News

Healey calls for better security at decommissioned sites and sites like Pilgrim that store spent fuel
ARTICLE | News | June 19, 2015 05:00 AM | By CapeCodToday Staff

Keeping in stride with her predecessor, Attorney General Maura Healey has called upon Congress to increase the safety at the country's nuclear power plants, particularly those that are decommissioned and those that store spent fuel. In a letter Thursday, Healey urged Congress to pass three bills sponsored or co-sponsored by Senator Edward Markey, according to a release from the AG's Office.

In a letter to US Senator James M. Inhofe, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Ranking Member Barbara Boxer, Healey wrote, "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has long had an obligation to develop meaningful long-term solutions to the current on-site storage of nuclear waste in facilities across the country, yet it has failed to do so."

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Saturday, June 20, 2015

"No danger" from decades of Pa. nuclear leaks? By Ray Wallace

The nuclear industry is self-reporting these repeated uncontrolled radioactive leaks to groundwater under an industry-led “voluntary initiative” program. In our view, voluntary reporting is not a reliable or acceptable substitute for a comprehensive regulatory program aimed at protecting water resources.

-- From the Executive Summary of “Leak First, Fix Later: May 2015” at this current site: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/356082/26211375/1431107955223/LeakFirstSummary_May2015.pdf?token=pCtJ4Mq0yC15OZLocnFVxfeMisc%3D

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This Notice document was issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

For related information, Open Docket Folder
 

Action
Draft regulatory issue summary; request for comment.

Summary
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking public comment on the draft regulatory issue summary (RIS) addressing considerations for licensing high burnup spent fuel in dry storage and transportation. The purpose of this RIS is to provide information on some approaches acceptable to the NRC for demonstrating compliance with regulations in applications for issuance of dry storage cask certificate of compliance (CoCs), independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) licenses, and CoCs for transportation packages involving high burnup spent fuel (HBF).
 

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COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg PA., 17120

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
06/16/2015
 
DEP Assesses $8.9 million Civil Penalty against Range Resources for Failure to Repair Leaking Gas Well

HARRISBURG, PA -- The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has notified Range Resources-Appalachia, LLC, of Fort Worth, TX that it intends to assess an $8.9 million civil penalty against the company, and has directed Range Resources to prevent methane and other substances from escaping from a leaking gas well and polluting groundwater and a stream in Lycoming County.

On May 11, 2015, DEP ordered Range Resources to submit a plan to remediate the defectively cemented gas well. However, the company failed to submit a satisfactory plan that made necessary repairs to prevent further leaks and pollution.

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Dear Mary,

ACT NOW!
Protect the most vulnerable from radiation exposure

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering rewriting its radiation exposure regulations, which currently do not protect developing children or pregnancy. These life stages are known to be uniquely vulnerable to radiation, and protecting them will protect everyone. Tell NRC to protect the most vulnerable from radiation exposure. Deadline is Monday, June 22, 2015. Read and sign the letter here  

MARCH FOR OUR CHILDREN: 6 moments from Day 1 on the road to the Statehouse

Follow the first day of the four-day "March for Our Children," organized by Massachusetts Downwinders, “a collaborative of individuals and groups across New England and beyond, sharing ideas, actions and support for the closing of Entergy's Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.” The walk culminates Tuesday with a 1 p.m. rally at the Statehouse.

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June 8, 2015: Groups call on EPA and DEP to terminate Pilgrim’s water permit

On June 8, 2015, a state-wide coalition of twenty-four public health and environmental groups issued a call to state and federal regulators to terminate Entergy’s Clean Water Act permit for its outdated “once through” cooling water system.

The groups’ request is based on a new report documenting Pilgrim’s destruction of marine life and pollution of Cape Cod Bay. With the report, Cape Cod Bay Watch released thousands of pages of internal agency documents exposing the fallacy of Entergy’s “permit” that allows the pollution to continue.  All documents are available below

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Download Press Release (Document)

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PPL has submitted an application to construct and operate a new nuclear power plant at its Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant site along the Susquehanna River in Salem Township, Luzerne County, Pa.

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The NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] staff's preliminary environmental recommendation is that the license could be issued....

The ... conclusions are cursory, fatally flawed, and reek of regulatory negligence. There is no approved reactor design. There is no approved consumptive water use permit. There is no money.

TMI-Alert will request a formal audit by the Government Accountability Office to determine if regulatory collusion and willful manipulation of data has taken place....

PPL ... needs a federal subsidy of $4.5 billion or 80% of the projected cost of the project. This "nuclear loan" is guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury (that is - taxpayers), and the real cost, based on overruns in Florida and Texas, is actually $10 billion!

-- From testimony given before the NRC by Eric Epstein, Chairman, TMI-Alert, Harrisburg, Pa. A copy of his June 4, 2015 document is attached.

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Why build another plant if we still havent solved the issue of where the waste is going to go?

-- Eric Epstein quoted in Power plant owner moves forward with plans for reactor, by Elizabeth Skrapits, at this June 5, 2015  site of Hazelton, Pa.s Standard Speaker:

http://standardspeaker.com/news/power-plant-owner-moves-forward-with-plans-for-reactor-1.1893430

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For more information about the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and submitting comments (by July 7, 2015) on the PPL application, go to this website:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NRC-2008-0603-0028

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June 3, 2015

Mr. Eric Epstein
Rock the Capital
4100 Hillsdale Road
Harrisburg, PA 17112

Re:     Right-to-Know Request Number 1400-15-150

Dear Mr. Epstein:

On May 27, 2015, the open-records officer of the Department of Environmental Protection (Department) received your written request for records. The Department is responding to your request under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. **67.101 - 67.3104 (RTKL)

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