Finanzmarkt- und Konzernmacht-Zeitalter der Plutokratie unterstützt von der Mediakratie in den Lobbykraturen der Geld-regiert-Regierungen in Europa, Innsbruck am 03.05.2016
Liebe® Blogleser_in,
Bewusstheit, Liebe und Friede sei mit uns allen und ein gesundes sinnerfülltes Leben wünsch ich ebenfalls.
Aus dieser Quelle zur weiteren Verbreitung entnommen: http://anonhq.com/media-silent-3-nuclear-disasters-unfolding-inside-us/
Media Silent While 3 Nuclear Disasters are Unfolding Inside the US
While the world is distracted by bathrooms, celebrity gossip, and Beiber’s new haircut, the world is having MAJOR issues that need attention and cooperation to prevent us sleep walking into preventable catastrophes. Below are just SOME.
MISSOURI:
According to a Missouri emergency plan a fire at the Bridgeton Landfill is closing in on a nuclear waste dump. The fire has been burning uncontrolled for over five years. Clouds of smoke drift into St. Louis leaving it heavily polluted. In December of last year, the EPA said they would install a physical barrier to isolate the nuclear waste, but it could take up to a year to build. Many residents aren’t happy with that timetable, and think the government haven’t done enough to prevent this possible environmental disaster. Apart from the threat of nuclear waste erupting into flames in the near future, there are also two nuclear reactors inside the United States that have been leaking for months.
FLORIDA:
A study by Miami-Dade County concluded that the area’s 40 year old nuclear power plants at Turkey Point are leaking into Biscayne Bay. This damage is polluting the bay’s surface waters and it’s fragile ecosystem. Recently bay waters near the plant have had a large plume slowly moving towards water wells several miles away that supply clean water to millions of people in Florida. Samples taken during the study found things from radioactive tritium, ammonia, and phosphorous. The scientists conducting the study say the levels of tritium are too low right now to harm people.
“We now know exactly where the pollution is coming from, and we have a tracer that shows it’s in the national park,” said Laura Reynolds, an environmental consultant who is working with the Tropical Audubon Society and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, which intend to file the lawsuit, according to the Times. “We are worried about the marine life there and the future of Biscayne Bay.”
NEW YORK:
Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York. At this site, there’s been an uncontrollable radioactive flow leaking into the groundwater which leads into the Hudson River, only 25 miles from New York City. The tritium leak is the ninth in just the past year. Thyroid cancer registered the biggest increase, going from 13 percent below the national average to 51 percent above. But apparently things like this don’t make the news anymore, only celebrity gossip, and political distractions. There are some folks out there however, that wish you to be informed of our actual priorities. If you’re one of them, feel free to share this information with others to help raise awareness towards the real issues that need attention.
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Screwed-up reactor is missing a slew of bolts
BY PAUL DeRIENZO | Indian Point — the nuclear power plant 45 miles north of New York City that has been beset by numerous operating headaches over the past year — delivered more bad news to its owner Entergy Corporation last month.
Hundreds of bolts, part of a key component of Indian Point 2, were found to be missing or damaged. The discovery of the missing bolts was the result of a voluntary “reactor vessel internals aging management program” inspection that was voluntarily undertaken by Entergy as part of its license-renewal program.
New York State has been concerned with the safety of the aging nuclear plant since Entergy asked to renew its licenses to operate Indian Point for 20 more years. The inspection included the first-ever examination of the “baffle-former bolts” that surround the radioactive core of the reactor. Corrosion of the bolts has caused trouble in other nuclear power plants around the world.
The Indian Point 2 license expired in 2013 and the license for Indian Point 3 expired last December. Entergy filed for license renewal in 2007.
The inspection occurred during the biannual shutdown and refueling of the Indian Point 2 reactor. Indian Point 3 was refueled during a planned 23-day shutdown last year.
Entergy reported to the Atomic Licensing Board that about 227 of 832 bolts were “indicated” — meaning “missing bolts, and bars meant to hold them in place, and other degradation requiring replacement of the bolts.” The bolts hold the removable liner that surrounds the reactor core and acts as a baffle, directing the immense flow of cooling water that passes through the reactor.
