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#Carbon14: Another underestimated danger from #nuclear reactors

"There are a number of radionuclides released from nuclear energy facilities. This paper highlights carbon-14 for a number of reasons:

- Carbon-14 is radioactive and is released into air as #methane and #CO2

- Before 2010, carbon-14 releases from nuclear reactors were virtually ignored in the United States. Today only estimates are required and only under certain restrictive circumstances.

- There is no good accounting of releases to date, so its impact on our health, our children’s health, and that of our
#environment remains unknown, yet environmental measurement is possible, but can be challenging under certain
conditions.

- Carbon-14 has a half-life of over 5700 years and the element carbon is a basic building block for life on earth. Therefore, “it constitutes a potential health hazard, whose additional production by #anthropogenic sources of today will result in an increased #radiation exposure to many future generations.”

- Like #tritium, it can collect in the tissues of the fetus at twice the concentration of the tissues in the mother, pointing to its
disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable human lifecycle: the developing child.

The element carbon is found in all organic substances. Carbon is also a primary constituent of #GreenhouseGases that are responsible for #ClimateChange, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (#CH4). Carbon-14 (c-14) is a radioactive form of
carbon that occurs in nature and is also newly formed in nuclear power processes.

"Carbon-14 is a health concern because it is released from #NuclearPower facilities as radioactive carbon dioxide and methane, traveling readily in the local and global environment.

"Over time, carbon-14 becomes part of organic material including food, and has a half-life of approximately 5,730 years, decaying by a type of radioactive particle called a beta. Its hazardous life is 10-20 times its half-life, meaning that harmful exposure to man-made carbon-14 can last for hundreds of generations. The radioactive carbon forms as a byproduct of fissioning of uranium fuel, through a process called activation. The final step is a chemical reaction between carbon-14 and oxygen or hydrogen, which forms methane or carbon dioxide. The radioactive carbon-14 formed by this process is brand new and would not exist without nuclear fission.

"During its long hazardous life, carbon-14 could be responsible for gross physical or
mental defects, stillbirths and childhood deaths, embryonic and neonatal deaths into the many millions over the life of the isotope.

"These millions could be underestimated five times or more. Carbon-14 could also be responsible for #leukemia, bone and other #cancers."

beyondnuclear.org/wp-content/u

#NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #RenewablesNow! #BeyondNuclear #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree

We Work The Black Seam

"This place has changed for good
Your economic theory said it would

It's hard for us to understand
We can't give up our jobs the way we should

Our blood has stained the #coal
We tunneled deep inside the nations soul

We matter more than pounds and pence
Your economic theory makes no sense

One day in a #nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can't control
And bury the waste in a great big hole

Power was to become cheap and clean
Grimey faces were never seen
Deadly for 12,000 years
Is #Carbon14

We work the black seam together
We work the black seam together

The seam lies underground
Three million years of pressure packed it down

We walk through ancient forest lands
And light a thousand cities with our hands

Your dark satanic mills
Have made redundant all our mining skills

You can't exchange a six-inch band
For all the poisoned streams in cumberland

One day in a nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can't control
And bury the waste in a great big hole

Power was to become cheap and clean
Grimey faces were never seen
Deadly for 12,000 years
Is carbon 14

We work the black seam together
We work the black seam together

And should the children weep
The turning world will sing their souls to sleep

When you have sunk without a trace
The universe will suck me into place

One day in a nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can't control
And bury the waste in a great big hole

Power was to become cheap and clean
Grimey faces were never seen
Deadly for 12,000 years
Is carbon 14

We work the black seam together
We work the black seam together
We work the black seam together
We work the black seam together"

- #Sting, 1985

youtube.com/watch?v=egynEo4cIE

#80sMusic #NoNukes #NoCoal #RethinkNotRestart #DirtyCoal #NuclearWaste #RenewablesNow! #NoNukesForAI #NoCoalForAI

This from 2021. And yes, it's still sitting there. The alternatives? Desecrating #YuccaMountain? Polluting the #GreatLakes? Or maybe burying it underneath Congress? But until we figure out how to transport and permanently store nuclear waste, it is being stored on site. And not just in #Maine -- everywhere there was a #NuclearPowerPlant!

Armed Guards Protect Tons Of #NuclearWaste That Maine Can’t Get Rid Of

By Abigail Curtis, BDN
Published July 19, 2021

"In the summertime, the picturesque village of #WiscassetME is infamous for its long lines of people hungry to try a lobster roll at Red’s Eats and cars that crawl through town on the often-clogged #USRouteOne.

"But just a few miles south of downtown is a different kind of roadblock: 550 metric tons of nuclear waste stored on a coastal peninsula at the now-decommissioned #MaineYankee atomic energy plant that have nowhere to go.

"The change in presidential administrations means another chance for the federal government to make good on its promise to remove the waste, so the site can be closed for good. The Biden administration’s Department of Energy seems to be picking up where the Obama administration left off, creating a process for communities to volunteer to host the waste.

