Physicist Speaks On Concerns With Material At Los Alamos Lab
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. -- Dr. Michio Kaku discussed his concerns Tuesday for the hazardous materials housed at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Nuclear Catastrophe Imminent in Nebraska? Negligence and Cover-Ups
June 27, 2011
Negligence and Cover-Ups at Fort Calhoun Reactor
Nuclear Catastrophe Imminent in Nebraska?
By JOSEPH GIAMBRONE (counterpunch.org) June 27When I wrote last week about the Nebraska reactor surrounded by floodwaters I, like most, still considered it a highly remote possibility of cataclysm.
Upon further investigation, it seems much more likely now. The New York Times has exposed some major criminal negligence and game playing with the safety of the nation by the plant's operator. Peter Behr's June 24th report examines what we've been told vs. what's there on the ground at Fort Calhoun's nuclear power station. This is truly frightening with water levels approaching the 1007 ft. above sea level mark.
The "aqua berm" collapsed on Sunday, and nothing holds back the waters but random chance at this point.
The Ft. Calhoun reactor was repeatedly reported to be in "cold" shutdown, with an endless supply of happy talk in the press about how safe the situation remains. Not one of these reports gives the actual temperature inside the reactor. "Cold" is a relative term when dealing wtih nuclear reactors.
A June 22 Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) press release inspires no confidence whatsoever:
"If there is a complete loss of power on site temporary pumps that run on gas can circulate cooling water through the spent fuel pool and reactor core."
And reactor core? But I thought it was in "cold shutdown?" Why would that be necessary? The NRC release avoids the word "cold," and merely restates the term "shutdown."
The Omaha World Herald offers another clue:
"The NRC says its inspectors were at the plant when the berm failed and have confirmed that the flooding has had no impact on the reactor shutdown cooling or the spent fuel pool cooling." (Sam Womack, June 26)
The term "reactor shutdown cooling" implies it is not quite "cold" but requiring cooling still.
In an outstanding bit of hubris, the second threatened plant at Cooper is still operating at "full power." It's as if some are incapable of learning any lessons whatsoever.
CNN -- and almost all other news sources -- is still reporting the claims of the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) unquestioningly:
"The [Ft. Calhoun] plant is designed to withstand waters up to 1,014 feet above mean sea level, according to the OPPD."
That reassuring number ignores quite a bit. In the end it may prove to be the equivalent of the TEPCO assurances and the Japanese Government's claims that no meltdowns had occured.
"But a year ago, those new defenses were not in place, and the plant's hard barriers could have failed against a 1,010-foot flood ... at flooding levels above 1,008 feet, the plant "would experience a loss of offsite power and loss of intake structure" (NYT)
The NRC gave the operator OPPD a wristslap last October 6 to try and force some improvements of "substatntal importance" to the facility. The OPPD predictably stalled and tried to fight spending any money on improvements up through this year.
The plot thickened back in the 1990s, where a series of floods threatened the area. The Army Corps of Engineers warned the plant operator to increase its defenses by at least 3 feet, back in 2003. The plant however did not "properly act" on the "deficiencies." No surprises there.
When a senior nuclear investigator for NRC was asked how these situations can go on so long with no meaningful action taken to protect the public from disaster, Gerond George answered, "We only sample certain parts of their design basis..." This admission reveals gaping holes at the NRC.
Now it gets ugly. The plant was not actually "designed" for the 1014 ft flood level at all. Whether sufficient "improvements" to the original design have been implemented properly is anyone's guess. The plant was originally created to:
"The precise level -- 1,009.5 feet -- is written into the plant's operating licenses as a flooding 'design basis' threat that the plant must be guarded against." (NYT)
Here's the Omaha Public Power's solution to historic floodwaters lapping at their reactor:
"OPPD planned to extend the barrier to 1,014 feet by stacking sandbags on top of some steel floodgates that protected the auxiliary building, and to use more sandbags to safeguard the water intake structure and its essential cooling water pumps. "
You can't make this stuff up.
