Terrorist Attack on a Nuclear Plant?

Okay all you pro-nuke folks that keep posting on my blog, answer me this: What would happen if terrorists attacked a nuclear reactor? I mean really attacked it. Say it exploded even. What would happen? Would it be worse than if they attacked another type of energy plant? I know what my answer is, but since you guys are all so smart, please tell me how it would go down.

Dirty Bomb Threat

Some radioactive material that had been missing for a decade was found at the Chernobyl Power Plant. It had been assumed that it was stolen in 1995, but it turned out to be just sitting in a plastic bag on the site. This story says:

Ukrainian authorities, Western governments and international watchdogs
repeatedly have warned that radioactive material from Ukraine's 15 operational
reactors and Chernobyl could find its way into the hands of terrorists and be
used to craft a so-called dirty bomb. Such a bomb is a common explosive combined
with radioactive material that can contaminate large areas if detonated.

But don't worry, kids. Nuclear energy is clean and safe. If President Bush says so it must be true.

Lies from the World Nuclear Association

The World Nuclear Association has a sweet little pro-nuke energy page that has this tidbit:

"The 27 tonnes or so of spent fuel taken each year from a 1000 MWe nuclear reactor is highly radioactive and gives off a lot of heat. Some is reprocessed so that 97% of the 27 tonnes is recycled. The remaining 3%, about 700 kg, is high-level radioactive waste which is potentially hazardous and needs to be isolated from the environment for a very long time. However, the small quantity makes the task readily manageable. Even where the spent fuel is not reprocessed, the yearly amount of 27 tonnes is modest compared with the quantities of waste from a similar sized coal-fired power station. Its isolation in both storage and transport is easily achieved."

If it's so "readily manageable" then why are we fighting over where to store the stuff in the U.S.? And, sure, it's less waste. However, this business of isolation during storage and transport being easily achieved is completely false. We don't know where to put it. There is a lot of it. And, once we figure out where to store it, we still aren't sure how to get it there safely. And you know why? There is no safe place to put it and there is no safe way to transport it. Because nuclear energy is not safe.

Nevada Stalls Yucca

Congrats, Nevada. Go read this:

"Chalk one up for the Nevada lawyers fighting the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. A three-judge panel for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled Thursday that the Department of Energy must release a draft copy of the license application that it intends to submit for the NRC to review..."

Nuclear Waste Container Tips Over

Two trains collided yesterday in Buffalo, NY. No one was hurt, but a container tipped over. A container that is used to hold nuclear waste. It was empty, on a return trip to pick up more spent fuel from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

No radiation was released and this type of accident is very rare. Jim Carey, a spokesman for the DOE's Pittsburgh Naval Reactors Office, said that about 750 of these containers have already been shipped without incident. They're not shipped frequently, though. This fuel comes from nuclear-powered warships that only need refueling about every twenty years.

Per the request of Representative Tom Reynolds (R-NY), the proximity of nuclear waste containers to other rail traffic will be investigated, along with whether or not this particular accident violated operational or security procedures.

This accident happened near a neighborhood. No local authorities were aware that any radioactive material was being shipped through their area. According to Buffalo deputy fire commissioner J. Gregory Love, "We should not know. The package should just go right through." But what if it doesn't, Deputy Love? What if a serious nuclear accident occurs in your juristdiction and you have no plan to deal with it?

Just think... What if this had happened when the container was full and on its way back? Sure, tests show that they're designed to withstand a fall like this, but what if it didn't? What if this happens to any of the shipments that are proposed for storage at Yucca Mountain? Clearly local authorities aren't prepared to deal with nuclear accidents.

Sarcophagus Sarshmophagus

According to Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency Head Alexander Rumyantsev, it's really no big deal if the sarcophagus around Chernobyl's Reactor #4 collapses even more. He said the media is overdramatic about the situation and:

“Even if more leaks appear and the sarcophagus partly collapses, there may be serious social consequences. However according to the experts, there cannot be any serious radiation consequences.”

What experts said that? The last I heard, it was quite dangerous for the sarcophagus to even have the damage that it already does.

