Ambient office  =  81 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Red bell pepper from Central Market = 72 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 81 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 70 nanosieverts per hour

 

        There is a great deal of interest today in what are called small modular reactors (SMR) in the nuclear industry. A small modular reactor is defined as a nuclear fission reactor that produces three hundred million watts of electricity or less. It is hoped that manufacture of these SMRs in factories will improve safety and lower costs.
        Holtec International is a global supplier of equipment and systems to the energy industry. They are based out of Camden, New Jersey. Holtec specializes in the design and manufacture of components for nuclear reactors. They also manufacture and sell dry cask storage systems for spent nuclear fuel assemblies.
        The Holtec Inherently Safe Modular Underground Reactor SMR-160 is a design for a pressurized water reactor that will generate one hundred and sixty megawatts of electricity. In 2018, Holtec and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy signed a contract to collaborate on the commercialization of the SMR-160.
        Holtec describes the SMR-160 as a “passive, intrinsically safe, secure and economical small modular reactor that has the flexibility to be used in remote locations, in areas with limited water supplies or land, and in unique industrial applications where traditional larger reactors are not practical.”
       Holtec also says that “The plant offers a balanced combination of practical innovation and proven technology to withstand the most severe postulated accidents. This advanced nuclear power plant has major appeal in domestic and international markets, offering a right-sized, cost-effective solution for carbon-free energy, and ensuring attainable power options to existing and emerging global economies demanding increased certainty of public safety, environmental protection and security from intrusion and proliferation of nuclear materials.”
         The SMR-160 is currently under review by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and is in Phase One of the three phase CNSC evaluation cycle. The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has a collaborative agreement with the CNSC. It is expected to coordinate its regulatory review of the SMR 160 with the CNSC.
      The President of Ukraine’s Energoatom has announced that he will create a consortium with Holtec and the Ukrainian State Scientific and Technical Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SSTC-NRS) to investigate the technical and environmental feasibility of qualifying a “generic” SMR-160 system that can be constructed and operated anywhere in Ukraine. Holtec gives “…absolute assurance of public health and safety” for the SMR-160. The terms of engagement for the consortium will be announced soon.
        Holtec has also announced signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Exelon Generation to add them to the SMR-160 team which currently includes SNC-Lavin and Mitsubishi Electric. Chris Mudrick is the senior vice president for Northeast Operations for Exelon Generation. He said, “As the largest nuclear operator in the United States, Exelon Generation is pleased to partner with Holtec to develop an operating model for the SMR-160. This project is a great example of how innovation and new technologies are bringing our industry together and driving the future of nuclear power.”
       The MoU says that Exelon will support the market acceptance of the SMR-160, create a generic deployment schedule and staffing plan, and assist improvements of the SMR-160 operational and maintainability features. As SMR-160s as built and deployed around the world, Exelon could supply reactor operating services to customers who do not have an established nuclear industry infrastructure.
 

Ambient office  =  60 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 77 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 83 nanosieverts per hour

Blueberry from Central Market = 116 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 92 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 84 nanosieverts per hour