Yes, there's a reactor at Diablo Canyon in Southern California near an earthquake fault and designed magnitudes short of what could be unleashed there. Yes, they drilled so far below the Gulf of Mexico that they couldn't plug a leak until the Gulf was thick with oil and toxins. And yes, people in charge of the public safety at a Nebraska nuclear reactor thought piling up sandbags five feet high would safeguard against massive flooding.
These are the same geniuses who allegedly have performed the upgrades as instructed by NRC, just this year, to reluctantly fortify the plant against raging floodwaters.
I won't be touring the site personally.
The OPPD remains out of jail and in control of the situation. Its spokesman Michael Jones explained:
"We presented our analysis to [NRC] which we felt indicated that the design basis [for the flooding threat] should remain 1,009 feet," rather than 1,014 feet, he said." (NYT)
The current river level is just below 1007 feet.
"At 1,008.5 feet, the technical support center used by emergency technicians would have been inundated... At 1,010 feet, water would begin to enter the auxiliary building, "shorting power and submerging pumps. The plant could then experience a station blackout with core damage estimated within 15 to 18 hours..." (NYT)
The OPPD still clung to the absurdity that their fire truck would simply pump out the auxiliary building. That's their ace in the hole, apparently. One can picture Slim Pickens at the conclusion of Dr. Strangelove riding the nuclear warhead down and proudly waving his Stetson about with a victorious holler.
The NRC, it was reported deadpan, found that "it was not clear how workers could operate a crane to lift the fire truck into position if outside power were lost."
The Times waited until the end of the two page story to finally let the hammer drop:
"The NRC has not completed its evaluation of the new defenses installed at Fort Calhoun..."
The plant has not actually passed inspection, nor was it originally designed to handle the current reality. Its operator is criminally negligent in the extreme and incompetent also in the extreme. The operator has clearly fought the very safety improvements that are now desperately needed to hold back the river and avert a possible full meltdown a la Fukushima.
The age of nuclear power should be swiftly coming to an end. Do you really trust your family's lives to the sandbag plan? To the men who fight any reasonable action to make the nuclear reactors they have been entrusted with as safe as possible?
It's an indefensible industry. The situation is profit vs. public safety. The latter stands no chance over the long term.
Joe Giambrone is a filmmaker and author of Hell of a Deal: a Supernatural Satire. He edits the Political Film Blog. He be reached at: polfilmblog at gmail.
re posted by Radiation Alerts
or You can help radiationalerts.org and gdr.org by opening the web www.Donatefree.org and clicking a few of the links with in it. Cost you nothing, but a few minutes. PASS IT ON, Please !Firefighters make some headway against Los Alamos blaze
Firefighters make some headway against Los Alamos blaze
POJOAQUE, New Mexico |
(Reuters) - A raging wildfire sparked mini-blazes within one of the nation's top nuclear weapons production complexes on Wednesday even as firefighters for the first time gained control of a small edge of the fire.
The so-called Las Conchas Fire, which continues to throw small fires onto Los Alamos National Laboratory, has grown to nearly 70,000 acres, fire information officer Linda Kearns said.
But about three percent of the fire's perimeter was finally contained, the first time firefighters were able to make headway on the blaze that had burned out of control since Sunday.
"There are spots on lab property but they're putting them out pretty much right away," Kearns said.
A buried natural gas pipeline running near the northern edge of the fire has been turned off as a precaution, incident fire commander Joe Reinarz said. Los Alamos laboratory officials have been shutting down gas lines since the fire began to encroach on lab property earlier this week.
Both the town of Los Alamos, home to about 10,000 residents, and the laboratory, with a work force of about 12,000, were evacuated on Monday. The lab is scheduled to be shut down at least through Thursday.
Situated on a hilltop 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, the lab property covers 36 square miles and includes about 2,000 buildings, none of which have yet burned.
Established during World War Two as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb, the complex remains one of the leading nuclear arms manufacturing facilities in the United States.
At a community meeting late on Tuesday, hundreds of evacuees gathered in a local gymnasium to hear updates and voice concern about the repercussions of the blaze.
Mai Ting, a doctor living in nearby Pojoaque, said she was frustrated by the lack of information on how to stay safe.
"I'm not a fearmonger, but there's a reason this story is on the national and world news. It's because of the nuclear lab. I don't trust this fire," she said.