The Hatch Stands Alone

In a surprise (but not really) change of his mind, Senator Bob Bennett (Utah, R) announced yesterday that he is now opposed to the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada. I said this is not really a surprise because I'm sure Bennett must have suddenly realized, with all the Skull Valley talk, that perhaps shipping nuclear waste from all over the country to right next door might actually affect his state. His plan now is to back Nevada’s fight against Yucca Mountain because he doesn’t think it will ever be approved. Bennett made the announcement publicly on the senate floor saying that:

"The momentum is shifting and the timing is right to address our nuclear waste challenges in a way that offers real, long-term solutions.”

Wonder what he has in mind?

North Korean Nonsense

Did we really think North Korea was serious about dismantling all things nuclear? Not bloody likely. Less than a day after a disarmament agreement was reached, North Korean's Foreign Ministry issued the following statement:

"The U.S. should not even dream of the issue of (North Korea's) dismantlement of its nuclear deterrent before providing (light-water reactors), a physical guarantee for confidence-building"

The U.S. and Japan both laughed and reiterated that North Korea can't be trusted with nukes. China sort of shrugged and said they were sure things would work out in the end. At present the U.S. is giving North Korea time to think it over and North Korea is giving the U.S. time also. Oh yeah, and a threat of "serious and complicated" consequences if dismantlement is demanded.

Homeland Security?

According to this article, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is checking on the security PFS plans to have in place for the recently approved nuclear waste repository in Skull Valley. Perhaps someone pointed out to them that 40,000 metric tons of nuclear waste sitting in a mountain only 50 miles from a major U.S. city (Salt Lake City, UT) could quite possibly be a target for terrorists.

Yucca, Yucca, Yucca

Nevada Senator Harry Reid (D) has been fighting against the use of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste dump. However, when the NRC approved Skull Valley as an interim waste storage facility last week, Reid had this to say:

“Transporting high-level radioactive waste to Utah is as dangerous as it would be transporting it to Nevada. Thousands of tons of deadly nuclear material will pass homes, schools, businesses and churches in communities all across the country, and there is simply no way to safely do this. In Nevada, we will continue to fight as hard as we always have to stop the proposed Yucca Mountain site. The safest and smartest solution to solving the nation’s nuclear waste problem is to store waste at the facilities where it is already being produced, as Sen. Ensign and I have proposed.”

According to Senator Reid's website, there are several geological factors that should have put Yucca Mountain out of the running as a long-term dumping site. Along with this, there have been quality assurance issues with the site from the project's inception. As I learned yesterday from Yucca Mountain Johnny, the mountain was created by volanoes. According to the DOE, there is no longer any volcanic activity at Yucca Mountain. According to independent reports, however, there is evidence of recent volcanic activity. There are also at least 33 fault lines at or near Yucca Mountain. A magnitude 5.6 happened 8 miles from the mountain in 1992 and damaged the project offices.

Perhaps the most daunting aspect of the Yucca Mountain Project is safely transporting all of that radioactive waste across the country. Reid says:

"Waste would travel through 44 states on its way to Yucca Mountain, yet the DOE has not adequately tested the casks it would use to transport waste by rail, truck, and barge. The debacle of transporting this waste, putting millions of Americans at risk and providing targets for terrorists, should be the Yucca Mountain Project’s undoing."

If you aren't thoroughly convinced that Senator Reid isn't sincere in his concern for the environment and our natural resources, just read this:

"I have been working to help our state end the worst infestation of Mormon crickets in 40 years. Over the last several years, I have won hundreds of thousands of dollars for Nevada to deal with the cricket infestation. When it became clear that was not enough and that crickets don’t respect borders, I established a three-state $20 million fund to eradicate crickets in Nevada, Utah and Idaho. This money will give the hard-working people who have been fighting this threat the support they need to protect our communities from future infestations."

Okay, so I had to poke a little bit of fun. Seriously, though, check out his site to learn more about the Yucca Mountain Project.

Heeeere's Johnny!

Meet Yucca Mountain Johnny. This morning he taught me all about the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management's Yucca Mountain Project. Basically, Yucca Mountain is where the U.S. government plans to throw a good deal of the nuclear waste that's currently scattered around our country. Yucca Mountain Johnny is the host of the Yucca Mountain Youth Zone and now I know everything I need to know about this wonderful, responsible project.