        Problems with mining uranium do not get much coverage in the media. However, they pose a very serious threat to the environment both during the mining operation and for decades after the mine has been shut down.
       The Northeast Church Rock uranium mine is located approximately seventeen miles northeast of Gallup, New Mexico. It is on the Pinedale Chapter of the Navajo Nation. Between 1967 and 1982, about three and a half tons of uranium ore were taken out of the mine. The ore from the mine was processed at the nearby Church Rock Mill under a license issued by the State of New Mexico.
       Regulatory oversight for the mine has been carried out under a memorandum of understanding between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency since 1988. The NRC regulates surface reclamation and closure activities at the closed mine. The EPA regulates cleanup of the mine.
       The waste pile at the mill has been temporarily covered and stabilized after over two hundred thousand tons of contaminated soil was removed from the residential areas near the mine and taken to the mine tailings impound area at the mill. The United Nuclear Corporation (UNC), a subsidiary of GE, applied to the NRC in the fall of 2018 for an amendment to the mine license to allow them to transfer a million cubic yards of mine spoils to the tailings impoundment facility at the nearby mill site.
         EPA action level standards say that soil that contains two and a quarter picocuries per gram of radium-226 or two hundred thirty milligrams per kilogram of natural uranium or less are eligible to be transferred from the mine to the existing tailings impoundment area of the mill site. Any waste that contains two hundred picocuries of radium-226 or five hundred milligrams per kilogram of natural uranium or more would need to be segregated and moved to a licensed disposal facility offsite. UNC proposes building a cover over the tailings before the mine spoils are added to the pile. Then a final cover would be built over the mine spoils layer. The EPA has approved of this action in addition to other tasks at the mine and mill.
      The Navajo Nation occupies more than twenty-seven thousand square miles in the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. There are over two hundred and fifty thousand Navajos living in the Nation. Almost thirty million tons of uranium ore were extracted from Navajo lands between 1944 and 1986. This has left behind a horrible legacy of over five hundred closed uranium mines. Various U.S. federal agencies are cooperating to remove the greatest risks to the population of the Nation from the contamination that resulted from the mining operations on Navajo land. Since 1994, the Superfund Program has rendered technical assistance and funding to assess sites that may be contaminated and develop a response for those sites which are.
        The U.S. EPA and the Navajo Nation EPA have designated forty-six of the five hundred closed mines as being priorities for cleanup. This designation is based on readings of gamma ray levels close to homes and water supplies. The Northeast Church Rock Mine has been given the highest priority for cleanup because of the number of people who live close to the mine. The public has until the 19th of April to give their comments on the NRC environmental review. The Commission with then draft an environmental impact statement of the actions proposed by UNC.

Ambient office  =  76 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 136 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 140 nanosieverts per hour

Avocado from Central Market = 60 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 102 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 97 nanosieverts per hour

        I have blogged before about the Saudi Arabian quest for nuclear power. Major suppliers of nuclear technology are competing to supply Saudi Arabia with nuclear power reactors. However, there are concerns that Saudi Arabia might turn nuclear technology towards the development of nuclear weapons. This is a major impediment to the export of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.
       A new report from U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee claims that the Trump administration tried to rush the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in potential violation of the laws governing the export of U.S. nuclear technology. An interim staff report from the Committee quoted multiple whistleblowers who reported ethical and legal problems with the process.
      The report says “They have warned about political appointees ignoring directives from top ethics advisers at the White House who repeatedly and unsuccessfully ordered senior Trump administration officials to halt their efforts. They have also warned of conflicts of interest among top White House advisers that could implicate federal criminal statutes.”
      The report claims that the major promoters of the transfer of U.S, nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia were retired General Michael Flynn who was national security advisor to President Trump and Thomas Barrack who was the chair Trump’s inaugural committee. Flynn was fired in February of 2017 when he was found to have lied to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian Ambassador.
      Flynn served as an advisor to IP3 International for about seven months in 2016. IP3 is a private company that was involved in negotiations to build nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia. Flynn continued to promote IP3’s plans after he joined the Trump White House as National Security Advisor in early 2017.
       Under the Atomic Energy Act, the U.S. Congress is required to approve the transfer of any nuclear technology to a foreign country. The report claims that Derik Harvey, a senior director at the National Security Council (NSC), insisted that the decision to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia had already been made after ignoring warnings that such action would be illegal.
       Lawyers for the NSC were aware that Flynn could have a conflict of interest with respect to the IP3 plans. They told the NSC staff to stop working on the IP3 planned transfer of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. However, even after Flynn was fired in February 2017, work on the plan appeared to continue with the support of Tom Barrack.
       The House Oversight Committee has announced that it will carry out an investigation into nuclear technology transfer plans “to determine whether the actions being pursued by the Trump administration are in the national security interests of the United States, or, rather, serve those who stand to gain financially as a result of this potential change in U.S. foreign policy.” The House Intelligence Committee has said that it will coordinate with the Oversight Committee on investigation of this matter.
       The White House has not yet responded to requests for their comments on these investigations and reports.