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Almost every plan for limiting carbon dioxide output includes keeping old nuclear plants running. But as those plants age, they turn up new problems. The latest is at a plant owned by Progress Energy in Crystal River, Fla., where a gap was found inside the thick concrete of a containment dome. Diagram A schematic of the void was provided by Progress Energy. The plant had been temporarily shut in late September so workers could replace the aging steam generators - which required them to cut a hole in the dome. (The steam generators at many aging nuclear reactors were intended to last the life of the plant, so no way for swapping them out was designed.)

Almost every plan for limiting carbon dioxide output includes keeping old nuclear plants running. But as those plants age, they turn up new problems. The latest is at a plant owned by Progress Energy in Crystal River, Fla., where a gap was found inside the thick concrete of a containment dome. Diagram A schematic of the void was provided by Progress Energy. The plant had been temporarily shut in late September so workers could replace the aging steam generators - which required them to cut a hole in the dome. (The steam generators at many aging nuclear reactors were intended to last the life of the plant, so no way for swapping them out was designed.)

Cheap, reliable hydroelectric power once helped make Ontario rich, powering the factories and foundries that created wealth for the province. But it's now 18 aging nuclear reactors that keep the lights on, providing half the power used in Ontario. Most are closer to the end of their working lives than the beginning, and many have a record of costly overruns, inefficiency or both. Despite that history, the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty has enthusiastically backed a nuclear future for Ontario, planning to renew the aging fleet to maintain its half of provincial generation with an ambitious, 20-year, $26-billion plan. But in June, when the bill for replacing just two of those reactors came in so startlingly high -- "several billions" too high in Energy Minister George Smitherman's words -- that he simply pulled the plug on the project, suspending it and leaving open the question once again: Can Ontario keep splitting the atom without breaking the bank?

Cheap, reliable hydroelectric power once helped make Ontario rich, powering the factories and foundries that created wealth for the province. But it's now 18 aging nuclear reactors that keep the lights on, providing half the power used in Ontario. Most are closer to the end of their working lives than the beginning, and many have a record of costly overruns, inefficiency or both. Despite that history, the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty has enthusiastically backed a nuclear future for Ontario, planning to renew the aging fleet to maintain its half of provincial generation with an ambitious, 20-year, $26-billion plan. But in June, when the bill for replacing just two of those reactors came in so startlingly high -- "several billions" too high in Energy Minister George Smitherman's words -- that he simply pulled the plug on the project, suspending it and leaving open the question once again: Can Ontario keep splitting the atom without breaking the bank?

Cheap, reliable hydroelectric power once helped make Ontario rich, powering the factories and foundries that created wealth for the province. But it's now 18 aging nuclear reactors that keep the lights on, providing half the power used in Ontario. Most are closer to the end of their working lives than the beginning, and many have a record of costly overruns, inefficiency or both. Despite that history, the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty has enthusiastically backed a nuclear future for Ontario, planning to renew the aging fleet to maintain its half of provincial generation with an ambitious, 20-year, $26-billion plan. But in June, when the bill for replacing just two of those reactors came in so startlingly high -- "several billions" too high in Energy Minister George Smitherman's words -- that he simply pulled the plug on the project, suspending it and leaving open the question once again: Can Ontario keep splitting the atom without breaking the bank?

A deep crack just discovered this week in the concrete containment wall of the Crystal River nuclear reactor on Florida's west coast signals a disturbing trend in on-going cracking and corrosion and other dangerous wear-and-tear symptoms among the country's fleet of aging reactors. Beyond Nuclear argues that it is time that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission fulfill its Congressional mandate to look out for public safety instead of risking lives to save nuclear utilities money. The agency should keep the Crystal River reactor closed, Beyond Nuclear argues, while seriously evaluating the safety of continuing to relicense the country's aging reactor fleet.

A deep crack just discovered this week in the concrete containment wall of the Crystal River nuclear reactor on Florida's west coast signals a disturbing trend in on-going cracking and corrosion and other dangerous wear-and-tear symptoms among the country's fleet of aging reactors. Beyond Nuclear argues that it is time that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission fulfill its Congressional mandate to look out for public safety instead of risking lives to save nuclear utilities money. The agency should keep the Crystal River reactor closed, Beyond Nuclear argues, while seriously evaluating the safety of continuing to relicense the country's aging reactor fleet.

