#spentfuelpool

Roger Witherspoon

Feb 13, 2016
6 min

Indian Point Contaminates the Hudson River With Uncontrollable Radioactive Flow

By Roger Witherspoon For more than a decade, it has been impossible for operators of the Indian Point nuclear power plant to stop highly radioactive reactor and spent fuel pool coolant from leaking into the groundwater and migrating to the Hudson River. And despite assurances from Entergy that this time will be different, there is no indication that the company has developed the ability to prevent the latest uncontrolled leaks from following the underground waterway into the

Roger Witherspoon

Feb 11, 2013
9 min

A Lasting Legacy of the Fukushima Rescue Mission: Part 2: The Navy Life – Into the Abyss

By Roger Witherspoon Download and/or Print Article To the US Government, Operation Tomodachi was just another big humanitarian aid and rescue mission in which the nearest Navy fleet and many land-based personnel rushed to the aid of an ally in need. In this case, the northeast coast of Japan had been flattened by a massive earthquake and tsunami which destroyed infrastructure and killed some 20,000 citizens. Operation Tomodachi – named after the Japanese word for Friend – be

Roger Witherspoon

Aug 9, 2012
7 min

NRC Halts New Nuclear Licenses: Existing Licenses in Doubt

By Roger Witherspoon Download and/or Print Article In an unprecedented move, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has bowed to a court order and imposed a temporary halt in relicensing nuclear power plants until it thoroughly examines the impact of runaway meltdowns at the plants’ spent fuel pools. That action affects the relicensing evaluations of some 33 facilities at 19 sites, including Indian Point 2 and 3 on the Hudson River opposite Bear Mountain. And it leaves in limbo

Roger Witherspoon

Mar 30, 2011
6 min

Feds Rate Region’s Nuclear Fleet “Safe” But Japanese Problems Fuel Skepticism

By Roger Witherspoon Download and/or Print Article All six nuclear reactors in the New York/ New Jersey metropolitan area are operating “in a manner that preserved public health and safety” and therefore will receive the minimal oversight during the coming year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared in its annual assessment. In separate reviews, the NRC concluded that New Jersey’s Hope Creek, Oyster Creek, and twin Salem Generating Station plants and the two Indian Point

Roger Witherspoon

Mar 14, 2011
3 min

Japan’s Information Deficit

By Roger Witherspoon Download and/or Print Article Information is vital in times of calamity. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the exact status of the situation with Japan’s 10 endangered nuclear power plants since the government is closed mouth and there is no tradition of investigative journalism when it comes to the government backed nuclear industry. The government’s statements that “small” amounts of radioactive material have been released are at odds with

Roger Witherspoon

Mar 13, 2011
6 min

A Nuclear Hail Mary – Seawater or Disaster

By Roger Witherspoon Download and/or Print Article The announcement by the Japanese government that sea water is being pumped into the damaged reactor building at the Fukushima signals the failure of all contingency plans to prevent a meltdown of the fuel in the reactor itself. It leaves open the question of the safety of the hundreds of tons of spent fuel stored nearby in pools 40 feet deep. It is not clear if the structural integrity of the pool has been maintained or if th

Roger Witherspoon

Feb 16, 2011
6 min

Suit Seeks Review of Local Nuclear Waste Storage

By Roger Witherspoon Download and/or Print Article A federal court suit challenging the right of nuclear plant operators to store high level radioactive waste on site for 60 years or more was filed yesterday by the attorney generals of Vermont, New York, and Connecticut. The suit, filed in the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC., seeks to overturn a temporary storage rule adopted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Dec. 23, 2010. The NRC’s order, formally known as the Was

Roger Witherspoon

Jun 23, 2010
4 min

Regulators Cite FP&L For Safety Violations

By Roger Witherspoon Download and/or Print Article Federal regulators have fined Florida Power & Light $70,000 for improperly maintaining hundreds of tons of highly radioactive spent fuel at their Turkey Point 3 power plant near Homestead, in violation of their operating license. The fine concludes a six month investigation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission into the degradation of chemicals in the spent fuel pool designed to prevent fission between the thousands of 12-fo

Roger Witherspoon

Jun 21, 2010
5 min

The Myth of Technological Infallibility

By Roger Witherspoon Download and/or Print Article The unfolding events in the Gulf of Mexico underscore the importance of journalists not falling for the industrial mantra that catastrophic events can’t happen today because of “robust” safety systems and “built in redundancy” that ensure environmentally safe operations. Oil companies have been drilling in the Gulf for decades and their work has come a long way since the 1979 blowout of the Ixtoc 1 oil well in the Bay of Camp

Roger Witherspoon

Apr 5, 2010
4 min

Double, Bubble, Toil and Trouble: Hope Creek’s Cobalt Stew

By Roger Witherspoon Download and/or Print Article Nuclear safety experts warn that a proposal to increase profits at the Hope Creek nuclear power plant by adding cobalt fuel rods to its 100-ton uranium fuel mix could jeopardize the structural integrity of its entire spent fuel pool and should be changed or scrapped. In addition, the presence of Cobalt could complicate the delicate balancing of heat within the reactor core which is essential to ensuring the even burning of th

View Full Article Index

ROGER WITHERSPOON

Roger Witherspoon

Blog

Bio

Home

Contact