Radiation Leak in N.M. WIPP Leaves Nuclear Waste in Limbo

NUCLEAR DISASTER WATCH
RADIATION LEAK
NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL
NIGHTMARE SCENARIO 043
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Los Alamos nuclear waste in limbo after radiation leak at WIPP in New Mexico

The radiation leaks at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), which has exposed  at least 13 workers at a nuclear dump near Carlsbad, New Mexico two weeks ago, has  put operations at the plant on hold including shipments of toxic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Shipments of nuclear waste from labs in Idaho, Illinois and South Carolina are also without a home while operations are halted, AP reported.

As of late January 2014, WIPP had accepted about 85,000 cubic meters of nuclear waste.

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

WIPP is one of DOE’s nuclear waste dumps where the U.S. Gov buries transuranic (man-made radioactive elements that are heavier than Uranium) radioactive waste such as plutonium used in making nuclear weapons.

A shipment of contact-handled transuranic waste arrives at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Source: WIPP, US Department of Energy

Located about 26 miles east of Carlsbad in SE New Mexico, WIPP has “disposal rooms” excavated in an ancient salt formation, about 700m (2,150 feet) underground. WIPP employs more than 800 workers. Waste disposal began at WIPP in 1999.

The Horizontal Emplacement and Retreival Equipment (HERE) is used to push remote-handled transuranic waste into horizontal boreholes in the disposal room walls. Source: WIPP, US Department of Energy

The 250-million-year-old salt formation below the Chihuahuan Desert is used to dump thousands of cubic meters of TRU radioactive waste each year. About 4% of the TRU waste received at WIPP is far too toxic and the containers must be remote-handled by robots and automated  machinery.

If Anything Can Explode, Leak, Contaminate… It Will!

On January 12, 2014 FIRE-EARTH forecast:

Estimated 100,000 HAZMAT storage sites across the U.S. can potentially explode, leak, contaminate the environment

United States is dotted with an estimated 100,000 HAZMAT storage sites containing one or more of deadly substances including radioactive, biohazardous, toxic, explosive, flammable, asphyxiating, corrosive, oxidizing, pathogenic, or allergenic materials, as well as herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers that don’t fall into those categories.

Some of the substances (hazchems), which include more than 200 types of dioxins, are so lethal that even a small leak into the water supply could kill or permanently harm millions of people, before they are detected.

Related Links

• If Anything Can Explode, Leak, Contaminate…  January 12, 2014
• Likely Radiation Leak at NM Military Nuclear Waste Dump February 17, 2014

Obama Goes Nuclear!

Obama Nuclear Investment Surge to Fight Environment

President Obama has just announced $8.3 billion in loan guarantees to build the first U.S. nuclear power plant in 30 years, a move designed to win the war against the environment.

If you are not one of the millions of readers who have read the post linked to below, now is the time to read it:

On The Way To Armageddon: Could We Make A Detour?

America’s use of illegitimate nuclear energy, instead of reducing its energy waste, is in line with her unsustainable borrowing habits: Spend now; worry about the debt later. The problem being that the consequences of playing with nuclear waste are much deadlier than unmanageable debts.

The Worst President, the Worst Decisions! Click image to enlarge! [With special thanks to GA for the cartoon.]

The government loan guarantee will help Atlanta-based Southern Co build two nuclear reactors in the state of Georgia at a cost of about $9 billion, which are expected to go on line in 2016 and 2017.

However the above cost does NOT include the cost of decommission the reactors, dealing with piles of nuclear waste, or environmental emergencies arising from potential incidents.

“Unfortunately, the president is setting up the American taxpayer for the next corporate bailout,” said Jim Riccio, a nuclear policy analyst, adding that the Congressional Budget Office had already forecast the probability of loans default at greater than 50 percent, Reuters reported.

Mr Obama said nuclear energy was “safe and clean” and that the plants were needed to meet the country’s future energy needs.

Ironically, the core reason for not building any new nuclear reactors in the US since the 1979 was the partial core meltdown of one of the reactors at Three Mile Island atomic power plant in Pennsylvania, which caused radioactive gases to escape to the atmosphere.

Obama sees the threat of nuclear energy as a ‘DEBATE’

Perhaps the President should go to Chernobyl on a fact-finding mission because he doesn’t seem to have any knowledge of the scope and magnitude of the nuclear power’s past disasters.

“On an issue which affects our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we cannot continue to be mired in the same old debates between left and right, between environmentalists and entrepreneurs,” said the President.

“To meet our growing energy needs and prevent the worst consequences of climate change, we’ll need to increase our supply of nuclear power. It’s that simple.” [Famous last words, Mr President?]

Primary Energy Consumption by Source and Sector, 2008

What’s Worse? Nuclear Accidents or Nuclear Waste?

Nuclear Power is NOT Clean or Green! Currently 104 nuclear reactors operate in the US, sprawled across 31 states, generating an estimated 769 billion kWh of electricity at a capacity factor of 89 percent (2001 estimate). Up to 60 new nuclear reactors are being built worldwide.

