While President Obama played soccer with a remarkable Japanese humanoid robot yesterday, robotic probes sent into the wrecked reactors at Fukushima Daiichi have quickly ceased functioning due to the high gamma radiation doses destroying their electroni…
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As tensions mount in eastern and southern Ukraine after the Russian takeover in Crimea, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant sits in the potential firing line. Zaphorizhia, with six full size nuclear reactors, is located north of Crimea. Another …
Continue readingAerial image of Plant Vogtle Nuclear Generating Station – photo credit to High Flyer. The photo shows the operating Units 1 and 2, as well as the construction site for proposed new Units 3 and 4.Southern Alliance for Clean Energy reports in a …
Continue readingCharmaine White Face, Coordinator, Defenders of the Black Hills, and Clean Up the Mines! volunteersCharmaine White Face, Coordinator of Defenders of the Black Hills, based in Rapid City, SD has shared the following message:
“Finally, a national campaig…
Toledo attorney Terry Lodge speaks out against a 20-year license extension at the cracked Davis-Besse atomic reactor at Oak Harbor High School, OH in August 2012.On Earth Day, 2014, opponents to 20 more years at Davis-Besse called for the problem-plagu…
Continue readingThe Huffington Post has published a cultural history, by Kevin Lankes, of Godzilla’s atomic origins. The original Japanese film came out in 1954, shortly after the U.S. military’s “Operation Castle Bravo” H-bomb “test” at Bikini blanketed a Japanese …
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A newly published study has uncovered alarming indications of biological loss and ecological collapse in the area around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor that exploded in Ukraine on April 26, 1986.
Nuclear boosters have long claimed that the superficial appearance of teeming wildlife in the approximately 1,000 square mile Chernobyl exclusion zone indicates an Eden-like outcome. But the study observed a frightening halt to organic decay and the disappearance of important microbes that indicate the steady advance of a potential “silent spring.”
“The illusion that the absence of humanity can only benefit wildlife is trumped when humanity has inflicted man-made poisons on a fragile ecosystem whose inhabitants are now biologically compromised by radiation exposures that will continue indefinitely,” observed Linda Gunter, international specialist at Beyond Nuclear, of the study’s findings.
Highly reduced mass loss rates and increased litter layer in radioactively contaminated areas, published in Oecologia, March 4, 2014, by Mousseau (Dr. Tim Mousseau pictured), Milinevsky, Kenney‑Hunt and Møller, found that the natural cycle of decay of organic materials around Chernobyl is largely dependent on microbial communities which have been significantly reduced in these radioactively contaminated zones.
“We already know about plant and insect mutations and the shortened lifespans of birds in the zone, but this news is even more alarming,” said Paul Gunter, Director of Reactor Oversight at Beyond Nuclear. “The long-term consequences of the loss of this essential microbial community could be unprecedented ecologically, while the most immediate consequence is the build-up of undecayed leaf matter. This creates an increased risk of forest fires which could spread radioactivity to uncontaminated areas,” Gunter said.
A photo showing a part of the ALPS system at Fukushima Daiichi, posted at Enformable.comAs reported by Reuters, although Japanese Prime Minister Abe said to International Olympic Committee dignitaries in Buenos Aires last September “Let me assu…
Continue readingCharles Komanoff, is an article posted at the Carbon Tax Center (which he directs), has set the record straight with the “paper of record.”
The Carbon Tax Center is a clearinghouse for information, research and advocacy on behalf of revenue-neutral c…
Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action, Japan, discusses what would happen during an evacuation caused by a nuclear emergency in Japan. But the plans are deeply flawed and inadequate.
