NRC dismisses GAO climate warnings for nukes

On September 27, 2027, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Chairman Christopher Hanson publicly provided the federal agency’s response and an attachment that dismisses the April 3, 2024 U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) report [GAO-24-106326], “Nuclear Power Plants: NRC Should Take Actions to Fully Consider the Potential Effects of Climate Change.” The GAO in its…

Read More

Seismic Showdown Coming at Diablo Canyon

Environmental groups have successfully petitioned for “enforcement action” by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to conduct a review of the earthquake risks and the potential nuclear accident threat with the continued operation of California’s two-unit Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant near San Luis Obispo. The March 4, 2024 petition  was filed to the NRC…

Read More

Extending reactor licenses under a 385 foot dam?

On June 24, 2024, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Atomic Safety Licensing Board (ASLB) heard Beyond Nuclear and Sierra Club South Carolina Chapter’s (the Petitioners) oral arguments on the admissibility of three contentions that scrutinize the environmental qualification of the Subsequent License Renewal (SLR) of Duke Energy’s three unit Oconee nuclear power station for 60…

Read More

White House nuclear hypocrisy on EJ

In light of the White House’s hypocrisy in both supporting nuclear power while simultaneously claiming to care about Environmental Justice (EJ) in the context of addressing the climate crisis, Beyond Nuclear submitted the following comments to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. June 18, 2024 To: The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC)…

Read More

Legal clash over dumping ban in NY

An article in The New Lede delineates the legal struggle between the anti-dumping law passed in New York last August, and the lawsuit filed by company Holtec. Holtec payed a 5 million dollar fine to the neighboring state of New Jersey to avoid criminal prosecution, and wants to dump the radioactive isotope tritium into the…

Read More

Stark warnings about reviving nuclear energy

Stephanie Cooke, author of “In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age,”  and a former editor of Nuclear Intelligence Weekly, has written an opinion piece (free with email) in the New York Times on how nuclear power will likely continue to fail us as we attempt to address our climate crisis: “World leaders…

Read More

Nuclear industry avoiding accountability for climate crisis impacts

An April 23, 2024 article published by the Yale School of the Environment probes the nuclear industry’s effort to extend the operating licenses of its aging atomic power stations while avoiding accountability to the cost and risks associated with doing business in an accelerating climate crisis. Author James Dinneen asks “Can aging US nuclear power…

Read More

National security risks grow with new nuclear energy

“Proliferation of nuclear weapons, nuclear terrorism, sabotage, coercion and military operations – these [national security] risks associated with nuclear energy can all be expected to grow as countries seek to implement their new nuclear energy objectives, according to a new report [“New Nuclear Energy: Assessing the National Security Risks,”] published today by George Washington University’s…

Read More

Systemic cover-up: New book profiles radiation risks and scientists

The Scientists Who Alerted us to Radiation’s Dangers by Ian Fairlie, PhD and Beyond Nuclear’s Cindy Folkers, MS, has just been published by The Ethics Press. The book profiles 23 radiation scientists over the previous half-century or so, who revealed that radiation risks were higher than thought, but who were victimized by governments and the…

Read More