A MAY 8 FIRE IN A TRANSFORMER AT THE INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR PLANT CAUSED A FIRE AND EXPLOSION, SHUTTING DOWN REACTOR #3 FOR 16 DAYS. THE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SERVICEREPORTED ON MAY 9 “WITNESSES REPORTED A LOUD BLAST AND SMOKE AT THE PLANT ON THE EAST BANK OF THE HUDSON RIVER 35 MILES NORTH OF NEW YORK CITY.”


WORKERS SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND THAT A LEAK FROM THE TRANSFORME COULD ONLY BE FIXED WITH THE REACTOR SHUT DOWN.


WESTFIELD COMMUNICATIONS IN WEST FAIRFIELD COUNTY, NY, REPORTED THAT INDIAN POINT REACTOR 3 RESTARTED ON MAY 26.


ACCORDING TO THAT PUBLICATION, THE TRANSFORMER “ERUPTED INTO FLAMES “ ON MAY 8, CAUSING “ROUGHLY 300 GALLONS OF TRANSFORMER FLUID TO LEAK INTO THE HUDSON RIVER”…”ABOUT ONE THIRD WAS COLLECTED IN A MOAT SYSTEM OR COMBUSTED.”


THE TRANSFOMER WAS SUPPOSED TO LAST 40 YEARS. IT WAS 8 YEARS OLD WHEN IT FAILED”


INDIAN POINT NUKE PLANT IS CURRENTLY OWNED BY ENTERGY CORP OF NEW ORLEANS, THE STATE OF NEW YORK HAS BEEN TRING TO PERMAENTLY SHUT IT DOWN FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.

SOURCES: ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SERVICE;
WESTFIELD COMMUNICATIONS




ACCORDING TO A MAY 4 REPORT BY BLOOMERG.COM”RADIOACTIVE RETURNS,” THE US NUCLEAR INDUSTRY IS $4.3 3 BILLION SHORT IN COVERING THE RAPIDLY RISING COST OF SHUTTING DOWN PLANTS.


BLOOMBERG REPORTED THAT FIVE US NUKE PLANTS CLOSED IN 2013, “THE MOST EVER,” AND THAT EXELON, THE CHICAGO BASED LARGEST OWNER AND OPERATOR OF US NUCLEAR PLANTS, “MAY CLOSE THREE MORE THIS YEAR.”


AND, BLOOMBERG REPORTS, “AN ADDITIONAL 20 MORE REACTORS “MAY CLOSE SOON,” ACCORDING TO JUDD GREGG, FORMER REPUBLICASENATOR FROM NEW JERSEY, NOW CHAIRMAN IF NUCLEAR MATTERS, AN ORGANIZATION THAT PTOMOTES NUCLEAR ENERGY.


BLOOMBERG ALSO QU0TED A RESEARCHER F0R “CALVIN ASSOCIATES, AN INVESTMMENT CONSULTANT,” CONCERNING THE $4.3 BILLION SHORTFALL””I DON’T THINK A LOT OF UTILITIES KNOW WHAT ANYONE IS GOING TO DO IF THEY FALL SHORT,” HE SAID.


AMONG THOSE ALREADY SHUT DOWN PLANTS IS CALIFORNIA’S HUMBOLDT BAY,
,CLOSED BY OWNER PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC SINCE 1976.


TODAY PG&E ESTIMATES THE COST OF CLEANING UP AND DISMANTLING THIS OLD NUKE AT $441 MILLION.

PG&E IS ALSO THE OPERATOR OF CALIFORNIA’S LAST OPERATING NUCLEAR REEACTORS, THE TWO AT DIABLO CANYON ON THE STATE’S EARTHQUAKE RIDDLED CENTRAL COAST, NEAR SAN LUIS OBISPO.


ON MAY 21 DAMON MAGLAN OF ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP FRIENDS OF THE EARTH REPORTED, “IN A MAJOR VICTORY THAT COULD MARK THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE DIABLO CANYON REACTORS, THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION “RULED THAT ITS ATOMIC SAFETY BOARD WILL DECIDE WHETHER PG&E WILL WAS ALLOWED TO ILLEGALLY ALTER THE PLANT’S LICENCE TO HIDE THE RISK FROM POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE FAULTS DISCOVERED AFTER IT WAS DESIGNED AND BUILT.”

A SIMILAR DECISION BY THE NRC LED TO THE PERMANENT SHUTDOWN OF SAN ONOFRE’S TWO NUCLAER REACTORS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN 2013.

SOURCES: BLOOMBERG.COM; FRIENDS OF THE EARTH FOE.ORG)