Continue readingThe UN IAEA’s official radioactivity hazard warning signDave Kraft, Director of Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS) based in Chicago, wrote the following introduction as he forwarded the NIRS press release entitled “NRC Fails the American People:…
Continue readingNRC file photo of Nine Mile PointNRC file photo of FitzPatrickAs documented in the Federal Register, the French Areva EPR (“Evolutionary Power Reactor”) targeted at the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant site in Upstate New York, on the Lake Ontario s…
Continue readingThis radiation warning sign is posted on the perimeter fence of the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, Mo. Photo credit: Sarah Skiold-Hanlin, St. Louis Public Radio)As reported by St. Louis Public Radio, “[a] new analysis by scientists at the U.S. Enviro…
Continue readingKimiko Koyama, 69, who evacuated from the Miyakoji area of Tamura three years ago, dusts off her house after she returned to her home with her husband Toshio, 76, in Tamura, Fukushima prefecture April 1, 2014. Although reported by Reuters on April 1st,…
Continue readingSample image from an ESRI nuclear power plant proximity calculationThis online mapping program by ESRI can tell you your proximity to the nearest atomic reactors. Just allow the program to utilize your current location, or type in any address in the Lo…
Continue readingVermont Yankee is a GE BWR Mark I, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement by The Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance regarding the PSB’s decision to grant a Certificate of Public Good to Vermont Yankee…
It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of author, Jonathan Schell, on March 25th. Most noted for authoring “The Fate of the Earth,” a study of the devastation that the use of nuclear weapons would cause, Schell was also a …
Continue readingKarl GrossmanThe March 25, 2014 issue of The Independent, Antioch College’s alumni publication, features Beyond Nuclear board member Karl Grossman (Antioch class of 1964). The interview gives a good overview of Karl’s distinguished career of investigat…
Continue readingOn March 27, 2014 — the eve of the 35-year mark on TMI’s meltdown — NRC issued “G20130229 – 2206 Petition Closure Letter Re Revoke Operating License for General Electric Mark I and Mark II Boiling Water Reactors.” The closure letter is stored on NR…
Continue readingThe Nuclear Genie, as depicted in Walt Disney’s 1950s pro-nuclear propaganda book “Our Friend the Atom”The New York Times editorial board has cited “Measured Progress on Nuclear Security,” given Japan’s pledge to turn over a small fraction of its poten…
Continue readingEnvironmental coalition attorney Terry Lodge of ToledoThe environmental coalition opposing the 20-year license extension sought by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) at its problem-plagued Davis-Besse atomic reactor on the Lake Erie shore ea…
Continue readingRussia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine has reignited bellicose threats of nuclear war and the shocking global consequences that could arise out of regional conflicts. It has further underscored the inherent threat and vulnerability from atomi…
Continue readingMarch 28 will mark 35 years since the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, PA. Beyond Nuclear has prepared a special edition of our newsletter, The Thunderbird, focused entirely on examining th…
Continue readingDr. Judith Johnsrud, a geographer who dedicated more than 50 years of her life to the opposition of nuclear power in all its phases and forms, has died. Judy passed away peacefully after a long illness and surrounded by family in the early hours of Mar…
Continue readingIn a hugely hypocritical move, Fukushima Medical University (FMU), allowed its staff and students to take potassium iodide tablets in the initial days after the Fukushima nuclear disaster began, but refused to hand them out to members of the public…
Continue readingDr. Judith Johnsrud, a geographer who dedicated more than 50 years of her life to the opposition of nuclear power in all its phases and forms, has died. Judy passed away peacefully after a long illness and surrounded by family in the early hours o…
Continue readingAbby Martin of RT’s “Breaking the Set” news program takes a look at the state of the Fukushima nuclear power plant three years after the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami that led to the meltdown; discussing the long term impacts of continued…
Continue readingAileen Mioko Smith, Green Action JapanGreen Action Japan, directed by Aileen Mioko Smith (photo, left), has published a press release on the third anniversary of the 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake. The press release also emphasizes that the Japanese …
Continue readingNoam ChomskyAs reported by Democracy Now! on the Pacifica Radio Network:
World-renowned political dissident, linguist, author and MIT Professor Noam Chomsky traveled to Japan last week ahead of the three-year anniversary of the Fukushima crisis. Choms…
Former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto KanAmy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! on the Pacifica Radio Network, has conducted an exclusive interview with former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in his Tokyo offices. The nearly hour-long interview was aired…
Continue readingDavid Lochbaum, Edwin Lyman, Susan Q. Stranahan, and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) have published a book in time for the third anniversary of the beginning of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. The book details the blow by blow unfolding of t…
Continue readingU.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA)FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE
Contact: Giselle Barry (Markey) 202-224-2742
In 2011 in the House of Reps., lawmaker introduced nuclear safety legislation to ensure U.S. nuclear power plants could withstand earthquakes, tsunamis, long p…
As reported by NBC News’s Bill Dedman, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Office of Public Affairs defended its own image, as well as that of the nuclear power industry, as its top priority during the first days of the fast-breaking Fukushi…
Continue readingHydrogen explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 in mid-March 2011, which turned the reactor building into rubble and deposited 50 tons of debris into the high-level radioactive waste storage poolAs the fourth year of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catast…
Continue readingThe EPA is considering revising its limits for radiation releases and doses to the public from normal operation of nuclear power and other uranium facilities. In the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), EPA makes clear that it is not proposi…
Continue readingRead the full press release here.
