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CCNS NEWS UPDATE and ACTION ALERT

Runs 11/1/13 through 11/8/13

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

*  Life Extension Program for B61 Nuclear Bomb Costs Twice Its Weight in Gold

The Pentagon and the Department of Energy (DOE) have proposed to refurbish up to 500 B61 nuclear bombs with new military capabilities at a cost of $12 billion.  This is an expensive proposition.  Each bomb is estimated to weigh 700 pounds.  Gold is currently priced at over $1,350 per troy ounce.  In the extreme and at that cost, each bomb could be made out of solid gold and have an exact twin.

More than $2.65 billion of the work would be done at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque under the Life Extension Program.  About 180 of the B61 Cold War bombs are based in Europe.  Government officials in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, where many of the bombs are based, are asking that they be removed.

The costs of the program have increased exponentially over the years.  The Obama Administration requested $537 million for the B61 refurbishment in Fiscal Year 14, which began October 1st.  The House Appropriations Committee fully funded the request, but the Senate Appropriations Committee cut the budget 31 percent, or $168 million.  Because of the recent Continuing Resolution, the B61 funding extends current, lower funding levels.

Nuclear Watch New Mexico has argued for some time that the Life Extension Program will give new military capabilities to the B61.  The Air Force is proposing to modify the tail kit.  Jay Coghlan, Executive Director of the group, said that the tail kit assembly “will dramatically increase the targeting accuracy, functionally melding tactical and strategic variants.”  He added that the Department of Energy Life Extension Program “will transform a dumb analogue bomb into a digital nuclear ‘smart’ bomb for delivery by future super stealthy aircraft,” referring to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.  Coghlan concluded by saying, “In my view, this combination clearly creates new military capabilities.”   http://www.nukewatch.org

Further, in June a coalition of religious organizations wrote to the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee arguing against funding the B61 nuclear bomb refurbishment.  They wrote, “In these times of fiscal constraints, when funding for social programs and services that promote human security by helping feed and house the disenfranchised and the needy are being reduced, it is morally unjustifiable to spend billions of dollars on nuclear weapons systems that we do not need.”

Joni Arends, of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, urged the public to contact their elected officials.  She said, “Now is the time to contact your elected congressional members and voice your concerns.  For more information and an electronic action alert, please visit the Friends Committee on National Legislation website at http://fcnl.org/issues/nuclear/.”

This has been the CCNS News Update.  For more information, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org and like us on Facebook.

11-22-13 ACTION ALERT!

Contact your Senators to cut funding for the B61 Life Extension Program.  Sample comment letters are available at http://www.fcnl.org.  Last week, Senator Corker (R-TN) introduced the following amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act:

SA 2338 <http://beta.congress.gov//amendment/113th-congress/senate-amendment/2338/>. Mr. CORKER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1197 <http://beta.congress.gov//bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1197/>, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2014 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the end of subtitle E of title X, add the following: SEC. 1046. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON B61-12 LIFE EXTENSION PROGRAM. (a) Findings.–Congress makes the following findings:

(1) During the debate in the Senate on the ratification of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed on April 8, 2010, and entered into force on February 5, 2011, between the United States and the Russian Federation (commonly known as the “New START Treaty”), leaders in both Congress and the executive branch acknowledged the critical linkage between the modernization of the nuclear arsenal and the ability to safely reduce the number of warheads in the nuclear stockpile of the United States.

(2) As proposed by the President, successfully executing the B61-12 life extension program would generate an 53 percent reduction in the total number of air-delivered gravity weapons in the active and inactive nuclear stockpile of the United States and an 87 percent reduction in the total amount of nuclear material utilized by air-delivered gravity weapons in the nuclear stockpile of the United States.

(3) The B61-12 life extension program has already been delayed by fluctuating appropriations and further delays in appropriations threaten the viability and credibility of the nuclear deterrent of the United States and the nuclear assurances provided to allies of the United States in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and in the Pacific region.

(4) Alternative proposals to refurbish B61 nuclear weapons do not meet the military requirements of the United States Strategic Command and fail to address all of the concerns relating to aging faced by the existing B61 series of air- delivered gravity weapons.