" 'What worries me is that there really isn’t any national leadership right now on this stuff. There isn’t an agency that has a mission and has developed a strategy, that has goals and is willing to act on it,' Don Hudson, the chairman of the Maine Yankee Community Advisory Panel, said. 'We’re currently in this limbo.'

"That’s a problem because the waste — 1,400 spent nuclear fuel rods housed in 60 cement and steel canisters, plus four canisters of irradiated steel removed from the nuclear reactor when it was taken down — is safe for now, but can’t stay in Wiscasset forever.

"The situation in Wiscasset underscores a thorny issue facing more than 100 communities across the U.S.: close to a hundred thousand tons of nuclear waste that has no place to go.

"Securing these remnants of nuclear energy generation is an ongoing task that requires armed guards around the clock and costs Maine Yankee’s owners some $10 million per year, which is being paid for with money from the government.

"After the government failed to remove the spent fuel, Maine Yankee and the other two decommissioned nuclear power plants in New England — Connecticut Yankee in East Hampton, Connecticut, and Yankee Atomic in Rowe, Massachusetts — took it to court. So far, they have been awarded a total of $575.5 million in damages during four rounds of litigation, money that has been paid out of the U.S. Judgment fund. A fifth round is happening now, and the lawsuits are likely to continue until the fuel is removed.

"All told, the country’s many abandoned nuclear facilities — including Maine Yankee — have cost the federal government billions of dollars, a sum that increases by about $2 million each day, according to Eric Howes, the spokesperson for Maine Yankee and two other decommissioned plants in New England.

" 'All the #taxpayers in the United States are paying for the government’s failure to meet its obligations,' he said.

"But as the years pass, it seems that fewer and fewer people even realize that there are tons of nuclear waste on the secured site behind a chain-link fence on Bailey Point. Hudson and others worry that for many, it’s too easy not to think about it, diminishing the drive to find a better solution.

" 'Nobody ever travels by it. Nobody ever sees it,' Hudson said. 'It’s the classic out of sight, out of mind.' "

mainepublic.org/environment-an

Maine Yankee’s spent nuclear fuel and other nuclear waste has been stored in these cement and steel canisters since the plant’s decommissioning.
WMEH · Armed Guards Protect Tons Of Nuclear Waste That Maine Can’t Get Rid OfThe situation in Wiscasset underscores a thorny issue facing more than 100 communities across the U.S.: What to do with hundreds of thousands of tons of nuclear waste that has no place to go.

Experts warn #Trump’s #nuclear blitz could trigger ‘Next #ThreeMileIsland'

by Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams
May 24, 2025

"U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a series of executive orders that will overhaul the independent federal agency that regulates the nation's nuclear power plants in order to speed the construction of new fissile reactors—a move that experts warned will increase safety risks.

"According to a White House statement, Trump's directives 'will usher in a nuclear energy renaissance,' in part by allowing Department of Energy laboratories to conduct nuclear reactor design testing, green-lighting reactor construction on federal lands, and lifting #RegulatoryBarriers 'by requiring the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (#NRC) to issue timely licensing decisions."

"The Trump administration is seeking to shorten the yearslong NRC process of approving new licenses for nuclear power plants and reactors to within 18 months.

"White House Office of Science and Technology Director Michael Kratsios said Friday that 'over the last 30 years, we stopped building nuclear reactors in America—that ends now.'

" 'We are restoring a strong American nuclear industrial base, rebuilding a secure and sovereign domestic nuclear fuel supply chain, and leading the world towards a future fueled by American nuclear energy,' he added. [And radioactive waste!!!]

"However, the Union of Concerned Scientists (#UCS) warned that the executive orders will result in 'all but nullifying' the NRC's regulatory process, 'undermining the independent federal agency's ability to develop and enforce #safety and #security requirements for commercial nuclear facilities.'

" 'This push by the Trump administration to usurp much of the agency's autonomy as they seek to fast-track the construction of nuclear plants will weaken critical, independent #oversight of the U.S. nuclear industry and poses significant safety and security risks to the public,' UCS added.

"#EdwinLyman, director of nuclear power safety at the UCS, said, 'Simply put, the U.S. nuclear industry will fail if safety is not made a priority.'

" 'By fatally compromising the independence and integrity of the NRC, and by encouraging pathways for nuclear deployment that bypass the regulator entirely, the Trump administration is virtually guaranteeing that this country will see a serious accident or other #radiological release that will affect the health, safety, and livelihoods of millions,' Lyman added. 'Such a disaster will destroy public trust in #NuclearPower and cause other nations to reject U.S. #nuclear technology for decades to come.'

"Friday's executive orders follow reporting earlier this month by NPR that revealed the Trump administration has tightened control over the NRC, in part by compelling the agency to send proposed reactor safety rules to the White House for review and possible editing.

"#AllisonMacfarlane, who was nominated to head the NRC during the Obama administration, called the move 'the end of independence of the agency.'

