When Wealth Destroys Wealth: Inverse Capitalism and its Limits (tags)
Ever-increasing real estate prices was an illusion. The boom that the US stock markets have experienced in recent years deserves the name fracking boom. Fictitious capital put the US economy back on the growth track.
Women’s History Month Book Launch for “High Voltage Women” (tags)
Megan Cornish – Electrical Tradeswoman speaks at book launch of High Voltage Women.
More Scandals Rock Southern California Nuke Plant San Onofre (tags)
Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and abroad, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world. Here is our August 2018 report. More Scandals Rock San Onofre The eighth month of the year saw additional scandals erupt at Southern California's San Onofre nuclear plant, which has been shut down since 2013. Another potentially catastrophic accident occurred, a previously unknown whistleblower spoke out, and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is sending a special inspection team to try to sort out this whole mess. San Onofre's majority owner Southern California Edison shut the plant down prematurely after a scandal involving corporate mismanagement that caused a radioactive leak, and environmentalists exposed the utility's rush to restart the plant at the expense of the public's health and safety. Since the permanent shutdown Edison has begun what's called decommissioning, meaning dismantlement and decontamination of the nuclear plant .A key task in this process is dealing with the nuclear waste left over . This is called spent nuclear fuel, stored in San Onofre's nuclear reactors as well as in pools where it must be constantly cooled or else there could be a serious accident, in the worst case leading to a meltdown. This highly radioactive waste remains lethal to all life for a very long time. The federal government was supposed to take responsibility for for the megatons of spent nuclear fuel (3.55 million tons in San Onofre's case) for the whole nation by 1980, but still hasn't . Edison chose to do the job by having the spent fuel removed from the plant and transferred to what is called dry storage, in canisters that are then buried on site for who knows how long. To carry out this task Edison hired Holtec International of Camden, New Jersey. Work began this past February, then stopped--but for only 10 days--after a cask lost a part while being lowered into the burial site in March. The burial site is only 100 feet from the Pacific Ocean, protected by just a 28 foot seawall. August Is the Cruellist Month--So Far On August 10th the San Diego Union Tribune reported on "an incident" during which another spent fuel cask had become stuck on August 4th while being maneuvered down to the bottom of the nuke dump. Specifically, the cask was wedged 18 feet above the bottom, and remained there for "45 minutes to an hour" according to the NRC. The next day, August 4th, a whistleblower revealed himself at a public meeting about San Onofre's decommissioning, the same U-T article reported. He identified himself as David Fritch, and said he was employed with the federal Occupational and Safety Administration (OSHA) and had been working at San Onofre for three months. Fritch said he attended the meeting "to see if any of Edison's reps would discuss the 8-3 incident," but when none did he decided to report that the canister in question "could have fallen 18 feet." In a followup Union Tribune report on August 24th Fritch alleged that only "about a quarter inch" wedge prevented the canister from falling before it was finally repositioned and safely lowered. In the earlier U-T report Fritch also said some workers with Holtec "are undertrained" and many experienced supervisors are often sent away and replaced by new supervisors "who don't understand it as well." The 8-24 Union Tribune report said an NRC inspection team "will send a team to evaluate the incident, will come on September 10 and spend a week." The incident "confirms every fear we've had about what's going on at San Onofre and what measurges they're taking to ensure the public's safety," Charles Langley of theSan Diego Public Watchdogs told the the Union Tribune on August 10. He also expressed concerns that the spent fuel casks are not thick enough and could crack. In light of all the above, Edison put the cask transfer operations "on pause." Source: San Diego Union Tribune, uniontribune.com Holtec's Master Plan Given Holtec's troublesome performance at San Onofre, you might think the company would be curtailing its activities in other places. Unfortunately this is not the case. Earlier this year Nuclear Shutdown News detailed its plan to build a nuke dump in Arizona for the nation's spent fuel still sitting around the increasing number of shutting down and already closed nuclear plants. An application to do so has been filed with the NRC. The most likely means of transporting the high level radioactive waste would likely be by rail. But Holtec has also been removing spent fuel from shutdown nukes and storing it on site, most recently at Vermont Yankee, which closed in 2014. Holtec appears to be privatizing the job of dealing with the nuke industry's high level radioactive waste and turning it into its own growth industry , after the job was abdicated by the federal government since 1980, as noted above. On August 1 Utility Drive reported a new Holtec scheme to turn a profit this way in its article "Holtec to buy three nuclear plants, greatly accelerate decommissioning." The three nuclear plants, all shutting down in the near future, are Oyster Creek in New Jersey, Pilgrim in Massachusetts, and Palisades in Michigan. Holtec and its partner Comprehensive Decommissioning International, said they would dismantle and decontaminate the three nuke plants in eight years, though they have up to 60 years to do so. The same plan applies to Vermont Yankee. In that state the Conservation Law Foundation warned, "In the rush to secure a possible--and by no means certain--quick cleanup of the site, the settlement excludes reasonable protection for Vermont communities. The Utility Drive report did not explain why Holtec is buying the three nukes, or for how much, But a report by WBUR radio in Boston on August 2 said that in the Pilgrim deal "Holtec will get $1 billion paid by Massachusetts ratepayers into a decommissioning trust fund." Sources: Utility Drive, utility drive.com; WBUR, wbur.org. During August more Scandals Rocked the Southern California nuclear plant San Onofre, resulting in an upcoming federal investigation.