(b) Sense of Congress.–It is the Sense of Congress that–

(1) further delays to the B61-12 life extension program would have unacceptable effects on the reliability and credibility of the nuclear deterrent of the United States; and

(2) it is critical that the United States ensure that there are no further delays in successfully executing the ongoing B61-12 life extension program, development of the associated tail-kit assembly, and development of a nuclear-capable F-35 Block 4 aircraft. ______

SA 2339 <http://beta.congress.gov//amendment/113th-congress/senate-amendment/2339/>. Mr. CORKER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1197 <http://beta.congress.gov//bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1197/>, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2014 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the end of subtitle E of title X, add the following: [[Page S8286 <http://beta.congress.gov//congressional-record/2013/senate-section/page/S8286>]] SEC. 1046. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON B61-12 LIFE EXTENSION PROGRAM.

(a) Findings.–Congress makes the following findings:

(1) During the debate in the Senate on the ratification of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed on April 8, 2010, and entered into force on February 5, 2011, between the United States and the Russian Federation (commonly known as the “New START Treaty”), leaders in both Congress and the executive branch acknowledged the critical linkage between the modernization of the nuclear arsenal and the ability to safely reduce the number of warheads in the nuclear stockpile of the United States.

(2) As proposed by the President, successfully executing the B61-12 life extension program would generate an 53 percent reduction in the total number of air-delivered gravity weapons in the active and inactive nuclear stockpile of the United States and an 87 percent reduction in the total amount of nuclear material utilized by air-delivered gravity weapons in the nuclear stockpile of the United States.

(3) The B61-12 life extension program has already been delayed by fluctuating appropriations and further delays in appropriations threaten the viability and credibility of the nuclear deterrent of the United States and the nuclear assurances provided to allies of the United States in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and in the Pacific region.

(4) Alternative proposals to refurbish B61 nuclear weapons do not meet the military requirements of the United States Strategic Command and fail to address all of the concerns relating to aging faced by the existing B61 series of air- delivered gravity weapons.

(b) Sense of Congress.–It is the Sense of Congress that–

(1) further delays to the B61-12 life extension program would have unacceptable effects on the reliability and credibility of the nuclear deterrent of the United States; and

(2) it is critical that the United States ensure that there are no further delays in successfully executing the ongoing B61-12 life extension program, development of the associated tail-kit assembly, and development of a nuclear-capable F-35 Block 4 aircraft.

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(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:

• LANL Open Burn Meeting Set for Wednesday, October 30th at Fuller Lodge

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will host a public meeting about their application to gain a permit to continue the treatment of hazardous waste by open air burning at Technical Area 16, located in the southwest corner of the laboratory, near the Bandelier National Monument. LANL is proposing to burn up to 6,000 pounds of hazardous waste per year, which includes high explosives and solvents, with a limit of 200 pounds per individual burn. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, October 30th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at Fuller Lodge, located at 2132 Central Avenue in Los Alamos.

The meeting will occur before LANL submits its permit application to the New Mexico Environment Department, who is the regulator.  http://www.lanl.gov/community-environment/environmental-stewardship/public-reading-room.php  LANL is proposing to include the open burning unit into the hazardous waste permit issued by the New Mexico Environment Department in 2010. http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/HWB/Permit.htm  There are many open burn and open detonation units across the LANL site which operate under “interim status,” meaning that no formal request for a permit to operate has been submitted to the regulator.

Two open burn units at TA-16 were proposed to be permitted during the 2010 public hearing about the draft hazardous waste permit. They are identified as TA-16-388 and TA-16-399. During the hearing, the Hazardous Waste Bureau of the Environment Department opposed the open burning operations because LANL had not proved that the operations would not harm human health and the environment. But the Secretary of the Environment Department disagreed and allowed LANL to submit an application for a permit.

In the meantime, LANL used the TA-16-399 unit to reduce its inventory of bulk high explosives. LANL submitted a plan to close this unit and the Environment Department anticipates releasing a draft closure plan for public review and comment in November 2013.

LANL has submitted an application for the TA-16-388 open burn unit, which is the subject of the public meeting. The TA-16-388 unit includes a 22 foot by 22 foot concrete pad surrounded on three sides by a three-foot high concrete wall. Three five-foot long propane burners, mounted on the concrete walls, are used to heat the material in order to destroy the explosives.

LANL says that over 80 percent of the waste generated to be treated by the open burn unit are from machining explosive components. In 2012, LANL burned about 3,200 pounds of explosive waste or explosive-contaminated waste in 49 burns, which lasted less than 25 hours.

