14 July 2011, I tried to access the Idaho Department of Environmental EPA RadNet site. All I got was a “Server Error” message.
I then tried accessing the Idaho Falls RadNet site, directly through the Environmental Protection Agency’s web site. I got an EPA page that said “The requested item was not found on the EPA’s Web Server”.
10 July 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company has stopped its water decontamination operation, again. This time it’s due to chemicals leaking from the system. The chemicals are used to absorb radiation from the water.
According to NHK, TEPCo is blaming the new leaks on “non-durable” materials used to build the decontamination unit. Basically they used parts that could not withstand the pressure, radiation and chemicals in the system.
Many reports from Japan have been confusing, because they’ve referred to problems in the ‘cooling’ system, when they mean decontamination system. This could be because the two systems are interconnected.
Mitsubishi announced their new electric car can keep you from starving after a major disaster.
They claim that in case of major power loss to your home you can use the electric car to power your home appliances. Supposedly the batteries in the car can hold enough power to run your house for one and a half days.
Well, I guess they weren’t thinking of a really big natural disaster, like what happened on 11 March 2011. But getting through the first day after such a disaster is critical.
What we really need is someone to come up with a portable solar panel that’s powerful enough to cook with, and charge up the batteries on your electric car. Then who needs utility companies?
Mitsubishi plans to start selling their electric survival car in 2012.
On the night of 05 July 2011, the Japanese Prime Minister issued an order to conduct stress tests on all nuclear reactors in Japan.
The tests are based on European Union standards. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says Japan’s reactors are safe, but many Japanese citizens think otherwise. Several prefectural governments are refusing to allow reactors to re-start. The new EU based tests are meant to ease any remaining fears among the people.
For at least the third time Tokyo Electric Power Company had to stop water decontamination at Fukushima Daiichi, this time because pipes were leaking.
You might not think that’s such a big deal, but how does one ton of radioactive water leaking out within two minutes sound? That’s what happened. But to make that worse it didn’t have to happen. Turns out that TEPCo decided to skip what should have been a routine check of pipe fittings before starting the decontamination. According to an NHK report, four kilometers (8 miles) of pipe were loose (that’s how you dump one ton of water in two minutes).
26 June 2011, an accident at the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant resulting in the expanding Missouri River flooding into the compound. The water hit the nuke plant’s electrical transformers, cutting off power.
Electricity is still needed to keep the spent fuel pools cool. Plant officials say they are now running on back up generators.
Forth Calhoun officials ordered the installation of a water filled artificial levee (berm). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not approve the artificial levee. At about 1:25 am, 26 June, workers broke the water filled berm, allowing the Missouri River to flood in.
This natural disaster is the latest bad news for the Fort Calhoun nuke plant. In April plans to refuel its reactors were halted, over concerns of flooding by the Missouri River. Then, on 07 June, a fire broke out in one of the reactor control rooms. An inspection two years ago revealed that plant operators were not properly prepared for a flood.
A year long study of U.S. government documents, by the Associated Press, has revealed that radioactive tritium is leaking into groundwater.
Documents show that at least 48 nuclear plants in the U.S. have, or are, leaking tritium. Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen. The report comes from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
At least 37 of those leaks exceeded government safe levels for drinking water.
It’s not just tritium that’s leaking from U.S. nuclear reactors; cesium and strontium are also leaking.
Strontium 90 was found leaking at Indian Point nuke plant north of New york City.
Cesium 137 leaked from Fort Calhoun nuke plant in Nebraska. By the way, that reactor was just shut down because the Missouri River is flooding it.
There’s much more about the leaks from U.S. nuke plants in the AP report. Maybe this explains the increase in cancer rates over the past decades?
Like I said before: Everyone living near nuclear reactors in the United States should make plans to get away.
The Associated Press spent a year going over government documents concerning the safety of U.S. nuke plants; the conclusion is that a disaster of epic proportions is very likely.
The reason is that U.S. officials, like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, have been relaxing safety standards just so the aging nuclear reactors could be re-licensed. In other words, what the AP found was that if today’s U.S. nuclear reactors were required to meet 1970s safety standards, most would fail. The most common problem at the nuclear plants are leaking valves.
Recently, one Senator from Tennessee, Lamar Alexander, tried to say the U.S. nuclear industry had a record of safe operations. However, the NRC, even with it’s relaxed safety standards, has filed more than 200 safety alerts since 2005. In 2008 the NRC admitted that 70% of potentially dangerous situations resulted from relaxing of standards in order to get the plants re-licensed.
Another surprising find, the Associated Press noted that not a single serious investigation into the safety of nuclear plants has been officially undertaken, not even by the NRC. It appears what government, and the nuke industry corporations have been doing, is trying to find ways to re-license reactors without meeting safety standards!
Here’s the modus operandi of U.S. government, and the corporations running the nuke plants: Old parts fail causing accidents, or jeopardizing re-licensing. Instead of ‘coming up to compliance’, corporations work with government agencies to ‘dumb down’ existing safety regulations.
Another revelation: Most U.S. nuclear plants were supposed to be replaced with brand new plants, once their original 40 year licenses expired. That never happened.
What’s the motivation behind the scandal? Billions and billions of dollars being made by providing almost 20% of the United State’s electricity, using outdated and cheaply maintained nuke plants.
There is so much more in the AP report. Everyone living near nuclear reactors in the United States should make plans to get away.
The Cooper Nuclear Station, in Nebraska, is flooded. The Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, also in Nebraska, has been shut down.
By Sunday, 19 June 2011, several levees failed along the Missouri River, causing nuke plant operators to issue a “Notification of unusual event.” A ‘notification’ is the lowest of four emergency classifications developed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Reuters reported that officials will shut down the Cooper nuclear plant if flood levels hit 13.9 meters (45.5 feet). Other reports say the Fort Calhoun plant was shut down. Heavy rain in the Rocky Mountains could keep the Missouri River high until August.
In an obvious sign of government incompetence, parents and teachers decontaminated a local elementary school, on their own.
In Date City, about 80 people worked together to wash down a school contaminated with radiation. The national government said the radiation levels at the school were below the official safe limits, so they felt no reason to do anything.
Parents are concerned because the radiation levels remained constant, and were found in the soil as well as on the buildings. Tired of a government that didn’t want to respond they took matters into their own hands. I wonder how they feel about continuing to pay their taxes?