10/30/2012 Nuclear plant shuts down unit, another put on alert as Sandy pounds East Coast

Source: The Washington Post
Date: Tuesday, October 30, 12:01 AM

WASHINGTON — Part of a nuclear power plant was shut down late Monday while another plant — the nation’s oldest — was put on alert after waters from superstorm Sandy rose 6 feet above sea level.

One of the units at Indian Point, a plant about 45 miles north of New York City, was shut down around 10:45 p.m. because of external electrical grid issues said Entergy Corp., which operates the plant. The company said there was no risk to employees or the public, and the plant was not at risk due to water levels from the Hudson River, which reached 9 feet 8 inches and was subsiding. Another unit at the plant was still operating at full power.
...
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10/29/2012 Nuclear Power Plants from Virginia to Vermont Could Be Impacted from Massive Hurricane Sandy

Source: Democracy Now
Date: 10/29/2012
by: Amy Goodman, Arnie Gunderson

Video Description

Visit http://www.democracynow.org for the complete transcript, additional reports on this topic, and more information. Watch the independent, global news hour live weekdays 8-9am ET.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has acknowledged the massive Sandy storm could impact both coastal and inland nuclear power plants. At least 16 reactors are in the storm's projected path, including North Anna and Surry in Virginia; Calvert Cliffs in Maryland; Oyster Creek, Hope Creek and Salem in New Jersey; Indian Point in New York; Millstone in Connecticut; and Vermont Yankee. So far there have been no reports of reactors shutting down, despite operating under licenses that require them to do so if weather conditions are too severe. "The biggest problem, as I see it right now, is the Oyster Creek plant, which is on Barnegat Bay in New Jersey," says former nuclear executive Arnie Gunderson, noting it lies in the project eye of the storm. "Oyster Creek is the same design design, but even older, than Fukushima Daichii unit one. It's in a refueling outage. That means that all the nuclear fuel is not in the nuclear reactor, but it's over in the spent fuel pool. And in that condition, there's no back-up power for the spent fuel pools. So, if Oyster Creek were to lose its offsite power, and frankly that's really likely, there would be no way cool that nuclear fuel thats in the fuel pool until they get the power reestablished. ... The most important lesson we can take out of Fukushima Daiichi and climate change, and especially with Hurricane Sandy, is that we can't expect to cool these fueling pools."

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10/24/2012 115 CPM reading from Frederick, WI on Radiation Network

Source: Nokaoi Traverse (from Facebook Radiation Watch group)
Date: 10/24/2012 9:30 PM CST (approximate)

Editor's Note: A second Geiger Counter up North in the general area as the Grand Rapids, Minnesota meter from Radiation Network with high readings decreases the probability that the Grand Rapids meter (which is offline as of this moment) 100+CPM alert level reading was a fluke.  Note that the Frederic, WI meter has technically exceeded the alerting level but has not shown up in the alerts section of Radiation Network (yet).

Frederic, WI, US
Coordinates Latitude: 45.65920 Longitude: -92.46690
Altitude 1,237 feet
Station Name FREDERIC WI
Geiger Counter Model Inspector EXP+

Other Criteria In plastic tube 3 ft. external of N building face w/fan
Report Period Day Time AM/PM

Beginning time 10/24/12 08:05:53 PM
Ending time 10/24/12 10:17:11 PM
Elapsed Minutes 130


Radiation Counts
Value


Total Counts 11,249
Average CPM 86
Minimum CPM 63
Maximum CPM 115
Last Alert Level Set (CPM) 100


Time of Low/High Radiation Day Time AM/PM

Minimum CPM occurred 10/24/12 09:49:53 PM
Maximum CPM occurred 10/24/12 09:05:06 PM
Alert Level first exceeded 10/24/12 08:59:55 PM
Alert Level last exceeded 10/24/12 09:10:55 PM

RadiationNetwork shows 110 CPM in Grand Rapids, Minnesota

Source: RadiationNetwork.com
Date: 10/22/2012

Here is a copy and paste the Alerts section of RadiationNetwork.com:

Update: 10/22/12, 5:00 P.M. - Radiation Alert in Minnesota
The Radiation Network has a contributing Monitoring Station located in Grand Rapids, Minnesota that is triggering Radiation Alerts as I write this, since about 1:00 P.M. local time.  Until we receive feedback from the station operator, we have no reason to believe this is not a genuine detection of elevated radiation levels, and so as with our policy, this will be allowed to play out for the time being.
The graph shows steadily rising radiation from a normal background level of about 40 CPM, eventually exceeding the 100 CPM alert level on our network.  We know Grand Rapids operates the PRM-9000 Geiger counter which is built around the same ultra-sensitive pancake style Geiger-Mueller tube as in the Inspector line of instruments.  Without yet knowing the source or nature of the Grand Rapids radiation, I can say that particular model of GM tube has demonstrated at other times and across other monitoring stations how sensitive it is to passing radioactive weather patterns, even from an indoor monitoring posture.  When we obtain more information, we will provide a follow-up report.

For future posterity, here is a video by MissingSky101 of the high reading:

10/15/2012 Busby: Iraqi birth defects surge from US depleted uranium ammo

Source: Russia Today
Date: 10/15/2012
by: Dr. Christopher Busby

Video Description

A new study's revealed a staggering rise in birth defects among Iraqi children conceived in the aftermath of the US led war.

The findings were published by the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.

It's suggested American and British ammunition has caused high rates of miscarriages and birth defects - including in the heart and brain.