Entergy said the power plant is safe and no radiation was released. Larry Coyle, the site vice president and top official at Indian Point said, “The hundreds of inspections performed over the last few weeks demonstrate these programs work as designed.”
A typical baffel and former arrangement for a nuclear reactor during construction.
But Dave Lochbaum, director of the Nuclear Safety Project of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the missing bolts raise troubling questions that “should be answered,” including about the condition of bolts at Indian Point 3 — which is an identical reactor with the same operating history — why the damage wasn’t discovered during previous inspections, what happened to the pieces of broken metal from the bolts and whether they would be recovered.
“Since I.P. 3 is virtually identical in design as I.P. 2,” said Gary Shaw of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, “I.P. 3 should be shut down immediately to examine the integrity of the reactor core liner.”
In a statement, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said, “For years, my office has raised serious concerns about the aging of components of the Indian Point nuclear plants, including ‘baffle-former’ assembly bolts… . Our concerns have been repeatedly dismissed by Entergy and the N.R.C.”
The state has 35 legal challenges lodged against Indian Point and Governor Andrew Cuomo has supported closing the plant throughout his political career.
According to Schneiderman, the recent series of ongoing problems at Indian Point “underscores real and present safety issues related to continuing to operate this aging nuclear facility in close proximity to more than 17 million people.”
In December, a short circuit at Indian Point 3 was linked to bird poop, called “bird streamers.” The company said the bird excrement damaged insulators and caused an “electrical disturbance,” which “tripped” the reactor, forcing it to shut down. There was no release of radiation from that incident.
Entergy has also reported the leaking of the radioactive contaminant tritium into groundwater beneath the reactors in a separate incident.
There have been seven major incidents at the plant over the past year, including in May when an explosion at a transformer leaked oil into the Hudson River.
Entergy has reported that the problem bolts will delay the restart of Indian Point 2 and increase the cost of the shutdown.
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Und noch aus dieser Quelle zur weiteren Verbreitung entnommen: http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/new-york-zwischenfall-im-atomkraftwerk-indian-point-a-1076093.html
Kontaminiertes Wasser: Zwischenfall in New Yorker Atomkraftwerk
Im Grundwasser bei einem Atomkraftwerk in der Nähe von New York City ist dramatisch erhöhte Radioaktivität gemessen worden. Der Gouverneur schlägt Alarm, der Betreiber wiegelt ab.
Bei Grundwassermessungen in der Nähe des Atomkraftwerks Indian Point seien „alarmierend hohe“ Strahlungswerte festgestellt worden, erklärte der Gouverneur des US-Bundesstaats New York, Andrew Cuomo, am Samstag. Offenbar sei mit dem radioaktiven Wasserstoffisotop Tritium kontaminiertes Wasser aus dem Kraftwerk ausgetreten. Der Gouverneur ordnete eine sofortige Untersuchung an.
Indian Point steht seit Jahrzehnten in der Kritik. Mit dem Bau des Kraftwerks wurde 1955 begonnen, der erste Reaktor ging 1962 ans Netz. Seit Jahren macht es vor allem mit Störfällen von sich reden. Aus dem 1973 in Dienst gestellten Reaktor 2 beispielsweise entwichen 2009 rund 400.000 Liter Kühlwasser. Als Ursache wurde damals festgestellt, dass die Rohre in den 36 Jahren nach der Inbetriebnahme nicht mehr kontrolliert worden waren und schlicht durchgerostetwaren.
Gouverneur Cuomo setzt sich seit Jahren für eine Abschaltung des Kraftwerks ein und sparte auch jetzt nicht an Kritik: „Dies ist weder das erste Mal, dass aus Indian Point radioaktives Wasser entweicht, noch ist es das erste Mal, dass Indian Point signifikante Fehler bei Wartung und Betrieb offenbart. Dieser Zwischenfall zeigt ein weiteres Mal, dass Indian Point nicht weiter auf eine Art betrieben werden darf, die die öffentliche Gesundheit und die Umwelt gefährdet.“
Sechs Prozent der Amerikaner leben in der Umgebung
Dass Indian Point trotz aller Kritik, trotz der veralteten Technik und trotz seines Gefahrenpotenzials weiter am Netz bleiben darf, dürfte damit zusammenhängen, dass es für die Stadt New York derzeit ein unverzichtbarer Energielieferant ist. Mehr als ein Viertel des von New York City benötigten Stroms wird in dem alten AKW produziert.
