Newest Nuke Nightmares at Palisades, 2022-Present

[Image: Yard sign design by Michigan Safe Energy Future-Kalamazoo Chapter and Shut Down Palisades Campaign; photo by Kevin Kamps] Below is a reverse (present day to past) chronological listing of Beyond Nuclear web posts about the Palisades zombie reactor restart scheme (and so-called “Small Modular Reactor” new builds scheme on the same tiny 432-acre site),…

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“Unbelievable” bailouts fund zombie nuke nightmares

[Image designed by Gene Case/Avenging Angels. The image was on the cover of The Nation magazine in 2003, accompanying an article by Christian Parenti about the George W. Bush/Dick Cheney nuclear power relapse.] In Stateline on February 12, 2024, Alex Brown published an article entitled “Federal money could supercharge state efforts to preserve nuclear power:…

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OH indictments in nuclear-bribery-for-bailouts conspiracy

On February 12, 2024, State of Ohio Attorney General, Dave Yost — flanked by Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and Summit County Sheriff Kandy Fatheree — announced dozens of state felony indictments against two former FirstEnergy executives — Charles “Chuck” Jones, former CEO of FirstEnergy, and Michael Dowling, former FirstEnergy senior vice president of…

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“Our greatest fear” as uranium mining starts

“It is with heavy hearts that we must acknowledge that our greatest fear has come true,” read a statement from the Havasupai Tribal Council after learning that uranium mining has begun just south of the Grand Canyon. Energy Fuels Inc. says it has begun operations at its Pinyon Plain Mine and bluntly dismissed and disregarded…

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First SMR domino falls, potentially to start cascade

Same financial risks viewed as generic to entire reactor type The nuclear industry is rattled by an Opinion piece appearing in the January 31, 2024 edition of the energy trade journal Utility Dive. The article, astutely entitled “The collapse of NuScale’s project should spell the end for small modular nuclear reactors,” is an extensively documented…

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Hinkley cost soars to $59 billion

The two-reactor 3,260MW Hinkley Point C nuclear site still under construction in the UK is set to become the second most expensive building in the world as the new price tag soars to $59 billion, while the expected startup date is pushed out to “after 2029”. The original Hinkley budget was $23 billion. Its builder,…

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The IAEA’s hypocrisy

Here’s the International Atomic Energy Agency once again sounding the alarm about war raging around nuclear power plants in Ukraine: “The nuclear safety and security situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) remains extremely fragile with ‘very real’ potential dangers of a major accident, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi (pictured) of the International Atomic…

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It’s still 90 seconds to midnight

The Doomsday Clock, established in 1947 by The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, when it stood at seven minutes to midnight, remains at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest the hands have ever been to zero hour. The Doomsday Clock was moved to 90 seconds to midnight a year ago, a reflection of the growing…

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Diablo rip-off

From San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace: The $1.1 billion federal aid package to support an additional five years of operation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant takes advantage of the nation’s taxpayers. Even those not served by PG&E or Diablo Canyon (with few exceptions), will be subsidizing  an unprofitable, privately-owned utility that produces the most…

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Holtec is infamous for lying

[Tee shirt graphic art, above, by Noel Marquez, co-founder of Alliance for Environmental Strategies (AFES) in southeastern New Mexico.] Holtec is infamous for lying. Or at least for major reversals. Also known as con jobs. A few examples: (1.) Holtec said beginning in 2020 that it wanted to take over the Palisades nuclear power plant…

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