A few comments regarding Mickey Garcia's letter published Nov. 18:
One more person pushing France as an example of how nuclear power can save the world.
No mention of France having to temporarily shut down 25 percent of its nuclear power plants due to impending overheating (possible meltdown) during the very hot European summer of 2003.
No mention of France having similar problems during the summer of 2005.
No mention of the likelihood of an increasing number of such shutdowns brought about by higher ambient temperatures as a result of global warming.
No mention of three radioactive leaks in France this last summer that contaminated local rivers, one in a famous wine region.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced the opportunity to participate in the hearing on a Combined License (COL) application for two new reactors at the Summer site near Columbia, S.C.
The applicants, South Carolina Electric & Gas and Santee Cooper, submitted the application and associated information March 27, seeking permission to build and operate two AP1000 reactors at the site. The application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/summer.html.
"The mountain that John D'Agata is ostensibly concerned with in his slim but powerful new book, "About a Mountain," is Yucca Mountain, located approximately 100 miles north of Las Vegas. And he's not the only one interested in it: since the mid-1980s, the United States government has been doing back flips to bury the country's entire reservoir of spent nuclear waste - some 77,000 tons of apocalyptic yumminess - deep inside Yucca. In the summer of 2002, the summer after D'Agata helped his mother move to a Vegas suburb, Congress was proceeding with plans to make the mountain a nuclear dump. Also that summer, 16-year-old Levi Presley jumped to his death from the observation deck of a third-rate Vegas hotel. These subjects, disparate though they are, animate D'Agata's sprawling narrative."
The Vermont Supreme Court has upheld a 2008 Environmental Court decision to allow Entergy Vermont Yankee to release thermal discharge water into the Connecticut River that is expected to raise the temperature of the river by one degree.
And while environmental groups that argued against the release say the decision will adversely affect aquatic life, Entergy officials celebrated the decision by the state's high court.
"We are very pleased with this decision," Yankee spokesman Rob Williams said after the Supreme Court issued its ruling Friday. "Vermont Yankee is a responsible steward of the river and this small leeway granted on temperature limit will help ensure the plant's reliability output during the warmer summer months for the region's electric consumers."
Yankee plans on releasing the warmer water into the river this summer, Williams said.
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources first granted Yankee a permit to increase the temperature of the Connecticut River near the plant by one degree in 2004.
The Vermont Supreme Court has upheld a 2008 Environmental Court decision to allow Entergy Vermont Yankee to release thermal discharge water into the Connecticut River that is expected to raise the temperature of the river by one degree.
And while environmental groups that argued against the release say the decision will adversely affect aquatic life, Entergy officials celebrated the decision by the state's high court.
"We are very pleased with this decision," Yankee spokesman Rob Williams said after the Supreme Court issued its ruling Friday. "Vermont Yankee is a responsible steward of the river and this small leeway granted on temperature limit will help ensure the plant's reliability output during the warmer summer months for the region's electric consumers."
Yankee plans on releasing the warmer water into the river this summer, Williams said.
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources first granted Yankee a permit to increase the temperature of the Connecticut River near the plant by one degree in 2004.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold public meetings Tuesday, Jan. 27, in Winnsboro, S.C., and Wednesday, Jan. 28, in Blair, S.C., to discuss the environmental issues the agency should consider in reviewing a Combined License (COL) application for two new reactors proposed for the Summer site near Columbia, S.C.
The NRC will meet with the public on Jan. 27 from 7 - 10 p.m. at Fairfield Central High School, 836 US Highway 321 Bypass S in Winnsboro, and on Jan. 28 from 7 - 10 p.m. at McCrorey-Liston Elementary School, 1978 State Hwy 215 South in Blair. The application's environmental report is available on the agency's Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/summer.html. Copies of the report are also available at the Fairfield County Library, 300 Washington St. in Winnsboro.
NRC staff will be available for informal discussions with members of the public during "open house" sessions both evenings from 6 - 7 p.m. Formal comments on the environmental review will only be accepted during the meeting from 7 - 10 p.m.
In the course of summer, Russia removed another 46 strontium-fuelled lighthouses from the coast of the White Sea and the Barents and Kara Seas. With Norwegian project support, Russia has now removed 180 radioactive lighthouses between Murmansk and the Novaya Zemlya and replaced them with solar cell installations.
Strontium-fuelled lighthouse (Fylkesmannen.no)The 46 lighthouses were all sent to the VNIITFA institute in Moscow, Rosbaltnord.ru reports with reference to RIA Novosti. Another 11 lighthouses will be brought from the island of Vaigach to Moscow next summer.
South Carolina Electric and Gas Company Acting for Itself and as Agent for the South Carolina Public Service Company (Also Refered to as Santee Cooper) Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station Units 2 and 3 Combined License Application; Notice of an Extension to the Environmental Scoping Period
An accident that caused a fire in a truck carrying hazardous material briefly forced the evacuation of about 100 people in and around the Summers County community of Sandstone.
Emergency dispatchers say the truck was involved in a crash with another vehicle early Sunday morning.
State Police say the truck was carrying a container with about 32,000 pounds of the radioactive chemical compound called Uranium hexafluoride.
After crews found the material's container to be undamaged, residents evacuated to Summers County Middle School were allowed to return to their homes.
Dispatchers say no one was seriously injured in the crash.
The much-heralded nuclear "renaissance" appears to have stalled this summer, at least temporarily -- not because of unsettled questions over the disposal of radioactive waste, or fear of nuclear accidents, but because the costs of building new reactors is proving prohibitive.
That, at least, was Premier Dalton McGuinty's explanation for his government's recent decision not to proceed with two new reactors for Ontario's Darlington facility. They were expected to cost $6 billion; the final tally from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the winning bidder, was rumoured to be closer to $26 billion.
Proponents of nuclear power in Utah probably have not noticed an article in the UK Times (July 13, 2009) regarding the problems France is having with its nuclear-power plants, problems that bear on the feasibility of nuclear power in Utah.
France is in the grips of another hot summer, with air temperatures in the 80s. Water temperatures have exceeded the limits under which plants cooled by river water can safely operate.
As a result of the heat, France has had to reduce power generation by one-third and is now importing power from England. Much the same thing happened during the heat wave of 2003.
Reading this, I couldn't help thinking about the nuclear plant proposed for Green River, where summer temperatures are regularly in high 90s. The water temperature of the Green River at Jensen on July 13, 2009, was 23.5 degrees Celsius, almost as high as the maximum allowed for water returned to rivers from France's nuclear plants. During the drought of 1999-2005, Green River water temperatures reached 25.4 degrees.
Friends of the Earth said it filed an appeal May 22 with the South Carolina Supreme Court over state regulators' approvals for two new Westinghouse AP1000s at the Summer reactor site. The group is challenging the legality of the South Carolina Public Service Commission's decision in February to permit South Carolina Electric & Gas to build the two new units and to begin recovering some of the costs from ratepayers during construction. The PSC in March denied FOE's appeal of its decision. In a statement, FOE said the filing is the first legal challenge to South Carolina's Baseload Review Act and a decision made under it. The Baseload Review Act, passed in 2007, provides for early cost recovery for nuclear power plant projects.
After making plans for more than 20 years, the first ton of radioactive dirt will be removed from the nuclear waste dump in Parks this summer for the much anticipated 3-year, $76 million cleanup by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The removal of 50,000 tons of nuclear-contaminated soil at what is officially known as the Shallow Land Disposal Area is the last vestige of the nuclear legacy from two former nuclear fuel plants in Apollo and Parks that operated from 1957 to mid-1980s. The plants, owned by the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) and later the Atlantic Richfield Co. and Babcock & Wilcox (B&W), produced nuclear fuel for submarines and power plants as well as a range of nuclear products for the U.S. government and others.
Moving on hasn't come quickly or cheaply.
Lawsuits for personal injury and contamination, cleanups and government payments to contaminated workers have topped $267 million in more than two decades.
After making plans for more than 20 years, the first ton of radioactive dirt will be removed from the nuclear waste dump in Parks this summer for the much anticipated 3-year, $76 million cleanup by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The removal of 50,000 tons of nuclear-contaminated soil at what is officially known as the Shallow Land Disposal Area is the last vestige of the nuclear legacy from two former nuclear fuel plants in Apollo and Parks that operated from 1957 to mid-1980s. The plants, owned by the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) and later the Atlantic Richfield Co. and Babcock & Wilcox (B&W), produced nuclear fuel for submarines and power plants as well as a range of nuclear products for the U.S. government and others.
Moving on hasn't come quickly or cheaply.
Lawsuits for personal injury and contamination, cleanups and government payments to contaminated workers have topped $267 million in more than two decades.
Two environmental groups claimed a partial victory Friday in efforts to derail plans for two new reactor units at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville.
On Thursday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission overturned a decision by its review board that had rejected issues raised by the Sierra Club of South Carolina and had denied standing to Friends of the Earth.
The commission said the Atomic Safety Licensing Board had "wrongly erred" in denying Friends of the Earth, which opposes the $9.8 billion project to add two, 1,117-megawatt reactor units at the Fairfield County power station, an opportunity to participate in the process.
Two environmental groups claimed a partial victory Friday in efforts to derail plans for two new reactor units at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville.
On Thursday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission overturned a decision by its review board that had rejected issues raised by the Sierra Club of South Carolina and had denied standing to Friends of the Earth.
The commission said the Atomic Safety Licensing Board had "wrongly erred" in denying Friends of the Earth, which opposes the $9.8 billion project to add two, 1,117-megawatt reactor units at the Fairfield County power station, an opportunity to participate in the process.
"Powertech Uranium Corp. has increased its estimate of how much uranium it might be able to recover at its proposed Centennial Project by more than 1.2 million pounds.
The British Columbia-based company now estimates it will be able to recover more than 12.6 million pounds of uranium, up from the 11.5 million pounds it reported last summer, according to a technical report filed in February with the Canadian government.
The higher estimate comes after the company purchased more than 3,500 acres from two local landowners last summer, said Powertech President Richard Clement."
A meeting of the Department of Energy's Site Specific Advisory Board for clean up and reuse of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Piketon brought forth a tug of war. Much like the Huntington downtown Superblock which lay fallow for nearly 30 years, uses for the contaminated site break down to two camps: Clean up the radioactive waste that still kills former workers versus possibly attracting a so-called new nuclear plant that would allegedly be safe.
The latter would bring jobs to an area starving for employment. But, many nearby residents do not trust the statements that a 'new' nuclear plant would not continue the odyssey of cover ups since the former facility opened during the Cold War in the 1950s.
However, after an elaborate news conference in the summer of 2009, the project dropped off the radar.
Activist and former Piketon employee Vina Colley, referred to past contamination as a reason to avoid nuclear power. "All of their drains and laundry [water] where they washed contaminated clothes and [water from] equipment washed off went into the local creeks, which emptied into the Scioto River, then filtered to the Ohio and down to the Mississippi. We're not the only ones affected. The whole world is affected by what these nuclear facilities are producing and releasing into the environment."
A meeting of the Department of Energy's Site Specific Advisory Board for clean up and reuse of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Piketon brought forth a tug of war. Much like the Huntington downtown Superblock which lay fallow for nearly 30 years, uses for the contaminated site break down to two camps: Clean up the radioactive waste that still kills former workers versus possibly attracting a so-called new nuclear plant that would allegedly be safe.
The latter would bring jobs to an area starving for employment. But, many nearby residents do not trust the statements that a 'new' nuclear plant would not continue the odyssey of cover ups since the former facility opened during the Cold War in the 1950s.
However, after an elaborate news conference in the summer of 2009, the project dropped off the radar.
Activist and former Piketon employee Vina Colley, referred to past contamination as a reason to avoid nuclear power. "All of their drains and laundry [water] where they washed contaminated clothes and [water from] equipment washed off went into the local creeks, which emptied into the Scioto River, then filtered to the Ohio and down to the Mississippi. We're not the only ones affected. The whole world is affected by what these nuclear facilities are producing and releasing into the environment."
A meeting of the Department of Energy's Site Specific Advisory Board for clean up and reuse of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Piketon brought forth a tug of war. Much like the Huntington downtown Superblock which lay fallow for nearly 30 years, uses for the contaminated site break down to two camps: Clean up the radioactive waste that still kills former workers versus possibly attracting a so-called new nuclear plant that would allegedly be safe.
The latter would bring jobs to an area starving for employment. But, many nearby residents do not trust the statements that a 'new' nuclear plant would not continue the odyssey of cover ups since the former facility opened during the Cold War in the 1950s.
However, after an elaborate news conference in the summer of 2009, the project dropped off the radar.
Activist and former Piketon employee Vina Colley, referred to past contamination as a reason to avoid nuclear power. "All of their drains and laundry [water] where they washed contaminated clothes and [water from] equipment washed off went into the local creeks, which emptied into the Scioto River, then filtered to the Ohio and down to the Mississippi. We're not the only ones affected. The whole world is affected by what these nuclear facilities are producing and releasing into the environment."
Samples tested near the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Fairfield County show the plant has had no adverse effects to the quality of the groundwater or surface water in the area, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said Monday.
"Tests show no radioactive materials in the groundwater coming from the plant," said Chris Staton, director of the agency's Division of Waste Assessment and Emergency Response. "The results did show Tritium in small amounts in two of the surface water samples. The levels that were found were well below any federal requirements, including the federal drinking water standard, for Tritium in surface
Participating in nuclear power hearing can be a 'learn-as-you-go' process
Joseph Wojcicki concedes his last name can twist tongues.
"It's Voo-tess-kee," the West Columbia man says with a thick Polish accent. "But you can call me 'Joe the Intervenor.'"
