Fukushima operator pleads for international help as the radiation crisis deepens. Rt.com

South Korea saw its already dwindling power reserves dip Wednesday afternoon as another reactor shut down unexpectedly. nuclearstreet.com

Nuclear deterrence is overrated because the real risks and costs of having these weapons, both monetary and human, far outweigh their security benefits.  nuclear-news.net

With the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ’s vote to issue its General Environmental Impact Statement the Limerick Generating Station is on its way to relicensing, which was in jeopardy of being delayed after the NRC was required to revaluate the environmental impacts on its plan to store nuclear waste.  limerick.patch.com

Ambient office = .095 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .143 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .094 microsieverts per hour

Zante currants from local grocery store =  .125 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .109 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .089 microsieverts per hour

           There has always been a close connection between nuclear weapons and nuclear power. A great deal of the motivation for launching the commercial nuclear power industry was to provide more support for the nuclear weapons programs in the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. As other nations developed their own nuclear weapons programs, a global movement arose to oppose the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Treaties were created to limit nuclear arsenals and to restrict the flow of nuclear weapons technologies and materials to countries which did not yet have their own nuclear weapons. As nuclear arsenals have been reduced in the major nuclear nations, other efforts have been aimed at insuring that facilities for fueling nuclear reactors are not used for refining weapons grade nuclear materials. There are stringent internationals sanctions against Iran right now over the fear that they are developing nuclear weapons under the guise of commercial power reactor development and fueling. Another fear is that terrorists might attack commercial nuclear reactors with the intent of causing a nuclear accident or stealing nuclear materials to be used for dirty bombs or refined into weapons grade materials.

          The Nuclear Proliferation Preventing Project is a program at the University of Texas that “engages in research, debate, and public education to ensure that civilian applications of nuclear technology do not foster the spread of nuclear weapons to states or terrorist groups.” They receive funding from the Department of Defense. Recently they released a report on the vulnerability of U.S. commercial nuclear reactors to terrorist attacks. The report was released on August 15, 2013 and is titled Protecting U.S. Nuclear Facilities from Terrorist Attack: Re-assessing the Current “Design Basis Threat” Approach.

      

          The report concluded that all one hundred and seven commercial reactors in the United States are vulnerable to terrorist attack. Eleven reactors that were especially vulnerable were highlighted. Eight reactors that were said to be unprotected from attack by sea were Diablo Canyon in California, St. Lucie in Florida, Brunswick in North Carolina, Surry in Virginia, Indian Point in New York, Millstone in Connecticut, Pilgrim in Massachusetts, and the South Texas Project. In addition, the three U.S. commercial reactors that are fuelled with nuclear weapons grade uranium were also said to be particularly vulnerable. These three reactors are located at the University of Missouri in Columbia, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Institute of Standards in Washington, D.C.

          The report made reference to the 911 attack of 2001. The authors charge that none of the commercial reactors in the U.S. are protected against an attack of the scale of 911. It is thought that the 911 hijackers considered flying a plane into the Indian Point Reactor near New York City but decided against it because they were certain that such an important target would be protected by anti-aircraft missiles. Fortunately for citizens on New York City and surrounding area, the hijackers were mistaken.

            In general, U.S. commercial reactors are designed and staffed against smaller scale attacks known as “design basis threats”. Some are better protected that others which are considered to be less attractive to attack or less dangerous. However, those protecting the reactors don’t really know exactly how terrorist would evaluate potential targets and it is hard to know exactly what harm a particular reactor attack could cause. The report recommends that all U.S. commercial reactors be hardened against the maximum credible terrorist threat.

Uranium miners face new hurdles as Fukushima disaster worsens. newsdaily.com

Work at one of Hanford’s tank farms was halted Wednesday night after radiation was detected during the transfer of nuclear sludge. king5.com

Fukushima Diary author invited to participate in BBC radio program on Fukushima and then was given 0 minutes to talk on the air. fukushima-diary.com

A public meeting is planned to discuss the eventual decommissioning of Three Mile Island reactors. stateimpact.npr.org

Ambient office = .112 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .137 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .123 microsieverts per hour

Mango from local grocery store =  .103 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .081 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .066 microsieverts per hour

          I have expressed concerns about the way that the United States Department of Energy has handled accidents and other problems involving nuclear materials. Past blogs have detailed their lack of transparency, dishonesty, incompetence and violations of regulations and laws at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in the State of Washington. Today I am going to talk about the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

          The Idaho National Laboratory is located near the town of Idaho Falls in Eastern Idaho. This federal research facility was first opened in 1949 to test nuclear reactors. The facility was under the control of the Atomic Energy Commission until 1977. In 1977, when President Carter created the Department of Energy, the facility was named the Idaho National Laboratory. In 1997, the Laboratory was renamed the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory but is still often referred to as the Idaho National Laboratory. Over fifty different experimental reactors have been built and tested at the Laboratory over the years since it was established.

           In November of 2011, there was an accident at the Laboratory. Sixteen workers were removing plutonium fuel plates from storage containers and repackaging them. They found a couple of storage containers that had “unusual labels” that suggested that there might be something odd about the plates inside the containers but there was no warning of any danger. They opened the containers found that one of the plutonium plates inside the container had been wrapped in plastic and tape. When they unwrapped the plate, a black powder spilled out. All of them breathed in the black dust and seven of them got the powder on their skin. Testing verified that the black powder was highly toxic plutonium-239. A video camera was operating during the work and recorded all the events leading up to and following the release of the plutonium powder.

