Did you catch "The Meltdown: Three Mile Island" on Netflix? TMI remains a danger and TMIA is working hard to ensure the safety of our communities and the surrounding areas. Learn more on this site and support our efforts. Join TMIA. To contact the TMIA office, call 717-233-7897.
Electricity generation from solar and wind hit a record-high of 401.4 terawatt hours (TWh) between January and June 2024, surpassing the 390.5 TWh of power generated from nuclear power plants, Ember’s data showed.
In a move parallelling his decision to remain a candidate for President, on Tuesday July 10th President Joe Biden signed the “ADVANCE Act,” which stands for “Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy.” The controversial bill aggressively promotes the narrow, short-term interests of the U.S. nuclear industry in ways that threaten the long-term national environmental, climate and national/international security interests.
Further, it functionally rewrites the mandate of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in ways that potentially cast it into the role of promoter instead of federal regulator of the controversial and moribund nuclear power industry.
To summarize, The ADVANCE ACT:
· promotes development of currently experimental, commercially non-existent “small modular nuclear reactors” (SMNRs) and allegedly “advanced” reactors, using tax dollars; · provides less regulatory oversight by ordering the NRC to “streamline” licensing of currently experimental SMNRs, putting the NRC in a position of becoming a quasi-promoter instead of regulator, in contradiction to its 1975 founding mandate; · requires development of the infrastructure needed to produce more intensely enriched radioactive fuel called “HALEU” – high-assay, low-enriched uranium -- required for the SMNRs to run on. Enrichment would be just below weapons-usable; currently the only source of HALEU is Russia; · ignores the potential increased risk and harm from having more nuclear reactors large and small; · produces more high-level radioactive waste without first having a disposal method in place for either current or future reactors; · permits and encourages export of nuclear technology and materials internationally, and · for the first time, allows foreign control/ownership of nuclear facilities within the U.S.
Congress cannot be absolved from its role in uncritically swallowing the gaslit promises of nuclear power. The House previously passed its version of the legislation by a margin of 393-13 before sending it to the Senate. There, it stalled, but was procedurally resurrected by attaching the 93-page nuclear Christmas-wish list to a three-page, must pass fire safety bill – S.870, the Fire Grants and Safety Act. It passed in the Senate 88-2, with only Senators Ed Markey (MA) and Bernie Sanders (VT) recognizing the imminent threat it posed to energy, environmental, and international security interests.
Critics of nuclear power and opponents of the ADVANCE Act fail to see:
· how the Act fights climate disruption, when SMNRs are only experimental, may not work at all, and if they work will not be available in sufficient quantities for commercialization before the mid-2030s, according the nuclear industry itself. It is the carbon we remove and keep out of the atmosphere between NOW and the mid-2030s that will determine if we can meet climate goals; · how SMNRs will enhance currently threatened system reliability and power availability, when they will not be available – assuming they even work – before the mid-2030s. · how exporting SMNR technology and ~19+% enriched (just below weapons useable) HALEU reactor fuel worldwide improves international security in a world dominated by wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, and potentially in southeast Asia; poorly controlled non-state actors; and well-known corrupt business entities. Equally baffling is how allowing foreign ownership of nuclear facilities in the U.S. proper makes our energy systems safer, more secure, and insulated from economic instability or foreign interference. · how mandating the NRC to “expedite” SMNR licensing – potentially at the expense of its original and official mandate to “adequately” protect public health and safety and the environment – makes nuclear power and the nation safer. This regulatory approach has demonstrably failed with Boeing; failed with Norfolk Southern in East Palestine; failed with PIMSA in Sartortia; and doubly-failed at Fukushima. NRC is supposed to oversee and regulate an industry that in the past five years has repeatedly displayed corporate and legislative corruption at the highest levels resulting in FBI indictments, convictions and guilty pleas, millions of dollars in fines, and enormous cost overruns born by ratepayers. · why viable alternatives to nuclear expansion like renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, and transmission improvements are not prioritized over nuclear expansion, since ALL are cheaper, quicker to implement, reduce carbon emissions, produce no radioactive wastes, have no meltdown potential, create no nuclear proliferation issues, and, most importantly – ALREADY EXIST. Nothing more needs to be invented; just implemented.
For example, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) stated in December, 2023 that roughly 2,600 giga-watts (GW) of electric power projects await grid connection – over twice the entire current electrical output of the US, and roughly 27 times the entire output of all current US reactors combined. The large majority of this backlog are renewable energy projects awaiting connection access to the aging transmission grid. New EXISTING transmission technologies like reconductoring and improved grid resiliency solutions could double the capacity of the grid in much shorter time and with far greater certainty than chasing speculative nuclear promises, creating greater ease of access for renewables and storage.