The reactors in the United States produce more than 2,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste and at least 34 million liters (12 million cubic feet) of low level radioactive waste annually. Threr are NO solutions for the nuclear waste. Building more nuclear plants means piling up more of the “permanent” radioactive waste.

“Over 54,000 metric tons of irradiated fuel [Waste from Reactors] has already accumulated at the sites of commercial nuclear reactors in the United States. There are several proposals to manage such highly radioactive waste, but none of them would satisfactorily deal with the material.” Public Citizen said.

According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), there are “millions of gallons of radioactive waste”, “thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel and material” and “huge quantities of contaminated soil and water” in the United States.

The United States has at least 120 sites, some tes of thousands of hectares (acres) large, that are designated as “radioactive contaminated and unusable.”

One such site in the rural town of Fernald, in Hamilton County, Ohio, where “31 million pounds of uranium product,” some “2.5 billion pounds of [nuclear] waste” and “2.75 million cubic yards of [radioactive ] contaminated soil and debris” pose a deadly threat to the environment.

[In 1984 the plant was found to be releasing thousands of tons of  uranium dust into the atmosphere causing a massive radioactive contamination of the surrounding areas.]

A “223 acre portion of the underlying Great Miami Aquifer had uranium levels above drinking standards.”

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is home to at least “167 known contaminant release sites” in one of the three subdivisions of its 150 km2 (37,000-acre) site alone.

Job Creation Ploy: Don’t billions come with 9 zeros anymore?

Obama says the Georgia project would generate 3,500 construction jobs and 800 permanent ones as soon as the reactors are operational. Don’t billions come with 9 zeros anymore?

What, $9,000,000,000 to create 800 permanent jobs? Isn’t that a whopping $11.25million per job?

At these rates, it would cost about $166.5 trillion (12 zeros to a trillion) to put the 14.8 million or so unemployed people in the U.S. back to work!

America’s energy requirements could be reduced PAINLESSLY and MANY NEW JOBS could be created, if the government cared!

Related Links:

• On The Way To Armageddon
• Top Ten Facts About Your Hungry Building
• 286W
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

Democracy in Spain Mainly Falls Flat …

Nuclear Waste? YES PLEASE!

How many mad town councilors does it take to risk contaminating a region with nuke waste?

Small Spanish town of Asco in the northeastern Catalonia region, needed only a handful—seven.

Despite strong opposition from the regional government and repeated street protests by the town residents, Asco town council voted by seven votes to two to bid for a nuclear waste dump in the region.

The dump would reportedly cost about a $1 billion to erect and creates 300 jobs for less than five years.

Apparently, those stats were good enough for the the town mayor, Rafael Vidal.

“We have the opportunity to build an Asco…which will spur controversy but doubtless bring important revenues to the local economy,” Mayor said in comments broadcast on a TV channel, Reuters reported.

The president of the Catalan regional government, Jose Montilla, has already declared his objections to building a nuclear dump in Catalonia, though the region has 3 of Spain’s eight nuclear power plants.

“Catalan power stations produce 40 percent of all of Spain’s power. We’ve done our bit,” he said.

“Spent nuclear fuel in Spain is currently stored on site in power stations, but the government predicts they will begin to fill up in 2013. The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has urged Spain to begin work on a purpose-built site.” Reuters reported.

Spain’s socialist govt under its Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero has promised to freeze building nuclear power plants, but will allow the existing outlets  to operate for at least 10 more years.

Related Links:

• Indian Power Workers Drink Radioactive Water
• Three Mile Island Cats Have 9 Lives, Too?

French Nuke Waste Plagues Siberia

EDF nuclear waste dumped in open air in Siberia, Russia

Why i s it that everything that comes out of France lately turns out to be toxic?

Radioactive waste from France’s power group EDF are being dumped in the open air in Russia, French newspaper Liberation reported.

Some 13 percent of radioactive waste produced by France’s power giant is dumped in a town in Siberia, Liberation said, adding that its information was based on an investigative report, which would be broadcast on French TV channel ARTE  on Tuesday night local time.

“An EDF spokeswoman declined to confirm the 13 percent figure, or that waste was stored in the open air, but confirmed EDF sends nuclear waste to Russia.” Reuters reported.

“We send waste to Russia for treatment, and they send 10 to 20 percent of it back to us to be used in French power plants,” she was reported as saying.

The world’s largest nuclear power producer, EDF is about 85 percent state-owned, operating 58 reactors in 19 nuclear plants in France.

Related Links:

• French Water!
• European Pressurized Water Reactor!
• All is NOT Well at Chernobyl
• Nuclear High Noon in the Atlantic Ocean
• Japan’s Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor
• Chernobyl: A Night to Remember!
• Mafia Solves Nuclear Waste Problem
• Trafigura Knew!
• Fish, Fish Eggs Holocaust
• Australia: Uranium Dust Threat Real?
• Another fire at TEPCO nuclear plant
• Smoke Detected at Japanese Nuke Plant
• This’s Got to Be the Year of Radioactive, Chemical and Oil Spills, Too!
• Another Hole in Areva’s Nuclear Cheese