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Court: nuclear spent fuel can be stored at plants - California - Fresnobee.com
A federal appeals court has refused a request by several states to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to declare spent fuel pools at nuclear power plants a serious environmental threat.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday in Manhattan. It denied appeals by New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts that it review the NRC's rejection of a request by Massachusetts and California that it raise the risk level.
The states had argued that spent fuel causes a greater risk of fire than previously appreciated. The appeals court said it must defer to the regulatory agency's expertise.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will continue legal actions to force the agency to create a central national site to store nuclear waste.
The Associated Press: NY energy plan pushes conservation, solar and wind
A new state energy plan released Tuesday calls for more conservation, more use of renewable sources such as solar and wind power, a tougher New York building code and a disclosure requirement for a building's utility usage when it's sold.
Gov. David Paterson said the plan he accepted from the State Energy Planning Board provides the blueprint for a continuing transition to a clean energy economy over the next decade.
Initiatives for 2010 include the building sale disclosure and removing loopholes that have limited the effectiveness of the state's energy code. Both require legislative action. Others include procuring 100 megawatts more of solar energy statewide and requesting bids for an offshore Long Island wind project.
Thyroid cancer rates are alarming | LoHud.com | The Journal News
New research reveals that thyroid cancer rates near the Indian Point nuclear power plant are among the highest in the nation. Government statistics show that, compared to the U.S., thyroid cancer rates are 106 percent higher in Rockland County; 102 percent higher in Putnam County; 87 percent higher in Orange County; and 42 percent higher in Westchester County.
These figures are alarming. Unfortunately, Westchester County Health Commissioner Joshua Lipsman maliciously attacks this research, done by the Radiation and Public Health Project. RPHP, which I direct, comprises professional scientists. Our research is factual, while he has no proof to support his statements. My colleagues and I have published 25 papers on radiation health risk in scientific journals, including the esteemed Lancet and British Medical Journal. All papers were peer-reviewed by expert scientists who found them to meet high professional standards. Lipsman never published a single journal article on radiation health.
Evacuation plan is still unworkable | LoHud.com | The Journal News
Congratulations to Rob Astorino, who won the county leadership position by a large margin. The new county executive has been a strong supporter of Indian Point, and in his unsuccessful bid for the office in 2005, he tried to convince residents that the Kensico Dam was a larger threat than Indian Point if terrorists attacked. That argument did not play well and Mr. Astorino lost.
While these are different times, one thing is certain. The evacuation plan for Indian Point will not work if it is needed, and has unfixable shortcomings. Those were the findings of the 2003 Witt Report, and then-Gov. George Pataki publicly endorsed the report’s findings. That is why since then, neither Westchester County nor the State of New York have certified the evacuation plan as workable; and that is also why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been suggesting that "sheltering in place" rather than trying to evacuate is advised.
Report: Link Found Between Cancer and Residents' Proximity From Indian Point - WPIX
Residents living in counties in close proximity to the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester have the highest cases for thyroid cancer, a startling new report revealed Monday.
According to the article published in the International Journal of Health Services, the rate of residents in the area diagnosed with the disease is the highest in New York State and among the highest in the United States.
The 2001-2005 rate for the four counties surrounding the plant - Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester - was 66% above the U.S. Average, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The rates of local residents with thyroid cancer have significantly increased since the late 1970s, when the two Indian point reactors were installed, the report revealed.
NRC checks unplanned shutdown at Indian Point 2 | LoHud.com | The Journal News
Federal investigators are examining what caused an electrical fault that shut down a nuclear power reactor at Indian Point 2 Monday night.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said the plant went to "hot shutdown" at 10:42 p.m. Monday, which means the reactor coolant system remains heated and pressurized, allowing the plant to be returned to service quickly.
"There's no danger posed to the public or the workers due to the shutdown," Sheehan said Tuesday. "The operators followed the appropriate procedures and shut it down, but there's still work to be done as far as what caused the shutdown and the complications that occurred."
NRC investigators visited the site late Monday night.
UPDATE:Entergy May Try Utility Spinoff If Nuclear Plan Blocked
Entergy Corp. (ETR) remains committed to spinning off five of its nuclear power plants into a stand-alone company, but the company's chief executive suggested a possible alternative Tuesday if it can't win regulatory approval in New York.
Entergy Chairman and Chief Executive J. Wayne Leonard said the company could spin off its utility businesses into a stand-alone company to accomplish the same goal of separating its regulated utility businesses concentrated in the Southeast from its nuclear plants that sell power at market prices.
"We don't expect to go down that route, but it is a path to get you back to where you were. It just takes us longer and (requires) more regulatory approvals," said Leonard, speaking at the Edison Electric Institute's financial conference in Florida.