Vor diesem Hintergrund wird gerne ausgeblendet, dass das Atomkraftwerk nur 40 Kilometer von New York City entfernt ist.Gouverneur Cuomo zufolge leben sechs Prozent der US-Bevölkerung in einem Umkreis von 80 Kilometern vom Kraftwerk.
Bei den aktuellen Grundwassermessungen wurden nun Werte von bis zu acht Millionen Picocurie pro Liter festgestellt. Das entspricht eine Steigerung um fast 65.000 Prozent gegenüber früheren Messungen an derselben Stelle, bei denen 12.300 Picocurie gemessen wurden. Die US-Umweltschutzbehörde EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) hat für Trinkwasser einen Maximalwert von 20.000 Picocurie bei Kontamination mit Tritium festgelegt.
Zu der Kontamination sei es gekommen, als Arbeiter bei Wartungsarbeiten hochgradig radioaktives Wasser umpumpen wollten und ein Abfluss überlief, erklärte Neil Sheehan, Sprecher der US-Atombehörde NRC. Eine für solche Fälle vorgesehene Absaugpumpe war außer Betrieb.
Das kontaminierte Wasser werde langsam in den Hudson River diffundieren, an dessen Ufer das Kraftwerk steht, sagte Neil Sheehan weiter. Normalerweise würde es dann mitten im Fluss derart verdünnt werden, dass kaum noch Radioaktivität messbar sei. „Wir glauben, dass es für die Öffentlichkeit keinen Grund zur Sorge gibt“, sagte Sheehan.
Dieser Diktion schloss sich Jerry Nappi, Sprecher der Entergy Group, an: Tritium im Boden sei nicht mit den Standards seiner Firma vereinbar, sagte er. Auch habe der Vorfall keine Konsequenzen bezüglich Gesundheit oder Sicherheit. „Es gibt keine Beeinflussung von Trinkwasser, weder auf dem Betriebsgelände, noch in dessen Umgebung.“
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New York: Erneuter Zwischenfall im ältesten Kernkraftswerk Indian Point 1 – Alarmierender Radioaktivitätsaustritt im Grundwasser! 650-fach überhöhter Wert von Tritium im Grundwasser!!!
Finanzmarkt- und Konzernmacht-Zeitalter der Plutokratie unterstützt von der Mediakratie in den Lobbykraturen der Geld-regiert-Regierungen in Europa, Innsbruck am 14.02.2016
Liebe® Blogleser_in,
Bewusstheit, Liebe und Friede sei mit uns allen und ein gesundes sinnerfülltes Leben wünsch ich ebenfalls.
Aus dieser Quelle zur weiteren Verbreitung entnommen: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/06/new-york-city-groundwater-radioactivity-investigation-indian-point-nuclear-power
New York investigates radioactive leak in groundwater near city
Governor Andrew Cuomo orders review following detection of ‘alarming levels of radioactivity’ at nuclear power plant 40 miles north of Manhattan
Radioactive material has leaked into the groundwater below a nuclear power plant north of New York City, prompting a state investigation on Saturday and condemnation from governor Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo ordered an investigation into “alarming levels of radioactivity” found at three monitoring wells at the Indian Point energy center in Buchanan, New York, about 40 miles north of Manhattan.
“Our first concern is for the health and safety of the residents close to the facility and ensuring the groundwater leak does not pose a threat,” Cuomo wrote in a letter that directed health and environmental officials to investigate.
In one location radioactivity levels rose nearly 65,000%, from 12,300 picocuries per liter to over 8,000,000 picocuries per liter. The Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level for tritium in drinking water is 20,000 picocuries per liter, though Entergy, the company that owns the plant, emphasized that only groundwater, and not drinking water, were contaminated.
The governor’s office said the contamination had not moved offsite. Cuomo has encouraged Entergy to shut down Indian Point, but to keep its other plants further upstate open.
He directed health and environmental officials “to determine the extent of the release, its likely duration, cause and potential impacts to the environment and public health”.