           The INL announced that “none of the workers suffered adverse health effects” because of the plutonium exposure. However, the INL refused to release the records of the individual radiation exposure for the workers. Two of the workers later filed a law suit saying that they had suffered “symptoms of radiation poisoning including nausea, vomiting, confusion, diarrhea, and high blood pressure, which lasted for months” following the accident.

           The INL also claimed that the video tape reveals that the workers had displayed noncompliance with proper procedures and that there were management deficiencies.  The INL says that these facts absolve the Laboratory of any responsibility for what happened but they refuse to release the video tape to the lawyers of the workers who filed suit. The INL claims that there are privacy concerns but the plaintiffs lawyers counter that the need to know exactly what happened during the accident out-weight any such privacy concerns. The plaintiffs have filed a Freedom of Information suit to force the Laboratory to surrender the video tape.

           This pattern of behavior by the DOE and the INL is all too familiar. The INL claims that no one was injured but there is serious evidence to the contrary. The INL says that the tape shows that the workers were at fault but will not allow anyone to see the tape. There is currently a major push to build new reactors being pushed by the nuclear industry and the U.S. government. However, it is obvious that we cannot trust the U.S. government to protect its citizens and natural environment from nuclear accidents that occur at its facilities and to honestly inform its citizens when accidents occur. And we cannot trust the U.S. government to provide the regulation and oversight necessary for the safe use of nuclear power.

China expresses “shock” as Japan’s nuclear crisis deepens. reuters.com

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) has reached a settlement with Nordion over its decision in 2008 to abandon the two MAPLE isotope production reactors before they began operation. world-nuclear-news.org

The Rapid City (South Dakota) Council passed a resolution late Monday night opposing a uranium mining operation near Edgemont, saying it “poses an unacceptable risk” to the city’s primary water supply.  rapidcityjournal.com

The cancellation of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository by the NRC was a violation of law. mariettatimes.com

 

Ambient office = .114 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .147 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .121 microsieverts per hour

Raisins from Costco =  .090 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .084 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .063 microsieverts per hour

           I have done a number of blog posts about nuclear weapons and nuclear treaties. Recently I criticized someone who thought that we should not reduce our nuclear weapons below their current levels. We still have a thousand warheads aimed at Russia ready to launch in minutes. The Russians have an equal number aimed at us and ready to launch. This is courting the destruction of human civilization and we should end it as quickly as possible. A battle between other nuclear armed countries such as India and Pakistan could bring a nuclear winter that would be global disaster. Further down the lists of dangers but still very real is the threat of nuclear war in the Middle East.

           Although they have been reluctant to admit it, it is widely believed that Israel has had nuclear weapons since the 1960s. Estimates of the Israeli arsenal vary widely from seventy five all the way to four hundred warheads. Israel has not signed the international Non-Proliferation treaty but it has said that “it would not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East.” That sounds positive but it is has never been clear exactly what they mean. Other Middle Eastern countries have repeatedly called for Israel to get rid of its nuclear weapons.

           In the mean time, some of the most anti-Israeli countries in the Middle East have tried to develop their own nuclear weapons. Sadam Hussien had a nuclear weapons program in Iraq before the first Gulf War. The Israelis staged a surprise aerial attack on an Iraqi nuclear reactor to interfere with that program in 1981. We invaded Iraq in the second Gulf War partly on the pretext that they were continuing to develop nuclear weapons although that later proved not to be true.

          Iran has worked for years to develop the sophisticated technology required for refining uranium to weapons grade. They insist that they are not interested in acquiring their own nuclear weapons but the U.S. and many other countries do not believe them. Harsh sanctions have been levied on Iran to force them to open their facilities to international inspection. It is known that they have deeply buried laboratories where it is feared that nuclear weapons work is being carried out.

          One motivation for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon is their perception, either right or wrong, that the U.S. would be more reluctant to invade Iran if Iran had nuclear weapons. There is also the fact that Iran is a bitter enemy of Israel and fears Israeli attacks. The greatest danger to Iran right now is the possibility that Israel will attack in the near future to try to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. I am afraid that Iran will succeed in creating a nuclear bomb in the near future even if the Israelis do attack. However, reducing the size of an Iranian bomb to be able to launch it on a missile will take years.

          A new report from International Atomic Energy Agency on the Middle East and nuclear weapons concluded that there is “fundamental difference of views” between Israel and the other Middle East countries.” I am not sure why there needed to be a new study and a new report since this fact has been glaringly obvious for decades.

        One thing that is occurs to me is that Israel will not accept possible defeat if it is attacked by other Middle Eastern countries with or without nuclear weapons. I have always thought that Israel would execute the “Samson” option if it looked like they were going to be defeated and destroyed by their enemies. That would consist of launching a last ditch nuclear attack against major population centers and oil fields across the Middle East. Such an event would be disastrous for the whole world. A possible war in the Middle East could threaten the entire world and it is important that other countries and regions would together to try to bring peace to that troubled region.  

Israel’s attack on Iraq:

Aboriginal people in British Columbia who rely on Skeena River sockeye are facing some extremely difficult decisions as sockeye salmon returns plunge to historic lows. theglobeandmail.com

Study shows Fukushima nuclear pollution becoming more concentrated as it approaches U.S. West Coast. springer.com

As expected, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formally notified Entergy that it can continue operating unit 2 at Indian Point while regulators sort out challenges to its license renewal. Nuclearstreet.com

Permission has been granted to begin construction of Jordan’s first nuclear reactor. world-nuclear-news.org