First, of all, Yucca Mountain is located in the middle of the Mojave Desert in a remote area of Southwestern Nevada. Who lives at Yucca Mountain, you ask? Don't be silly:

"No one lives at Yucca Mountain. The closest family lives about 14 miles away in the Amargosa Valley. The Yucca Mountain area is surrounded by land controlled by the U.S. government, including the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Air Force, and the Department of Energy."

So don't worry, kids. If there was some sort of accident with the nuclear waste (not that there ever would be, because Americans are perfect!), it wouldn't even get near other humans. Just look at how contained Chernobyl was. Oh, wait...nevermind, forget I mentioned that.

Yucca Mountain is really "more like a very large hill" with a dry, warm climate. It was formed by volcanoes tens of millions of years ago. No, there aren't volcanoes there anymore and scientists think it's highly unlikely that there will be again. There are some bomb testing sites nearby and lots of jets that fly over and could possibly crash into the mountain, but...kidding!

Now that you know all about the mountain itself, let's learn about nuclear energy:

"Imagine what your house would be like if no one EVER took out the garbage. Not only would your home be dirty and stinky, but it would also be a very unhealthy place to live. To stay healthy, we need to take our garbage out."

Of course, eventually we'll have nowhere else to put it, but that probably won't be in our lifetimes so who really cares. Oh, wait, the DOE does:

"But it isn't right to let the waste keep piling up and expect someone else to take care of it later on. We must be responsible for our nuclear waste and put in a place where it can never harm people or the environment."

We're going to be responsible. Thank goodness. The explanation also says that nuclear waste is radioactive and can make people sick or even die.

The page entitled "Using Science to Solve the Problem" is perhaps my favorite. It explains that:

"If enough water contacted the nuclear waste, over a long, long time, it could eventually cause it to rust and corrode (like rust affects a bicycle if you leave it out in wet weather for a long time). The rust on nuclear waste would also be radioactive and water could carry tiny radioactive particles from the rust into people's drinking water. If the water ends up having enough of these particles in it, people who drink a lot of that water could get sick. So we need to figure out ways to keep the waste dry for thousands and thousands of years."

Instead of offering any ideas of their own, the DOE simply leaves it up to the kids: "How would you solve these problems?" Good idea, getting them to start thinking about it now. They're mostly likely going to be the ones who'll have to deal with it.

The next page explains how they plan to package the waste (in "waste packages"!) and bury it under the ground. Also, here we learn that the Yucca Mountain Project doesn't exactly solve the problem of nuclear waste. You see, we can't be entirely sure that burying the nuclear waste under this "very large hill" will actually keep humans and the environment safe. Luckily, we have scientists studying all of that and they think it'll probably be okay. Phew!

Finally, I got to the good part: Games! Because what could be more fun than games about radioactive waste? Nothing, I'm sure. I was all excited to play pin the talons on the fishies. Unfortunately, they only have a couple of lame puzzles and some propoganda quizzes that ask things like "No one lives on Yucca Mountain, true or false?" What I'm wondering is, why are there Middle School and High School level quizzes when the entire "Youth Zone" is written at about a fourth grade level? I can't really see a high school student using this site as a basis for research.

In any case, I'm so glad the DOE created this site. I had a lovely time hanging out with Yucca Mountain Johnny. All my fears about our natural resources ("There are no known natural resources of commercial value at Yucca Mountain), people's safety (remember, no one lives at Yucca Mountain!) and the future ("in the course of its activities, DOE may disturb some of these environs and has promised to reclaim Yucca Mountain by restoring as much of the disturbed areas as practicable to their former conditions.") have been alleviated. Thanks, Johnny!

Skull Valley

On Friday, The U.S. Department of Energy announced that it has awarded Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of eight nuclear power plant operators, a $3.1 billion contract to build a nuclear waste storage facility on the Goshute Indian Reservation in Skull Valley, Utah. The plan is, over the next twenty years they'll cart about 40,000 metric tons of nuclear waste out to the site where it will be stored until the Yucca Mountain site is ready. There are so many problems with this plan I don't even know where to begin.

First off, carting 40,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel from various parts of the country is incredibly dangerous. One mistake and we'd have a huge accident on our hands. Second, though the plan is to relocate the fuel, the proposed Yucca Mountain site is exactly that. Proposed. It is on hold right now because of major protests against that location being used for nuclear waste. There are some good reasons here why the Goshute Reservation is a really bad place to put this stuff, including the fact that the proposed site is right next to a bombing range.

