Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on April 17, 2013
Ambient office = .071 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .126 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .093 microsieverts per hour
Sliced Crimini mushroom from local grocery store = .083 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .088 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .060 microsieverts per hour
When this country was founded, a system of checks and balances was created where the three branches kept watch on each other. Sometimes actions proposed or taken by one branch result in a challenge from another branch. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is part of the Executive Branch under the U.S. President. The General Accounting Office (GAO) is a Congressional division that audits and evaluates government program. Recently, the DOE and the GAO came into conflict over proposals on the handling of radioactive waste.
The United States has been in limbo with respect to the long term storage of radioactive waste since the Yucca Mountain Repository was cancelled. I have dealt with the cancellation in previous posts. The U.S. Government promised nuclear plant operators a permanent facility by 1999. Needless to say, we are a bit behind schedule. The spent fuel pools at U.S. nuclear reactors will all be full of rods within five year. Unless there are storage alternatives by then, reactors will have to be shut down.
In January, the DOE announced a new policy for radioactive waste storage. They are planning on the construction of two interim storage facilities that are to be completed in six years. There is also a plan for a permanent storage facility to be sited and constructed by 2048. This deadline has already slipped from an earlier proposal to have a new permanent storage facility by 2035.
With respect to temporary storage, the new policy refers to provisions in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. Unfortunately, the GAO points out that those provisions for a centralized interim repository have either expired or they make reference to milestones that were not met. As far as the permanent storage facility is concerned, it may also be illegal. The amendments to the 1982 Act call for all activities for siting and constructing permanent storage facilities other than Yucca Mountain to be terminated.
Critics say that the DOE has no intention of actually carrying out the new policy but merely wants to take some action to fend off financial liability lawsuits. The U.S. Government has been collecting fees from nuclear operators for decades for the promised permanent storage. There is an accumulated fund of over twenty five billion dollars for permanent storage. Nuclear power plant owners are trying to claw back some of that money in court. Lawsuits for over two and one half billion dollars are working their way through the courts. Ultimately, there could be as much as nineteen billion in liabilities. If the DOE can get the new policy accepted, that would block the lawsuits.
Another problem working against the new DOE proposal is public opposition. Since Fukushima, the public fear of nuclear waste releases has increased. There is already a lot of resistance to the siting of waste facilities. The Western Governors Association representing nineteen states has passed a resolution to the effect that no nuclear waste facility may be opened in any of the nineteen states without the permission of the governor of the state.
A third issue with the new policy has to do with resistance to the transportation of nuclear waste. Even cities and states that would not be hosting a repository have been resisting the idea of fleets of trucks and trains moving nuclear waste through their territory. And, if the plan for temporary and permanent facilities is carried out, the waste would have to be moved twice, doubling the risk of accidents and deliberate sabotage of the transports. In addition, it is estimated that seventy percent of the waste in dry cask storage at nuclear plants in the U.S. is too radioactive to transport. Normally, spent fuel is given time to cool off in the spent fuel pools before being put into dry casks onsite but, as mentioned above, the spent fuel pools are filling up too rapidly to allow that at some reactors.
And, finally, nuclear plant owners only have to pay into the waste fund as long as they are generating electricity. Two reactors of the one hundred and four operating U.S. reactors are being shut down. Although new licenses have been issued for the aging U.S. reactor fleet, the reactors themselves are reaching the end of their functional lifespans. As more reactors are retired, unless they are replaced with new reactors paying into the fund, the fund may be spent faster than it is replenished as new repositories are being developed.
TEPCO has admitted that Pu-238/239/240 and Sr-90 in sea soil are from Fukushima accident. fukushima-diary.com
Major earthquake in Iran shows recklessness of their nuclear program. bloomberg.com
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on April 16, 2013
Ambient office = .155 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .106 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .080 microsieverts per hour
Vine ripened tomato from local grocery store = .066 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .070 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .045 microsieverts per hour
A few days ago, I posted a blog entry about a Chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission named Gregory Jaczko who just resigned. There was a controversy about his resignation with claims that he was essentially driven out of his position by supporters of the nuclear industry because of his criticism of the NRC regulatory process being too lenient with the industry. Jaczko and nuclear proponents are currently engaged in a very public argument about the safety of U.S. commercial nuclear reactors.
Recently, at the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference, Jaczko said that the problem of dissipating the heat from radioactive decay in the case of an extreme accident such as Fukushima was simply unsolvable for existing U.S. nuclear reactor designs. He suggested that the current reactor be phased out and replace. One option would be a new generation of small modular reactors with passive safety systems which could prevent potential core meltdowns following accidents without having to be supplied with any external power.
The U.S. nuclear industry trade group, the Nuclear Energy Institute, quickly responded to Jaczko’s charges and claimed that NRC was successful in keeping the U.S. nuclear fleet safe. The NEI talked about the new FLEX response strategy which consists of adding more portable backup equipment to each existing reactor. This equipment would include portable electrical generators, diesel-driven pumps and satellite phones which could provide power, cooling water and communications at plants experiencing extreme events. This sounds great but there are some serious problems with the industry assurances.
There are many documented instances of power plants failing to purchase and install equipment mandated by NRC regulations and industry standards. In addition, there are documented instances of power plants purchasing substandard or non-functional equipment. Often, equipment is installed improperly. Even if the proper equipment is purchased and correctly installed by each plant, there are many recorded instances of plants failing to maintain the equipment that they have and many cases of falsification of tests.
The NRC has a poor record of conscientious inspections. When inspections are made and problems found, the NRC often just warns the plant operators over and over without taking any other action. When the NRC demands that repairs and corrections be made, there are many case of incompetence during the repairs that lead to problems later on. There are also promises for repairs and improvements made by plant operators that are never kept.
When two parties are arguing opposite sides of an important question, there is always the problem of who to believe. In this debate, you have a dedicated public servant who has already had his career derailed by speaking out against the current fleet of nuclear reactors. On the other side of the debate, you have an industry trade group that is supported by companies making billions of dollars off the construction and operating of the current type of nuclear reactors. Even if I had no knowledge about the safety of current U.S. reactors, I would have to wonder if the opinions of the trade group might not be biased in the direction of saying things that would allow their members to continuing profiting from nuclear energy generation whether or not what they were saying was really true.
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on April 15, 2013
Ambient office = .073 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .072 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .109 microsieverts per hour
Jonagold apple from local grocery store = .100 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .072 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .059 microsieverts per hour
Measurement of dust in Los Angeles shows a surge of 419% in air radiation. youtube.com
An unexpected mortality increase in the United States followed the arrival of the radioactive plume from Fukushima. radiation.org
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on April 143, 2013
Ambient office = .073 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .072 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .109 microsieverts per hour
Sliced Crimini mushroom from local grocery store =100 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .072 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .059 microsieverts per hour
New NRA rules impose costly roadblocks to restart idle Japanese reactors. ajw.asahi.com
Deployment of nuclear power is not on the agenda for Singapore at the moment, delegates at the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle (WNFC) conference in the city heard this week. world-nuclear-news.org
A strategic review of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced as part of the US federal budget will consider the possible sale of all or part of the government-owned corporation. world-nuclear-news.org