The New Orleans-based power company has been looking to create the nation's first stand-alone nuclear power company for two years. The deal was first stymied by the global credit freeze as Entergy needs to access billions of dollars in new debt to create the company, to be called Enexus Energy Corp. Now it's awaiting a decision from New York, where the spinoff has faced a push-back from consumer advocates and elected officials.
NRC - NRC Approves License Transfers for Constellation/EDF Nuclear Joint Venture
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has approved the transfer of the operating licenses for the Calvert Cliffs Units 1 and 2, Nine Mile Point Units 1 and 2, and Ginna nuclear reactors, as well as the license for the Calvert Cliffs Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), to a new ownership structure created by the joint venture of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) and EDF Development, a U.S. subsidiary of Électricité de France S.A., a French limited company. As provided by NRC regulations, the staff's approval of the transfer is effective October 9.
CENG and EDF Development submitted an application Jan. 22 requesting approval of the license transfer, and the companies provided supplemental information Feb. 26, April 8, June 25 and July 27. Following EDF Development’s proposed purchase of 49.99 percent of CENG, Constellation Energy Group (CEG) would hold the remaining 50.01 percent through two intermediate companies, Constellation Nuclear and CE Nuclear. The current Constellation Nuclear Power Plants corporation would become an LLC and exist between CENG and the individual power plants.
DOE wants to ship low-level radioactive waste to Anderson County landfill » Knoxville News Sentinel
The Department of Energy is proposing that tons of very low-level radioactive soil from a closed plutonium extraction plant in New York be trucked to Tennessee.
The Chestnut Ridge Landfill in Anderson County was the only landfill mentioned as the likely dirt depository during a conference call Thursday organized by DOE.
Some 6,000 cubic yards of soil that contains cesium-137 and detectable levels of strontium-90 and plutonium-239/240 are to be excavated from the New York site starting in mid-October, according to a DOE briefing.
That's the equivalent of some 200 dump truck loads of waste.
Committee recommends license renewal for Indian Point | LoHud.com | The Journal News
A team of independent experts who advise the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on safety are recommending that Indian Point be given 20 more years to operate.
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"The application for renewal of the operating licenses for (Indian Point 2) and (Indian Point 3) should be approved," the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards wrote to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a Sept. 23 letter, obtained by The Journal News.
The committee advises the NRC as part of the license extension review.
Without extensions, IP2 and IP3 would have to shut down permanently on Sept. 28, 2013, and Dec. 12, 2015, respectively, if their licenses are not renewed by the NRC. Indian Point 1 is no longer a working reactor.
Clean up West Valley : Opinion : The Buffalo News
Floods and landslides expose risk of incomplete radiation cleanup
The coalition urging state and federal officials to do a full cleanup of the state’s largest nuclear waste site, at West Valley, has a clear understanding of the implications of doing nothing.
Doing nothing means that far into the future, the legacy of West Valley will be the way in which we treated our natural resources. Will Lake Erie be a clean body of water free from radioactive-waste pollutants? Or will it contain evidence of neglect and of a refusal to take responsibility for the highly toxic nuclear wastes buried in, or leaking from, the decommissioned reprocessing site south of Buffalo?
There are already signs that should heighten concerns.
West Valley Cleanup: Deadline for public comment on West Valley cleanup approaches
This Tuesday, about 30 people collected on the sidewalk in front of the local office of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Representing a diverse cross-section of area organizations, the group stood shoulder to shoulder to demonstrate their solidarity, to exhort citizens to comment, and to urge policymakers to decide now to fully clean up the West Valley Nuclear Waste Site.
Speakers included: Todd Gates, Seneca Nation of Indians Tribal Councilor; Bill Nowak, representing New York State Senator Antoine Thompson; Bob Ciesielski, Sierra Club; Sister Sharon Goodremote, Buffalo Diocese Care for Creation Committee; Brian Smith, Citizens Campaign for the Environment; Diane D’Arrigo, Nuclear Information & Resource Service; and Lenore Lee Lambert, League of Women Voters Western New York’s Citizens Task Force.
The group brought mops, buckets, and brooms and called themselves the “Cleanup Crew.”
Panel tosses NRC’s Indian Pt. waiver case | LoHud.com | The Journal News
A federal appeals court has dismissed an Indian Point case arguing that regulators improperly allowed the nuclear plant's owners to loosen a fire safety equipment standard at the Buchanan site.
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"This case tests the limits of our jurisdiction ... to review orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission," Judge John Walker Jr. of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in the 20-page decision.