Public comments are due to the Environment Department on or before December 2, 2013 to Dave Cobrain, NMED-Hazardous Waste Bureau, 2905 Rodeo Park Drive East, Building 1, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505-6313; telephone (505) 476-6000 or email dave.cobrain@state.nm.us.

CCNS will be preparing sample public comments after the meeting for you to use to prepare your comments.  Please stay tuned.


This has been the CCNS News Update. For more information and to receive sample public comments, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org and like us on Facebook.

Email from The Rev. Carol Calvert:

Mary Lou Cook Memorial – Wednesday Oct. 30th 11 a.m. – St. Francis Auditorium, 107 W. Palace Ave. 

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CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 10/11/13 through 10/18/13

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

• Remembering CCNS Co-founder Mary Lou Cook

Mary Lou Cook, one of the twelve co-founders of CCNS, died at age 95 this week in Santa Fe.  We are deeply saddened by the news, but have enjoyed reminiscing about the early days of CCNS.  In the summer of 1988, we met in Mary Lou’s small calligraphy studio located at the Design Center in Santa Fe.  At that time the Santa Fe Peace Center was also located in the Design Center, which was founded by Mary Lou and her peace colleague, Ann Dasburg, another CCNS co-founder.  They agreed that CCNS could use the back room in the Peace Center for our nascent activities.  Soon, and to their surprise, we were using all of the space because of the number of volunteers who were helping in the early efforts to stop the opening of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).

Mary Lou was sometimes called our “secret weapon” in that she knew many of the elected officials who would have influence over decisions concerning WIPP and the nuclear laboratories.  Over the years, she and Ann Dasburg wrote many poignant letters to the editor that helped to educate the public about our concerns.

Richard Johnson, one of the CCNS co-founders and the creator of Businesses Against WIPP, said, “Mary Lou worked tirelessly for CCNS in those early years. Her energy, fearless optimism and wisdom informed everything we did. We all loved Mary Lou Cook.”

Mary Lou established the Santa Fe Living Treasurers program in 1984.  At an annual ceremony, community elders are honored for their lives and work.  She was devoted to creating an Office of Peace within the New Mexico state government and spent many legislative sessions trying to accomplish that task.

Mary Lou was also a wonderful independent minister and bishop in the Eternal Life Church who married many in the community.  She was an extremely talented calligrapher and artist.  A sign hanging on her studio wall read, “All great art is praise.”

Sasha Pyle, one of the CCNS co-founders and who testified before Congress in 1988 about community concerns regarding the opening of WIPP, said, “Mary Lou had the knack of being firm in her convictions, even blunt, without ever losing her positive approach, which was so disarming–no matter whom she was confronting. It was a huge privilege to practice the art of activism side by side with her. She saw the world we live in as a place that needs a lot of work but is divinely full of creative possibilities.”

Mary Lou was blessed in her later years by the fine caring of her loving daughter, Courtney, who predeceased her.  Services are pending.

This has been the CCNS News Update.  For more information, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org and like us on Facebook.

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CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 10/4/13 through 10/11/13

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

*  13 World Friendship Center Ambassadors Visit Los Alamos

Wishing to see where the atomic weapon was created that was dropped on their city, 13 World Friendship Center Ambassadors from Hiroshima, Japan, visited Los Alamos this week.  http://homepage2.nifty.com/wfchiroshima/  They gathered at Ashley Pond to see the location where the bomb was created and viewed the U.S. manufacturing facilities where plutonium cores for nuclear weapons are still being made just south of the pond.  The trip to New Mexico was the last leg of a three-week tour in the U.S.  They spent two weeks in Oregon and Washington state.

The World Friendship Center sent the group to tell the stories of survival, hope and rebuilding of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing on August 6^th, 1945.  Barbara Reynolds founded The World Friendship Center in 1965 in Hiroshima, with the motto to “foster peace, one friend at a time.”  Their goals are to tell the story of Hiroshima and the Hibakusha, who are the surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; to promote world peace; and to work towards a nuclear-free world.