Professor Christopher Busby from the European Committee on Radiation Risks believes the invaders should take responsibility for what they did.

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10/4/2012 Top Nuclear Experts: Technology Doesn’t Yet Exist to Clean Up Fukushima

Source: Washington's Blog
Date: 10/4/2012

Containing Fukushima Is Beyond Current Technology

World-renowned physicist Michio Kaku said recently:

It will take years to invent a new generation of robots able to withstand the radiation.

(The radiation inside the reactors is too hot even for robots.)
AP reports:

Hiroshi Tasaka, a nuclear engineer and professor at Tama University who advised the prime minister after the disaster …  said the government target of removing all the rods by the end of next year may prove too optimistic because of many unknowns, the need to develop new technology and the risk of aftershocks.

The world leader in decommissioning nuclear reactors, and one of the main contractors hired to clean up Fukushima – EnergySolutions – made a similar point in May:

Concerning the extraction of fuel debris [at Fukushima], which is considered the most challenging process, “There is no technology which may be directly applied,” said [top EnergySolutions executive] Morant.

10/3/2012 AMERICAN Government Forces Re-Start of Japanese Nuclear Reactors

Source: Washington's Blog
Date: 10/3/2012

Americans Are Largely Responsible for Japan’s Ongoing Nuclear Policy

Archaic nuclear reactor designs such as those used at Fukushima – built by American company General Electric – were chosen because they were good for making nuclear bombs.   The U.S. secretly helped Japan develop its nuclear weapons program starting in the the 1980s.  Therefore, the U.S. played a large role in Japan’s development of nuclear energy.  (See this).

After the Fukushima disaster – in an effort to protect the American nuclear industry – the U.S. has joined Japan in raising “acceptable” radiation levels.  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also signed a pact with her counterpart in Japan agreeing that the U.S. will continue buying seafood from Japan, despite the fact that the FDA is refusing to test seafood for radiation in any meaningful fashion.  So U.S. actions are helping to protect a pro-nuclear policy in Japan.

Indeed, mainstream Japanese newspaper Nikkei reports that it was President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton who have pressured the Japanese to re-start that country’s nuclear program after the Japanese government vowed to end all nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
...
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9/21/2012 Pump malfunction caused shutdown at Three Mile Island

Source: Chicago Tribune
Date: 9:39 a.m. CDT, September 21, 2012
Exelon waiting to nuke plant to cool to make repairs

The cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Middletown, Pa., in a 1998 file photo. (Chris Knight/For the Tribune / September 20, 2012)

Associated Press

9:39 a.m. CDT, September 21, 2012

A malfunctioning pump caused an automatic shutdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant Thursday, the second such event in as many months.

Plant officials and government regulators said the shutdown at the plant, where a partial meltdown of a reactor in 1979 is considered the worst commercial nuclear power plant accident in U.S history, posed no threat to public health or safety.

The shutdown occurred shortly after 2:15 p.m. ,when the failure of a coolant pump tripped the computerized system that shuts downs the reactor in the event of any safety-related problems. 

...

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Editor's Note: Map of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station below.

View Live Ustream Radiation Detectors in a larger map

9/20/2012 Kucinich Addresses Coalition of Anti Nuclear Activists

Source: Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich
Date: 9/20/2012 upload date

Video Description

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today addressed an overflowing audience of enthusiastic supporters as he explained the current status of the nuclear industry in the United States. He cited the problematic Davis-Besse nuclear power in Northern Ohio as an example of the state of the industry.

9/17/2012 Kucinich to lead 1000s anti-nuclear, pro-renewable energy Occupiers

Source: Examiner
Date: 9/17/2012
By: Deborah Dupre

Peace, human rights defender Congressman Dennis Kucinich to lead 1000s anti-nuclear, pro-renewable energy Occupiers in DC this weekend

Credits: Dennis Kucinich

Note: The original article attributed the statement "The briefing will give legislators information that they need about the ongoing situation in Japan and the problems with the continued use of nuclear power in the U.S. Radiation is a deadly legacy, and nuclear power is dirty, dangerous and expensive - and unnecessary when we can turn to clean, safe, cheap solar and wind power" to Mr. Kucinich, as had been understood. That statement, however, was not made by Mr. Kucinich, but instead by Wired For Change. The author extends sincere apology for this error.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich is hosting a Congressional briefing, Thursday, September 20, 2012, on medical effects of radiation exposure, and health threats presented by United States nuclear power plants, nuclear fleet, and the on-going tragedy in Fukushima, Japan. The briefing is part of a series of anti-nuclear events including an Occupy the Nuclear Regulatory Commission demonstration and Fukushima evacuees' presentations.
...
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9/14/2012 Nuclear Reactor Facility Evacuated In Austin

Source: Infowars
Date: Friday, September 14, 2012

Man with middle eastern accent claiming to be Al-Qaeda member phoned in bomb threat

A research facility at the University of Texas in Austin that houses an active nuclear reactor has been evacuated after a man with a middle eastern accent claiming to be a member of Al-Qaeda warned authorities the campus had been booby-trapped with explosives.
...
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Editor's Note: Map of J. J. Pickle Research Campus below.

View Live Ustream Radiation Detectors in a larger map

9/13/2012 Iran blocking nuke-site inspection

Source: World Net Daily
Date: 9/13/2012
by: F. Michael Maloof

WASHINGTON – Iran is imposing new conditions on the international nuclear watchdog agency whose inspectors want to visit the Parchin nuclear facility, where access already has been denied twice, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
...
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