Japan Kept Silent on Worst Nuclear Crisis Scenario

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press
TOKYO January 25, 2012 (AP)

The Japanese government's worst-case scenario at the height of the nuclear crisis last year warned that tens of millions of people, including Tokyo residents, might need to leave their homes, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press. But fearing widespread panic, officials kept the report secret...

http://abcnews.go.com/International/w ... rio-15437181#.TyAowaXRnBs

Entergy?s ?Hangover Report? Sends Message to New Yorkers Concerned About Safety at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant: ?We?re All Gonna Die.?

09 May 2011, 16:07 BST

Entergy, the company that operates the Indian Point nuclear plant, located near the intersection of two earthquake fault lines less than 40 miles north of New York City, recently made a public presentation embellished, astoundingly, with screenshots and quotes from the 2009 hit comedy, The Hangover. Page two of the document ominously quotes the following line by the film?s character Stu Price (played by Ed Helms): ?By the way, we?re all gonna die.?

The document, available for download on the Internet at http://bit.ly/kBWAE8, and officially named ?Entergy 2011 Analyst Conference,? was used as part of a presentation in late April to energy analysts by Entergy?s CEO, J. Wayne Leonard, at the Roosevelt New Orleans Hotel, according to an article by Darius Dixon and Dan Berman ( http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53962.html ) in Politico. The apparent motive for the use by Mr. Leonard of the film?s images and quotes is that, for him, the feelings engendered by the company?s depressed stock prices resemble the experience of waking up with a hangover.

The arguments presented in the report in defense of the safety policy at Indian Point (which today will be visited by Gregory Jaczko, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and House members Eliot Engel (D-Bronx) and Nita Lowey (D-Harrison)) are greatly undercut by its wildly inappropriate tone, particularly in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. Some of the ?jokes? in the document, taken directly from the raunchy movie?s dialogue, include instructions on the correct pronunciation of ?retard? (sic) and the quote ?Would you please put some pants on? I feel weird having to ask you twice.? This report is one reason why so many New Yorkers question the seriousness with which Entergy takes its customers? legitimate fears of a Fukushima-like catastrophe befalling one of the most populous regions in the nation.

?I find Entergy's report grossly insensitive to the victims and their families in Japan,? said Evan Giller, a spokesperson for Shut Down Indian Point Now (SDIPN)! ?The only thing that worries Mr. Leonard is the ?hangover? from Entergy?s free-falling stock prices. The fact that a meltdown at Indian Point remains a terrifying possibility doesn?t faze him in the slightest. But then, TEPCO in Japan displayed a similarly arrogant attitude? until Fukushima happened. I wonder will this report reassure NRC Chairman Jaczko and Congresspersons Engel and Lowey??

Although part of the report claims that a Fukushima couldn?t happen at Indian Point, nowhere does the document acknowledge that the Indian Point complex is built to withstand an earthquake of a magnitude no greater than 6.1 on the Richter scale, whereas the immediate area, according to Columbia University, could suffer a quake nearly 10 times greater (7.0), equivalent to the one that ravaged Haiti last year. The NRC itself has determined that, of all US nuclear plants, Indian Point is at greatest risk of a meltdown due to an earthquake. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) named Indian Point, which contains radioactive material equivalent to 1000 Hiroshima bombs, as the most dangerous nuclear plant in America. And of course, the plant could be subject to meltdown not just from an earthquake, but from terrorist activity (far more probable now after the death of Osama bin Laden), or even a Chernobyl-like freak accident.

The current evacuation plan, even though focusing on an absurdly narrow 10-mile radius of the plant, was judged completely unworkable by a commission appointed by former Governor Pataki. In any real emergency, an evacuation would surely have to involve a 50-mile radius or more, and a Homeland Security newswire has determined that it would be literally impossible to evacuate the 20 million people who live within that radius.

If a nuclear power plant is too dangerous to fail, it is too dangerous to exist. If Indian Point melts down, the ?hangover? would be the greatest tragedy in American history!

Shut Down Indian Point Now! (SDIPN!) is a group of activists who have come together for the express purpose of preventing another Fukushima in New York. We stand in solidarity with the people of Japan who have been victimized by TEPCO?s corporate greed. We are demanding an immediate shut down of Indian Point Now: no more studies, no more excuses, no more delays.

http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/201105 ... safety-indian-point-n.htm

In stead of foolish fear mongering, have a look at this nice radiation chart. This chart puts radiation exposure into perspective. Have a look at the Three Mile Island radiation intensity. I bet it's not as bad as you expected it to be is it?

Here is the link: http://xkcd.com/radiation/

The news of late does give one pause for thought...


==============================

New York nuclear plant's future shaky as fears grow

By Matt Daily
Thu Mar 17

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? New worries about a New York nuclear plant's vulnerability to earthquakes could hand the state's governor an opportunity to try to close the plant, but New York City's huge power needs could stall any such moves.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has long been a critic of the Indian Point plant owned by Entergy Corp, called for a review of its safety this week after new data showed it was the most vulnerable nuclear plant in the country to damage from an earthquake.

That will likely put more pressure on the plant as its owners seek to win new operating permits for its two reactors, which are otherwise due to expire in 2013 and 2015.
Stoking the fears are the images of helicopters dumping water on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, which was badly damaged after an earthquake and tsunami last Friday.

While Entergy insists Indian Point is safe, it sits only about 40 miles north of New York City on the banks of the Hudson River -- close enough to pose a threat if it were to suffer a breakdown on the scale that the Japanese plant is now experiencing. The company said it would review its safety procedures in light of recent events.