Accountability

Humans aren't perfect. I understand this. This is exactly why I think nuclear energy is a really bad idea and exactly how a serious nuclear leak can go unnoticed for nearly a year.

At the Sellafield Nuclear Complex in the UK, there is enough plutonium spilled in one chamber of the THORP reprocessing plant to make 20 nuclear bombs. Twenty tons of uranium and plutonium dissolved in nitric acid had been sitting on the floor of a clarification cell from about August 2004 until it was discovered in April 2005. The plant has been closed indefinitely until officials can decide how to clean up the spill and repair the plant.

This particular accident was caused specifically by a fault in the design of the plant. A pipe connected to a tank holding spent fuel ruptured when it was moved one too many times. In order to fill or empty the tank, it must be moved. Apparently the engineers did not consider this process during the design of the plant. Oops.

The leak was discovered when workers at the plant noticed a drop in the level of plutonium and uranium in one of the plant's "accountability" tanks. Seriously. Accountability. For nine months half an Olympic swimming pool of nuclear "liquor" (that is what they call it at this clarification stage) was sitting on the floor, but they actually have a device called an accountability tank. Anyway, so the workers noticed the drop and they checked the cell on a camera. You see, humans can't go into the clarification cells because they're too dangerous. If that's the case, I'm not quite sure how the tank was being moved often enough to rupture the pipe. If anyone knows how this could happen, please let me know. I can't find any information about it.

The clarification cell is essentially a huge stainless steel chamber impervious to the radioactive materials it contains. For this reason, no plant workers were harmed and no waste has escaped the chamber. In this case, the population will be hit in a different way. The recovering and repair process will take months and cost taxpayers upwards of 300 million pounds.

The THORP plant was built in the 1990s for the low, low cost of about $4 billion. The plant doesn't get as many orders as expected because the new nuclear plants that would send it spent fuel to process were never built. Also, the reprocessing orders that the plant does receive are behind schedule because the plant has never run at full capacity. It has been plagued by constant accidents and failures. This newest accident could mean the end of the plant as it is already being sued by customers for being so behind schedule.

So much for nuclear power being safe and cheap, huh? This accident rates a 3 (out of 7) on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Level 3 means it's classified as a "serious incident," but not quite considered a full blown accident. To put it in perspective, Three-Mile Island was a 5 and Chernobyl was a 7.

Nuclear Orleans

As if there is not enough going on down there right now, I just found this article about a nuclear plant that has trouble meeting regulations even under normal circumstances. Oh please, Mr. President, can we build more of these?

Greenpeace Speaks

Greenpeace made some statements yesterday regarding the new Chernobyl report released by the U.N. They accused the IAEA of "whitewashing" the impacts. Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Jan Vande Putte said:

"As we approach the 20th anniversary of the world worst nuclear accident, the victims of Chernobyl deserve more than this shoddy, incomplete and contradictory science. What they need is real science and real solutions to the continued suffering and ill-health brought about by the Chernobyl disaster.

She also said that blaming consequences of the accident on stress and irrational fear is unjustified and misleading. I couldn't agree more. According to Greenpeace's assessment, the report is incomplete. Many areas affected by the fallout, including some of the local population surrounding the reactor and parts of Europe, were not included in the report. Apparently the report only considers the liquidators involved in the immediately clean-up of the site.

Putte believes, as do I, that this report is just a timely attempt to convince people that even when a nuclear plant isn't safe, it's still not as unsafe as we'd all feared:

"It is a deliberate attempt to minimize the risks of nuclear power in order to free the way for new reactor construction."

U.N. Report

I really want to write a proper response to the barrage of articles released in the last couple of days regarding the U.N.’s new report. Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts is a collaboration of over 100 scientists, eight U.N. agencies and the governments of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. I have to stop here for a second and point out that most of those involved with this report – a report that apparently says the effects of Chernobyl were greatly over-estimated – were many of the same agencies that were involved when the disaster happened in 1986. Also, the three governments involved pay out millions of dollars a year to Chernobyl victims and have been trying to reduce this for years.