The Ambassadors included Hibakusha.  One gentleman told the story of when he was a child walking to school with sister when they witnessed the bomb explode and the resulting devastation.  Another was also a child who walked back into the city after the bombing to look for her sister.  The Ambassadors also included others whose families and friends were directly affected by the atomic bombing in Japan.  In New Mexico, they made six presentations in Albuquerque and one in Santa Fe to elementary and high school students, and students at the University of New Mexico.  They also made an evening presentation at the Pax Christi Santa Fe gathering at the Santa Nino Regional Catholic School.

Ellie Voutselas, with Pax Christi Santa Fe, was the main New Mexico organizer.  She said, “I found the day permeated with love and togetherness between us and our Japanese brothers and sisters, a truly inspirational experience.”

The Ambassadors also visited the historical marker at the site of the Department of Justice World War II prison camp in the Frank Ortiz Park in Santa Fe.  In a moving ceremony, the Ambassadors honored the 4,555 Japanese men, many of whom were ministers, teachers, artists, journalists and businessman, who were held there.

Father John Dear, said, “It was a moving, powerful experience to accompany 13 friends from Hiroshima, including several atomic bomb survivors, to Los Alamos, the birthplace of the bomb.  They inspire me to redouble my effort to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons.  This is our shared hope – the pursuit of a world without war, a new world of peace and nonviolence.”

This has been the CCNS News Update.  For more information, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org and like us on Facebook.

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CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 9/27/13 through 10/4/13

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

• More than 100 Groups Call on EPA to Withdraw Dramatically Weakened Radiation Guides

Over 100 environmental organizations recently called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to withdraw EPA’s controversial new Protective Action Guides (PAGs), which would allow exposure to very high doses from radiation releases before the government would take action to protect the public.  http://committeetobridgethegap.org/  For example, following a release, EPA proposed relaxing its long-term cleanup standards.  It would allow leaving Plutonium-239 in soil used by farmers at levels over 3 million times than that currently allowed.

The PAGs are intended to guide the response to nuclear power reactor accidents, such as Fukushima in Japan, Chernobyl in the Ukraine and Three Mile Island in the U.S., explosions of dirty bombs, radioactive releases from nuclear fuel and weapons facilities, nuclear transportation accidents, and other radioactive releases.

Although official estimates of the health risks from radiation exposure have gone up substantially since the old PAGs were written in 1992, the new EPA guidance contemplates radically increased allowable exposures in the intermediate and long-term periods after radiation releases.  Diane D’Arrigo of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, said, “Even though EPA now admits radiation is more harmful than previously thought, it is weakening rather than tightening radiation protections.”  http://www.nirs.org/

The environmental organizations raised their concerns about the new PAGs in written comments to EPA.  They addressed EPA’s proposal to dramatically increase the permitted concentrations of radioactivity in drinking water, by as much as 27,000 times for Iodine-131, compared to EPA’s current Safe Drinking Water Act limits.  The PAGs are supposed to safeguard water supplies and provide information about how to treat contaminated water or how to provide alternative drinking water supplies after the immediate emergency has passed.  The EPA proposal does not meet the basic protections of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

There are also proposals to incorporate outdated Food and Drug Administration guidelines which would allow consumption of contaminated food.  Such food could contain as much radiation as having a chest X-ray every day.  EPA proposed to eliminate requirements to evacuate people threatened with radiation doses to the thyroid and skin over predicted specified limits.  The commenters reminded EPA that the PAGs are “doses that are to be avoided by protective actions.”

Daniel Hirsch, president of Committee to Bridge the Gap, said, “Rather than requiring protective actions to limit public radiation exposures, EPA is now saying it would allow the public to be exposed to doses far higher than ever before considered acceptable.”

If you are concerned, please contact your members of congress and ask them to also request that EPA withdraw its proposed Protective Action Guides for responding to releases of radioactivity.

This has been the CCNS News Update.  Please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org and like us on Facebook.

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CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 9/13/13 through 9/20/13

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

*  New NAS Report about Science and Engineering at Nuclear Weapons Lab Raises Concerns

The National Academy of Sciences recently released a report about “Managing for High-Quality Science and Engineering at the [National Nuclear Security Administration] National Security Laboratories” saying that the laboratories have made significant progress in their core mission of maintaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.  http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18440  In 2010, Congress asked for the report to understand the quality and management of science and engineering activities at the national laboratories located in California and New Mexico, including Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Sandia National Laboratories.  The report suggests that less federal and independent agency oversight of these activities.

