Latest News
Half of French reactors not operating
Half of France’s 56 reactors are currently offline and 12 of them are closed due to corrosion problems that are waiting inspection. The corrosion caused cracks in the pipes of a back-up water injection system, a problem French nuclear safety authorities said could take years to fix. France’s nuclear plants delivered just 37 percent of…
Read MoreSmall reactors would produce more waste than large ones
“A much-vaunted first wave of mini nuclear power stations may produce more radioactive waste than traditional large-scale ones when generating the same amount of power,” read the lead sentence in a May 30, 2022 article in New Scientist (register free with NS to read the full article). Researchers at Stanford University compared SMR technology with…
Read MoreRadiation report released! June 17 comment deadline
The National Academy of Sciences committee today released its report recommending next steps for low-dose radiation research. Starting tomorrow, the public has 15 days to submit comments that will be shared with the study’s sponsor, the U.S. Department of Energy. The National Academies hosted virtual public meetings including an October public meeting featuring powerful and…
Read MoreThe power of messaging
This week’s edition of Nuclear Hotseat looks at nuclear activism and social messaging. Host, Libbe HaLevy interviews Colleen Moore (pictured), Digital Engagement Manager for Beyond the Bomb and Global Zero. Moore creates content to promote the message of eliminating nuclear weapons and has experience in campaigning for justice and peace issues, including: ending U.S. support…
Read MoreCISFs would automatically double transport risks!
Consolidated interim storage facilities (CISFs) for highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel would automatically double already high transportation risks. First the wastes would be shipped from the nuclear power plants where they are currently stored, to a CISF. But someday — or some decade, or some century, depending on how long the CISFs would sit there…
Read MoreJapan court bars Hokkaido reactors from operating
A Sapporo District Court has ruled that the three Tomari reactors, fully offline since 2012 in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, cannot restart. The ruling sides with an anti-nuclear citizen’s group. The court said the reactors were not safe to operate because of earthquake and tsunami concerns, but rejected the group’s bid for…
Read MoreRemember when one million marched?
June 12 is the 40th anniversary of the largest U.S. peace demonstration in U.S. history, the nuclear disarmament protest that contributed to the end of the Cold war. That was when more than a million people gathered in New York City’s Central Park demanding the abolition of nuclear weapons. On that same date this year,…
Read MoreAtomic Cover-Up on Nuclear Hotseat
This week on Nuclear Hotseat, Libbe HaLevy interviews documentary film director, Greg Mitchell about his new film, Atomic Cover-Up, an award-winning documentary available for free at the International Uranium Film Festival until May 29. Atomic Cover-Up shows film that was shot in the immediate aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and was classified ‘top…
Read MorePalisades nuclear power station permanently closes
The Palisades nuclear power station located in Covert Township, Michigan on the shore of Lake Michigan has permanently closed. The single-unit nuclear power station had just received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to transfer the federal license on December 13, 2021 from the New Orleans-based Entergy Nuclear Corporation to the Camden, New Jersey private…
Read MoreA German first for offshore wind
From Clean Energy Wire For the first time, offshore wind energy in Germany is being used to stabilise the country’s electricity system in case of grid fluctuations. The offshore wind farm Riffgrund 1, operated by Danish energy company Ørsted, will act as a so-called secondary reserve for the grid, meaning “offshore wind power is just…
Read More