First, an excellent new video has been released by Fairewinds Associates and Arnie Gundersen, which provides much of the underlying science to boiling water reactors such as those employed at Fukushima and at our own little liability,Vermont Yankee.  

Nuclear Power 101: Fairewinds examines the fundamental advantages and disadvantages of splitting atoms to boil water. from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

Next, lest we forget the precarious nature of our domestic nuclear energy policy in the aftermath of a manufactured debt crisis, how about a look at what those merry pranksters at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have been up to lately?

It was recently revealed that the NRC has lowered safety standards in response to industry failures to meet previously higher standards.  The latest news is that the NRC plans to announce a lowering of the estimate of fatalities resulting from a nuclear meltdown.

That’s right.  In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, where ample evidence was provided that officials gravely underestimated both the vulnerability of the plant systems to failure and the appropriate scale of evacuations, the NRC is busy undermining its own safeguards.

When the Union of Concerned Scientists learned that the NRC had concluded a six year research project, the results of which seem to minimize risks associated with nuclear power, they used the Freedom of Information act to make sure that the New York Times was provided with a draft version of the report.

The conclusion, to be published in April after six years of work, is based largely on a radical revision of projections of how much and how quickly cesium 137, a radioactive material that is created when uranium is split, could escape from a nuclear plant after a core meltdown. In past studies, researchers estimated that 60 percent of a reactor core’s cesium inventory could escape; the new estimate is only 1 to 2 percent.

There are a number of problems with the data yielded by the research, including the small perimeter of assumed impact, and the decision imposed on the research to focus on the”best-estimate” rather than worst case scenario.  Anyone who has followed the unfolding catastrophe at Fukushima Daiichi will immediately see the fallacy of this approach, and it does little to dispel the overwhelming impression that the NRC’s relationship to the industry is entirely too cozy.

This is a prime example of how even factual data may be mined in such a way as to produce the desired results.  It is not difficult to imagine the culture at the NRC that allowed regulatory failures at U.S. plants to be rationalized into lower standards rather than penalties and strict remedies.

Now we learn that that culture is not uniformly pliant, and that a sharp division exists within the NRC itself.  

In the aftermath of Fukushima’s nuclear accidents, an NRC task force has produced twelve safety recommendations that it would like to see “aggressively” implemented at U.S. plants.  NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko is among those advocating for immediate adoption of the recommendations, but not all commissioners agree on the urgency:

Some commissioners are not supportive of taking action on all 12 safety recommendations made by the task force within three months. Commissioners William Magwood, Kristine Svinicki and William Ostendorff have called for more study of at least some of the recommendations, while Commissioner George Apostolakis supports taking action in 90 days.

At today’s Senate hearing on the matter, Vermont’s Senator Bernie Sanders joined Chairman Jaczko in calling for immediate action:

“I applaud the recommendations made by the task force, but I am disturbed that a majority of the NRC does not want to move forward on all 12 recommendations within three months,” Sanders told the commissioners. “I know what delay means in this town, it means nothing is going to happen.”

Given the Agency of Natural Resources’ recent history under the Douglas administration,  I was not happy with the impression I got that developers of the Lowell Wind Project would most likely suffer little in the way of consequences for violations committed by their sub-contrators.  This did not seem to bode well for the effectiveness of the newly reorganized ANR of Sec. Markowitz.

It was therefore with some relief that I read in this morning’s paper that the ANR does not intend to let this one slide.  

Asked about Green Mountain Power’s expressed hope to begin the construction phase on August 1, ANR Chief Counsel, Jon Groveman had this to say:

To me, that is the sweet sound of the ANR reminding developers of where its priorities are meant to be.

I realize that, having just emerged from the shadow of long years of bias in favor of developers’ interests under Douglas, the new ANR may not have sufficient legal mechanisms in place to trigger actual dollars-and-cents assessments in the case of violations such as have been committed at Lowell.  It is to be hoped that they will work with the legislature to establish such mechanisms, which will enhance the effectiveness of their rules in the future.  

In a state where everyone is asked to tighten their belts and the Governor is averse to raising taxes, doesn’t it make sense to assess effective monetary penalties whenever our valuable environmental resources are put in jeopardy?