A deep crack just discovered this week in the concrete containment wall of the Crystal River nuclear reactor on Florida's west coast signals a disturbing trend in on-going cracking and corrosion and other dangerous wear-and-tear symptoms among the country's fleet of aging reactors. Beyond Nuclear argues that it is time that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission fulfill its Congressional mandate to look out for public safety instead of risking lives to save nuclear utilities money. The agency should keep the Crystal River reactor closed, Beyond Nuclear argues, while seriously evaluating the safety of continuing to relicense the country's aging reactor fleet.

"An anti-nuclear group will get another chance to prove calculations performed by Vermont Yankee engineers are not within safety margins to operate for another 20 years. The Petition Review Board for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reversed a 2009 decision by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board which was tasked with re-examining an earlier finding by the commission that the plant's plans to manage aging equipment were "acceptable." The ruling allows the New England Coalition to submit a revised contention that proves Entergy does not have accurate information about whether or not their equipment will fail. "This is next chapter in the nearly four-year battle," Clay Turnbull, New England Coalition staff member said. "Entergy still hasn't shown they can monitor and manage the effect of aging due to metal fatigue." The contention filed by the New England Coalition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2007, argued that Entergy, which owns and operates the nuclear power plant, does not include an adequate plan to monitor and manage the effects of aging equipment due to metal fatigue. "

The 1000 Islands could be at risk when radioactive nuclear waste is shipped through the region in September, says Senator Bob Runciman. In an interview Friday, Runciman said radioactive metal from the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station will be transported on aging ships on a river that this year has very low water levels. The shipment could be especially dangerous in the narrow passages of the 1000 Islands region west of Brockville, he added. "My main concern is essentially that we have had two groundings (of ships) in the past two weeks, one in our area and one in the Quebec area, and the lake fleet is an aging fleet, with an average age of 40," the senator explained. "Both of the breakdowns in the last couple of weeks have been attributed to mechanical failure." He also said St. Lawrence River water levels remain low, which creates a greater danger when the 1,800 tonnes of nuclear material from radioactive steam generators is transported through the "

One week after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared, despite evidence to the contrary, that the 40-year-old Oyster Creek nuclear reactor was fit as a fiddle and licensed it for another 20 years, the plant immediately began showing signs of its age. Advertisement Those signs are disturbing, not only because the plant isn't getting any younger, but because they strongly suggest the NRC review of the plant was far less than exhaustive and its aging management plan sorely deficient. The problems began about two weeks ago with the discovery of radioactive tritium at levels five times greater than the EPA's limits for drinking water in a monitoring well on the property. One week ago, plant workers shut down the reactor after one of its main transformers failed. The transformer, which had been used previously at another site, had been installed in February as a replacement.

"While most people trace the dawn of the nuclear era to August 6, 1945, and the dropping of the atomic bomb over the center of Hiroshima, it really began three weeks earlier, in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico, with the top-secret Trinity test. Its sixty-fifth anniversary will be marked-or mourned, if you will-this Friday, July 16. Entire books have been written about the test, so I'll just touch on one key issue here briefly (there's much more in my book with Robert Jay Lifton, Hiroshima in America). It's related to a hallmark of the age that would follow: a new government obsession with secrecy, which soon spread from the nuclear program to all military and foreign affairs in the cold war era. In completing their work on building the bomb, Manhattan Project scientists knew it would produce deadly radiation but weren't sure exactly how much. The military planners were mainly concerned about the bomber pilots catching a dose, but J. Robert Oppenheimer, "The Father of the Bomb," worried, with good cause (as it turned out) that the radiation could drift a few miles and also fall to earth with the rain."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has issued its Safety Evaluation Report (SER) with Open Items for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for Indian Point nuclear power plant, Units 2 and 3. Entergy submitted an application to the NRC in April 2007 to extend the Indian Point licenses by 20 years. The plant, operated by Entergy, is located in Buchanan (Westchester County), N.Y. The current 40-year operating licenses expire Sept. 28, 2013, for Unit 2, and Dec. 12, 2015, for Unit 3. The SER documents the results of the NRC staff's review of the license renewal application and site audit of Indian Point's aging management programs to address the safety of plant operations during the period of extended operation. Overall, the results show that Entergy has identified actions that have been or will be taken to manage the effects of aging in the appropriate systems, structures, and components of the plant and that their functions will be maintained during the period of extended operation. In a letter dated Jan. 15, Brian Holian, director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation's Division of License Renewal, provided Entergy with the SER and requested responses to the open items by March 16. The SER is available on NRC's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications.html.

