#radionuclides — Public Fediverse posts

#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

#Japan will soon release #Fukushima #radioactive water into the #ocean. How worried should we be?

Some have cast doubt on the #IAEA’s findings, with China recently arguing that the group’s assessment “is not proof of the legality and legitimacy” of Fukushima’s wastewater release.

By Jessie Yeung, Mayumi Maruyama and Emiko Jozuka, July 5, 2023

"Robert H. Richmond, director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of #Hawaii at Manoa, is among a group of international scientists working with the #PacificIslandForum to assess the wastewater release plan – including visits to the Fukushima site, and meetings with TEPCO, Japanese authorities and the IAEA. After reviewing the details of the plan, Richmond called it 'ill-advised' and premature.

"One concern is that diluting the wastewater might not be enough to reduce its impact on marine life. #Pollutants like tritium can pass through various levels of the #FoodChain – including plants, animals, and bacteria – and be '#bioaccumulated,' meaning they will build up in the marine #ecosystem, he said.

"He added that the world’s oceans are already under stress from #ClimateChange, ocean #acidification, #overfishing and #pollution. The last thing it needs is to be treated like a 'dumping ground,' he said.

"And the potential risks won’t just affect the #AsiaPacific region. One 2012 study found evidence that bluefin #tuna had transported #radionuclides – radioactive isotopes like the ones in #nuclear #wastewater – from Fukushima across the Pacific to California."

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/07/04/asia/japan-fukushima-wastewater-explainer-intl-hnk/index.html

#NoDumping #FukushimaWater #TEPCOLies #PacificOcean #WaterIsLife #Corporatism #Corruption #JapanGovernment

#Fukushima Daiichi Water: The World is Watching… or Should Be

Published on May 6, 2021 by Azby Brown

"In late 2018, however, [#TEPCO] admitted that roughly 80% of the water —890,000 of the 1.1 million tons of treated water then in storage— still contained above-limit levels of #strontium 90, #cobalt 60, #ruthenium 106 and many other #radionuclides that the [ALPS] system had failed to adequately remove. Upon learning that this fact had been intentionally concealed by Tepco, the public was outraged. Those supporting the release plan seem to hope that this massive betrayal of trust has been forgotten."
#NoNukes #FukushimaWater #Fukushima #TEPCOLies #StopTEPCO #OpFukushima #WaterIsLife

Read more:
https://safecast.org/2021/05/fukushima-daiichi-water-the-world-is-watching-or-should-be/