U.S. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER WHISTLEBLOWERS SPEAK OUT

Whistleblowers send warning at Columbia Generating Station
29 JAN. 2016  
"The Columbia Generating Station, the only commercial nuclear reactor in the state of Washington, has agreed to hire an independent investigator to look into whistleblower allegations that the plant has ignored operational and safety problems in order to keep the nuclear power plant online.

An anonymous letter was sent to the local media and board members of Energy Northwest, the public corporation that owns and operates the plant.  

The letter alleged that, according to industry performance scores used to grade operations the Columbia Generating Station has ranked among the worst in the United States in critical performance areas like electricity production relative to capacity, reliability, equipment health, and radiation protection.

Mike Paoli, spokesman for Energy Northwest, declined to release the performance grades stating that it was protected information.

The Columbia Generating Station is home to a General Electric BWR nuclear reactor similar to the Fukushima Daiichi reactors that began construction in 1975, but after construction delays the plant was over-budget and not brought online until 1984.

The plant has been under intense economic scrutiny in the last few years, with critics asserting that the plant cannot financially compete with low energy prices in the wholesale market and boom of natural gas."

Energy Northwest was recently forced to pay a fine to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after an official investigation found security officers inattentive and unavailable.

The NRC and Energy Northwest did not release specifics of the security issue.

The reactor does have have a history of operational problems.

"It experienced a series of unplanned shutdowns in 2008 and 2009, and was subsequently rated as one of the two worst performing nuclear plants in the country by an independent, industry-funded group that tracks various operational and safety measures in the nation's nuclear fleet.

That review found deficiencies in human performance, leadership and equipment reliability, prompting the replacement of its management team and an aggressive push to improve performance."

MORE OFTEN NOW WHISTLEBLOWERS ARE COMING FORWARD ABOUT OUR FAILING NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS.

ALL OUR REACTORS ARE PAST THE NUMBER OF YEARS THEY WERE DESIGNED FOR.
BUT EVEN THOSE THAT ARE SUPPOSEDLY "SHUT DOWN", LEAKS, FAILURES AND CONTAMINATION OF THE SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT CONTINUE.

TAKE "SONGS" (SAN ONOFRE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION) FOR EXAMPLE.

Faulty steam generators led to the plant’s closure in 2013, heightening worries over the nuclear waste.

In September, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors asked the federal government to remove and relocate the waste. Later that month, H.R. 3643 was introduced.

With no plan in place for moving the spent fuel, the California Coastal Commission in October approved a measure to bury it in concrete bunkers at the San Onofre plant.

“It seems critical that we move that waste from the coastline,” Councilman Tony Kranz said, adding the need is clear given the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
25 JAN. 2016

There has been concern about the storage of the closed San Onofre plant’s nuclear waste, objections to the canister storage system favored by Edison.

A leakage from nuclear waste storage may expose the population within a close radius to airborne radioactive contamination and ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.

San Clemente Green shared this recent report that confirms the objections and fears presented since the plant was decommissioned:

In a disturbing investigative review by KPBS, it becomes perfectly clear that we have been put at great risk while being ripped off by Southern California Edison (SCE), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

Regardless of unquestionable guilt, these three parties are still responsible for a deeply flawed plan on how to handle the remaining nuclear waste at San Onofre.

SCE put us all at risk by installing faulty equipment after being warned many times.

Hundreds of fifty gallon drums holding radioactive materials were buried on site, but their whereabouts remain unknown.

Samples taken to detect radiation on site were diluted by adding uncontaminated soil.

Clandestine meetings were held to stick ratepayers with the cost of SCE’s reckless behavior.

After four years of gathering evidence against all parties involved, legal investigations have been stalled, while these crooks and criminals continue to hold our fate in their hands."

THAT'S JUST IT, ISN'T IT? 
ALL OF OUR 'FATES' ARE IN THE HANDS OF MANIACS WHOSE ONLY GOAL IS TO KEEP FINDING EXCUSES TO MAKE THE WORLD A RADIOACTIVE WASTELAND. 

MAY MORE WHISTLEBLOWERS COME FORWARD UNTIL ALL AMERICANS REALIZE WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON AND DEMAND AN END TO NUCLEAR ENERGY. 

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[MY NOTE: ANOTHER SCREWY FORMAT ISSUE WITH GOOGLE BLOGS, AGAIN.
4 EDITS HAVE NOT FIXED THE ISSUES.... STET. ]

SEE ALSO:

~World awash with waste plutonium,  24th January 2016.

 http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/2986959/too_much_of_a_bad_thing_world_awash_with_waste_plutonium.html 
"The UK has the largest pile, with 140 tons held at Sellafield in north-west England.

“The practice of shipping this plutonium to the US as a safeguard is completely undermined by deliberately exposing this prime terrorist material to a lengthy sea transport, during which it will face everyday maritime risks and targeting by those with hostile intentions.”

~ Nuclear Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)- what needs to be done?

Analyses of the accidents by the DOE have documented a lack of a ‘safety culture’ at WIPP.

The current regulatory period of 10,000 years is short relative to the 24,100-year half-life of plutonium-239, let alone that of uranium-235, which has a half-life of 700 million years.

Policy: Reassess New Mexico’s nuclear-waste repository, Nature  Cameron L. Tracy,  Megan K. Dustin & Rodney C. Ewing 13 January 2016

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article53238340.html#storylink=cpy~WHY OUR NUKE PLANTS ARE CRUMBLING.
Core-Concrete Interaction Studies – Molten Core (Corium)  

~ CRUMBLING NUKE PLANTS
http://enformable.com/core-concrete-interaction-studies-molten-core-corium/

Progression of a severe reactor accident will eventually lead to the point where molten core debris penetrates the primary vessel and falls into the reactor cavity. The interaction of molten core debris with structural concrete is known to produce vast amounts of aerosols and cause release of fission products. Experimental investigations of melts interacting with concrete have shown that the concrete is aggressively attacked.


Molten Core – Concrete Interactions in Nuclear Accidents

~Two SRS MOX facility contractors accused of defrauding government.

This is not the first concern raised about waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement at the MOX facility.  An indictment like this should call for in-depth analysis of the operations at the MOX facility