The Nuclear Energy age began on Dec. 2, 1942, with the first sustained nuclear fission reactor at the University of Chicago. The Nuclear Weapon age, relying on the same nuclear physics and chain reaction processes, began on July 16, 1945, with the Trinity explosion at Alamogordo New Mexico. It was soon followed by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions of Aug. 6 and 9.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final safety evaluation report (SER) for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2, and concluded that there are no open items that would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation. The report documents the results of the NRC staff's review of the license renewal application and site audits of the plant's aging management programs to address the safety of plant operations during the period of extended operation. It represents the culmination of NRC's comprehensive review of the application and inspection of the plant to verify license renewal implementation is consistent with the application. Overall, the results show that the applicant has identified actions that have been or will be taken to manage the effects of aging in the appropriate safety systems, structures and components of the plant and that their functions will be maintained during the period of extended operation. Issuing the final SER is a significant milestone in the license renewal review process. This process proceeds along two tracks - one for review of safety issues and another for environmental issues. The SER marks the completion of the NRC staff's safety review that is published and subsequently reviewed and publicly discussed by the agency's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS). The staff concluded its environmental review in March of this year when it issued the final supplemental environmental impact statement.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final safety evaluation report (SER) for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit numbers 2 and 3, and concluded that there are no open items that would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation. The report documents the results of the NRC staff's review of the license renewal application and site audits of the plant's aging management programs to address the safety of plant operations during the period of extended operation. It represents the culmination of NRC's comprehensive review of the application and inspection of the plant to verify license renewal implementation is consistent with the application. Overall, the results show that the applicant has identified actions that have been or will be taken to manage the effects of aging in the appropriate systems, structures and components of the plant and that their functions will be maintained during the period of extended operation.

RWE Innogy and a consortium will build a solar power plant called Andasol 3 in southern Spain, developed by Solar Millennium AG, the parties said in a statement on Friday Spain pushes ahead with renewables in quest to finish with nuclear power RWE Innogy and a consortium will build a solar power plant called Andasol 3 in southern Spain, developed by Solar Millennium AG, the parties said in a statement on Friday. It said that Stadwerke Munich, MAN Ferrostaal, RheinEnergie and Solar Millennium would form a consortium with RWE Innogy for the unit, which is planned to come on stream in 2011.

RWE AG Chief Executive Officer Juergen Grossmann urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to scrap a plan to close Germany's nuclear reactors, saying an extension would protect the country from fuel price swings. "They're a predictable part of the power-generation cost" for Germany's industrial electricity users, Grossmann, who heads the country's second-largest utility, said in an interview at an energy conference in Berlin yesterday. "We hope to carry on our nuclear operations in Germany." RWE and competitor Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG are trying to build support before Merkel's September re-election bid. While she's in favor of extending nuclear power plants, her Social Democratic coalition partners oppose it. If she's able to form a partnership with the liberal Free Democratic Party, that may open the way to keeping reactors operating beyond 2021. "We don't need to mention that I would be in favor of extending the lifespan of nuclear power plants," Merkel told delegates at the conference.