"Those us who have been talking about Indian Point for a long time have said it should never have been sited there in the first place and now (Entergy) is asking to extend the license for another 20 years." said Arnie Gunderson, a 29-year veteran of the nuclear industry and current chief engineer at Fairewinds Associates Inc in Burlington, Vermont
U.S. officials have said Japan has been too slow to extend an evacuation order around the Daiichi plant, and that if such an accident occurred in the United States, the nuclear regulator would call for an evacuation of people from 50 miles around the site.

For Indian Point, that would mean emptying New York City and the densely packed communities that border it. That could severely disrupt global financial markets as Wall Street would be paralyzed and even satellite financial centers such as the hedge fund capital Greenwich, in Connecticut, would have to evacuate.

POWER UP

The state is currently challenging Entergy's efforts to extend the plant's operating permits, and has said it must build giant cooling towers rather than dispense warm water into the Hudson River, where it can threaten wildlife.

That would be prohibitively expensive, Entergy has said, and would not make economic sense.

But the state may find it difficult to shut off the plant that supplies as much as one-third of the power used by New York City.
Retiring Indian Point in 2015 without adding new power plants, would result in the "loss of power supply and transmission voltage support affecting the metropolitan New York region," the New York Independent System Operator, which runs New York's power grid, said last year.

Building new power generation in New York is no easy task, since adding any type of fossil fuel-based plants would run afoul of federal clean air rules, and renewable sources such as wind power are not yet mature enough to supply the type of steady, baseload power produced by reactors.
The permitting process in New York can also be onerous, since the state has not replaced a law that simplified the procedure but expired in 2002.

Still, Cuomo seized on data from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week that showed Indian Point was the most vulnerable of the nation's approximately 100 commercial reactors.

Although the region does not typically suffer from strong earthquakes, the plant does sit near a fault line, putting its chances of suffering core damage at about 1 in 10,000 each year.

An energy advisor to former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer criticized Cuomo's campaign against the plant.

"I can say that plant has been overbuilt for what earthquake challenges have been imagined and it's not a tsunami risk," said Steve Mitnick, president of a Build Energy America, a coalition of utilities and energy companies.
If Cuomo wants to close the plant, "he should say in the very same sentence, 'we're going to need to build X number of power plants and transmission lines to replace it'," he said.

LAST EXIT TO NYC

The NRC safety plans call for an immediate 10-mile radius evacuation in the event of a nuclear accident, and would expand that if an incident were serious.

That would require protecting the 8.5 million residents of the city, a task that city officials believe is feasible.

"If we needed to, New York City is prepared to evacuate in that incident," said Chris Gilbride, spokesman for the city's Office of Emergency Management.

The city has drawn up two types of evacuation plans, one for big coastal storms including a worst-case scenario that would see 2.3 million people evacuated and sheltering 600,000 people.

The other type is an all-purpose plan designed for each neighborhood. Should a citywide evacuation be needed, officials would activate all of the neighborhood plans, Gilbride said.

Despite the complications of moving large numbers of people, New York was well-prepared because of its vast rail, bus and ferry networks used for everyday commuting, Gilbride said.

(Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta in New York and Eileen O'Grady in Houston)

Earth just got hit with matter from a sun flare and a coronal hole. I wonder if that had something to do with the transformer going kaboom?

I remember PSE&G having a couple major transformers blow out due to similar circumstances years back.

I don't know that I trust a company that woul call itself ENTERGY, although in general I am supportive of nuclear energy.

On an ironic note -- the Vermont Plant is up for sale!

It sure sounds like this company, Entergy Nuclear, is flying by the seat of its pants!

Hey drop them a note!
http://www.safesecurevital.org/contact-us/

http://www.telegram.com/article/20101 ... WS/11070611/1002/business

=======================

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Vermont nuclear power plant up for sale
La. company hoping to sell in face of state opposition

By Matthew L. Wald THE NEW YORK TIMES

Entergy Nuclear, evidently convinced that the Vermont legislature will not allow the company to run the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant for another 20 years, announced on Thursday that the plant was up for sale.

The company acted two days after Peter E. Shumlin, a prominent opponent of the plant and the state Senate?s president pro tem, was elected governor.

It was not immediately clear if a new owner would be more persuasive with the legislature in Montpelier. State lawmakers have reacted vehemently to a series of misstatements and missteps by Entergy and leaks of radioactive tritium at the plant in Vernon, Vt., on the banks of the Connecticut River near the Massachusetts state line.

Entergy, based in New Orleans, said it expected multiple parties to be interested in the reactor and that it wanted to keep hundreds of highly skilled employees from seeking work elsewhere.

The reactor has been on track to receive a 20-year extension to its initial 40-year license from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. But as a condition of Entergy?s acquisition of the plant from local utilities in 2002, the state of Vermont required the legislature?s approval for continued operation.

In February the Vermont Senate voted down an extension.

It was reacting partly to testimony before two state panels from plant officials on the question of whether Vermont Yankee could leak radioactive material from underground pipes, as other reactors around the country had. The executives replied that Vermont Yankee had no such pipes. Then tests found radioactive tritium that had leaked into the groundwater from an underground pipe.

Shumlin, a Democrat, was a leading force in the February vote.

There is some question whether the legislature?s decision would be in the form of a law that which would come to him for signature, in the form of a resolution by the state House and Senate that would not require his assent, but his election does not help Entergy?s prospects.

Reached by telephone, