MANY NUCLEAR ISSUES BEFORE CALIFORNIA
A Message from Rochelle
To our wonderful Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility supporters:
In 2007 challenges are being viewed as opportunities for the Alliance. We invite our wonderful supporters to join us in one of the most exciting times on issues of nuclear reactors and waste in several decades. Organizations throughout California are beginning to realize that our state cannot have a clear, safe, independent energy future if nuclear power plants are left on the table. Statewide environmental organizations have come to the realization that in order to achieve their goals they must support our efforts. For several years we have heard, "The information we are developing to replace existing "dirty" power sources will help prove that nuclear is not the answer." Now we are hearing that pursuing nuclear generation depletes our precious funding sources for clean and renewable technology to lead our state's future energy supplies. It is a welcome change and we look forward to working more closely with statewide environmental and consumer groups and, hopefully, unions and construction workers.
Many legislators are also coming to the same conclusions, but as you will see there are a few who believe that the costly past of nuclear power will not repeat itself with new reactors – our aim to ensure these "few" remain in the minority.
NUCLEAR ISSUES BEFORE CALIFORNIA
AB 292 [R-Blakeslee, San Luis Obispo] Emergency Planning – keeps current law from expiring and addresses requests from communities who are first responders for adequate funding in order to be prepared in the event of a radioactive release. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_292&sess=CUR&house=B&author=blakeslee
AB 719 [R-Devore Tustin] and [R La Malfa Redding] - Lifts the 1976 ban on siting new nuclear facilities in California. Public Resource Code 25524 was voted into law to address the state's concern that the federal government may not be (and has not been) able to live up to its promise to remove highly radioactive waste from our vulnerable coast. AB 719 would reduce the state's ability to address issues of increasing stockpiles of radioactive waste produced daily from the operation of reactors and stored on our seismically active and vulnerable coast. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_719&sess=CUR&house=B&author=devore Most of California's legislators find this bill to be a joke, but many of us have learned the hard way not to underestimate our opposition. The Alliance views this nuclear bill to be a priceless opportunity to educate communities about economic risks of new nuclear reactors and the difficulties of safe storage of the nuclear industry's byproduct - highly radioactive waste.
CEC Analysis on economic impacts of the state’s continued reliance on aging nuclear plants beyond current license terms - http://www.energy.ca.gov/2005_energypolicy/index.html Some of the issues the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility has asked the CEC to consider are the costs, benefits and risks from
- Billions of gallons of heated water discharged from Diablo's reactors daily and the implications of a recent ruling by the 2nd Circuit on thermal water discharge;
- Twenty additional years of radioactive waste production and an indeterminable period of time on California's seismically active, fragile and vulnerable coast;
- Cost of continued replacement of billions of dollars in components rather than making the same investment in renewable technology, jobs and creation of an energy path that can lead the nation.
- Failing to incorporate the newest scientific information and engineering technology to provide maximum protection from radioactive releases;
- Reduced property values and real estate rights for those who live and own businesses in the shadow of nuclear reactors or along proposed transport routes within California due to risks of radioactive leaks (Tritium was found offsite of the San Onofre reactor at the San Clemente Golf Course in 2006);
The Attorney General has filed a Petition for Rulemaking asking that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) current regulations be amended. “…the current regulations determine hat the effects of high density storage of spent fuel rods may never be significant for purposes of NEPA, despite two major new and significant threats that have developed since these regulations were implemented. First the NRC has not properly evaluated the significance of storing spent fuel assemblies in pools that were designed for much smaller number of spent nuclear fuel assemblies, thereby greatly increasing the possibility of catastrophic accidents involving fire. Second, the current regulations bar a finding of significance for high density storage despite the threats posed by potential acts of terrorism, as we now understand them, and as the President of the United States and various other federal officials have articulated those threats after the September 11, 2001 attacks.” http://a4nr.org/news-and-events/03.16.2007-caagpetition
Joint Resolution from legislators sent to the Department of Energy relating to the transport of 40% of the nation’s waste through California -in order to avoid Las Vegas. http://a4nr.org/library/transportation/yuccamtnroutes/view
Rochelle Becker, Executive Director Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
www.a4nr.org
(858) 337 2703
Upcoming Events
Important events for the Alliance
-
Glow Train Catastrophe - History Channel Special
Read more -
NRC TO HOLD TWO PUBLIC MEETINGS ABOUT DIABLO CANYON NUCLEAR PLANT ON JULY 2
Read more -
COMPTON MTG - NOTICE OF PUBLIC MTGS REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING PROPOSED RATE INCREASES SCE COMPANY
Read more
Breaking News
Here's the latest news
-
NRC Found Lax in Oversight of Fire Safety Regulations at Reactors
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that reviewed the performance of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in regulating federally-mandated fire protection standards at U.S. nuclear reactors was released this week. The report confirmed that the NRC has for three decades consistently mishandled fire protection violations at the country’s nuclear power plants.
Read more -
Radioactive Waste Poses a Serious Threat to California
According to a recent LA Times headline, the “Yucca Mountain safety plan is doomed.” If Yucca Mountain is “doomed,” what does this mean for the hundreds of tons of highly radioactive waste located on California’s fragile coast?
Read more -
Can American be carbon-free and nuclear-free?
Think what a burden would be lifted from the collective American psyche if we no longer had to depend on foreign countries for the oil that is the lifeblood of our economy and our way of life. In a new book, "Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy," electrical engineer Arjun Makhijani contends that its possible to achieve that goal without turning to nuclear generation. The Citizen-Times interviewed Makhijani when he visited Asheville recently. This is an edited transcript of that interview.
Read more -
Five Myths About Nuclear Energy
Atomic energy is among the most impractical and risky of available fuel sources. Private financiers are reluctant to invest in it, and both experts and the public have questions about the likelihood of safely storing lethal radioactive wastes for the required million years. Reactors also provide irresistible targets for terrorists seeking to inflict deep and lasting damage on the United States. The government’s own data show that U.S. nuclear reactors have more than a one-in-five lifetime probability of core melt, and a nuclear accident could kill 140,000 people, contaminate an area the size of Pennsylvania, and destroy our homes and health.
Read more -
Video: “Dr. Frank von Hippel discusses nuclear fuel reprocessing with Ben Moore of the Coastal Conservation League” (South Carolina)
On May 29, Dr. Frank von Hippel of Princeton University gave two talks on reprocessing (Global Nuclear Energy Partnership) at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. His evening talk to around 100 people kicked off a national nuclear waste summit that activists around the US attended.
Read more -
Yucca Mountain safety plan is 'doomed,' nuclear company says
In an earthquake, casks of radioactive waste could bounce and roll in a 'chaotic melee,' Holtec International says of the Energy Department proposal.
Read more -
SCE&G requests 37 percent rate increase - Customers would see monthly bills rise over 11 years to pay for two nuclear reactors
SCE&G ratepayers’ bills would rise 37 percent by 2019 if the state approves the Columbia utility’s plan to start paying costs upfront for two large nuclear reactors it would build 25 miles northwest of Columbia.
Read more -
Slovenia shuts down nuclear plant after cooling system leak (loss of coolant)
. . .Jan Beranek, Greenpeace International's nuclear campaigner, said: "Any situation which results in the European Commission alerting all 27 member states about the possible consequences of a nuclear accident cannot readily be dismissed as something not to worry about. "In this case we hope that independent confirmation can be gained to confirm that the situation is under control and there was no offsite contamination. "However, it stands as a testament to the threat that all of Europe's nuclear facilities pose to its population and environment and beyond. Those who are planning to build more nuclear reactors must heed this warning and reject nuclear technology."
Read more -
Radioactive leak at Asco is 750 times more than disclosed
The amount of radiation emitted by the Ascó nuclear power station in Tarragona during a leak in 2007 reached 176 becquerels, 750 times more that the plant's managers initially acknowledged, Spain's nuclear watchdog has disclosed in a new report.
Read more -
AECL pulls plug on reactors after millions spent
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. suffered another embarrassing setback Friday as the country's flagship nuclear corporation when it scrapped the development of two Maple isotope-producing reactors after pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the project. The federal Crown corporation conducted tests on the reactors this spring and could not find a solution to a design flaw that would make the reactors more prone to a meltdown.
Read more -
Uranium link to kidney ills studied.
Preliminary modeling and statistical analysis of the first 400 people participating in the Navajo Uranium Assessment and Kidney Health Project has shown two significant factors linking environmental exposure to uranium and kidney disease.
Read more -
Yankee discloses crane mishap
Workers at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant are taking additional precautions when working around a 97-ton cask filled with high-level radioactive waste after a crane moving the cask malfunctioned last week.
Read more -
Millstone Unit 2 Suffers Second Scram in Three Days
Class I Emergency Declared - Likelihood of Radioactive Releases to the Environment
Read more -
Uranium: It’s worse than you think
When people think of Durango, Colo., they usually think of the scenery, or the tourist attractions, or the disproportionate number of healthy, spandex-clad bicyclists, runners and raft guides. Rarely do they think of cancer. Perhaps they should.
Read more -
On Cancer’s Trail
The women in Stefanie Raymond-Whish's family have a history of breast cancer. Now the young Navajo biologist is asking why.
Read more
Recent Articles
Recent articles of interest posted on the ANR website
-
ALERT - ALERT - ALERT - ALERT - ALERT
(This is used on the home page as part of a content panel)
Read more -
Sign Petition to NRC to Block Yucca Mountain Dump
Background: In early June, the U.S. Dept. of Energy filed a license application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, seeking permission to construct and operate the still pending high-level radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain , Nevada . The NRC will now review and then docket this application, allowing only a small window for any remaining public intervention. Although the DOE application is more than 8,000 pages long with 30 million pages of supporting documents, the NRC contends it will docket the application in three months. Once docketed, a three- to four-year licensing proceeding would commence, ending around 2012, most likely with NRC approval. The culmination of this review comprises the biggest NRC licensing proceeding in history. Our View: NRC is rushing its docketing review in order to launch the Yucca licensing proceeding before George W. Bush and his pro-Yucca Mountain administration exit the White House. But despite its huge size and cost – more than $11 billion to date that will likely balloon to at least $70 billion if the dump is built and operated – the DOE application and document collection is missing the most important pieces. These include: a final repository design; final national transport plan; final design for the "Transport, Aging, and Disposal" canister in which the waste would be “permanently” sealed; final EPA regulations on radiation releases; and meaningful treatment of Western Shoshone Indian land rights at Yucca under the "peace and friendship" Treaty of Ruby Valley signed by the U.S. government in 1863. Consequently, the NRC should not docket the application and should halt the Yucca licensing proceeding. What You Can Do: Follow the link where you will find U.S. Senator Harry Reid's "Petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Reject the License Application for a Nuclear Waste Dump at Yucca Mountain ." Please sign it, and circulate it to others for signatures.
Read more -
Executive Summary: Special issue of Science for Democractic Action
Executive Summary: Special issue of Science for Democractic Action [PDF 2.43MB]
Read more -
Sign on to the Statement of Principles to Achieve a Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free U.S. Energy System by 2050
Read more -
PURCHASE THE PAPERBACK
Purchase the paperback ($19.95, or $27.95 to addresses outside US/Canada/Mexico)
Read more -
DOWNLOAD THE BOOK
Download is free - Large file, PDF 4.4 MB]
Read more
Glow Train Catastrophe - History Channel Special
NRC Found Lax in Oversight of Fire Safety Regulations at Reactors