She added that she thought people staying near the fire should be consuming lots of potassium iodide and seaweed to counteract the potential effects of radiation.
"What do I tell my children and grandchildren?" she said. "Well, they've left. I didn't want them around here."
The Los Alamos complex contains three metric tons of highly radioactive weapons-grade plutonium, stored in concrete and steel vaults in the basement floor of a building near the center of the complex, with an air-containment system surrounding it, according to John Witham, a spokesman for the anti-nuclear watchdog group Nuclear Watch New Mexico.
Lab officials have said the storage structures were fire safe. Lab officials also called in teams late on Monday to monitor air quality, with high-volume air samplers ready to deploy.
Kearns said firefighters from Wyoming, Texas, Colorado, Utah and California had been brought in to help fight the blaze, which began Sunday from what authorities believe was a tree falling on a power line.
The fire grew by 10,000 acres on Tuesday, now scorching 69,555 acres of Santa Fe National Forest. Hot temperatures and gusts of up to 40 miles per hour were expected for Wednesday.
Reinarz said firefighting efforts would now be separated into two zones - a Northeast and a Southwest section - each with its own command section.
(Editing by Karen Brooks and Cynthia Johnston)
Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/29/us-wildfires-losalamos-idUSTRE75R12820110629
You can help radiationalerts.org and gdr.org by opening the web www.Donatefree.org and clicking a few of the links with in it. Cost you nothing, but a few minutes. PASS IT ON, Please !
(Reuters) - A raging wildfire sparked mini-blazes within one of the nation's top nuclear weapons production complexes on Wednesday even as firefighters for the first time gained control of a small edge of the fire.
The so-called Las Conchas Fire, which continues to throw small fires onto Los Alamos National Laboratory, has grown to nearly 70,000 acres, fire information officer Linda Kearns said.
But about three percent of the fire's perimeter was finally contained, the first time firefighters were able to make headway on the blaze that had burned out of control since Sunday.
"There are spots on lab property but they're putting them out pretty much right away," Kearns said.
A buried natural gas pipeline running near the northern edge of the fire has been turned off as a precaution, incident fire commander Joe Reinarz said. Los Alamos laboratory officials have been shutting down gas lines since the fire began to encroach on lab property earlier this week.
Both the town of Los Alamos, home to about 10,000 residents, and the laboratory, with a work force of about 12,000, were evacuated on Monday. The lab is scheduled to be shut down at least through Thursday.
Situated on a hilltop 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, the lab property covers 36 square miles and includes about 2,000 buildings, none of which have yet burned.
Established during World War Two as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb, the complex remains one of the leading nuclear arms manufacturing facilities in the United States.
At a community meeting late on Tuesday, hundreds of evacuees gathered in a local gymnasium to hear updates and voice concern about the repercussions of the blaze.
Mai Ting, a doctor living in nearby Pojoaque, said she was frustrated by the lack of information on how to stay safe.
"I'm not a fearmonger, but there's a reason this story is on the national and world news. It's because of the nuclear lab. I don't trust this fire," she said.
She added that she thought people staying near the fire should be consuming lots of potassium iodide and seaweed to counteract the potential effects of radiation.
"What do I tell my children and grandchildren?" she said. "Well, they've left. I didn't want them around here."
The Los Alamos complex contains three metric tons of highly radioactive weapons-grade plutonium, stored in concrete and steel vaults in the basement floor of a building near the center of the complex, with an air-containment system surrounding it, according to John Witham, a spokesman for the anti-nuclear watchdog group Nuclear Watch New Mexico.
Lab officials have said the storage structures were fire safe. Lab officials also called in teams late on Monday to monitor air quality, with high-volume air samplers ready to deploy.
Kearns said firefighters from Wyoming, Texas, Colorado, Utah and California had been brought in to help fight the blaze, which began Sunday from what authorities believe was a tree falling on a power line.
The fire grew by 10,000 acres on Tuesday, now scorching 69,555 acres of Santa Fe National Forest. Hot temperatures and gusts of up to 40 miles per hour were expected for Wednesday.