" 'If you aren't independent of political and industry influence, then you are at risk of an accident,' Macfarlane warned.

"On the first day of his second term, Trump also signed executive orders declaring a dubious 'national energy emergency' and directing federal agencies to find ways to reduce regulatory roadblocks to 'unleashing American energy, including by boosting #FossilFuels and nuclear power.

"The rapid advancement and adoption of artificial intelligence systems is creating a tremendous need for energy that proponents say can be met by nuclear power. The Three Mile Island nuclear plant—the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history—is being revived with funding from #Microsoft, while #Google parent company #Alphabet, online retail giant #Amazon, and #Facebook owner #Meta are among the competitors also investing in nuclear energy.

" 'Do we really want to create more #RadioactiveWaste to power the often dubious and questionable uses of #AI?' #JohannaNeumann, Environment America Research & Policy Center's senior director of the Campaign for 100% #RenewableEnergy, asked in December.

" '#BigTech should recommit to solutions that not only work but pose less risk to our #environment and #health,' Neumann added."

rawstory.com/trump-nuclear-267

#RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #BigTech #EnvironmentalRacism #UraniumMining #NuclearWaste #TEPCOLies #TrumpLies
#HoltecLies #WaterIsLife #NuclearPowerPlants #Datacenters #AIPollution #MicrosoftSucks #TrumpSucks #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree #CancerRates #Downwinders #NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies

Raw Story · Experts warn Trump’s nuclear blitz could trigger ‘Next Three Mile Island’By Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams

Oh yeah. Fast-tracking a #NuclearPlant restart is such a good idea...NOT!

#ThreeMileIsland nuclear plant reboot fast-tracked to 2027

By Laila Kearney
June 25, 2025

Excerpt: "Despite the enthusiasm, nuclear power plant projects have historically been far over budget [leaving taxpayers on the hook] and behind schedule [which is why nuclear plant companies often fabricate and lie about details. They milk it for all it's worth!]

"No fully shut nuclear power plant has been restarted, but at least one other attempted restart - of the #PalisadesNuclearPlant in #Michigan - is under way.

"As the technology industry drives U.S. electricity demand to record highs, nuclear power has broadly seen a resurgence of interest after decades in decline. New York plans to build a new nuclear power plant, which would be one of the first to be constructed in a generation."

reuters.com/sustainability/cli

Plan would power new #Microsoft #AI #DataCenter with electricity from Pa.'s #ThreeMileIsland #nuclear reactor

Constellation Energy is prepared to invest $1.6 billion to bring the plant's surviving reactor from the 1979 meltdown back online.

By Michael Tanenbaum, PhillyVoice Staff
September 20, 2024

Excerpt: "Tech companies favor nuclear power for AI

"In the race to develop artificial intelligence applications, tech companies are scrambling to build data centers, which require enormous amounts of electricity to operate. Such facilities are forecast to make up a growing share of the nation's electricity use in the years to come, prompting companies to look at tapping into existing infrastructure to help meet their needs.

"#NuclearPower is being touted as a cost-effective solution for these data centers that also limits reliance on carbon-producing power sources. Building and directly connecting data centers to nuclear plants is known as co-location, a strategy that industry leaders favor because it's cheaper and faster to do. Proponents also claim it reduces stress on the transmission grids.

[...]

"When Constellation signaled interest in restarting Three Mile Island in July [2024], doubts surfaced about the technical feasibility of the project. Not only would it be the first of its kind, but it will have to be accomplished next to another reactor whose clean-up and decommissioning is expected to continue through 2078.

"The site also remains politically contentious due to the lasting memory of the 1979 accident, which displaced surrounding communities and left a legacy of fear over whether the #radiation released contributed to increased #cancer rates in the vicinity. About 2 million people were exposed to #RadioactiveFallout as a result of the meltdown.

"Public health researchers from Temple, Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh published a report last year finding that long-term studies into the impact of the meltdown were limited by research flaws."

Read more:
phillyvoice.com/ai-three-mile-

#WaterIsLife #NuclearPowerPlants
#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #BigTech #NuclearWaste #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree #Pennsylvania #CancerRates

PhillyVoice · Plan would power new Microsoft AI data center with electricity from Pa.'s Three Mile Island nuclear reactorConstellation Energy is prepared to invest $1.6 billion to bring the plant's surviving reactor from the 1979 meltdown back online.

#Jellyfish attack #NuclearPowerPlant. Again.

By Susan D’Agostino | October 28, 2021

"#Scotland’s only working nuclear power plant at #Torness shut down in an emergency procedure when jellyfish clogged the sea water-cooling intake pipes at the plant, according to the Scotland Herald this week. Without access to cool water, a nuclear power plant risks overheating. The intake pipes can also be damaged, which disrupts power generation. And ocean life that gets sucked into a power plant’s intake pipes risks death.

[...]