Jay Coghlan, Director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, responded to the report.  He said, “The National Academy of Sciences report giving the nuclear weapons labs high marks is a whitewash. There is no mention of the labs’ unfulfilled claims and huge cost overruns of taxpayers’ money, such as the National Ignition Facility at the Livermore Lab and the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project at Los Alamos. Nothing is said about their exorbitant cost of doing business, which runs at nearly 50% in overhead (or “support costs”) at LANL. While arguing for diminished federal oversight, the NAS report never touches upon the inherent conflict-of-interest at the labs.”  http://nukewatch.org/

One recommendation focused on reducing the administrative and reporting duties for the laboratory directors in order to “purposely free directors to establish strategic science and engineering direction at the laboratories.” Some believe that the laboratory directors have direct conflicts of interest in their roles and duties.  Coghlan said, “The lab directors wear two hats, first as those responsible for annual certification of the safety, security and reliability of the stockpile to the president and Congress. Their second hat is as presidents of the executive boards of the for-profit corporations running the labs. How can we be sure they are always acting in the best interests of the country while pushing a never-ending cycle of Life Extension Programs (LEPs) for existing nuclear weapons?

“These LEPS will cost at least $60 billion by 2038, when budget projections end but the programs clearly live on (and they always run over budget). Moreover, LEPs will endow existing nuclear weapons with new military capabilities, in contradiction to declared policy at the highest levels of the U.S. government. Finally, in a touch of irony, these programs may erode confidence in stockpile reliability by intentionally introducing major changes that can’t be full-scale tested.  Thus there should be more, not less, federal oversight and public scrutiny of the nuclear weapons labs.”

This has been the CCNS News Update.  To learn more, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org.

ACTION ALERT:  Attendance Needed!  

Who?  Ryan Flynn, Secretary-Designate of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED)

What?  He will be speaking about the “Order on Consent, NMED Perspective” about the March 1, 2005 “Cleanup” Consent Order for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) 

When?  Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at 2:15 pm

Where?  Northern New Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board meeting at the Cities of Gold Conference Center, 10-A Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque, NM

How?  The NMED has used the Citizens’ Advisory Board (CAB) meetings as a forum to announce changes to the way NMED regulates/partners/changes “cleanup” agreements without adequate public input.  For example, the announcement of the Framework Agreement between Governor Martinez and the Department of Energy (DOE) was made before a CAB meeting in the middle of the day – similar to the meeting tomorrow.

We anticipate that Secretary-Designate Flynn will announce that NMED will begin “re-negotiating” the Consent Order with LANL.  Last time there were negotiations between NMED and the Department of Energy and LANL about the Consent Order, they took place behind closed doors and took nearly 18 months to complete.  

The meeting agenda is available at:  http://www.nnmcab.energy.gov/  The meeting begins at 2 pm and goes to 4 pm.  There is an opportunity for public comment at 3:45 pm.

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ACTION ALERT:   Public comments in support of the Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network citizens’ petition to the FDA are due September 11, 2013.  Please go to the Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network to submit public comments.  http://ffan.us/?p=277  Or go to the Beyond Nuclear website and follow the instruction to submit comments.  http://www.beyondnuclear.org/food/  For more information, please read the CCNS News Update below.

CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 9/6/13 through 9/13/13

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

• Petition to FDA Requests Sampling of Food for Radiation Resulting from Fukushima Catastrophe

In March, public health and environmental non-governmental organizations filed a citizens’ petition with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) demanding that the federal agency drastically reduce the amount of radioactive cesium allowed in food, nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals and develop regulations to protect consumers from such pollutants.  Coalition members of the Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network, including Beyond Nuclear and Citizens for Health, petitioned the FDA to lower the radiation standards from 1,200 Bequerels per kilogram to 5 Bequerels per kilogram.  http://ffan.us/  A Becquerel is a measurement of radiation.  They are asking that all food be tested and labeled with the amount of cesium contained in it.  The Network requests your support of their petition.   http://ffan.us/?p=277 and http://www.beyondnuclear.org/food/

The National Academy of Sciences determined that there is no safe dose of radiation.  http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11340  The petition states that consumers must have the necessary information in order to manage their own intake of cesium.  Currently the FDA standards allow 1,200 Becquerels per kilogram in food, an amount 100 times higher than that allowed in Japan.