By signing the ADVANCE Act, the President and an accomplice Congress have placed the nation’s energy future, climate goals, and even international security at grave risk. Clearly, placing short term, ego-invested interests over the long-term best interests of the nation seem to be a problem extending beyond re-election. As Napoleon once observed, never ascribe anything to malice when there is the least suspicion of incompetence. Perhaps, but in the end, the results are the same.
On Thursday, July 11 from 6-10pm Eastern, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), accompanied by the Department of Energy, will hold a public comment session regarding environmental scoping for the Palisades atomic reactor restart scheme. (The unprecedented restart is already being emulated at other closed reactors.) The location is Grand Upton Hall at Mendel Center, 1100 Yore Ave. in Benton Harbor, Michigan. In-person attendees will be given priority to deliver verbal comments. However, virtual/telephonic participation, from anywhere, is another option for providing verbal comments for the official record. See NRC’s June 27 press release, its public meeting announcement, and theFederal Register Notice. Beyond Nuclear has prepared sample talking points you can use to compose your own comments.
Congress and the White House have launched their fool’s errand chasing more nuclear power mirages. US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm acknowledged it in her “victory lap” around the two Westinghouse AP1000 units that finally connected to the electric grid in Georgia. “‘It’s not a given that this buildout of nuclear is going to happen,’ she said at the American Nuclear Society Society’s annual conference. ‘So here’s the hard ask. Who here is going to announce plans to build the next AP1000?’”
Only 2 of 12 Westinghouse AP1000 units signing up for the “nuclear renaissance” in 2007 managed to finish. Thirty-two+ new reactor units never finished. See Power Magazine’s July 8, 2024 commentary, “Cost Makes Adding New Nuclear Power Plants Unthinkable.”
Constellation Energy, subsumed by Exelon Generation and spun off in charge of its nuclear power operations, has jumped on the bandwagon for federal funds to look at “recommissioning” the decommissioning Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear power station in Middletown, PA. TMI, along with the radioactive wreck of Unit 2, was certified to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as permanently closed, defueled and slated for decontamination, dismantlement and radioactive site cleanup.There are 14 “permanently” closed US reactors awaiting decommissioning according to the NRC Information Digest’s Appendix C in “SAFSTOR” status ostensibly considered “restartable.” Some have been idled “cold and dark” for decades. The pro-nuclear Washington Post recently ran its slant on what is another dangerous and exorbitantly expensive boondoggle.
Chevron Deference's (courts bowing to executive agency expertise) death at the hands of the Supreme Court of the U.S. has largely been framed as a loss for environmental protection.
But as Evergreen Collaborative has arguedin the context of climate, the opposite may well be true. Beyond Nuclear and our allies in the fight against the nuclear industry have often been ruled against, as judges have invoked Chevron to allow largely pro-nuclear agencies like NRC, DOE, EPA, etc. to aid and abet the industry.
But now, we can more readily challenge agency hubris in court. Similarly, SCOTUS's ruling in West Virginia versus EPA has boomeranged into a lower court victory against two radioactive waste dumps in the Permian.
Duke is again considering Levy County site for new nuclear plant
The proposal could revive a major fight from over a decade ago, where a plan to build a different type of nuclear plant met resistance from environmentalists and consumer advocates.
BY: | 07/11/2024 06:42 AM EDT
Duke Energy is considering putting a nuclear power plant in Levy County, Florida.Mike Stewart/AP
ENERGYWIRE | TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Duke Energy Florida is again considering putting a nuclear power plant on 5,000 acres it owns in Levy County, regulatory documents reviewed by POLITICO reveal, as state and federal officials encourage the expansion of nuclear energy.
Duke Energy has not publicized its plans. But documents filed with state regulators in April by the utility say that it is considering building a "next generation" nuclear plant at the site between 2038 and 2048. The proposal could revive a major fight from over a decade ago, where a plan to build a different type of nuclear plant met resistance from environmentalists and consumer advocates.
The utility's pending decision was buried in testimony filed as part of a three-year, $818-million rate hike request filed with the Public Service Commission. The request includes a proposal to charge consumers a collective $94 million to hold the Levy County land for a future power plant.
Benjamin M.H. Borsch, the utility's managing director of integrated resource planning and analytics, said the company is considering placing a small modular nuclear reactor on the site. "The site remains especially valuable given its access to water, transportation, and transmission," Borsch said in written testimony.
Duke Energy in 2013 said it had eliminated the site from consideration for a different proposed nuclear project. Four years later, the utility signed a legal agreement canceling the project and absorbing $150 million in site costs.
Some project opponents said Wednesday they were surprised by the prospect of the new nuclear plant.
"I know it's a long way off," former Republican state Sen. Mike Fasano, now the Pasco County tax collector, told POLITICO. "My question would be, how much is it going to cost and who is going to pay for it?"