Some excerpts:
“Few lessons from Fukushima have been learned in the U.S. One of the most important should be that high density U.S. pools are emptied into hardened on-site storage as soon as possible, before the …
As reported by The Milan News-Leader, the City of Milan in Southeast MI has joined dozens of other municipalities in Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, and beyond in passing a resolution opposed to the DUD (Deep Underground Dump) for so-called “low” and “…
Entergy’s Palisades atomic reactor, and the Great Lake and surrounding region it puts at riskThe Kalamazoo Gazette has reported that a hunk of extraneous metal has become wedged in the reactor at Entergy’s Palisades on the Lake Michigan shore in s.w. M…
Continue readingPalisades, Lake Michigan, and the region at riskBeyond Nuclear has joined with long-time watchdogs on the government-nuclear industry complex in Michigan, including Don’t Waste MI and MSEF, to decry a proposed bill before the State House of Representat…
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Karl Grossman, reknowned author and educator on the inherent hazards of nuclear technology, brings us up to date on the ongoing catastrophe of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident which began on March 11, 2011.
A nuclear accident has occurred at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant deep underground near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The WIPP site stores nuclear waste, principally plutonium-239, plutonium-240 and americium-241 contaminate…
Continue readingUnbowed and unrepentant, Sister Megan Rice, Greg Boertije-Obed and Michael Walli of the “Transform Now Plowshares” were sentenced on February 18, 2014 by U.S. District Court Judge Amul Thaper. They are to serve 3 to 5 years in federal priso…
Continue readingEnvironmental coalition attorney Diane CurranA Petition for Rulemaking was filed on Feb. 18th by Washington, D.C.-based attorney, Diane Curran (photo, left), as well as Mindy Goldstein of the Emory U. Turner Environmental Law Clinic, to the U.S. Nuclea…
Continue readingNRC file photo of NRC inspector visually examining severe cracking in Davis-Besse’s Shield Building wall in Oct., 2011.FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) ran its Davis-Besse atomic reactor to the breaking point in 2002. The Hole-in-the-Head …
Continue readingAerial image of Plant Vogtle Nuclear Generating Station – photo credit to High Flyer. The photo shows the operating Units 1 and 2, as well as the construction site for proposed new Units 3 and 4.U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz has announced th…
Continue readingAlfred Meyer, PSR board memberAlfred Meyer (photo, left), national board member of Physicians for Responsibility (PSR), spoke throughout Michigan on a tour organized by Beyond Nuclear from Feb. 12-17. His presentations of “Nuclear Power: What You Need …
Continue readingIn a pair of articles, E&E’s Hannah Northey reports that nuclear utility giants such as Exelon and Entergy are lobbying hard for changes to electricity marketplace rules that would enable them to keep uncompetitive atomic reactors operating. For it…
Continue readingAs reported by Crain’s Chicago Business, Exelon — the largest nuclear utility in the U.S. — is considering shuttering its Quad Cities nuclear power plant, because it cannot compete on the wholesale electricity market. Quad Cities consists of two …
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