Entergy Nuclear high-level radioactive waste storage facility violates NRC earthquake safety regulations

Beyond Nuclear, in alliance with Don't Waste Michigan, has issued a media release warning that the Palisades atomic reactor's high-level radioactive waste dry cask storage -- just 100 yards from the water of Lake Michigan -- remains vulnerable to earthquakes. In addition, Palisades' indoor pool, storing many hundreds of tons of high-level radioactive waste, remains vulnerable to disruptions of the primary electric grid, as it lacks any backup power. Also, Entergy Nuclear has indefinitely postponed multiple, vital safety repairs. NRC has let them get away with all these reactor and radioactive waste risks. The 44 year old atomic reactor, which just began its NRC-approved 20 year license extension on March 24th, needs its reactor lid replaced, its steam generators replaced, its emergency sumps upgraded, and its fire protection regulations upgraded. Any one of these risks could lead to Chernobyl- or Fukushima-scale radioactivity releases in the heart of the Great Lakes, source of drinking water for 40 million people in the U.S., Canada, and many Native American First Nations.  (In the photo above, Mike Keegan, Alice Hirt, and Kevin Kamps of Don't Waste Michigan's board of director speak out against the reactor and radioactive waste risks at Palisades during the Aug. 2000 Nuclear-Free Great Lakes Action Camp; Palisades' cooling tower steam is visible in the background; the crosses bear the names of surrounding downwind communities that could be ruined in the event of a catastrophic radioactivity release).

After $31 billion and counting, utilities cry "hold, enough!"

The nation's electric utitlies have collectively paid the U.S. Department of Energy $31 billion to "take away" their radioactive waste. But of course, there is still nowhere for it to go - a problem that is likely to persist indefinitely. Given the lack of a waste dump or other "solution," the utilities are suing the DOE to try to suspend fees they pay the government for nuclear waste storage. But the DOE wants to keep collecting its annual fees because, as the agency telllingly admits to Automated Trader, "they'll eventually develop a long-term storage solution. And when they do, it's likely to be expensive."

Urge PHMSA to undertake Programmatic EIS on water-borne radioactive waste shipments!

Cynthia L. Quarterman, Administrator, U.S. DOT Pipelines and Haz. Mat. Safety Admin. (PHMSA)The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is the federal agency that must approve Bruce Power's controversial and risky proposed shipment of 16 radioactive steam generators, originating in Ontario and bound for Sweden, before it enters U.S. territorial waters on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. PHMSA is infamous for its negligence in major oil pipeline leaks into rivers, deadly natural gas pipeline explosions, and the cozy relationships between the agency's top leadership and the very companies and industries PHMSA is supposed to regulate. Thanks to 7 Great Lakes U.S. Senators, it was revealed that PHMSA has previously rubberstamped approvals for 17 water-borne shipments of large, radioactive nuclear components in the past. These shipments travelled on rivers, bays, and sea coasts across the U.S., and even on the waters of Lake Michigan. PHMSA very quietly granted "approvals or special permits" for shipping radioactive steam generators, reactor pressure vessels, pressurizers, and reactor vessel heads with little or no notice to, or attention from, the public, media, emergency responders, or elected officials. Given the radiological risks of these shipments, and the precedent they set for shipping high-level radioactive wastes by water, PHMSA must undertake a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This should include an adequate period for submission of public comments, including public hearings across the U.S. in places that have been targeted in the past for such shipments, or could be in the future. Contact PHMSA Administrator Cynthia L. Quarterman, urging her to undertake a PEIS -- including a public comment period and public hearings -- in order to fully comply with NEPA, as she assured the U.S. Senators that she would. You can email her at phmsa.administrator@dot.gov; fax her at (202) 366-3666; phone her at (202) 366-4433; or send her a letter at Cynthia L. Quarterman, Administrator, U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, East Building, 2nd Floor, Mail Stop: E27-300, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20590. Also, contact your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative via the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and request that they urge PHMSA Administrator Quarterman to do a PEIS as well. Additional information on the Bruce Power radioactive steam generator shipment from Canada to Sweden can be found on Beyond Nuclear's Canada website section.

So-called "low" level radioactive waste shipments by water could set bad precedent for much worse to come!

Should the fresh surface waters of the U.S. -- primary drinking water supplies for countless tens and even hundreds of millions of Americans -- be used as shipping lanes for radioactive waste? Should the fishing grounds in our oceanic bays and coasts become haz. mat. routes for irradiated nuclear fuel? The nuclear establishment in industry and government seems to think so.

Bruce Power's proposal to ship 16 radioactive steam generators, so-called "low" level radioactive wastes -- despite containing mostly ultra-hazardous plutonium isotopes, as well as other hazardous radioactive substances -- could set a bad precedent that will pave the way for vastly more radiologically risky shipments of high-level radioactive waste in the future. In its 2002 Final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Yucca Mountain, Nevada dump, the U.S. Department of Energy revealed it was considering barging irradiated nuclear fuel on waterways across the U.S. The DOE's targets included the Chesapeake Bay, the James River in Virginia, the Delaware Bay, the waterways (Long Island Sound, the Hudson River, etc.) surrounding metro New York City, the waterways of Massachusetts (Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts Bay, and Boston Harbor), Lake Michigan, the Mississippi River, the Tennessee River, the Missouri River, the Pacific coastline of California, and the Atlantic coastline of Florida. Wisely, President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu zeroed out the Yucca Mountain Project's funding in 2009, effectively cancelling the dump.

However, any away-from-reactor plans for irradiated nuclear fuel -- such as reprocessing or centralized interim storage, under consideration by Obama and Chu's "Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future" -- could revive such high-level radioactive waste water-borne shipping plans. For example, a report put out by Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads, using a DOE routing computer program, shows that water-borne shipments of irradiated nuclear fuel bound for a proposed commercial reprocessing facility at Savannah River Site, South Carolina, could target the Great Lakes, rivers, bays and sea coasts.

In terms of safety and security risks, these water-borne shipments of high-level radioactive waste can be regarded as potential floating Chernobyls or dirty bombs targeted at our drinking water supplies, fishing grounds, beaches, and largest ports.

Radioactive waste "cargo" on the Great Lakes would violate Haudenosaunee 7th Generation Philosophy

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River contain 20% of the world's surface fresh water.An op-ed in the Toronto Star by associate professor of environment at the University of Toronto, Stephen Bede Scharper, points out that in addition to being the drinking water supply and source of fisheries, the Great Lakes are also the source of emotional and spiritual sustenance for more than 35 million people in the U.S., Canada, and numerous Native American First Nations. Thus it's easy to see how Bruce Power's shipment of 16 plutonium-contaminated steam generators on the Great Lakes, approved by the Canadian Nuclear Safety (sic) Commission on Feb. 4th, would violate not only the Haudenosaunee Seventh Generation Spiritual Philosophy, but also the Preautionary Principle. Speaking of the Haudenosaunee, the Mohawk Nations have spoken out strongly against this shipment, as have a number of other First Nations coalitions in Ontario and Quebec. The fight now may now be moving into the Canadian courts, as well as to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. PHMSA's approval is required before the shipment can enter U.S. waters on the Great Lakes. A growing environmental coalition is calling on PHMSA to undertake a full Environmental Impact Statement, complete with public heaings and a public comment period.