"The clash between gelatinous jellyfish and hulking nuclear power plants has a long history. These spineless, brainless, bloodless creatures shut down the Torness nuclear power plant in 2011 at a cost of approximately $1.5 million per day, according to one estimate. Swarms of these invertebrates have also been responsible for nuclear power plant shutdowns in Israel, Japan, the United States, the #Philippines, #SouthKorea, and Sweden.

"Humans have unwittingly nurtured the adversarial relationship between jellyfish and nuclear power plants. That is, human-induced #ClimateChange has raised ocean water temperatures, setting conditions for larger-than-usual jellyfish populations. Further, the relatively warm water near nuclear power plant discharge outlets may attract jellyfish swarms, according to one study. Also, #pollution has lowered #oxygen levels in sea water, which jellyfish tolerate more than other marine animals, leading to their proliferation.

"Some look at jellyfish and see elegant ballerinas of the sea, while others view them as pests. Either way, they are nothing if not resilient. Jellyfish are 95 percent water, drift in topical waters and the Arctic Ocean, and thrive in the ocean’s bottom as well as on its surface. Nuclear power plant operators might take note: Older-than-dinosaur jellyfish are likely here to stay."

Full article:
thebulletin.org/2021/10/jellyf

#OceansAreLife #NuclearPowerPlants
#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists · Jellyfish attack nuclear power plant. Again.Scotland’s only working nuclear power plant at Torness shut down in an emergency procedure when jellyfish clogged the sea water-cooling intake pipes at the plant. To protect marine life and avert nuclear disasters, scientists are investigating the use of drones to provide estimates of jellyfish locations, amounts, and density.

#Jellyfish Keep Attacking #NuclearPowerPlants

By Gabriel Geiger
November 2, 2021

"Jellyfish are continuing to clog the cooling intake pipes of a nuclear power plant in Scotland, which has previously prompted a temporary shutdowns of the plant.

"The #TornessNuclearPowerPlant has reported concerns regarding jellyfish as far back as 2011, when it was forced to shut down for nearly a week—at an estimated cost of $1.5 million a day—because of the free-swimming marine animals.

"In a short comment to Motherboard, #EDFEnergy, which runs the Torness plant, said that 'jellyfish blooms are an occasional issue for our power stations,' but also said that media reports claiming the plant had recently been taken offline because of jellyfish are 'inaccurate.' '[There were] no emergency procedures this or last week related to jellyfish or otherwise,' a spokesperson said. [Um, did they previously work for #TEPCOLies?]

" 'Like many other seaside power plants, the Torness plant uses seawater to prevent overheating. While there are measures in place to prevent aquatic life from entering the intake pipes, according to the #BulletinOfTheAtomicScientists, they are no match for the sheer number of jellyfish that come during so-called 'jellyfish blooms.'

" 'Usually, screens prevent aquatic life and similar debris from being drawn into the power plants’ cooling system,' the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists wrote in a 2015 blog post. 'But when sufficiently large volumes of jellyfish or other aquatic life are pulled in, they block the screens, reducing the volume of water coming in and forcing the reactor to shut down.'

"While the case in Scotland has once again spotlighted concerns regarding the jellyfish and potential power plant shutdowns, these concerns are far from new. In 2008, a swarm of jellyfish shut down a nuclear power plant [#DiabloCanyon -- which had another incident in 2024] in #California, and three years later the same occurred at a plant in Japan [#Shimane]. In 2017, jellyfish clogged a power plant in Israel [#Hadera]."

Source:
vice.com/en/article/jellyfish-

#GlobalWarming #WarmingOceans
#ChangingOceans #OceansAreLife #OceanTemperatures #ClimateCrisis #Overfishing #NoDeepSeaMining #NoNewNukes #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #Oskarshamn #Torness #RethinkNotRestart

VICE · Jellyfish Keep Attacking Nuclear Power PlantsBy Gabriel Geiger

So, I made an offhand comment to the specialty veterinarian who was wondering why our middle-aged kitty was having thyroid issues at such a young age. I said, "Who knows what she was exposed to in #SouthCarolina." And the vet nodded her head. Turns out, kitty may have been exposed to radiation at a young age -- which caused her thyroid to be initially hypo, then hyper! And may have caused some of her birth "defects" -- like short legs. Poor kitty. And if this is happening to housecats, imagine what it's doing to wildlife and humans!

Still #NoNukes! #RenewablesNow! #NoNukesForAI especially! #RethinkNotRestart

Sites with #radioactive material more vulnerable as #ClimateChange increases #wildfire, #flood risks

By TAMMY WEBBER
Updated 1:04 AM EDT, May 22, 2024

"As Texas wildfires burned toward the nation’s primary nuclear weapons facility, workers hurried to ensure nothing flammable was around buildings and storage areas.

"When the fires showed no sign of slowing, #Pantex Plant officials urgently called on local contractors, who arrived within minutes with bulldozers to dig trenches and enlarge fire breaks for the sprawling complex where nuclear weapons are assembled and disassembled and dangerous plutonium pits — hollow spheres that trigger nuclear warheads and bombs — are stored.

