Please come to a Public meeting on NRC’s Nuclear “Waste Confidence” policy–
October 30 in Tarrytown, NY
Meeting: October 30, 2013. Time: Open House: 6 – 7 pm. Meeting 7 – 10 pm.
Where: Westchester Marriott, 670 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY
Pack the meetings; Speak Out!
Close Indian Point!
Because there is no national nuclear waste dump, federal courts have ordered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to set aside its current “Waste Confidence” policy–and stop licensing and re-licensing nuclear power stations–until it develops a valid, realistic assessment of the environmental impacts of radioactive waste.
The danger of leaks and fires involving this highly radioactive “spent” nuclear fuel can be even greater than a meltdown of the nuclear reactor that produces it and will continue long after the reactor shuts down. Technical issues, including long term stability of the waste, security vulnerability, deterioration of storage systems, and accidents have continued for over 50 years with no real solutions.
From > Emergency Plans Won’t Protect Residents From Radiation–By Roger Witherspoon, Board Member, Society of Environmental Journalists (energymatters.com)
[clip] Prior to Fukushima, it was an article of faith in the nuclear industry that it was impossible to have multiple meltdowns occurring simultaneously. There were no plans for such an event and no emergency scenarios considering it. Plans at sits with more than one plant, such as Indian Point, always assumed that working systems at one plant could be used to help stabilize the stricken plant.
At Fukushima in March, 2011, the fuel in three reactors melted down and at least partially escaped the reactor and its containment. The fourth reactor was empty for refueling, and its radioactive core was in the spent fuel pool. The roofs of all four buildings, however, were blown off by exploding hydrogen gas. On talk shows that week, recalled Jaczko, industry analysts predicted the crisis would be over in a few days.
“There is a mindset in the nuclear industry that these things can’t happen,” he said. “Which gets to the issue that the accidents that happen are the ones you haven’t predicted. If you had predicted it, you would know how to make it go away. There was a mindset that this kind of thing doesn’t happen because plants just don’t have severe accidents. That mindset was completely wrong, unfortunately.
“Here in the United States there are so many people associated with this industry who believe these kinds of things will never happen. That is clearly wrong. They will happen. It’s just a question of when and how severe it is going to be.”