The vast majority of media coverage on the report has an overwhelming air of relief to it. It also has the stink of lazy reporters who haven’t bothered to do anything more than read the press packet. I find this approach highly irresponsible. The U.S. and Great Britain are both highly likely to begin commissioning new nuclear power plants within the next couple of years. Isn’t it convenient for them that this report was released right now. Everyone can read all about how the big bad nuclear explosion wasn’t really so bad at all. I mean, sure, kids have cancer, but it’s 99% curable. And most of the people who are sick aren’t really sick because of radiation. No way. They’re sick because they think radiation is going to kill them. They’re sick because they got scared by all the overblown reports that their skin was going to fall off and their babies were going to have eight arms. It’s all in their head. Sure, their babies might be born with thyroid cancer, but, remember, it’s 99% curable.

The people that were and are exposed to nuclear radiation should be scared. And so should we. Our President is all for building nuclear plants all over this country again. And now we’ve got media all over the world writing articles simply repeating this propaganda released from the U.N. We’re being told “See, kids, you freaked out for nothing. Only a few people are going to die and the Chernobyl accident was a worst-case-scenario. Also, it was completely the fault of the big bad bureaucratic communist machine that was the Soviet Union.” Right, because first of all, American people never make mistakes. And, if something like that did happen in the U.S. there’d be aid sent immediately by our quick-like-a-bunny right-on-top-of-it government. Or will it?

Americans are naïve. I’m sorry, but we are. We trust our president too much. We trust the media too much. And we’re too damn lazy to do a little research and find out what’s going on. I have been attempting to access the International Atomic Energy Agency’s website for several hours now and have been unable to. For one reason or another, the site is down. But every single article I’ve read regarding the Chernobyl’s Legacy report coughs up the same quotes and the same information. It’s a 600-page report, I understand. And I suppose I don’t expect every reporter to read all 600 pages of it in order to write a 300-word article that will end up on A11. However, couldn’t at least one read it? I’d love to read it. However, I can’t seem to find a copy anywhere on the net. If anyone knows how I can go about getting a copy of the report, please tell me.

If Hurricane Katrina has taught the American people anything, it’s that we absolutely cannot count on our federal government to help us out in times of emergency. Of course, what can you expect, the last job held by Mike Brown, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association. That organization doesn’t exist anymore because Brown ruined it financially and it was forced to become part of the Purebred Registry. This is the man that Bush put in charge of emergencies in our country. But I digress. My point is, the U.S. government isn’t any better about telling us the truth or helping our people out than the communist Soviet government was. Our current government withholds, lies and spins information just as badly as the Soviets ever did. We need to pay more attention or soon the U.N. will be issuing reports telling us that it’s all in our heads.

Blame it on the Victims

The newest reports from the UN state that the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster are not as dire as were predicted. Apparently cases of thyroid cancer are way up in those who were kids at the time of the accident, but that's no big deal because it can be treated. Other than that, only 50 or so deaths can actually be attributed directly to the accident. Eventually, the number should be somewhere around 4,000 or so.

According to the New York Times, the biggest problem the victims of Chernobyl have to deal with is their own self-pity. No, really, that's essentially what they said. Here's the article. Dr. Fred Mettler, health effect team leader of the Chernobyl Forum, said that the victims have a "paralyzing fatalism" that leads them to "things like drug and alcohol use, and unprotected sex and unemployment." Basically, they think they're going to die anyway, so they live quite recklessly. Perhaps if their government actually told them what was going on they'd feel a little more secure.

Here's the thing: this is all about the Ukranian government not wanting to pay benefits to these victims. This entire report is based on what can be directly attributed to the accident. The problem is, because all these people went on living their lives, it is nearly impossible to pinpoint the Chernobyl accident as the cause of most of their ailments. The New York Times article says that life expectancy dropped substantially after the fall of the Soviet Union. Mettler says that the effect of Chernobyl "may be difficult to detect against the background noise." So, I guess, since they can't prove anything, they should just pull benefits. If thyroid cancer is treatable, nothing is really that contaminated and mostly it's all in their head anyway, then why should their government support them?

Apparently not everyone will lose their benefits, however:

"The report acknowledged that there was a small core of people, probably numbering 100,000 to 200,000, who continued to be severely affected by the disaster. These include poor rural dwellers who live in the few severely contaminated areas, people with thyroid cancer and citizens who had been resettled in the wake of the disaster but who had never found a home or employment in their new communities."

Oh good. What a relief. Only 100 to 200 thousand people. Wait a minute...last time I checked that was an awful lot of people to be suffering.