How Will PG&E Vankruptcy Affect Nuke Plant Shutdown? (tags)
PG&E's bankrupcy filing will, among other things, affect the scheduled shutdown of its Diablo Canyon nuclear plant on Central California's coast. But how?
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 November 2017 (tags)
Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working for a nuclear free world. Here is our November 2017 report:
Nuclear Shutdown News: April 2017 (tags)
Tribune Company Stock Bought By LAPD Union To Silence Criticism Of Police (tags)
When the LAPD union bought Tribune Co. stock it jeopardized the pensions of tens of thousands of police as it attempted to silence criticism of the police department
Negotiating Our Lives Away (tags)
At some point we have to step to the plate and put our foot down. It's not going to stop on its own.
Scooter Libby Was Not Arrested (tags)
Some conservative commentators have tried to parallel the odd arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on Dec. 9, 2008, and the indictment of I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff, on Oct. 28, 2005. There may be turn out to be similarities between the two legal matters, both prosecuted by Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, but there is little similarity in the treatment of the two men. To argue that Libby and Blagojevich were treated alike is false.
Keep a light shining on U.S. racism (tags)
Neo-Fascism is always accompanied by a sharp rise in racism, and this one is no different.
N.J. requires flu shots for preschoolers, a first in U.S. (tags)
The International Herald Tribune is reporting: New Jersey became the first U.S. state to require flu shots for preschoolers, saying their developing immune systems and likelihood of spreading germs make them as vulnerable to complications as the elderly.
Blood In The Streets Of Oakland: Anniversary Death of Mary Jesus (tags)
In Memory of Mary Jesus... Today December 10, is the 3rd year anniversary death of Mary Jesus, who was hounded to death by Oakland's greedy landoords! Mary Jesus shook up downtown Oakland 3 years ago when she climbed onto the Oakland Tribune Tower and tossed down 100s of copies of a suicide note denouncing the plight of Oakland renters before leaping to a tragic bloody death...
What if a flu outbreak shut down the highway, airport, hospital? (tags)
The Chicago Tribune reports: The effects of the computer-simulated flu pandemic kept getting worse and worse: highways and airports shut down, hospitals filled to capacity, pharmacies running out of medicine.
Report Back From Tacoma ICE Protest (Day 1) (tags)
Report Back
Libertarian Tom Rawles Supports the war in Iraq (tags)
Libertarian Tom Rawles in this article seems to support the reasons for invading Iraq in this article. The article was published last week in the Tribune.
The Zell[ing] Out of the Baltimore Sun (tags)
Sam Zell, a multibillionaire and “committed Zionist,” will soon gain control of the LA Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, and 23 TV stations. Zell, an AIPAC supporter, has promised he won’t interfere with the news sections of any of the media outlets. I think he’s another Mortimer B. Zuckerman of the NY Daily News, who pushed for the Iraqi War. America--prepare for a “Dark Age!”
....knew and covered it up for years.
Who Owns the Media in Los Angeles (tags)
Speak out against media consolidation on October 3. The FCC will have two hearings in Los Angeles. http://www.stopbigmedia.com/
More Bad News for Delgadillo, LAPD's Choice for State's Top Cop (tags)
LAPD's front man, Rocktard Delgadillo hasn’t had any good news lately. First, it was news of his fraudulent claims to a non-existent professional football career and then last week news that he committed perjury in 2001. It just got worse today.
Hypocrisy at the Union-Tribune (tags)
The hounds at said paper, in their seemingly santimonious, blue nose, Puritanal zeal, apparently feel there is something particularly egregious about a sex scandal that denies the claustrophobic mores of the Judeo-Christian church. Who is it that really gives much of a rip whether strippers and nightclub owners make more money off sexually starved “adults” that “voluntarily” frequent such places?
Media Witchhunt in the Time of Empire (tags)
In the witch hunt for media rogues the Chicago Tribune's Public Editor, Don Wycliff, has reached a new zenith of perversity...
Art of War : Chicago Tribune Editorial (tags)
Chicago Tribune Editorial
The Oakland Tribune says "hasta la vista, Arnold!" (tags)
The Oakland Tribune runs an editorial withdrawing its endorsement of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Trib online poll: Has the U.S. made a convincing case for attacking Iraq? (tags)
(yeah, it's dumb, but make the good folk of Chicago feel good) The Chicago Tribune is currently conducting an online poll on US efforts to lobby for war. The question being posed is: 'Has the U.S. made a convincing case for attacking Iraq?' Numbers are currently running in favor of 'Yes' Take this opportunity to vote 'NO' to war. Click URL below
Rumsfeld & Tribune/LA Times History--Part I (tags)
Rumsfeld sat on Tribune media conglomerate board and Tribune's LA Times subsidiary has a history of being a pro-war propaganda instrument
Chicago Tribune Article: Almost fair to "anarchists"?! (tags)
Does this "favorable" article in the Chicago Tribune signal an important but little heralded opening?
Union Workers and Supporters Rally at San Diego Union Tribune (tags)
300 plus people gathered in front of the San Diego Union Tribune to rally in support of Union Workers who have been involved in a nine-year struggle with the paper for a decent contract. the paper has responded with dirty tactics and typical union busting techniques.
Delete Duplicates from SD Union Tribune (tags)
There have been at least 5 or more postings from the San Diego Union Tribune glorifing police and most of these are repetitive. Not only are duplicates out of order but it is my understanding that Independent Media is for original news, not reprints from the capitalist press.
Chicago Tribune trashes LAPD (tags)
Two wonderful stories from the Chicago Tribune about the LAPD. One relates the experiences of a cycling reporter busted while covering the Critical Mass action -- the other examines the fear and resentment the community feels toward the LAPD. Enjoy!
Critical Mass story by arrested Tribune reporter (tags)
This is a story from a Tribune staff writer assigned to cover the convention protests who was arrested with 70 others at the Critical Mass ride. These are the kind of pieces we need in the mainstream press.
The International Herald Tribune has a positive story about the protests in LA