The damaged Fukushima nuclear power reactors continue to leak more than 10 million Becquerels of Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 per hour into the environment, with no sign of stopping.  Every day there is more news about how Tepco, the operator of the damaged reactors, does not have the ability to stop the leaking, nor the emissions into the air and contamination of the soil.  http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/18556-abe-at-ground-zero-the-consequences-of-inaction-at-fukushima-daiichi and http://truth-out.org/video/item/18661-record-radiation-levels-at-fukushima-nuclear-plant (interview with Dr. Arjun Makhijani, President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research).

Cesium is a gamma emitter and a good tracer for releases from the spent fuel pools.  Cesium-134 remains radioactive for 10 to 20 years, while Cesium-137 remains radioactive for 300 to 600 years.  Cesium mimics potassium in the body.  Over time, cesium bio-accumulates and bio-magnifies in the environment.

Contamination of the U.S. food supply has been found in grapefruits in Florida and oranges, prunes and almonds in California.  In 2012, Bluefin tuna found off the coast of California had levels of radioactive cesium 10 times higher than the amount measured in previous years.  They spawn off the Japan coast and swim 6,000 miles across the Pacific to school in the waters off the California coast.

The American Medical Association has called for testing of seafood.  http://ffan.us/?p=253  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced late last month that it will begin testing fish off the coast of British Columbia.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/08/19/bc-salmon-radiation-testing.html

Alexis Lynn Baden-Mayer, Political Director of the Organic Consumers Association, a sponsor of the petition, said, “The threat of contamination in our food supply is a long-term issue that deserves immediate attention.”  http://ffan.us/

To support the citizens’ petition, please go to the Beyond Nuclear website and follow the instructions.  http://www.beyondnuclear.org/food/  Because the FDA has 180 days to respond, the Network requests your attention prior to September 11, 2013.   http://ffan.us/?p=277

This has been the CCNS News Update.  To learn more, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org.

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CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 8/30/13 through 9/6/13

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

•  Vermont Yankee to Shut Down in 2014

This week the owners of Vermont’s only nuclear power plant announced that they will close the 40-year old Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in 2014.  Entergy Corporation will close Vermont Yankee after its current fuel cycle is completed and move to shutdown mode in the last quarter of 2014.  The plant is a Mark I design, a twin design to those that melted down and exploded at Fukushima Daiichi.  It is located on the Connecticut River.

The announcement ends a legal battle over the future of the plant.  In 2010, the Vermont Senate voted down a bill that would have authorized a state board to give Vermont Yankee permission to continue operations for an additional 20 years.  The Vermont legislators were concerned about the age, stress corrosion cracking and safety record of the plant.

Nearly all of the nuclear power generated is shipped out-of-state.  The legislature had asked Entergy to provide lower priced power to Vermonters if the state granted the 20-year extension.  Entergy sued Vermont and won.  The state appealed the decision and earlier this month the court ruled mostly in Entergy’s favor.  But the court overturned a part of the lower court decision which said that Vermont had violated the U.S. Constitution by trying to obtain cut-rate power from Vermont Yankee if it granted a 20-year permit.

Leo Denault, Entergy’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement, “This was an agonizing decision and an extremely tough call for us.  Vermont Yankee has an immensely talented, dedicated and loyal workforce, and a solid base of support among many in the community.  We recognize that closing the plant on this schedule was not the outcome they had hoped for, but we have reluctantly concluded that it is the appropriate action for us to take under the circumstances.”  http://www.entergy.com/News_Room/newsrelease.aspx?NR_ID=2769

In the past year, five nuclear power plants have announced their closure.  In October 2012, Dominion Resources announced the closure of the Kewaunee Power Station in Wisconsin citing the price of natural gas; in February 2013, Duke Energy announced that it would close Florida’s Crystal River plant rather than pay for costly repairs; and in June 2013, Southern California Edison announced the closure of the two reactors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station, also citing repair costs.

Senator Edward J. Markey, of Massachusetts, said in a statement, “Closing Vermont Yankee reflects the growing realization in New England and around the nation that it is time to move towards a safer, more affordable clean energy future of wind, solar, geothermal, along with well-regulated domestic natural gas.  While nuclear energy was once advertised as being too cheap to meter, it is increasingly clear that it is actually too expensive to matter.”  http://www.markey.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=345599

This has been the CCNS News Update.  To learn more, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org.