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It’s 90 seconds to midnight. Doomsday Clock moves closer
Today, the scientists at The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of their famous Doomsday Clock the closest to midnight the clock has ever been. Responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the less-than-veiled threats by Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to use nuclear weapons, the hands of the clock were moved to 90…
Read MoreDownwind and dosed
Half the cast and crew involved with the John Wayne film, The Conqueror, shot in 1954 and released two years later, died of cancer. They were the most high-profile victims of the fallout from atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site, which contaminated land, water and people. Although the film location site, in St. George,…
Read MoreNot so good vibrations
The two reactors under construction at the Vogtle nuclear power plant site in Georgia are already years behind. Originally expected to cost $14 billion with the first unit, Vogtle 3, anticipated to come on line in 2016, neither are finished. The cost is now likely to exceed $30 billion. Over the years there have been…
Read MoreSign-on letter for organizations and individuals, to Energy Secretary Granholm, in opposition to Holtec’s scheme to re-apply for a billion dollar, or more, Civil Nuclear Credit program bailout for Palisades zombie reactor restart in Michigan (deadline Sunday, January 22, 2023)
Dear Friends and Colleagues, Despite being refused a $1 Billion+ bailout of Federal dollars to bring Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Plant back to life in November, Holtec International is going back to the Department of Energy trough for a second try. Palisades was closed forever — or so we thought — last May. And for good…
Read MoreNRC closes door on Comanche public meetings
This week on Nuclear Hotseat: Aging nuclear reactors become increasingly dangerous and prone to breakdowns and radiation releases. Comanche Peak nuclear power plant’s two nuclear reactors in Somervell County, Texas, should be retired, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering letting them run for 20 additional years, until 2050. Heading the fight to stop…
Read MoreA ban-the-bomb retrospective
This week’s edition of Nuclear Hotseat features two previously-aired interviews that examine approaches to banning the atomic bomb. Interview #1: Sr. Megan Rice was a Roman Catholic nun who was arrested more than 40 times for protesting America’s military industrial complex and nuclear weapons. She’s best known for breaking into Y-12 at Oak Ridge, one of the world’s…
Read More2022 Nuclear Free Future Award winners announced
Tanzanian activist, Anthony Lyamunda, American podcaster, Libbe HaLevy, and German researcher, Malte Göttsche, are the winners of the 2022 Nuclear Free Future Award. The prizes will be awarded officially during an online ceremony in February 2023, but were announced last week. The prize comes with the award of 5,000 Euros. Lyamunda is an outspoken opponent…
Read MoreUS keeps ‘usable’ nukes
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) General Secretary Kate Hudson outlines the US government’s latest position paper on nuclear weapons in the current edition of the CND magazine, Campaign. In October, the Biden administration published its 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), much later than expected. The delay was reportedly due to differences over significant aspects of…
Read MoreRadioactive. The women tell their stories
RADIOACTIVE: The Women of Three Mile Island, a film written and directed by Heidi Hutner, received its world premiere on Sunday, December 4 as part of the Dances with Films Festival in New York City where it won the audience award for best documentary. Hutner, professor of Literature, Sustainability, Women’s and Gender Studies at Stony…
Read More“A creeping Chernobyl” at Portsmouth
This week on Nuclear Hotseat: The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) in Piketon, Ohio, was the site of uranium enrichment for the US nuclear weapons program. It operated from 1954 to 2001. The Department of Energy (DOE) has been conducting “cleanup” at the site since 1989. Plant operations generated hazardous, radioactive, mixed (hazardous and radioactive),…
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