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Tag: nuclear power

  • Minnesota Nuclear Plant Leaked 400,000 Gallons of Radioactive Water

    Minnesota Nuclear Plant Leaked 400,000 Gallons of Radioactive Water

    Xcel Energy’s Monticello nuclear plant leaked 400,000 gallons of radioactive water, although regulators say there’s no danger.

    According to AP News, regulators have been monitoring the Xcel’s cleanup efforts surrounding the radioactive water leak, saying the company took swift action to address the issue.

    The company evidently reported the leak of tritium-contaminated water to federal and state authorities in late November, but the public was not informed until this week.

    “We knew there was a presence of tritium in one monitoring well, however Xcel had not yet identified the source of the leak and its location,” Minnesota Pollution Control Agency spokesman Michael Rafferty said.

    “Now that we have all the information about where the leak occurred, how much was released into groundwater, and that contaminated groundwater had moved beyond the original location, we are sharing this information,” he said, adding the water remains contained on Xcel’s property and poses no immediate public health risk.

    The company says the leak poses no danger to people or the environment.

  • US Plans to Build Nuclear Fusion Plant

    US Plans to Build Nuclear Fusion Plant

    The US is taking definitive steps toward nuclear fusion, with plans to build its first plant by the 2040s.

    Nuclear fusion represents the Holy Grail of energy production. Unlike nuclear fission, fusion involves combining atoms rather than splitting them apart. Fusion is cleaner than fission, producing helium as a byproduct, rather than radioactive waste. There is also minimal chance of the kind of explosive chain reaction that can occur when ripping atoms apart. Deuterium — the primary fuel used in fusion — is distilled from sea water, unlike the rare-earth elements used in fission.

    Despite its advantages, there are still many hurdles to overcome. Chief among them is developing a method that produces substantially more energy than the cost of fusion.

    A group of US scientists believe they can overcome the challenges, and have set the 2040s as their goal for establishing the first power plant in the US, according to Science.

    “The community urgently wants to move forward with fusion on a time scale that can impact climate change,” says Troy Carter, a fusion physicist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “We have to get started.”

  • Fukushima Radiation Tested for Along Pacific Coast

    In March of 2011, a 9.0 earthquake in the Pacific triggered a tsunami which hit the coast of Japan, nearly demolishing the Fukushima nuclear power plant and resulting in huge amounts of radiation being washed into the ocean. In the three years since the event occurred, not much fall-out has been seen from the nuclear waste. However, many coastal cities and towns are starting to worry that the time is nigh for the radiation to be impacting the Pacific Coast of the United States.

    “We’ve been worried about it and worried about it. We’re really concerned about it affecting the fisheries, the wildlife, the tourism, and most importantly our health,” stated Zac Adams, owner of Bandon Designs construction company.

    If scientific time-tables mean anything, Adams should be worried that the radiation is going to hit the coast soon: “The predicted modeling shows that we should start to see it coming along our coastline at very low levels,” reported Lisa Phipps, executive director of the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership.

    That being said, the levels of radiation reaching the western coast are insignificant, according to those studying the issue.

    In order to assure the people that there is nothing to worry about, Lisa Pipps has partnered with Ken Buesseler, a chemical oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Together, and with the help of many others who have donated to the cause, Buesseler has started the project, “How Radioactive is Our Ocean?”

    The goal of the project is to raise enough crowd-sourced funding to help pay for water samples from the coast to be tested for evidence of radioactive elements in Buesseler’s lab back in Massachusetts. Each test costs anywhere from $550 to $600, but the project believes the cost is more than worthwhile.

    “There’s a dismissive argument that well, the levels are pretty low, so why bother. The counter to that is it’s good to confirm low numbers. You build public confidence. And we can use the data to model ocean currents for the next time,” argued Buesseler.

    Pipps corroborated Buesseler statement, saying that “When we took this on, it wasn’t to incite any kind of fear in people. It is a data collection effort.”