Nuclear Shutdown News March 2018 (tags)
The San Onofre nuclear power plant in SoCal shut down in 2012. But it's still causing a lot of trouble.
Nuclear Shutdown News: April 2017 (tags)
Puerto Rico House Approves Utility Reform Bill: Part of Proposed Debt Deal (tags)
Puerto Rico's House of Representatives approved legislation to reform its highly indebted public utility company "PREPA."
Don't Break the Net is Astrotuf (tags)
Comment about this new group advertising on Facebook
SAN ONOFRE: ANATOMY OF A NUCLEAR SHUTDOWN (tags)
How the San Onofre nuclear power plant shut down, and why
On San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) , Southern California Edison (tags)
In 2007, Jeffrey Bleich was a ready-to-wage-war attorney working for Ronald Leroy Olson at Munger Tolles & Olson who was dubbed by some media outlets as Superman.
Have You Ever Seen Someone Near a Utility Pole? EPA Hasn't! (tags)
Help EPA See the Reality of Wood Preservative Exposure in Your Community
Problems with Europe's nuclear plants raise worries just as the energy was gaining support (tags)
By Susan Sachs | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
Hey, General Assembly of MD: ”Reverse Deregulation!” (tags)
Most Marylanders can expect their electric bills to go up by $743 a year-a 74 % increase! In 1999, the legislature deregulated the industry. In a sweetheart deal, BGE was absorbed by Constellation Energy and required to begin buying its electricity on the open market. Meanwhile, BGE’s electric-generating assets, originally paid for by the people, were turned over to Constellation in “a cash-free shuffle.” The ratepayers are now being asked to pay again!
Nuclear fuel rods missing from Eureka PG&E atom plant waste pool (tags)
Apparently there are no records of the missing radioactive waste since 1968. This is an extremely unprofessional way to run a nuclear plant.
Economics is actually a form of voodoo religion. . .
Is it unpatriotic to drive an SUV? (tags)
Is driving a sport utility vehicle unpatriotic?
Ballots across the West promise Power to the people (tags)
Public ownership of electric power is an idea whose time has come – at least in San Francisco, Las Vegas and in the Big Sky state of Montana. Voters in these western locales have a chance to vote Nov. 5 for ballot questions that open the way for city or state takeover or buyout of private utility companies.
Governors Get Free SUVs, Gas Money (tags)
Governors attending the National Governors Association meeting in Rhode Island this weekend will drive gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles provided free of charge by General Motors Corp.
April Fools' Rate Hikes (tags)
The Disneyland Democrats had their state convention in Anaheim, California this April Fools' weekend and still insist on following their PG&E whore, Gov Gray Davis, like the blind fools they are, as he leads their party to sure oblivion into the gubernatorial campaign of 2002
Utility Greed, Not Power Shortage, Root Cause of Calif.'s Deregulation Disaster (tags)
Harvey Wasserman, author of "The Last Energy War: The Battle Over Utility Deregulation" who takes a critical look at California's electric power disaster and the various remedies offered to repair the damage. "The Last Energy War" is published by Seven Stories Press. Listen to this interview in RealAudio and get more information on the Between The Lines website at www.btlonline.org for week ending 2/9/01. To subscribe to BTL's weekly summaries email btlsummary-subscribe@topica.com