Mystery objects with high radiation have been found on the Fukushima coast. ajw.asahi.com

The Fukushima disaster emergency is not over and much more radioactive water could wind up in the oceans. enenews.com

There was a close call at the Alabama Farley nuclear plant when the reactor let out a large amount of gas causing a five hour evacuation. enenews.com

In a mock terrorist attack on the Savannah River nuclear plant in South Carolina, the invaders managed to reach the area where highly enriched uranium and plutonium are stored.  enenews.com

Ambient office = .123 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .074 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .069 microsieverts per hour

Banana from local grocery store =  .125 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .101 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .091 microsieverts per hour

Fukushima plant may have leaked huge amount of radioactive tritium into ocean. enenews.com

South Korean fishery products are nearly free of radiation and safe to eat, the government said Friday, amid renewed public scare over possible contamination from radioactive leakage in Japan over two years ago. globalpost.com

On Thursday, the Oregon-based company announced Rolls-Royce will play “a key role” in preparing NuScale’s application for funding from the Department of Energy to help develop small modular reactor technology. nuclearstreet.com

A parliamentary vote in Taiwan on whether to hold a referendum on the completion of the Lungmen nuclear power plant descended into a brawl between opposing parties. world-nuclear-news.org

Ambient office = .078 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .086 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .070 microsieverts per hour

Vine ripened tomatoe from Cosco =  .156 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .057 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .050 microsieverts per hour

 

 Tokyo Electric Power Co. has so far been unable to locate the source of spreading contaminated groundwater at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, fueling concerns the radioactive contamination may spread into wider areas, even out of the plant’s port facilities. the-japan-news.com

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday it has detected high levels of radioactive cesium in water taken from deep under its disaster-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.  japantimes.co.jp

A new study suggests that male health professionals who handle X-rays and gamma radiation sources at hospitals on a regular basis for a prolonged period of time, produce poor quality sperm cells. timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Duke Energy has dropped plans to build two new reactors at the Greenfield Levy site in Florida blaming regulatory uncertainty.  world-nuclear-news.org 

 

Ambient office = .061 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .123 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .105 microsieverts per hour

Romain lettuce from Cosco =  .095 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .067 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .057 microsieverts per hour

 

             At the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union had tens of thousands of nuclear warheads targeted and ready to launch in minutes. Fortunately for the future of the human race, after a number of treaties and the end of the Cold War, the United States and the Russian Federation only have a few thousand warheads each. Other nuclear powers have a few hundred each. North Korea has a few warheads and Iran appears to be on the verge of creating a warhead. President Obama recently suggested that the U.S. and the Russian Federation decommission even more warheads. Of course, there are those in the U.S. and the Russian Federation that either because of ideology or profit from warhead and delivery systems manufacturer are concerned about further disarmament.

          A recent op-ed piece by Peter Huessy in the U.S. News and World Report attacked Obama for advocating further reduction in nuclear arsenals. Currently, the U.S. and the Russians have several delivery systems for nuclear warheads. These include bombers, submarines and missiles. The U.S. arsenal and delivery systems are designed to be able to withstand a first strike and still be able to retaliate, destroying the enemy. Huessy argues that if we reduce our delivery systems and warheads much more, we risk destabilizing the world because some enemy might decide that they could successfully disarm the U.S. with a surprise first strike and we would be unable to successfully retaliate.

          Huessy points out that the Russians are upgrading their fleet of submarines, their missiles and bombers. He says that China will soon have a hundred missiles that could reach the United States and is quickly building more missiles. Then he warns of Iran and North Korea soon having missiles that could reach the U.S. He advocates for upgrading our nuclear forces and against any further reduction claiming that the world nuclear situation is becoming more unstable and that current U.S. systems are aging and rapidly becoming obsolete. I have to say that hearing this old Cold War rhetoric in the modern age is surprising and depressing.

           First of all, talking about Iran and North Korea is just silly. If either of them launched a missile or two at the U.S., we could incinerate them with a fraction of our nuclear force and they know it. In any case, Iran is more concerned with Israel and North Korea is more concerned with South Korea than either of them is going to be interested in attacking the U.S.

           China is has enormous investments in the U.S. and their economy is highly dependent on trade with the U.S.  Anything that they could possibly gain by attacking the U.S. would be tiny compared with the devastating loss of investment in and trade with the U.S. In addition, it is doubtful that they could disarm us with a hundred missiles even if we substantially reduce our nuclear forces. And, even if our retaliation was not “successful” we could still kill tens of millions and devastate their factories and cities. The Chinese are not suicidal.