" 'The winds can pick up really (quickly) here and can move really fast,' said Jason Armstrong, the federal field office manager at Pantex, outside Amarillo, who was awake 40 hours straight monitoring the risks. Workers were sent home and the plant shut down when smoke began blanketing the site.

"Those fires in February — including the largest in Texas history — didn’t reach Pantex, though flames came within 3 miles (5 kilometers). And Armstrong says it’s highly unlikely that plutonium pits, stored in fire-resistant drums and shelters, would have been affected by wildfire.

"But the size and speed of the grassland fires, and Pantex’s urgent response, underscore how much is at stake as climate change stokes extreme heat and drought, longer fire seasons with larger, more intense blazes and supercharged rainstorms that can lead to catastrophic flooding. The Texas fire season often starts in February, but farther west it has yet to ramp up, and is usually worst in summer and fall."

apnews.com/article/wildfire-fl

#NoNukes #NoWar #NoNuclearWeapons #NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart
#NuclearPlants #NuclearPowerPlants
#ClimateCrisis #Radiation

AP News · Sites with radioactive material more vulnerable as climate change increases wildfire, flood risksBy TAMMY WEBBER

CA #wildfires: a warning to #NRC on #ClimateChange

January 16, 2025

"The NRC’s actions to address the risks from natural hazards do not fully consider potential climate change effects on severe nuclear accident risks. 'For example, NRC primarily uses historical data in its licensing and oversight processes rather than climate projections data,' the GAO report said.

"Beyond Nuclear has uncovered similar findings during our challenges to the NRC’s extreme relicensing process for extending reactor operating licenses, now out to the extreme of 60 to 80 years and talk of 100 years. We found that the agency’s staff believes and stubbornly insists that an #environmental review for climate change impacts (#SeaLevelRise, increasingly severe #hurricanes, extreme #flooding, etc.) on reactor safety and reliability is 'out of scope' for the license extensions hearing process.

"The GAO report points out to the NRC that wildfires, specifically, can dangerously impact US nuclear power stations operations and public safety with potential consequences that extend far beyond the initiating natural disaster. These consequences can include loss of life, large scale and indefinite population dislocation and uninsurable economic damage from the radiological
consequences:

" 'Wildfire. According to the NCA (National Climate Assessment), increased heat and drought contribute to increases in wildfire frequency, and climate change has contributed to unprecedented wildfire events in the Southwest. The NCA projects increased heatwaves, drought risk, and more frequent and larger wildfires. Wildfires pose several risks to nuclear power plants, including increasing the potential for onsite fires that could damage plant infrastructure, damaging transmission lines that deliver electricity to plants, and causing a loss of power that could require plants to shut down. Wildfires and the smoke they produce could also hinder or prevent nuclear power plant personnel and supplies from getting to a plant.'

"Loss of offsite electrical power (#LOOP) to nuclear power stations is a leading contributor to increasing the risk of a severe nuclear power accident. The availability of alternating current (AC) power is essential for safe operation and accident recovery at commercial nuclear power plants. Offsite fires destroying electrical power transmission lines to commercial reactors therefore increase the probability and severity of nuclear accidents.

"For US nuclear power plants, 100% of the electrical power supply to all reactor safety systems is initially provided through the offsite power grid. If the offsite electrical grid is disturbed or destroyed, the reactors are designed to automatically shut down or 'SCRAM'. Onsite emergency backup power generators are then expected to automatically or manually start up to provide power to designated high priority reactor safety systems needed to safely shut the reactors down and provide continuous reactor cooling, pressure monitoring, but to a diminished number of the reactors’ credited safety systems. Reliable offsite power is therefore a key factor to minimizing the probability of severe nuclear accidents.

"The GAO identifies a number of US nuclear power plant sites that are vulnerable to the possible outbreak of wildfires where they are located. 'According to our analysis of U.S. Forest Service and NRC data, about 20 percent of nuclear power plants (16 of 75) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire,' the GAO report states. 'More specifically, more than
one-third of nuclear power plants in the South (nine of 25) and West (three of eight) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire.' The GAO goes on to identify 'Of the 16 plants with high or very high potential for wildfire, 12 are operating and four are shutdown.'

"To analyze exposure to the wildfire hazard potential, the GAO used 2023 data from the U.S. Forest Service’s Wildfire Hazard Potential Map. 'High/very high' refers to plants in areas with high or very high wildfire hazard potential. Those #NuclearPower stations described by GAO as 'high / very high' exposure to wildfires and their locations are excerpted from GAO Appendix III: Nuclear Power Plant Exposure to Selected Natural Hazards.

