Radioactive Waste

TOKYO — In a belated acknowledgment of the severity of Japan’s nuclear disaster, the Tokyo Electric Power Company said Tuesday that three of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant’s reactors most likely suffered fuel meltdowns in the early days of the crisis.

The plant’s operator also said that it was possible that the pressure vessels in the three stricken reactors, which house the uranium fuel rods, had been breached as well. But most of the fuel remained inside the vessels, the company said — far from a more severe nuclear meltdown in which molten fuel penetrates the ground, a calamity known as the “China Syndrome.”

Also on Tuesday, a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear oversight body of the United Nations, began an investigation into Japan’s handling of the accident, amid criticism that a slow response made matters worse.... Read more »

Bruce Power has withdrawn its application to the United States Department of Transportation for approval to ship 16 radioactive steam generators through the Great Lakes.

Spokesman John Peevers says the company’s shipment plan has been put on hold — it is not cancelled — and Bruce Power’s goal remains to ship the decommissioned, school bus-sized vessels to a recycling plant in Sweden.

“We remain convinced and believe that this is the right thing to do and recycling these steam generators is going to reduce our environmental footprint, but we recognize there is still questions out there and we want to make sure that everybody has a chance to have their questions answered,” he said Tuesday in an interview.

Bruce Power announced in March it would delay its shipment plan “to allow for further discussions with First Nations, Metis and others seeking additional information.”
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Politicians in Michigan are growing alarmed at Ontario’s plans to bury waste from a nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Huron. “What fool would put nuclear waste under the Great Lakes?” one local Michigan official has asked. For its part, Ontario Power Generation has said the rock the waste would be buried in is so stable it still contains water from 450 million years ago. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfectly safe.
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Scheduled speakers:
Dr. Gordon Edwards - President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility - to address the radioactive contamination of the Earth and its Waters - accidental or deliberate?... Read more »