           We also have ties of investment and trade with the Russian Federation. Yes, they could attack us and substantially reduce our retaliation but some would still get through, killing millions and damaging their industrial capability. And what exactly could they gain from such an attack that would be worth the resulting crash in the global economy.

           And, finally, it has been estimated that even as few as one hundred warheads exploding could bring on a nuclear winter which would threaten the entire world and possibly end civilization. Look at the damage that one nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan has caused. Fallout from that disaster has circled the entire Northern Hemisphere and the Pacific Ocean is being polluted with radioactive cesium. Any nation which launched a major nuclear attack on another would wind up destroying themselves. When it comes to destabilization, the kind of pointing out of potential enemies and calls for increasing nuclear forces in the U.S. in that op-ed could lead to a new Cold War and arms race. I think that this would be more destabilizing than a call to reduce nuclear stockpiles.

Fukushima contaminated water tanks are releasing x-rays in very high quantities and hundreds of tanks could easily start leaking after another earthquake. Enenews.com

Three US nuclear plants co-owned by EDF and Constellation Energy Nuclear Group are to be integrated into Exelon’s nuclear fleet under a newly announced agreement that will see the French company receive a $400 million dividend. world-nuclear-news.org

New cutting and decontamination methods are being tested to clear away old equipment more quickly and free space to store higher priority wastes at Sellafield. world-nuclear-news.org

As it reported disappointing earnings Tuesday, Entergy offered more details on where it will cut 800 positions across its organization. Nuclearstreet.com

Ambient office = .096 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .078 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .102 microsieverts per hour

Iceberg lettuce from Cosco =  .083 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .095 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .070 microsieverts per hour

           I have written many articles about the problems at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Central Washington State. There so many issues at Hanford that I could do a daily blog on just Hanford and never run out of material. Many citizen groups, including the Heart of America Northwest, are pressuring Washington State and Federal departments such as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to move more aggressively to stop the horrible environmental damage that is ongoing at Hanford.

          During World War II and the Cold War, uranium was milled and fashioned into fuel rods for the Hanford reactors in an area called the “300 Area.” The 300 Area was also used for experiments in chemically removing plutonium from spent uranium fuel rods. Each day, about two million gallons of liquid radioactive waste was poured into settling ponds and trenches next to the Columbia River.

           In the 1990s, some trenches were dug up and some of the contaminated soil was removed. The level of uranium in the groundwater went down. As a result of this work, it was assumed that if contaminated soil was removed to a depth of fifteen feet, the pollution of the groundwater would eventually stop. However, it was later discovered that there was contamination in the soil below fifteen feet that still leached into the groundwater. Also, the rising and falling levels of the Columbia River caused the ground water to rise and fall which resulted in the periodic saturation of zones of contaminated soil. Today there is a one hundred twenty five acre groundwater plume from the 300 Area that is carrying about three hundred thirty pounds of uranium into the Columbia River each year.

            Part of the current cleanup plan involves digging up the trenches, pipes and some of the soil where the radioactive garbage was dumped. Unfortunately, it would cost over one billion dollars to dig up all the contaminated soil. There is not sufficient space in the lined landfill at Handford to contain the seventy million cubic feet of contaminated soil.  Ironically, the digging itself might increase the contamination of the groundwater because the water used to control dust would soak down through the soil into the groundwater.

           Instead of digging up all the contaminated soil, the current cleanup plan includes sequestering or locking the uranium in place by adding phosphates to the soil to chemically bind the uranium. The resulting uranium phosphate compound, called autunite, is a stable mineral that does not dissolve easily and would keep the uranium from moving with the groundwater. The phosphates would be added by pouring them onto the ground and injecting them into wells that did not reach the water table. This approach is predicted to lower the uranium contamination of the groundwater to safe levels over a few decades. Over decades of research, no better alternative has been found.

           Critics of the plan say that more research is needed including more tests of the actual proposed processes at the 300 Area before the cleanup plan is finalized. There will be a public hearing in Seattle at 7 PM on Wednesday, July 31, 2013 to discuss the Hanford cleanup at the University Heights Center, 5031 University Way, Seattle. There will be a pre-hearing workshop at 6:15.