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Last Zaporizhzhia reactor closes with power restored
Offsite power has been restored to the embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant site for now, but as a necessary precaution, the last of the six reactors has now been shut down, according to news reports. While safety concerns tend to focus on the reactors themselves and the necessity for cooling, the offloaded fuel in the…
Read MoreDiablo disaster
When the California legislature voted on August 31, 2022 to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility open for a minimum of another 5 years, this setback wasn’t for lack of evidence as to why this was a bad idea. Activists from around the state, with national support, put forth compelling talking points, created petitions, made…
Read MoreLoss of control?
Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, Beyond Nuclear was one of the first to point out the risks of nuclear reactors embroiled in a war zone. After the February 24 invasion, and as the dangers to Ukraine’s nuclear power plants became ever more evident, media attention focused on what would happen if a reactor was shelled…
Read More“No shelling”? How about “No nukes”!
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors who visited Ukraine’s 6-reactor Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant last week, along with their chief, Rafael Grossi (pictured during the post-inspection press conference), and the UN have called for a security zone around the plant, embroiled in the war in Ukraine, with the invading Russians occupying the site since early…
Read MoreDiablo Canyon gets extension option
Acting on California Governor Gavin Newsom legislative proposal to extend the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility (Units 1 and 2), state lawmakers voted on September 1, 2022, the last day of the legislative session, to provide Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) the option to extend the nuclear power station’s operations by another five…
Read MoreAlarm in Ukraine, march in Wales
This week on Nuclear Hotseat: Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Energy Education explains the latest rounds of nuclear Russian roulette – what dangers got ramped up at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine over the past week. Last week, for Episode #583, he predicted much of what could go wrong at the six-reactor site… and then it did. Here,…
Read MoreNuclear not any cheaper, faster or safer
From an article published on Nasdaq: “Nuclear energy takes many years to develop. The median construction time of the nuclear reactors in operation in 2020 was seven years, and the industry has a terrible track record of cost overruns. An MIT team estimated that over five decades of nuclear plant development across 107 plants in the U.S., the…
Read MoreThe danger scenarios at Zaporizhizhia
Writing in Down To Earth, Dr. M.V. Ramana explains the various meltdown risks at the besieged Zaporizhizhia six-reactor nuclear power plant in Ukraine, currently caught up in war fighting: “Broadly speaking, there are three scenarios that might result in the expulsion of radioactive materials from some facility at the Zaporizhzhia complex. “The first is the…
Read MoreNo need for nukes in Germany
Germany has plenty of sustainable ways to meet the energy emergency caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, with the emphasis firmly on renewables Even Germany’s nuclear companies, such as RWE, are looking forward to a renewable energy future, rather than backwards at the nuclear past. From Climate Energy Weekly (CLEW): German energy company RWE will…
Read MorePhysicians call for ban on attacks on nuclear sites
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) asks governments to call for ban on military attacks on nuclear installations IPPNW PRESS RELEASE, August 11, 2022: The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) are urging governments attending the Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in New York to call for…
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