    While some oceanside residents may be worried about the level of radiation in the ocean, others simply want to know the facts: “If there’s something out there that’s coming up, I would like to know,” stated fisherman Bart Baldwin.

    As long as concerned residents continue to fund Buesseler’s campaign, the western coast should have all the information and preparation it needs to handle any radiation threat in the near future.

    Image via YouTube

  • John Kerry Travels to Geneva For Negotiations

    Secretary of State John Kerry departed for Geneva on Friday to take part in discussions with Iranian leaders regarding nuclear power and production. Kerry will join top officials from the five other world powers taking part in the negotiations; Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov; British Foreign Minister William Hague; French Minister Laurent Fabius; and leaders from China, Russia, and Germany will all take part, as well.

    The last time negotiations were discussed concerning uranium enrichment in Tehran, no compromises were made. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said no deals would be considered which didn’t include the right to continue uranium enrichment. According to Iranian officials, they are only enriching for medicinal uses, reactor fuel, and research. However, it is also known for producing material used for nuclear warheads.

    A deal struck would mean that Iran would begin to lower the threat of atomic weapons for relief from certain scanctions, such as Iran’s previously-denied use of the World Bank, as well as the release of restrictions on their exportation of oil. However, Iranian leaders also say that they want ‘more’ and ‘faster’ release of sanctions, though that was not elaborated upon.

    U.S. Senators are driving a hard bargain as well, though; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently spoke out about his displeasure at what the U.S. is offering. Leaders from both parties – Democratic and Republican – are voicing their disapproval of what the U.S. and the other five countries involved are offering Iran, as well. The resounding argument from the Senate is that we should not agree to anything less than a complete ban on uranium enrichment.

    It was unclear whether Secretary of State Kerry would join the conference in Geneva until earlier today. According to Fox News, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki reported that Kerry decided to attend “with the goal of continuing to help narrow the differences” and, possibly, a final agreement.

    Main image courtesy @JohnKerry via Twitter.

  • Hiroshima: Japan Honors 68th Anniversary

    Hiroshima: Japan Honors 68th Anniversary

    Today marks the 68th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima by the Enola Gay on August 6, 1945. The AP reports 50,000 people gathered in the Hiroshima peace park accompanied by many of the “hibakusha,” or “explosion-affected” and burned incense in honor of the over 140,000 decedents who perished in the inferno.

    Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui were both in attendance. Abe spoke about the duty Japan faces as the sole country to be the victim of a nuclear attack while vowing to “do everything in my power to make peace a lasting reality and abolish nuclear weapons.” To some, these comments sounded hollow without even a slight mention of either the dilemma the country is facing over nuclear energy or the thousands who were made refugees by the Fukushima power plant disaster.

    The Fukushima disaster of 2011 caused most of Japan’s nuclear reactors to be shut down after a tsunami/earthquake combination set off a series of meltdowns. The dangerous radioactivity displaced many of the people living in the regions of the plants.

    Abe is in favor of restarting the plants after putting new safety guidelines in place, but others are not so sure. The Christian Science Monitor notes that after Abe had spoken, Matsui used his time to heavily criticize Abe’s administration on several political points, including its plans to sell nuclear energy technology to India.

    “The government’s ongoing negotiations may bring economic benefits to Japan and India, but they will hamper efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons,” Matsui said. “We [The people of Hiroshima] urge the national government to rapidly develop and implement a responsible energy policy that places top priority on safety and the livelihoods of the people.”

    Matsui went on to comment of the absurdity of Abe’s plan to restart the reactors, noting that the Tokyo Electric Power Co. has admitted to massive quantities of radioactive materials that are continuously and uncontrollably leaking into the ocean since the disaster.

    The Japanese government is considering making modifications to their pacifist constitution and changes to their Self-Defense force. Such changes might even include permitting domestic weapons manufacturers to ship their products overseas. In related news, the Japanese also launched the largest warship they have fielded since WWII.