Reinarz said firefighting efforts would now be separated into two zones - a Northeast and a Southwest section - each with its own command section.
(Editing by Karen Brooks and Cynthia Johnston)
Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/29/us-wildfires-losalamos-idUSTRE75R12820110629
You can help radiationalerts.org and gdr.org by opening the web www.Donatefree.org and clicking a few of the links with in it. Cost you nothing, but a few minutes. PASS IT ON, Please !
Los Alamos scurries to protect nuclear lab from fire
SANTA FE, New Mexico |
(Reuters) - New Mexico fire managers scrambled on Tuesday to reinforce ground crews battling for a third day against a fierce blaze roaring out of control at the edge of one of the nation's top nuclear weapons production centers.
The fire's leading edge burned to within a few miles of a dump site where some 20,000 barrels of plutonium-contaminated waste is stored on the grounds of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, fire officials said.
Officials for the government-run lab said the stored waste is considered low-level radioactive material and remains a safe distance from the fire in an area cleared of trees and other vegetation.
Carl Beard, director of operations for the lab, said there has been no release of radioactive or hazardous materials into the environment and there was no immediate threat to public safety, "even in these extreme conditions."
Los Alamos County Fire Chief Douglas Tucker said authorities have for now suspended routine removal of the waste drums for shipment to a permanent underground disposal site in southern New Mexico.
"Because of the fire, they are not moving any of that. It is safer where it is," he said.
The fire, believed to have been ignited Sunday by a fallen power line, has consumed nearly 61,000 acres of thick, pine woodlands in the Santa Fe National Forest, which surrounds the lab complex and adjacent town of Los Alamos on three sides.
Tucker said he feared the so-called Las Conchas Fire, whipped by high, rapidly shifting winds, could soon double or triple in size.
"I seriously believe it could go to 100,000 acres," he told reporters at a news briefing on Tuesday. "We have fire all around the lab. It's a road away."
A small offshoot of the blaze jumped State Highway 4 onto the lab grounds on Monday, burning about an acre of property before it was extinguished about two hours later.
More than 300 firefighters, backed up by a fleet of seven water-dropping helicopters, battled the blaze on Tuesday, as fire managers scurried to bring in additional ground crews.
MORE FIREFIGHTERS
"We've been putting in orders to get as many firefighters here as we can," fire information officer Vanessa Delgado said. "We're trying to get them in as fast as we can."
Lab officials also called in teams late Monday to monitor air quality, with high-volume air samplers ready to deploy. Hundreds of National Guard troops have been dispatched to back up law enforcement in the area.
Both the town of Los Alamos, home to about 10,000 residents, and the laboratory, with a work force of about 12,000 people, were evacuated on Monday, and the lab will remain closed at least through Wednesday, officials said.
Situated on a hilltop 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, the lab property covers 36 square miles and includes about 2,000 buildings, none of which has yet burned.
Established during World War Two as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb, it remains one of the leading nuclear arms manufacturing facilities in the United States.
John Witham, a spokesman for the anti-nuclear watchdog group Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said it is the only place in the country that produces plutonium pits that are carried in the core of nuclear bombs.
Three metric tons of highly radioactive weapons-grade plutonium is stored in concrete and steel vaults in the basement floor of a building near the center of the complex, with an air-containment system surrounding it.
Lab officials said the storage structures were fire safe.
Nuclear Watch New Mexico said on its website its greatest concern was for the 20,000 55-gallon sealed drums of plutonium-tainted waste stored at one corner of the complex, some stacked in the open on asphalt, some in tents, some buried underground.
Fire officials say if the blaze did manage to reach the area, they would use fire-retardant foam to douse the flames.
The watchdog group said it also was concerned about trace amounts of uranium that might remain scattered over an area in the path of the fire from decades of experimental explosions conducted on the site.
Lab officials say the facility overall is well-protected and note it survived a May 2000 wildfire that claimed some buildings and did more than $1 billion in damage.
The Las Conchas Fire has also destroyed about 30 structures southwest of the town of Los Alamos.
One major focus for firefighters has been to keep flames out of two heavily forested canyons in the area, at least one of which runs directly into town.