Table 1: Potential High Exposure to “Wildfires” at Operating Nuclear Power Plants

–AZ / #SAFER, one of two mobile nuclear emergency equipment supply units in the nation, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–CA / #DiabloCanyon Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–FL / #TurkeyPoint Units 3 & 4 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / #EdwinI. Hatch Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / $Vogtle Units Units 1, 2, 3 & 4, nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #BrunswickNPP Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #McGuire Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #ShearonHarris Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH /VERY HIGH”
–NB / #Cooper nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–SC / #Catawba Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–SC / #HBRobinson Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–WA / #ColumbiaNuclearPower station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”

Table 2: Potential High Exposure to “Wildfires” at Shutdown Nuclear Power Plants

–CA / #SanOnofre Units 1 & 2, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”

–FL / #CrystalRiver, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”

–NJ / #OysterCreek, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”

–NY / #IndianPoint Units 1, 2 & 3, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”

"Wildfires can transport radioactive contamination from nuclear facilities

"A historical review of wildfires that occur around nuclear facilities (research, military and commercial power) identifies that these events are also a very effective transport mechanism of radioactivity previously generated at these sites and subsequently released into the environment by accident, spills and leaks, and careless dumping. The radioactivity is resuspended by wildfires that occur years, even decades later. The fires carry the radioactivity on smoke particles downwind, thus expanding the zone of contamination further and further with each succeeding fire. The dispersed radionuclides can have very long half-lives meaning they remain biologically hazardous in the environment for decades, centuries and longer."

cc: @Cyclist @stfn @collectifission

Read more:
beyondnuclear.org/ca-wildfires

Beyond Nuclear · CA wildfires: a warning to NRC on climate change - Beyond Nuclear US Government Accountability Office warnings to Nuclear Regulatory Commission go unheeded

#NuclearWaste -- vulnerable to wildfires, earthquakes, etc. Let's stop making more of it!

"The #JonesRoadWildfire, which started last Tuesday in the #PineBarrens of #NewJersey, is on track to become the worst in state history. Fueled by gusty winds, low humidity, and dry undergrowth — conditions increasingly common in the region — the blaze has scorched more than 23 square miles, forced thousands to evacuate, and threatened nuclear waste at a power plant. As of Monday, firefighters had contained just 45 percent of the inferno."

grist.org/wildfires/the-new-je

Grist · The New Jersey fire signals a new era for the NortheastBy Lois Parshley

What will #Japan do with #contaminated soil near #Fukushima nuclear plant?

April 8, 2025 (Mainichi Japan)

"The Mainichi Shimbun answers some common questions readers may have about what Japan will do with soil removed around the #FukushimaDaiichi #NuclearPower Station after the meltdowns triggered by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Question: What does the term "contaminated soil" that is talked about on the news refer to?

Answer: It points to soil containing radioactive cesium that was dispersed over a wide area due to the 2011 Fukushima power plant meltdowns. After the accident, to minimize residents' exposure to radiation, soil tainted with radioactive cesium underwent a decontamination process and was removed. Approximately 14 million cubic meters of it was collected in Fukushima Prefecture.

Q: What has happened to all that soil?

A: It is currently stored in an "interim storage facility," stretching across the prefectural towns of Futaba and Okuma, adjacent to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The facility in this area, which used to house about 2,700 residents before the accident, was developed by the national government through land purchases and leases. The law promises that the contaminated soil stored there will undergo final disposal outside the prefecture sometime before 2045. To reduce the volume for final disposal, the plan is to use about three-quarters of it for purposes such as road embankments.

Q: Is it safe to use the removed soil?

A: The Ministry of the Environment has set the standard for reusing soil at "a concentration of radioactive cesium of 8,000 becquerels or less per kilogram." This standard has been deemed appropriate by domestic and international expert organizations. The government intends to handle the soil in accordance with international standards to minimize the radiation impact on construction workers and nearby residents. However, since this is an unprecedented endeavor, some experts are concerned about whether it can be managed over a long period without affecting the surrounding area.

Q: Can this really be achieved in 20 years?

A: Even the demonstration project for reuse planned by the Environment Ministry in locations including Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward has not progressed, and it is uncertain whether destinations for reuse or final disposal will be found. Additionally, a national survey revealed that about 80% of people outside Fukushima Prefecture are unaware of this "promise." The government needs to intensify efforts to raise awareness of the contaminated soil issue, especially among people outside Fukushima Prefecture."

Source:
mainichi.jp/articles/20250405/

#FukushimaIsntOver #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #TEPCOLies #JapanGovernment #RadioactiveSoil

毎日新聞 · 質問なるほドリ:福島の除染土、どうなるの? 中間貯蔵施設に保管中 法に「県外で最終処分」=回答・高橋由衣 - 毎日新聞By 毎日新聞

Four days ago: #Spain Signals Openness to Keeping #NuclearPowerPlants Open

By Daniel Basteiro and Thomas Gualtieri
April 24, 2025

"Spain is signaling for the first time that it’s open to reconsidering the shutdown of #NuclearPlants over the next decade amid a global revival of #AtomicEnergy.
While that’s not the plan agreed with nuclear plant operators, and it would be up to them to present concrete proposals, extensions are not ruled out, Environmental Transition Minister Sara Aagesen said in an interview.