There are plenty of reasons why the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan is no longer front-page news.  Rupert Murdoch, the terror attacks in Norway, brinksmanship over the debt crisis in DC; there have been plenty of hot-blooded stories to claim our immediate attention in the months since the Japanese nuclear disaster began to unfold.  

The terrible reality is that this story will grind relentlessly onward, without resolution, and with nothing to break the gritty monotony of utter helplessness.   Cultural restraint, which typifies the Japanese people, does not lend itself to an outcry for world attention, but to suffering alone in simple disbelief and grieving acceptance.

A compelling new documentary on the fallout situation in northern Japan, produced by NHK, has just been made available.  Nearly an hour-and-a-half in length, the story is told quietly and without embellishment by independent Japanese science researchers and the people who used to make a life in the lovely region that is now a “hot-zone.”  

I warn you; it is heart-breaking.

Well, it appears that Tom Salmon has finally settled on what he wants to be when he grows up: a U.S. senator.

Ever since his reelection to serve as state auditor, the Boy Wonder has made it known that he didn’t really want to do that job, but would rather begin immediately positioning himself to run for something grander.

Tuesday night’s Letters to the Editor in The Messenger was graced with an incoherent Salmon screed against Bernie Sanders for… what exactly? Is it for representing the interests of the elderly, veterans and working men and women?  Ever the master of nuance,  Auditor Salmon somehow manages to offend nearly everyone who labors in this state:

Senator Sanders is a Senator of the United States.  He is not a lobbyist for the AARP, the Veterans of America or the many Unions that financially support him.  He has not spent a day teaching in the public schools, nor a day on the battlefield.  He is neither a nuclear scientist, a CPA or a healthcare professional…But yet, he has spent the last year raising $1.5 million for his re-election campaign and getting people whipped into a frenzy over “unfairness.”

Whoa!  Can we conclude from that diatribe that Mr. Salmon will not accept campaign donations from corporations and the independently wealthy who would most benefit from his anti-populist agenda?  

Should the heavens part in recognition of his birthright, and he make the unlikely ascent to the throne of “Senator Salmon,” I guess we can assume that the full spectrum of peoples whose interests Bernie consistently stands for can pretty well lump-it when it comes to any issues of “unfairness.”

And what’s this?  Bernie Sanders has been “silent” over the debt ceiling crisis?

“Nearly eight months after his famous filibuster, when leaders are truly needed, he is particularly quiet as solutions are being sought.”

Does this man not own a television?

While we’re at it, let’s hear Mr. Salmon’s brilliant and detailed plan.  He is a CPA, you know.

Oh, I get it.  All of those old people, veterans, teachers and children who have been ‘whipped into a frenzy over “unfairness?”‘  Scotch Social Security, Medicare, Veterans benefits and public education; then send those kids and the elderly out to get all the new jobs that will be created “soon” by the Bush tax cuts.

That’s not what you meant, Mr. Auditor?  Well, that certainly is how you came across to me.

You think social insurance is the “problem” with America’s debt?

He (Sen. Sanders) has earned a black belt in delivering half-truths (“Social insurance programs are not the problem”)

Social insurance, which American laborers have been paying for in good faith for decades now, and which honest analysis reveals will serve us well into the distant future with some very minor adjustments?  You think that’s the problem, Mr. Salmon?  

We do know that as much time as Mr. Salmon devotes to doing almost anything to avoid the tedium of his real job, he still has not taken our advice to enroll in a basic English composition refresher at CCV.

Let us urge Senator Sanders and the rest of his counterparts in dysfunctional Washington, DC to “Serve the United States of America which means all the people within the states, or to leave their post and become a lobbyist for their favorite organization.”  

(Quoted absolutely verbatim from pg. 4A of the July 26 Messenger.)

Mr. Salmon’s timing is flawless as ever.   He clumsily flings his line in the water and catches his own tail.

So, despite earlier threats to shut-down cold this fall if not granted the requested preliminary injunction to continue operating past March 2012, Entergy has decided to refuel Vermont Yankee.  