State Sen. Christopher Connors, R-Ocean, recently asked the state Department of Environmental Protection to answer tough questions about tritium leaks at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Lacey that occurred about two weeks after the plant was relicensed for another 20 years. Advertisement Such action by an elected official is commendable. Now, Connors' efforts must be directed toward the federal agency ultimately responsible for this problem. By failing to ensure that a proper aging management program was in place at Oyster Creek, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has again shirked its responsibilities. Corroding pipes leaking radioactive water into the surrounding environment is taking the NRC by surprise. This situation has been replicated at aging nuclear plants nationwide, including the Indian Point Nuclear Plant in Westchester County, N.Y., the Byron, Braidwood and Dresden reactors in Illinois and the Palo Verde plant in Arizona.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final safety evaluation report (SER) for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for the Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 and 2, and concluded that there are no open items that would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation. The report documents the results of the NRC staff's review of the license renewal application and site audits of the plant's aging management programs to address the safety of plant operations during the period of extended operation. Overall, the results show that the applicant has identified actions that have been or will be taken to manage the effects of aging in the appropriate safety systems, structures and components of the plant and that their functions will be maintained during the period of extended operation. Beaver Valley Power Station units are pressurized-water reactors, located in Shippingport (Beaver County), Pa., and operated by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. The current operating licenses for Beaver Valley, Units 1 and 2 are due to expire on Jan. 29, 2016, and May 27, 2027, respectively. On Aug. 28, 2007, FirstEnergy submitted an application for a 20-year license extension for each unit. In a letter dated June 8, Brian Holian, director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation's Division of License Renewal, provided FirstEnergy with the SER. The SER will be available on the NRC's Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/bvalley.html. Issuing the final SER is a significant milestone in a license renewal review.

This is in response to Christina Blizzard's editorial article April 8. Christina writes: "And please don't say windmills and conservation will save us. Our nuclear stock is aging. We need new generation." That's the kind of "reasoning" that's going to cost Ontario taxpayers dearly. Don't talk to me about DVD and BlueRay - my BetaMax is aging and I need a new one. Both were costly purchasing mistakes 20 years ago and neither have been built since.

"The renaissance of nuclear power in the U.S. appears inevitable. It just may not happen as smoothly as the Obama administration and others hope. The Vermont Senate's vote Wednesday to block a license renewal for an Entergy plant shows that supporters of nuclear power still have big obstacles to overcome. Those include the growing costs for new plants, environmental worries and the age of the country's existing nuclear fleet. "I think if you said 'ready, go' today, any kind of meaningful addition would be 10 years down the road," said Eric Melvin of Mobius Risk."

"At least 27 of America's 104 aging atomic reactors are known to be leaking radioactive tritium, which is linked to cancer if inhaled or ingested through the throat or skin. February 12, 2010 | LIKE THIS ARTICLE ? Join our mailing list: Sign up to stay up to date on the latest Environment headlines via email. Advertisement Like a decayed flotilla of rickety steamers, at least 27 of America's 104 aging atomic reactors are known to be leaking radioactive tritium, which is linked to cancer if inhaled or ingested through the throat or skin. The fallout has been fiercest at Vermont Yankee, where a flood of cover-ups has infuriated and terrified near neighbors who say the reactor was never meant to operate more than 30 years, and must now shut. In 2007 one of Yankee's 22 cooling towers simply collapsed due to rot. "

"Radioactive tritium, a carcinogen discovered in potentially dangerous levels in groundwater at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, has now tainted at least 27 of the nation's 104 nuclear reactors - raising concerns about how it is escaping from the aging nuclear plants. The leaks - many from deteriorating underground pipes - come as the nuclear industry is seeking and obtaining federal license renewals, casting itself as a clean-green alternative to power plants that burn fossil fuels. Tritium, found in nature in tiny amounts and a product of nuclear fission, has been linked to cancer if ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin in large amounts. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday that new tests at a monitoring well on Vermont Yankee's site in Vernon registered 70,500 picocuries per liter, more than three times the federal safety standard of 20,000 picocuries per liter."

"- E.ON AG and RWE AG, Germany's largest utilities, may not get to run their nuclear plants past scheduled shutdown dates after Chancellor Angela Merkel's party lost control of parliament's upper house in a state election. The pro-nuclear leader of the Christian Democrats, punished by voters yesterday for her reversal on aid for Greece, may lose their hold on power in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state. The party's worst result since World War II robs Merkel of a majority in the upper chamber in Berlin, limiting her ability to extend the lifespan of nuclear-power plants. Germany, the European Union's largest power user, plans to scrap a decade-old law that would have forced the shutdown of its nuclear reactors by about 2020. Merkel favors extended use of the plants to meet energy demand and cut output of gases blamed for global warming. An extension would bolster earnings for utilities with nuclear stations and forego spending on replacement plants. "