People's Alliance For Clean Energy

Planning to attend the meeting of the NRC in Louisa next Tuesday, May 21 ?? want to carpool ?? please send a note with the contact info/phone using the contact form.

By Olga Peters/The Commons

BRATTLEBORO—Vermont Yankee and other nuclear plants no longer just spin turbines and produce electricity.

Nuclear plants, and the states that host them, must also acknowledge these sites as the nuclear waste storage facilities they are, said nuclear waste expert Robert Alvarez.

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Omaha Public Power District officials updated the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Monday on changes being made at the plant that might require amending its operating license.

On Monday, the Omaha Public Power District told regulators about several changes that are being made at the plant to improve safety and some long-standing paperwork problems it hopes to clear up.
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As it is poised to impose strict regulatory measures on the operation of nuclear power plants, the Nuclear Regulation Authority is increasingly met by opposition that it is making the resumption of plants that are currently offline virtually impossible.
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WASHINGTON (February 27, 2013) — Five House Democrats who lead their respective committees today pressed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to require that all U.S. nuclear reactors of the same design as the ones that melted down at the Fukushima nuclear facility in Japan install vents to help prevent hydrogen explosions in the event of a severe accident and reduce exposure to radiation when they are used.

The letter was sent to the NRC by Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Committee, Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), the Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee, Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. The letter can be found HERE.

The smart energy analysts over at Pike Research — which puts out weekly reports I’d love to see but can never afford — recently published an interesting brief, and for once it’s free! It’s a high-level overview of “Five Metatrends to Watch in 2013 and Beyond” in the energy sector. Metatrends! (I really wanted to call this post “Metatrends Vs. Crocosaurus.” Here they are:
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SEABROOK — The cracking of safety-related concrete structures at the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant has made a lot of news recently, but the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has decided not to make the issue a formal part of the hearings on extending the plant’s operating license until 2050. The reason given was based on a technicality rather than on a substantive decision, the agency confirmed.
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By Associated Press, Published: February 19
CARLTON, Wis. — Dominion Resources Inc. says it will proceed with plans to close and decommission its Kewaunee Power Station in northeastern Wisconsin.

The Richmond, Va.-based energy provider said Tuesday that the Midwest Independent System Operator determined the shutdown will not hurt the regional electrical grid.
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The operator of Florida’s Crystal River nuclear plant sent shockwaves through the state when it announced recently that it was shutting down the facility for good.

When nuclear plants have closed elsewhere, locals have cheered. But in Citrus County, it’s been more like a death in the family.

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By Harvey Wasserman

Two more atomic dominoes have hit the deck.
At least a half-dozen more teeter on the brink, which would take the
US reactor count under 100.

But can we bury them before the next Fukushima erupts?
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