" 'Nuclear energy will be present in our mix at least until 2035' but could go beyond that if companies propose extensions, which hasn’t happened yet, she said prior to an International Energy Agency summit on the future of energy security. 'We’re not considering anything because there is no specific proposal on the table.' "

Today [April 28th] "Spain's nuclear power plants automatically stopped, but diesel generators were activated to keep them in 'safe condition', officials said."

Sources:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

Archived version:
archive.ph/cJiGM

msn.com/en-us/news/world/panic

HT @btschumy
And this is why we need to #RethinkNotRestart and #ShutDownAllNuclearPlants -- especially the aging ones! This article outlines a very possible #Doomsday scenario -- but it could be a number of things, including a large #SolarFlare...

2030 Doomsday Scenario: The Great #Nuclear Collapse

A timeline of the #EndGame for human civilization

"Humanity has constructed a doomsday Deadman switch that threatens civilization. Climate destruction will make it increasingly difficult to avoid the looming global nuclear catastrophe we've created.

"Here's how our future might unravel:
Late 2020s: Climate Red Alert and Infrastructure Strain

"By the late 2020s, Earth’s climate is in unprecedented turmoil. Global average temperatures are consistently 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Each year brings record-breaking heatwaves, “freak” floods, and droughts that batter infrastructure. Coastal cities flood more frequently, roads buckle in extreme heat, and power grids strain under surging demand for cooling.

"This cascade of climate disasters sets the stage for a systemic collapse: as societies grapple with runaway warming, the resilience of #Criticalnfrastructure (power, water, transit) erodes.

"Energy systems enter a crisis even before 2030. Nuclear power, which in 2025 still provided about 9% of the world’s electricity from ~440 reactors, becomes increasingly unreliable. Many nuclear plants struggle with climate stresses: cooling water sources heat up in summer, forcing reactors to reduce output or shut down to avoid unsafe temperatures. For example, a 2028 European #heatwave pushes river and sea temperatures above 25 °C, triggering emergency shutdowns at multiple reactors that cannot be cooled effectively.

"At the same time, stronger storms and floods threaten reactor safety. Dozens of reactors worldwide are unprepared for #ExtremeFlooding, meaning a dam failure or #StormSurge could lead to a Fukushima-scale accident. Worrisome reports emerge of power plants in #floodplains and #coasts where defenses are overtopped by #RisingSeas and torrential rains.

"By 2029, global carbon output remains high, and natural feedback loops are kicking in. In the Arctic, permafrost thaws and releases methane creating a vicious warming cycle where initial warming triggers more emissions, leading to even more warming. Scientists caution that a tipping point is near, beyond which climate change becomes self-perpetuating (a true “runaway” scenario).

"Society approaches 2030 in a precarious state: aware of looming catastrophe yet unprepared for its speed. The stage is set for the coming collapse, with power grids and nuclear facilities - the backbone of the industrial world - already under severe strain.

Early 2030s: Blackouts and the First Reactor Crises

"2030 marks the breaking point.

"A confluence of climate catastrophes collapses power grids across multiple continents. A severe global heatwave in the summer of 2030 brings record electricity demand while many power plants (nuclear and coal alike) are derated or offline due to overheating coolant water.

"Then powerful Category 5 storms strike in succession: one hurricane inundates the U.S. Eastern seaboard, while an unprecedented typhoon swamps Southeast Asia. These #disasters knock out transmission lines and flood key substations, leading to prolonged blackouts in dozens of major cities. Emergency systems are overwhelmed. With communications down and transportation paralyzed, manpower shortages become acute - many operators and engineers cannot reach their stations.

"Nuclear power plants are among the first to feel the emergency. Grid failure triggers automatic reactor SCRAMs (rapid shutdowns) at plants from Florida to France. Control rods halt the fission reactions, but decay heat in reactor cores still needs cooling for days to prevent meltdown.

"Normally, backup diesel generators would power the cooling pumps, but the scale of the #blackout means diesel resupply is uncertain and some generators fail in flooded facilities. In a grim reflection of 2011’s Fukushima disaster, several coastal reactors lose all power as storm surges drown their backup generators.

"Within hours to days, the first meltdowns occur.

"In 2031, a reactor in South Asia becomes a flashpoint: its cooling pumps falter after the grid collapse, leading the core to overheat. The reactor’s heart melts through containment in a matter of days, releasing a plume of radioactive steam and debris.

"Nearby, an even greater danger unfolds: the plant’s spent fuel pool, packed with years of highly radioactive spent rods, boils dry without cooling. Exposed to air, the zirconium cladding of the fuel ignites, triggering a fire that belches long-lived radioisotopes directly into the atmosphere. This nightmare scenario - once narrowly avoided at #Fukushima by heroic ad-hoc measures - now plays out in full."