Duke spokesperson Audrey Stasko said via email the plant that was proposed prior to 2013 had been canceled, but nuclear energy remains an option "as utilities across the nation move toward a carbon free future." She did not respond Wednesday to questions about the cost and whether a federal license obtained in 2016 could still be used at the plant site.
Public Counsel Walt Trierweiler also declined to comment on the Levy County site, after contesting the utility's $94 million request to hold onto the site. His office announced Monday that it had reached a tentative agreement with Duke Energy to settle the overall rate request dispute.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed federal legislation intended to streamline the permitting process to encourage new nuclear plants, which his administration says can help battle climate change. And agency staff told the state Public Service Commission on Tuesday they have begun working on recommendations to encourage the development of advanced nuclear technology as required by state legislation, H.B. 1645 (24R), which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed May 15.
Duke Energy Florida and its predecessor, Progress Energy, collected more than $1 billion from customers for the two 1,100-megawatt nuclear units that had been planned at the Levy County site.
Duke announced in 2013 that it was abandoning the project because of delays in issuing the federal license and uncertainties about the future cost of the project.
Although the plant was never built, the utility said in 2013 it continued to regard the Levy site as a "viable option" for a nuclear plant. The utility continued pursuing the federal nuclear plant license.
In 2017, Duke Energy struck the deal with the Office of Public Counsel in which the utility agreed to write off the $150 million in site costs. The utility also was required to remove by 2019 the plant site from the base rates it charges customers.
As for the proposed Levy County nuclear plant, "this is putting the nails in the coffin and nailing it shut," then-Public Counsel J.R. Kelly said in 2016.
But that settlement also specifically allowed Duke to request customer charges for the plant site in the future.
Duke had not sought those charges in recent years. Borsch said in his April testimony that transmission line improvements scheduled between 2025 and 2030 would improve access to the plant site.
Helmuth W. Schultz III a regulatory consultant hired by Trierweiler to testify in the rate case, said the PSC should refuse to allow the company to collect from customers the $94 million to hold the site.
"There is no evidence that it is probable that the land will be used for a regulated project in the foreseeable near future," Schultz said in written testimony.
Borsch responded in testimony filed last week that the site's designation under federal legislation for additional clean energy credits makes it worth hundreds of millions of dollars more to customers.
Susan Glickman, a veteran environmental lobbyist, said Wednesday the possible new Duke project confirmed her concerns about the state legislation that seeks to encourage new nuclear plants, which she said are costly and take too much time to build.
"We don't want some new technology that has not been fully developed delaying the clean energy solutions that are readily available at low cost," she said. Glickman is vice president of policy and partnerships at the left-leaning CLEO Institute.
State Rep. Bobby Payne, a Republican from Palatka and who sponsored the recent legislation that DeSantis signed in May, told legislators in January that millions of dollars spent by the federal government on clean energy had led to only slight increases in its overall use.
"The NIMBY mentality has kept us from developing nuclear power in this area and all throughout the country," Payne told the state House Energy, Communications and Cybersecurity Subcommittee.
EN Revision Text: AUTOMATIC REACTOR SCRAM DUE TO MANUAL TURBINE TRIP
The following information was provided by the licensee via phone and email:
"At 0728 EDT on July 10, 2024, with Unit 2 in Mode 1 at 24 percent power, the reactor automatically scrammed due to a manual turbine trip. The [reactor] scram was not complex with all systems responding normally. Reactor vessel level reached the low-level set-point following the scram, resulting in valid Group 2 and Group 3 containment isolation signals. Due to the reactor protection system actuation while critical, this event is being reported as a four hour, non-emergency notification per 10 CFR 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) and an eight hour, non-emergency notification per 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) for the Group 2 and Group 3 isolations.
"Operations responded using emergency operating procedures and stabilized the plant in Mode 3. Decay heat is being removed by discharging steam to the main condenser using the turbine bypass valves. Unit 3 was not affected.
"There was no impact on the health and safety of the public or plant personnel. The NRC Resident Inspector has been notified."
Page Last Reviewed/Updated Thursday, July 11, 2024
No: 24-056 July 10, 2024 CONTACT: David McIntyre, 301-415-8200
NRC Publishes Annual Report to Congress on Security Inspections
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has posted an unclassified version of its annual report to Congress on the results of the agency’s security inspection activities in 2023.
The report covers the NRC’s security inspection program, including force-on-force exercises, for commercial nuclear power reactors and Category I fuel cycle facilities. The report keeps Congress and the public informed of the NRC’s efforts to oversee the protection of the nation’s civilian nuclear power infrastructure and strategic special nuclear material.