"Petitioners challenge only that exemption in this appeal," Walker wrote. "Because we lack jurisdiction ... we must dismiss the petition."
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, brought the case and said yesterday that he would decide his next move soon.
N.Y.: No ruling on Entergy nuclear spinoff in 2009 | LoHud.com | The Journal News
New York utility regulators likely will not decide on power provider Entergy Corp.'s plan to spin off its wholesale nuclear power generators into a separate company until 2010.
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New Orleans-based Entergy had hoped for a decision in November on whether it may place six reactors under a separate publicly traded company Enexus Energy Corp.
But two administrative law judges for the state Public Service Commission have ruled that a determination still is needed on whether the new company will have the financial capability to run three of the units in New York: two at Indian Point in Buchanan and one at James A. Fitzpatrick in Oswego County.
PSC staff has concerns that long-term unsecured bonds issued for the spinoff might result in a low Enexus bond rating, thus limiting the new company's financial capacity.
The judges have proposed a schedule under which environmental issues dealing with the spinoff would be heard by the PSC in December, followed by a ruling in January.
Entergy spokesman Michael Burns said if the deal is approved in January, the spinoff could occur in April.
NRC - NRC Issues Final Safety Evaluation Report for Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final safety evaluation report (SER) for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit numbers 2 and 3, and concluded that there are no open items that would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation.
The report documents the results of the NRC staff’s review of the license renewal application and site audits of the plant’s aging management programs to address the safety of plant operations during the period of extended operation. It represents the culmination of NRC’s comprehensive review of the application and inspection of the plant to verify license renewal implementation is consistent with the application. Overall, the results show that the applicant has identified actions that have been or will be taken to manage the effects of aging in the appropriate systems, structures and components of the plant and that their functions will be maintained during the period of extended operation.
Radioactive leak is feared : The Buffalo News
An underground container that holds about half of the world’s supply of radium may be leaking into groundwater in northwestern Niagara County, an advisory group to federal regulators warns.
The Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency responsible for investigating an area in the towns of Lewiston and Porter holding leftovers from the Manhattan Project, has found uranium contamination beneath ground level in portions of a former federal weapons site.
But corps officials insist there are no leaks in a 10-acre cell, known as the Interim Waste Containment Structure, constructed in the mid- 1980s on the 191-acre Niagara Falls Storage Site as a temporary container for various radioactive wastes and other radiological materials.
Associated Press: Entergy pushes to get spinoff of reactors done
Entergy Corp. has filed a proposal with utility regulators in New York state in a push to get approval of its long-running plan to spin off some of its nuclear power plants into a separate company.
Under a plan announced in late 2007, Entergy would spin off six nuclear reactors involved in the wholesale power business into a separate publicly traded company called Enexus Energy Corp.
Enexus would control five nuclear operations: Pilgrim Nuclear Station near Plymouth, Mass.; the James A. Fitzpatrick station in Oswego County, N.Y.; two units at the Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County, N.Y.; Vermont Yankee in Vernon, Vt.; and Palisades Power Plant in Covert, Mich.
EnergySolutions lands cleanup N.Y. contract - Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions Inc. said Tuesday it has won a $19.2 million contract to clean up a U.S. Energy Department test facility in upstate New York, the Energy Separation Process Research Unit.
URS Corp., which awarded the contract, will help perform the work. The job includes sorting, packaging, loading, rail transport and treatment, as well as disposal of soil, debris and mixed waste.
Work will begin immediately, and the project will take an estimated 24 months.
Trainloads of toxic sludge to begin arriving in Texas | State | Star-Telegram.com
The first trainloads of PCB-tainted sludge dredged from the Hudson River will arrive this month and, in the eyes of critics, turn a stretch of West Texas into New York’s "pay toilet."
They say burying dirt so toxic that General Electric Co. will spend at least six years and an estimated $750 million to dredge it up will create a new mess for future generations to clean up.
But for the 15 jobs and bit of money it’ll bring local businesses, the folks who live near the site are willing to take the risk, however remote, of tainting the area’s groundwater with somebody else’s trash.
FR: NIOSH Cohort petition for Lake Ontario Ordnance Works
Decision To Evaluate a Petition To Designate a Class of Employees for the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, Niagara Falls, New York, To Be Included in the Special Exposure Cohort AGENCY: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: HHS gives notice as required by 42 CFR 83.12(e) of a decision to evaluate a petition to designate a class of employees for the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, Niagara Falls, New York, to be included in the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The initial proposed definition for the class being evaluated, subject to revision as warranted by the evaluation, is as follows: Facility: Lake Ontario Ordnance Works. Location: Niagara Falls, New York.
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