There is still some more profit to be extracted from the old tin can, even if only until March; and look what just this gesture of confidence has done for Entergy stock:

Following the 8 AM release of the decision to refuel, the company's stock rose as soon as the market opened Monday, ending the day up 47 cents to $68.78 a share.

It's all about gamesmanship, an Entergy specialty.  If rather than refueling, they had lived-up to their threat and announced an immediate closure, not only would their stock have taken a huge and long-lasting hit, but the prospects for their case against the state would have gone right up the spout.

Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates sheds some additional light on Entergy's likely motives:

Without new fuel, Entergy could not have kept the plant running at full power beyond this fall, said Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer in Burlington and a critic of the plant. Running the plant at reduced power is less reliable and less profitable, he said.

Gunderson goes somewhat further and speculates that, even if allowed to operate past next March, the plant might in any case close in 2015:

Vermont Yankee faces replacing a $100 million condenser and making repairs that will be required in response to the March failure of the Fukushima plant in Japan following an earthquake and tsunami.  “They may decide to throw in the towel in 2015,” Gundersen said. “It makes no economic sense.”

This way, any bad news for investors may be kicked down the road while the cash-cow that is VY, though elderly and prone to leakage, can still be stripped for the cream she continues to yield.

“VT thinks ENVY wants a 20 year marriage, but what they really want is a series of 20 years of one night stands.  The moment VY becomes too costly, they will be gone!”

Throughout his tenure, Governor Douglas complained bitterly to anyone who would listen, of the onerous burden imposed on business by Vermont’s system of environmental regulation.  Despite all the crocodile tears, one of the worst kept secrets in Montpelier was that the watchdog in charge of enforcement of those regulations had no teeth, and that there was systemic dysfunction in the Agency of Natural Resources.

Here is the first true test of whether or not there’s been a significant change of culture within the Agency. Regulatory violations in connection with the Lowell Wind Project provide a high-profile opportunity for the new ANR Secretary and her team to demonstrate that more than simple delays will be the consequences for those who would play fast and loose with Vermont’s environmental regulations.

The issue here stands quite apart from whether or not the Lowell Wind Farm is a good idea.  If violations of rules, once discovered, result in little more than a slap on the wrist, where is the disincentive?

All I’ve read  so far with regard to the Lowell violations suggests their discovery may only mean a slight delay for the developers while the issues are “resolved.”

Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz said her agency has been to the site and is assessing the damage. She expected to determine what consequences,if any, the electric utility would face. Markowitz said at the agency’s request, Green Mountain Power asked the Public Service Board not to give final approval to its conservation easements until the issues are resolved.

(emphasis added)

Without meaningful penalties, disregarding those environmental rules becomes little more than a calculated risk that may be factored into a project even in the conceptual stage.

C’mon Secretary Markowitz, it’s time to let the dogs out.

Since Republicans won an overwhelming majority in the House, we’ve seen the new crop of Tea Party Freshmen move hungrily from  taxes, through education, social services and  fundamental public safety regulations, attempting to gut and devour the systems that have kept this country’s hopes and dreams alive since the 1930’s. The next victim of the mob may well be our clean water supply.

Though unlikely to pass, the Clean Water Federalism Act of 2011 may be an early warning that interstate water-grabs are about to heat up; but let’s not get too far ahead of the story right now.

As its title suggests, HR2018 would take all power to regulate water quality away from the EPA and return it to the individual states.

It would prohibit the federal government from “specification of any defined area as a disposal site for the discharge of dredged or fill material into navigable waters,” so if the state does not believe the dumped material would harm drinking water or fisheries, then chemical dumping and manufacturing runoff would not be prevented.

Bad as that may sound, it is just the narrow edge of the wedge.

In the event that this or similar legislation finally managed to worm its way through to passage under a future Republican president, it would no doubt be challenged in the Supreme Court.  As currently constituted,  and unless major changes in ideological representation on the Court were to happen between now and then, I think we can all imagine a scenario in which the Supreme Court finds in favor of the constitutionality of such a bill.

Once control of water quality is legally ceded to the individual states, it will be just a matter of time before water and all natural resources will come under the sole purview of individual states.  