“While elevated tritium in the ground onsite is not in accordance with our standards, there is no health or safety consequence to the public,” Entergy said in a statement released late Saturday. “Releases are more than a thousand times below federal permissible limits. The tritium did not affect any source of drinking water onsite or offsite.”
The plant supplies roughly 30% of the electricity consumed by New York City. Indian Point had three emergency shutdowns in December, prompting the governor’s office to launch, and then expand, an inquiry into operations and safety standards at the facility.
There have been many tritium leaks at the plant in recent years, though Saturday’s leak appears to be the most serious so far. Public service commission chair Audrey Zibelman faces a deadline for the results of the pre-existing investigation by President’s Day, 15 February.
“This latest failure at Indian Point is unacceptable,” Cuomo said in a statement. “This is not the first such release of radioactive water at Indian Point,” he said, adding: “this failure continues to demonstrate that Indian Point cannot continue to operate in a manner that is protective of public health and the environment.”
Tritium is a radioactive hydrogen isotope that cannot penetrate the skin; however, it is considered a health risk for illnesses, including cancer.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to request for further comment on the beginning of the leak and its duration.
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65,000% Rise in Radioactivity of Leak Is Tip of Iceberg for Nuclear Plant near NYC
Claire Bernish
February 8, 2016
(ANTIMEDIA) Buchanan, NY — Indian Point Energy Center, which sits roughly 30 miles from the heart of Manhattan in New York City, has been plagued with safety breaches and leaks, and has even been the subject of a deliberate cover-up since it began operations in the 1970s. A statement from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday revealing“radioactive tritium-contaminated water leaked into groundwater”near the nuclear facility is hardly a surprise — though no less indicative that it may be time to shut down the aging plant.
“The company reported alarming levels of radioactivity at three monitoring wells, with one well’s radioactivity increasing nearly 65,000 percent,” Cuomo’s statement asserted.
Entergy, which operates the reactors known as Indian Point 2 and 3 at the Buchanan, New York, facility — Indian Point 1 ceased operations in 1974 after failing to meet expectations — claimed there was no immediate threat to public health because the contamination had not migrated off-site. Cuomo, however, wasn’t convinced. He ordered Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos and Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker to work with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and employ all necessary measures to conduct a thorough investigation and impact assessment to the environment — and of possible threats to public safety.
This latest leak simply adds to a list of many issues over the years — in 1979, alone, there were 14 “incidents” at Indian Point 2, and nine at Indian Point 3. But even cursory research reveals numerous leaks at the plant, including a “serious” 100,000 gallon leak in 1980, an 8,000 gallon leak in 1981, and a leak of an unspecified amount in 1995. Tritium-and nickel-63-tainted water leached into the groundwater supply in 2006. In 1982, Indian Point was the target of the first hearing in history by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to determine whether a nuclear plant should simply be closed down due to its safety record.
Obviously, the determination left the nuclear facility online, but residents in the area and a number of scientists have been convinced for decades that a major accident by human error, or natural causes, is a matter of when, not if. And from the day the plant went online to near future plans concerning the Algonquin Pipeline Project, Indian Point has always tempted fate.
Built in 1962, Indian Point 1 was the first nuclear plant designated for civilian use. It sits on the bank of the Hudson River, in an area called theRamapo Fault Zone. Though the fault isn’t as infamous and well-known as the San Andreas, it still presents serious risks for the aging and mismanaged nuclear plant.
“A study by a group of prominent seismologists suggests that a pattern of active but subtle faults makes the risk of earthquakes to the New York City area substantially greater than formerly believed,” stated Columbia University’s Earth Institute in 2008. “Among other things, they say the controversial Indian Point nuclear power plants, 24 miles north of the city, sit astride the previously unidentified intersection of two active seismic zones.”
As Leonardo Seeber, coauthor of the study published in the Bulletin of Seismological Society of America, explained of a major quake near the plant, “The probability is not zero, and the damage could be great. It could be like something out of a Greek myth.” Lead author Lynn R. Sykes explained that geologic features, such as a sudden bend in the Hudson River which was previously unexplained, are in actuality indicative of the layout of the complex of faults in the area. According to the study:
“Indian Point is situated at the intersection of the two most striking linear features marking the seismicity and also in the midst of a large population that is at risk in case of an accident. This is clearly one of the least favorable sites in our study area from an earthquake hazard and risk perspective.”
