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I was appalled at the NRC chairman Jaczko's press briefing yesterday when asked point blank how many nuclear reactors in the US were near faults… Instead of answering the question he said that all reactors near faults designed withstand both quakes and tsunami events. There was no follow-up question as to whether or not this country's evacuation plans would do any better than Japans.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TEPCO) announced August 30 the basic scheme and schedule for full-fledged payment of compensation for damages and losses caused by the catastrophe at its Fukushima I nuclear power station. The company established standards for calculation of compensation amounts in a wide range of areas, including limitations on shipment of agricultural and fishery products, losses due to rumors and other operating loss, cost of moving in response to evacuation orders, income loss due to inability to work, and mental/emotional toll. About 500,000 claims are expected for the time being. The company plans to mail out claims forms and begin accepting claims around September 12, and to start making payments in October. Some 6,500 workers, including 3,000 of its own employees, are going to provide services in compensation-related consultation.

"Radioactive cesium far exceeding the legal limit has been detected in hay that was fed to cattle at a farm in Fukushima Prefecture. The prefecture has been investigating why the cattle were contaminated with the radioactive substance. On Sunday, officials took samples of feed and well water at the farm located in Minamisoma City within the planned evacuation zone. They say 75,000 becquerels per kilogram of cesium has been detected in the feed. This far exceeds the government's safety limit of 300 becquerels per kilogram. The farmer says the cattle had been kept inside but were fed with hay left outdoors after the March nuclear accident. Eleven cattle from the farm were sent to Tokyo to be slaughtered. The beef from the animals contained levels of cesium that were more than triple the legal limit. The prefecture has asked farmers in the city to suspend beef cattle shipments. Fukushima Prefecture will continue to investigate the feed and water and check if there were any problems with the way the cattle were raised."

Alert: Send comments to the NRC on expanding evacuation zones to 15 miles around reactors

Indian Point Evacuation Planning: won't work

An emergency planning zone around a former nuclear power station in Caithness has been reduced from three miles to less than one. The smaller area circling Dounreay has five neighbouring households within its boundary, instead of more than 200. The zone is covered by detailed plans to deal with the worst-case radiation emergency that can be "reasonably foreseen". Dounreay said the reduction reflected a lower risk posed by the site.

"Despite scrambling in the aftermath of a real-life tornado, Monroe County emergency response officials reacted well this week to an imaginary earthquake that led to a simulated release of radioactivity from DTE Energy's Fermi 2 nuclear plant, federal observers said. It was part of a periodic, mandated emergency response drill that was held Tuesday meant to show that state and county officials could respond properly if there was a real disaster at the plant. "Our findings indicate that the State of Michigan and counties of Monroe and Wayne continue to demonstrate the capabilities to protect the health and safety of their residents living within a 10-mile radius of the plant," said Dwaine Warren, exercise director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "

The office that AmerGen Energy will use to give out information about a nuclear emergency at Three Mile Island moves to Chester County next week. The move means local news organizations will have to send reporters to Coatesville, about 65 miles away, if they want face-to-face access to plant experts. AmerGen will close the center in Susquehanna Township off Interstate 81. The location is the same used by AmerGen's parent company, Exelon Corp., to handle emergencies at its Peach Bottom and Limerick plants.

Everything you need to know about the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor!

San DiegoCounty is known as a nuclear community in Sacramento. Personally I don't like the name, but it is what it is. Knowing that San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) is an aging reactor we should take some precautionary measures to protect our families the best we can if there is an accident during the new steam generator installations. We as a community should also be ready if the electricity we get from SONGS is interrupted for an unknown time because of a workplace mistake. According to a little survey of 1200 San Diego residents; two-thirds of them feel it is highly likely they will be affected by a major disaster. Here are some suggestions to minimize radiation exposure.

One of the latest reports regarding San Diego's Nuclear reactor comes from an article from Paul Sisson psission@nctimes.com and I quote "Inspectors in Japan have detected 'weld defects' inside two massive steam generators being built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for installation at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS)". A spokesperson for the plant owners Southern California Edison (SCE) said "similar defects have not been found in two similar generators already delivered to San Onofre and scheduled for installation inside its Unit 2 containment dome this fall. The deficiency, which was corrected, was caused by a manufacturing process that was not used on the Unit 2 generators. He went on to say DEFECTS will not delay the cutting of the concrete domes and installation of the generators, scheduled for fall 2010."

The NRC has extended the public comment period for a proposed rule on emergency preparedness requirements from 75 to 150 days. The proposed rule, including associated guidance documents, would change emergency preparedness requirements for currently operating nuclear power plants, for those that might be licensed and built in the future, and for operating research and test reactors. Several stakeholders had requested that the comment period be extended based on the extensive nature of the proposed rule and guidance changes, and the need for additional time to evaluate the impact of these changes on their emergency preparedness programs. The proposed rule would limit the duties of a plant's onsite emergency responders to ensure they are not overburdened during an emergency event, and require specific provisions to protect them and other plant personnel during a hostile-action event. In addition, the proposed rule would require all nuclear power plants to incorporate hostile-action scenarios in their drills and exercises, which currently primarily focus on nuclear-related scenarios. New requirements for back-up measures for alerting and notification systems are also included in the proposed rule.