As pure water becomes less and less freely available, look for hostile damming, drilling and denial of access between neighboring states.  Water-rich states will punish and manipulate dry states through restrictive water policy.  Poorly managed states will negotiate to lease or maybe even sell their water rights to bottlers and speculators for a thirsty world market.

Add competition over clean water to the greatest income inequity in the developed world and you have the key ingredients for civil unrest; quite possibly for civil war.

Clean water is the one essential resource that no one can do without.  Its further manipulation and commoditization could very well mean the end of the United States as we know it.

This is just a reminder that Saturday, July 23, from 10AM to 5PM, “The Vermont Nucelar Power Conference: From Fukushima to Vermont” will be held in the Livak Ballroom on the 4th Floor of the UVM Campus Building.  Arnie Gundersen will be presenting from 10:30 until noon. His topic: “Nucelar Power 101.”

___________________________________________________________

There is fresh evidence that the contamination in Japan extends well beyond Fukushima Prefecture.

In the newest video release from Fairewinds Associates, Arnie Gundersen explains how radioactive materials have made their way much more deeply into the food chain than was earlier anticipated, through deposits of so-called “black rain” that was carried by plumes from the early releases at Fukushima, and settled on feed straw as far away as 45 miles from the site.

Also in this video segment, Gundersen discusses the dismal outlook for neutralizing onsite hazards in the forseeable future, and worrisome findings in environmental test samples collected in the vicinity of Tokyo.

Ex Japanese Nuclear Regulator Blames Radioactive Animal Feed on “Black Rain” from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

Recently, we’ve found ourselves talking about the apparent inability of anyone to hold Entergy accountable for its pattern of misinformation; about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission having lowered the bar on regulation in order to cut failing plants some slack and give their operators even less incentive to shape up; and about Entergy’s strategy to milk the maximum returns from their geriatric VY plant through legal stall tactics.  

Now it’s time to give a listen to the really big and scary picture on U.S. nuclear energy facilities and their potential for Fukushima-size failure.

Here is the best and latest video from Vermont’s own Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates who is joined this time by David Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists in a forum recently presented by the C-10 Foundation at the Boston Public Library.  Roughly fifty-minutes long, this video provides an overview of all the contributing science around the events that unfolded at Fukushima, then brings it on home to our own aging and dangerously under-planned U.S. reactor scene.  

Why Fukushima Can Happen Here: What the NRC and Nuclear Industry Dont Want You to Know from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

This week, Reuters reported on the growing credibility gap among Japanese with regard to the ethical reliability of their nuclear industry as a whole, even as the Fukushima disaster remains unresolved.  

With Tokyo Electric already discredited, the industry has been further tarnished by revelations that Kyushu Electric Power Co. attempted to manipulate a public forum on nuclear safety by instructing its workers to pose as ordinary citizens and send e-mails in support of restarting nuclear power plants in the south.

“There is growing suspicion that power companies are playing fast and loose with data to support their cause and will go so far as to orchestrate public support,” said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University’s Japan campus.

To their credit, the Japanese public actually seem surprised and outraged by this effrontery!  Over here, we’ve just come to expect such unethical behavior as a matter of course.

There’s little comfort for Vermonters in Attorney General William Sorrell’s conclusion that Entergy and Vermont Yankee’s misrepresentations do not exactly rise to the level of criminal behavior.  As the Free Press observed today,  incompetence in the administration of a nuclear facility is hardly more desirable than downright dishonesty.

“We found more incompetence than malevolence,” Attorney General William Sorrell said this week in announcing the results of the investigation. “A corporation of this size and this importance — I don’t mean to disparage cops — but this was like Keystone Kops.”

In a sane world, where concerns for public safety would trump all corporate claims, this finding would be…should be… the final nail in the coffin for Vermont Yankee.  

But, no…if the Attorney General thinks he can’t make a criminal case out of the whoppers perpetrated by Entergy and VY, we just go on as if nothing ever happened; and the NRC doesn’t even care that the operators have been publicly exposed (at the very least) as colossal incompetents.

Isn’t this sort of the corporate equivalent of claiming innocence by reason of insanity?