Read more:
collapse2050.com/2030-doomsday

Collapse 2050 · 2030 Doomsday Scenario: The Great Nuclear CollapseA timeline of the end game for human civilization

#Diné Coalition Opposes #Navajo President's Push for #CoalMining and #Uranium Transport

Dine' Coalition Press Statement, #CensoredNews, April 17, 2025

WINDOW ROCK, Arizona -- "A coalition of grassroots groups released a statement in response to recent announcements and actions by #NavajoNation President #BuuNygren regarding coal development, carbon market deals, and potential new mining projects.

"The coalition will host a Press Conference from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (MDT) on Monday, April 21, 2025, outside the Navajo Nation Council Chambers during the first day of the Navajo Nation Council’s Spring Session. Please bring a folding chair, water, hats, and sunscreen, and dress appropriately for the weather to keep yourself safe and comfortable during the Press Conference.

"Summary of full statement:

● We call on the Navajo Nation President to stop making deals that degrade our land, water, and future.

● We urge tribal leaders not to repeat historical mistakes with respect to uranium extraction: Leave this Nayee’, Łeetso, in the ground. The cleanup and remediation of hundreds of abandoned mines must be completed, prioritizing public health safety and ecosystem health.

● We stand against the transport of uranium ore across the Navajo Nation because it is inconsistent with the intent of the Navajo Radioactive and Related Substances, Equipment, Persons and Materials Transportation Act of 2012, regardless of jurisdictional limits on our highways and roads.

● We steadfastly OPPOSE coal development, which negatively impacts the lands, water, and health of the Navajo people and contributes to #ClimateChange.

● We stand in protection of our water, health, traditional lifeways, Earth bundles (#Jish), and #MotherEarth.

"We call on all Diné #LandDefenders, #WaterProtectors, healers, young leaders, #matriarchs and warriors to stand together at WINDOW ROCK on APRIL 21, 2025. Together, we will make our voices heard and remind our Navajo Nation government that they are entrusted to make decisions that protect our People and protect our sacred homelands.
Statement from Diné Coalition of Grassroots Organizers in response to Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren’s recent statements and actions regarding uranium, carbon markets, coal, and
other harmful extractive processes.
We are a coalition of Diné organizers, land defenders, water protectors, traditional knowledge holders, matriarchs, and young leaders. We are calling on our Diné people to stand united in protecting Mother Earth and our sacred homelands and waterways.

"The Nygren Administration’s recent statements and actions do not reflect the
will of the Diné People, and we call on our Navajo Nation Council to ensure that such actions are not taken in violation of our Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.

"With the Trump administration’s announced intent to ramp up production of 'mission-critical' uranium,
the private energy offenders are again targeting Diné lands with no intention of ensuring public health, safety, or environmental health. Diné land and water protectors understand that energy offenders operate through systematic #racism that does not adhere to
#PinyonPlain uranium mine,
radioactive haul trucks, in #GrandCanyon."

Read more:
bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04

#WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #Dineteh #NukingTheNavajo #Havasupai #UraniumMines #EnvironmentalRacism #PinyonPlainUraniumMine #AirIsLife #UraniumMine #NoMiningWithoutConsent
#DontNukeTheGrandCanyon #DontNukeThePlanet #WeAreTheFuture #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #DontNukeTheFuture #ReaderSupportedNews

bsnorrell.blogspot.comDiné Coalition Opposes Navajo President's Push for Coal Mining and Uranium TransportCensored News is a service to grassroots Indigenous Peoples engaged in resistance and upholding human rights.

#Radioactive #Uranium Trucks -- Slick Politicians and Easy-Chair Journalists
Endanger Public

Article by #BrendaNorrell, Censored News, April 17, 2025

"The copy and paste journalists, and the slick politicians doing self-promotion selfies on social media, don't want the public to know the facts.

"This is #PinyonPlainUraniumMine in the #GrandCanyon, poisoning the air, land and water in the homeland of the #Havasupai.

"The #UraniumMine is spewing out #RadioactiveDust for the world travelers who love this place, poisoning traditional medicine plants, and endangering the aquifer for future generations.

"#Navajo President #BuuNygren secretly did a deal with the owners, #EnergyFuels, to bring radioactive #uranium ore trucks through the #NavajoNation, without the #NavajoNationCouncil's knowledge.

"This agreement for radioactive trucks, shown here [at the link below], is an extreme danger for everyone on the transport route -- #Havasupai, #Paiute, #Dine', #Hopi, #Ute, and the residents of #FlagstaffAZ.

"Remote Native communities have no way to deal with radioactive spills.

"The radioactive trucks are covered only with tarps and dump their loads in the #WhiteMesaUte community in southeastern #Utah."

Read more:
bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04

#WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #UraniumMine #PinyonPlain #NoMiningWithoutConsent
#DontNukeTheGrandCanyon #DontNukeThePlanet #WeAreTheFuture #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #DontNukeTheFuture #Diné #ReaderSupportedNews

bsnorrell.blogspot.comRadioactive Uranium Trucks -- Slick Politicians and Easy-Chair Journalists Endanger PublicCensored News is a service to grassroots Indigenous Peoples engaged in resistance and upholding human rights.