El Sid's Green Space
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) = Nobody Really Cares
An earthquake toppled this building in Shanghai, China. Note pilings which were supposed to prevent toppling. This is a typical result
of building on geologically unstable land. Earthquakes "liquify" the soil, kissing stability away.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission blesses putting nuclear plants on earthquake prone land, and neglect of responsibility.
What frequently happens from building on earthquake prone land was exemplified once more in Shanghai, China, as shown above.
At around 5:30 aM on June 27, 2009, the building shown above, toppled while under construction at Lianhuanan Road in the mining district of Shanghai City. In Japan, seven nuclear reactors were shut down due to an earthquake fire and radioactive leak at the Kashiwazi-Kariwa nuclear facility. The quake struck in July, 2007.
People were killed and injured by the 6.8 magnitude quake. A new fire at the still shut down plant occurred in March, 2009. 600,000 residents signed a petition opposing restart of the plant.
The NRC approved building many nuclear plants on earthquake prone land. The Salem I, Salem II and the Hope Creek nukes in New Jersey are among these. These plants are not on solid rock. They are on "Artificial Island", filled in land in the Delaware River. The plants rely on pilings like the ones shown above. What is even more shocking, PSE&G, the utility owning the plants on Artificial Island want to put still another nuclear plant on the island. The earthquake fault near these plants rumbled on February 3, 2009. It was a small quake, but much more intense shocks are due. A biggie can happen in a hundred years or tomorrow.
It gets even worse. The owners of this complex want to extend the operation of it all for 50% longer than the design life of the plants.
To extend operation by 50% represents extreme neglect of the public safety and welfare. Nothing lasts forever. When a nuclear plant
is run longer than it was designed for, the risk of a multi-billion dollar disaster, with great loss of life is extremely possible. All these plants are in an earthquake prone region.
Lots more nukes are near or right on top of American earthquake faults. Many are described in the book "Asleep at the Geiger Counter".
Some plants can cause more than a trillion dollars damage while crippling essential areas. Every nuclear plant is an attractive target for terrorism, as proven by Al Quaida records.
The arrogance of it all is almost unbelievable. Believe it! This arrogance is also invested in other NRC rules.
There have been many requests to extend the operating life of nuclear plants by 50%. The NRC has always automatically approved these extensions regardless of the poor condition of the nuclear plants.
The NRC is still satisfied with a mere ten-mile evacuation zone around a nuke, although poisons from the Three Mile Island accident were blown hundreds of miles. Poisons from the Chernobyl accident were blown around the world. The NRC's satisfaction with a ten-mile limit is idiotic.
Details about the above are in my book "Asleep at the Geiger Counter".
The NRC continues to support the Price Anderson Act. This is a federal law which limits the liability of a utility to a microscopic fraction of the damage which can be incurred by an "event". This law abolishes everyone's property rights to protect the property rights of the utility. No other form of energy needs this kind of unfair law.
The NRC supports the distribution of potassium iodide pills as an assurance that no one will be harmed from a nuclear disaster.
These pills only protect against radioactive iodine if the pills are taken immediately and are used for as long as the radioactive iodine remains
in the environment. They do nothing to protect all the other radioactive poisons which are released. This is no real assurance to anyone who is informed.
The NRC supports ridiculously inadequate specifications for the design of containers transporting nuclear waste. Many shipments can be a Chernobyl on wheels. Casks are designed to withstand a drop on to pavement from a height of 30 feet, or a drop of 40 inches onto a steel pipe. Using elementary High School physics, this means they are satisfied with a direct impact on the cask at a speed of 10 to 30 mph. The casks travel on super-speed highways, and cross bridges which are more than 30 feet high, or 40 inches high. Some bridges cross over earthquake faults.
The NRC supports insufficient safeguards against a terrorist attack. Their head-in-the sand dismissal of realistic scenarios is frightening. Nuclear plants have reinforced domes which can withstand the impact of jet planes which are smaller than the largest size. The reactor is vulnerable for an impact of the largest size jets. Control rooms are not shielded at all, although malfunction of controls due to an impact can cause a fuming melt down. The spent fuel storage tanks hold much more radioactivity than is in the plants themselves. They are not shielded from worst case impacts. The largest of airplanes are allowed to fly over nuclear plants. There are no fly zones over Disney World and Disney Land. Mickey Mouse is protected better than you are. Precautions against foot-soldier assaults assume unrealistically small attack forces. Most of the guards at the Indian Point Nuke felt that they would not be successful in withstanding a substantial attack. Attack drills are biased in favor of being unrealistically successful in foiling an attack.
These and many other shameful NRC rulings prove that the initials NRC stand for Nobody Really Cares.
It all represents technological prostitution. At least girls of the night are honest in what they do.
An anything for profit paradigm has brought the United States to the brink of economic destruction.
The NRC's further actions can allow the final blow. It is worse than unpatriotic. It is treason.
Liars for the industry deserve severe criminal penalties, because trillions of dollars and millions of lives are at stake.
The California Energy Commission issued a draft report on expected energy costs from various technologies, projected out to 2018 - just about the time any of the proposed new nuclear plants come on line. the results are stunning. Renewable energy technologies examined is projected to provide electricity cheaper than nuclear power, even giving the benefit of doubt on construction costs (which invariably had huge cost overruns).
Not a single new nuclear plant would be built without massive government subsidy. Nobody wants to build them without bailouts. Bailouts are being handed out by political whores for the industry.
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Video (1) made by a Facebook friend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmVkagHAMME
Video (2) made by a Facebook friend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqkXY4mk7B4
Nukes set to music – Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEGzPb09y2U
Video - Energy Matters - part 1 - El Sid on this video
Video - Energy Matters - part 2 - El Sid on this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2wiOo2Swc0
Health Data from Dr. Janette Sherman - http://www.janettesherman.com
Includes comprehensive book on total effects of the Chernobyl disaster
OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES
Natural Resources Defense Council - http://www.nrdc.org/
Union of Concerned Scientists - http://www.ucsusa.org/
Nuclear Information and Resource Service - http://www.nirs.org/
Sierra Club - http://www.Sierra Club.org/
Beyond Nuclear - http://www.beyondnuclear.org/
Wiser Earth - http://www.wiserearth.org/
Riverkeeper - http://www.riverkeeper.org/
Unplug Salem - http://www.unplugsalem.org/
Solar Discounts from group purchashing - http://www.1bog.org/
Environmental Defense Fund - http://www.fightglobalwarming.org/
League of Conservation Voters - www.lcv.org
PROGRESSIVE RESOURCES
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Postcards, T-shirts from Donnelly/Colt
http://www.donnellycolt.com
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