make use of relevant advancements in our scientific understanding of the #environment and human health. In this case, we believe policy makers have not fully availed themselves of the available science and should do so before making any final decisions on releasing this contaminated water into the Pacific. NAML members are unified in our concern about use of the oceans as a dumping ground for radioactively contaminated water and other #pollutants because such actions can negatively affect the long-term health and sustainability of
our planet.

“We urge the Government of Japan to stop pursuing their planned and precedent-setting release of the radioactively contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean and to work with the broader scientific community to pursue other approaches [like #ClosedLoop systems or binding radionuclides in concerete] that protect #OceanLife; human health; and
those communities who depend on ecologically, economically, and culturally valuable marine
resources. “

Adopted by the NAML Board of Directors, December 12, 2022

https://www.naml.org/policy/documents/2022-12-12%20Position%20Paper,%20Release%20of%20Radioactively%20Contaminated%20Water%20into%20the%20Ocean.pdf

#WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife
#IAEAHides #TEPCOLies
#FukushimaIsntOver #NoDumping #NuclearPowerPlants #RadioactiveWater #RethinkNotRestart #PacificOcean #DataFalsification #ALPSSystem

From 2007:

"Not Again": Yet Another #TEPCO Scandal

Citizens' Nuclear Information Center

"Over the years there have been all sorts of cases of data fabrication and falsification at #nuclear, thermal and hydroelectric power plants. Each time the power companies and plant makers apologize and say that they will lance the wound, but then they go and repeat the same behavior over and over again. When Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported yet another case of data falsification to the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (#METI) the headline in the Fukushima local newspaper the following day (1 February 2007) was 'Not Again!', sigh the local people and the Prefectural government '.

"The latest scandal began when Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on 31 October 2006 that #Chugoku Electric Power Company had falsified data for #DoyoDam on the #MatanoRiver. People might assume that the reason for #ChugokuElectric's admission was simply that it had made a judgment that the problem could no longer be concealed once it was leaked to the newspaper. However, there was more behind the admission than meets the eye. Even before this, anti-dam activists had been pursuing TEPCO over suspicious data related to its dams. For example, it had recorded flow measurements that could not possibly have been taken, because the locations were inaccessible due to heavy snow falls. Chugoku Electric's admission should be seen against this background.

"METI and the Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport responded by demanding that all electric power companies check their records. The upshot was that it was discovered that Chugoku Electric was not alone. In fact, it became apparent that all power companies had falsified and fabricated data in relation to such things as subsidence of dam embankments, and alterations to facilities without prior approval.

"The next major development came on November 15th, when it was revealed that Chugoku Electric had falsified data in relation to releases of hot wastewater at its #Shimonoseki thermal power plant. This led to similar revelations for nuclear power plants owned by TEPCO, #Kansai Electric Power Company (#KEPCO), Tohoku Electric Power Company and Japan Atomic Power Company (#JAPCO). On 10 January 2007 TEPCO submitted a report to METI entitled 'Causes of and measures to prevent a repetition of falsification of sea temperature data at the condenser outlets of #KashiwazakiKariwa Nuclear Power Plant, Reactors 1 and 4'.

"The report said, 'An investigation of power plants was instigated, because the Shimonoseki thermal power plant case reminded a worker that corrections had been made to sea temperature data.' As a result, falsification (referred to by TEPCO as "corrections") was discovered at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa reactors 1 & 4 and #Fukushima I reactors 1, 4 & 5.

"The hot wastewater referred to here is seawater, which has been used to cool and condense the steam used to drive the turbines of thermal and nuclear power plants. When the steam from the turbine condenses, its heat is transferred to the coolant, which in this case is seawater. The temperature of the seawater is raised in the process. If the seawater released is too hot, it can affect the ecosystem. Therefore, the temperature at both the intake and outlet points is measured and monitored to ensure that the temperature difference is not too great. At some power plants computers were programmed to record a higher than actual intake temperature, while at others they were programmed to record a lower outlet temperature. The readings were thus falsified to show a lower temperature difference than was really the case.

"On 31 January 2007 TEPCO released details of data falsification at its nuclear power plants. It admitted to a total of about 200 irregularities. A few examples are discussed below.

1. During a periodic inspection in May 1992 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa reactor number 1 (K-K-1), the day before it was to be tested it was discovered that, due to a fault with the electric motor, the residual heat removal pump (part of the Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS)) was not working. TEPCO staff made some adjustments to make it appear from the central control room that the pump was working. In this way, they were able to trick the METI inspector into awarding a pass for the inspection.

2. Again at K-K (the reactors are not specified), from around 1995 to 1997, measurements of the concentration of radioactive iodine released from the exhaust stack were made to appear lower than they really were by taking the measurements on the reverse side of the filter. In May 1995 the concentration of radioactivity from rare gases emitted from the exhaust stack of reactor 4 was also falsified.

3. From 1979 to 1998, in order to pass inspections, internal pressure readings for steam pipes connecting the reactor to the turbines at Fukushima I reactor 1 were falsified to match the specifications in the inspection guidelines. It was said that the specifications were inappropriate and that they were later amended so that falsification ceased to be necessary.

"There were many instances of malpractice besides these, in relation to periodic inspections and also in other areas. Fabrication and falsification had indeed become standard practice. Investigations are still proceeding and one cannot help feeling that the most serious and dangerous cases are still to come."

[And indeed it would come, 4 years later!]

http://www.cnic.jp/english/newsletter/nit117/nit117articles/nit117tepco.html

#CitizensNuclearInformatioNcenter #NoNukes #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #IAEAHides #TEPCOLies #FukushimaIsntOver #NoDumping #NuclearPowerPlants #RadioactiveWater #RethinkNotRestart #PacificOcean #DataFalsification

#China is installing the #wind and #solar equivalent of five large #NuclearPower stations per week

By technology reporter James Purtill
Posted Mon 15 Jul 2024

"While #Australia debates the merits of going #nuclear and frustration grows over the slower-than-needed rollout of solar and wind power, China is going all in on #renewables.

"New figures show the pace of its clean energy transition is roughly the equivalent of installing five large-scale nuclear power plants worth of renewables every week.

"A report by Sydney-based think tank Climate Energy Finance (#CEF) said China was installing renewables so rapidly it would meet its end-of-2030 target by the end of this month — or 6.5 years early.

"It's installing at least 10 gigawatts of wind and solar generation capacity every fortnight.

"By comparison, experts have said the Coalition's plan to build seven nuclear power plants would add fewer than 10GW of generation capacity to the grid sometime after 2035.

"Energy experts are looking to China, the world's largest emitter, once seen as a climate villain, for lessons on how to go green, fast."

Read more:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-07-16/chinas-renewable-energy-boom-breaks-records/104086640

#RenewablesNow #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearPowerPlants #RenewableEnergy