(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Jerry Norton)
Article by Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/28/us-wildfires-losalamos-idUSTRE75R12820110628
You can help radiationalerts.org and gdr.org by opening the web www.Donatefree.org and clicking a few of the links with in it. Cost you nothing, but a few minutes. PASS IT ON, Please !
(Reuters) - New Mexico fire managers scrambled on Tuesday to reinforce ground crews battling for a third day against a fierce blaze roaring out of control at the edge of one of the nation's top nuclear weapons production centers.
The fire's leading edge burned to within a few miles of a dump site where some 20,000 barrels of plutonium-contaminated waste is stored on the grounds of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, fire officials said.
Officials for the government-run lab said the stored waste is considered low-level radioactive material and remains a safe distance from the fire in an area cleared of trees and other vegetation.
Carl Beard, director of operations for the lab, said there has been no release of radioactive or hazardous materials into the environment and there was no immediate threat to public safety, "even in these extreme conditions."
Los Alamos County Fire Chief Douglas Tucker said authorities have for now suspended routine removal of the waste drums for shipment to a permanent underground disposal site in southern New Mexico.
"Because of the fire, they are not moving any of that. It is safer where it is," he said.
The fire, believed to have been ignited Sunday by a fallen power line, has consumed nearly 61,000 acres of thick, pine woodlands in the Santa Fe National Forest, which surrounds the lab complex and adjacent town of Los Alamos on three sides.
Tucker said he feared the so-called Las Conchas Fire, whipped by high, rapidly shifting winds, could soon double or triple in size.
"I seriously believe it could go to 100,000 acres," he told reporters at a news briefing on Tuesday. "We have fire all around the lab. It's a road away."
A small offshoot of the blaze jumped State Highway 4 onto the lab grounds on Monday, burning about an acre of property before it was extinguished about two hours later.
More than 300 firefighters, backed up by a fleet of seven water-dropping helicopters, battled the blaze on Tuesday, as fire managers scurried to bring in additional ground crews.
MORE FIREFIGHTERS
"We've been putting in orders to get as many firefighters here as we can," fire information officer Vanessa Delgado said. "We're trying to get them in as fast as we can."
Lab officials also called in teams late Monday to monitor air quality, with high-volume air samplers ready to deploy. Hundreds of National Guard troops have been dispatched to back up law enforcement in the area.
Both the town of Los Alamos, home to about 10,000 residents, and the laboratory, with a work force of about 12,000 people, were evacuated on Monday, and the lab will remain closed at least through Wednesday, officials said.
Situated on a hilltop 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, the lab property covers 36 square miles and includes about 2,000 buildings, none of which has yet burned.
Established during World War Two as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb, it remains one of the leading nuclear arms manufacturing facilities in the United States.
John Witham, a spokesman for the anti-nuclear watchdog group Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said it is the only place in the country that produces plutonium pits that are carried in the core of nuclear bombs.
Three metric tons of highly radioactive weapons-grade plutonium is stored in concrete and steel vaults in the basement floor of a building near the center of the complex, with an air-containment system surrounding it.
Lab officials said the storage structures were fire safe.
Nuclear Watch New Mexico said on its website its greatest concern was for the 20,000 55-gallon sealed drums of plutonium-tainted waste stored at one corner of the complex, some stacked in the open on asphalt, some in tents, some buried underground.
Fire officials say if the blaze did manage to reach the area, they would use fire-retardant foam to douse the flames.
The watchdog group said it also was concerned about trace amounts of uranium that might remain scattered over an area in the path of the fire from decades of experimental explosions conducted on the site.
Lab officials say the facility overall is well-protected and note it survived a May 2000 wildfire that claimed some buildings and did more than $1 billion in damage.
The Las Conchas Fire has also destroyed about 30 structures southwest of the town of Los Alamos.
One major focus for firefighters has been to keep flames out of two heavily forested canyons in the area, at least one of which runs directly into town.
(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Jerry Norton)
Article by Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/28/us-wildfires-losalamos-idUSTRE75R12820110628
You can help radiationalerts.org and gdr.org by opening the web www.Donatefree.org and clicking a few of the links with in it. Cost you nothing, but a few minutes. PASS IT ON, Please !
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