A retired Midlands Tech math teacher, Wojcicki took part as a citizen intervenor in the Public Service Commission's almost three-week-long hearing on SCE&G's $9.8 billion plan to add two reactor units to the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station at Jenkinsville.
Intervenors, 12/22/08
Intervenors Pamela Greenlaw, bottom left, Meira Warshauer, center, and Joseph Wojcicki, right, listen to attorney Bob Guild, standing left, as he enters an objection to secret building cost amounts during the hearing before the commission. The intervenors sit at the table with lawyers for other groups challenging the nuclear plan. They represent the consumer.
- Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State
Intervenors, 12/22/08
Lay-people known as "intervenors" question witnesses at the Public Service Commission hearing on SCE&G's plan to build two reactors at its plant in Jenkinsville.
- Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State
Intervenors, 12/22/08
About a half-dozen lay-people known as "intervenors" are questioning witnesses at the Public Service Commission hearing on SCE&G's plan to build two reactors at its plant in Jenkinsville.
- Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State
Intervenors, 12/22/08
Intervenors Pamela Greenlaw, bottom left, Meira Warshauer, center, and Joseph Wojcicki, right, listen to attorney Bob Guild, standing left, as he enters an objection to secret building cost amounts during the hearing before the commission.
- Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State
Intervenors, 12/22/08
Intervenor Joseph Wojcicki looks through documents during the hearing before the commission.
- Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State
Intervenors, 12/22/08
Citizen intervenor Meira Warshauer, left, asks a que
Areva, a French nuclear construction company, said this week that its project to build the world's most powerful reactor remained mired in delays and was over-budget by 2.3 billion euros, or about $3.3 billion.
The price tag of the plant in Olkiluoto, Finland - the first of a fleet of so-called evolutionary power reactors that Areva foresees building in coming years - was about $4.3 billion in 2003 and costs have steadily increased.
The reactor was meant to have gone online early this summer but Areva no longer is committing to any dates for its completion. Patrice Lambert de Diesbach, an energy analyst with CM-CIC Securities in Paris, said the latest developments were "bad news" for Areva and "should be sanctioned by the market."
Areva, a French nuclear construction company, said this week that its project to build the world's most powerful reactor remained mired in delays and was over-budget by 2.3 billion euros, or about $3.3 billion.
The price tag of the plant in Olkiluoto, Finland - the first of a fleet of so-called evolutionary power reactors that Areva foresees building in coming years - was about $4.3 billion in 2003 and costs have steadily increased.
The reactor was meant to have gone online early this summer but Areva no longer is committing to any dates for its completion. Patrice Lambert de Diesbach, an energy analyst with CM-CIC Securities in Paris, said the latest developments were "bad news" for Areva and "should be sanctioned by the market."
Federal regulators say SCE&G operates a safe nuclear plant, but that doesn't stop Tange Jacobs from worrying about where she and her neighbors would go if there was an accident.
"I know people who are in wheelchairs and bedridden," Jacobs said. "What are you going to do about them?"
Jacobs voiced her concerns about V.C. Summer Nuclear Station during an open house Monday night at McCrorey-Liston Elementary School.
South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. and its state-operated partner, Santee Cooper, are seeking federal approval to add two reactor generating units costing $9.8 billion to the nuclear plant.
They want to find out why a group of workers were subjected to a higher than expected dose while moving a flask containing intermediate-level waste (ILW) on November 25.
Checks are ongoing to determine the exposure levels of between six and nine workers, though it has been established they do not breach legal or site-imposed limits.
The probe follows an incident in the summer when two workers had to have low-level contamination removed from their hands while working on a clean-up job in the site's sphere-shaped reactor.
The two problems come in the wake of a steady improvement in both the nuclear and industrial safety record of operators, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd.
It is understood management are keen to tighten up standards in the site's Fuel Cycle Area - which houses the complex of reactor and waste stores - to maintain the recent progress.
DSRL spokesman Colin Punler yesterday gave details of the latest incident.
They want to find out why a group of workers were subjected to a higher than expected dose while moving a flask containing intermediate-level waste (ILW) on November 25.
Checks are ongoing to determine the exposure levels of between six and nine workers, though it has been established they do not breach legal or site-imposed limits.
The probe follows an incident in the summer when two workers had to have low-level contamination removed from their hands while working on a clean-up job in the site's sphere-shaped reactor.
The two problems come in the wake of a steady improvement in both the nuclear and industrial safety record of operators, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd.
It is understood management are keen to tighten up standards in the site's Fuel Cycle Area - which houses the complex of reactor and waste stores - to maintain the recent progress.
DSRL spokesman Colin Punler yesterday gave details of the latest incident.
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