In 2023, the NRC conducted 184 security inspections at commercial nuclear power plants and Category I fuel cycle facilities. These included 18 force-on-force inspections, held every three years at nuclear power plants, involving simulated attacks to test the effectiveness of a licensee’s physical protection program. The publicly available inspection results are discussed in the report.
When NRC inspectors identify a security finding, they ensure that the licensee corrects the situation in a timely manner. Details of security findings are considered sensitive and not released to the public.
DOE Seeks Input on Federal Consolidated Interim Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel
Request for Information Responses Due Sept. 5, 2024
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a request for information (RFI) to identify industry partners interested in contributing to the development of federal consolidated interim storage facilities for the management of spent nuclear fuel. DOE is also seeking information from parties interested in providing engineering design, project management, integration, and other services needed to build and manage consolidated interim storage facilities.
DOE is seeking input on the following key areas:
Improvements to the draft performance work statement
Technical assessment of the work scope and marketplace options
Multidisciplinary expertise and experience required
Evaluation criteria for the solicitation
Resource requirements and regulatory risks
Projected timeline and potential time-saving measures
Strategies to include small business participation
This RFI is open to all interested parties who wish to comment or have questions on DOE’s planned solicitation approach, acquisition strategy, and other relevant requirements for federal consolidated interim storage facilities. Interested parties are invited to submit their responses electronically by 6 PM EST on September 5, 2024.
The comments and feedback collected will help inform a competitive request for proposals (RFP) for the engineering design of a federal consolidated interim storage facility.
Federal consolidated interim storage facilities are just one piece of DOE’s broader strategy to establish an integrated waste management system that includes transportation, storage, and eventual disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
For more information on this RFI and instructions to submit comments please visit SAM.gov
A whistleblower, who is apparently part of the team dismantling the shuttered Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, has written another letter warning about the dangers to workers when the nuclear plant’s fuel rod cooling waters are evaporated into the atmosphere.
The 2024 Clamshell Alliance: No Nukes Reunion is just around the corner!! We will be gathering Friday July 26th - Sunday July 28th at World Fellowship Center in Albany, NH.
Here's what's on the schedule:
Friday, July 26 7:30 PM - Global Premier of "Acres of Clams," a film by Eric Wolfe covering Clamshell from inception in 1976 through the last major actions in the late 1980s. This will be shown in the evening as part of "Fun Night." Saturday, July 27 Noon - Dedication of the memorial brick for Renny Cushing. 4 to 5:30 PM -- Nukes Update with Paul Gunter Sunday, July 28 10:00 AM -- Clamshell circle discussion: strategy, plans, sharing, etc.
There should be plenty of time for casual conversations, trips to Whitton Pond, walks on the nature trail, and more. Those who arrive Friday may overlap with participants in the Peace Action northeast retreat. See the description on the World Fellowship calendar at: https://worldfellowship.org/event/acres-of-clams-documentary-screening/. Armband optional.
For other scheduled events that weekend, including a walking tour of Tamworth Saturday morning and a concert Saturday evening, check out the World Fellowship calendar. https://worldfellowship.org/calendar-of-events/2024-07/.
Steering Committee:. Adam Auster, Anna Gyorgy, Arnie Alpert, Brian Tokar, Doug Bogen, Eric Wolfe, Jay Gustaferro, Judith Kaufman, Paul Gunter, Phil Stone, Shel Horowitz, Sharon Tracy, Susanae Glovacki, Tom Wyatt
NRC Proposes $9,000 Fine for Defense Health Agency for Loss of Radioactive Material
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a $9,000 civil penalty to the Defense Health Agency for loss of nuclear material used during medical procedures.
DHA, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, oversees medical treatment facilities within the Department of Defense, including the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
In March 2023, DHA reported the loss of a single seed containing iodine-125 that is used to help target the location of cancerous tissue. The seed could not be located after being removed from a patient at Brooke Army Medical Center and sent to a laboratory for analysis. The NRC performed an inspection at the medical center in June 2023, to review what occurred.
Later, DHA reported the loss of 10 additional iodine-125 seeds believed to be in storage. The NRC then conducted a reactive inspection. Despite an investigation and multiple searches, the material was not found.
In February, the NRC notified DHA that it had identified two apparent violations stemming from the loss of the seeds and was considering escalated enforcement, including a civil penalty. The violations include a failure to properly secure stored NRC-licensed materials and a failure to control them when not in storage. DHA was informed it could submit a written response, request a predecisional enforcement conference or seek to resolve the matter via the alternative dispute resolution mediation process.
DHA provided a written response in April requesting the NRC reduce the proposed civil penalty based in part on DHA’s prompt self-reporting of the loss, reviews DHA did to better understand what occurred, and procedural and other changes DHA made to prevent recurrence.
BY: | 07/11/2024 06:42 AM EDT