While Entergy, which owns the facility, is presently attempting to re-license Indian Point 2 and 3, according to the Earth Institute, the New York Attorney General alerted an NRC panel in 2008 that “New data developed in the last 20 years disclose a substantially higher likelihood of significant earthquake activity in the vicinity of [Indian Point] that could exceed the earthquake design for the facility.” Entergy had not presented“new data on earthquakes past 1979.”
In 2011, the NRC rated nuclear plants across the country for their potential for core reactor damage, based on seismic risk. AsMSNBCreported, Indian Point 3 topped the list, and its risk potential had increased 72 percent over previous rankings:
“The chance of an earthquake causing core damage at Indian Point 3 is estimated at 1 in 10,000 each year. Under NRC guidelines, that’s right on the verge of requiring ‘immediate concern requiring adequate protection’ of the public … The odds take into consideration two main factors: the chance for serious quake, and the strength of design of the plant.”
Victor Gilinsky, an energy consultant and former member of the NRC,penned an op-ed in the New York Times in December 2011 titled, “Indian Point: The Next Fukushima?” in which he stated, “A severe accident at Indian Point, whose two reactors [that remain in operation] opened in 1974 and 1976, is a remote but real possibility. We’ve had two severe accidents with large releases of radioactivity in the past. The Chernobyl accident was dismissed by Western countries on the grounds that it was the product of Soviet sloppiness and ‘couldn’t happen here.’ But the Fukushima accident involved reactors built to American designs.
“The essential characteristic of this technology is that the reactor’s uranium fuel — about 100 tons in a typical plant — melts quickly without cooling water. The containment structures surrounding the reactors — even the formidable-looking domes at Indian Point — were not designed to hold melted fuel because safety regulators 40 years ago considered a meltdown impossible.
“They were wrong, and now we know that radioactive material in the melted fuel can escape and contaminate a very large area for decades or more. It doesn’t make sense to allow such a threat to persist a half-hour’s drive from our nation’s largest city.”
Even if earthquake risk weren’t enough to make continuing operations at Indian Point sufficiently questionable, the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) Project to install a high-pressure gas pipeline extension — running through the facility’s property — should be. Despite challenges to halt or redirect the project, which, according to Law360 was originally approved by both the NRC and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on January 28, 2016, the project received the green light. Though the details and controversy about the AIM extension are too lengthy to cover here, one brief description reported by Truthout in April 2015 explained the basics:
“Paul Blanch is a professional engineer with nearly five decades of experience in nuclear safety, engineering operations and federal regulatory requirements. He has security clearance for his work, and is a nuclear industry proponent. He has worked with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission since its inception and with utility corporations across the United States, including Entergy.” In other words, as the Pontiac Tribunepreviously reported, Blanch is by all accounts an industry insider.
Blanch told Truthout, “I’ve had over 45 years of nuclear experience and [experience in] safety issues. I have never seen [a situation] that essentially puts 20 million residents at risk, plus the entire economics of the United States by making a large area surrounding Indian Point uninhabitable for generations. I’m not an alarmist and haven’t been known as an alarmist, but the possibility of [this] gas line interacting with [this] plant could easily cause a Fukushima type of release.”
Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand have been actively critical of the AIM Pipeline extension through Indian Point property — for which a full-risk analysis has never been completed. Governor Cuomo is staunchly opposed to Entergy’s requests to the NRC to extend the two reactor’s operating licenses for an additional 20 years. So far, they’ve all run into brick walls.
Perhaps Cuomo’s call for an investigation over this latest radioactive leak from Indian Point Energy Center into the groundwater might produce results; but if past opposition can be an indicator, it’s not likely.
In the meantime, the safety of tens of millions of residents in and around the New York City metropolis remains in the hands — and at the whim — of an industry intent on pushing forward, no matter the potential costs.
This article (65,000% Rise in Radioactivity of Leak Is Tip of Iceberg for Nuclear Plant near NYC) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution toClaire Bernish andtheAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, emailedits@theantimedia.org.
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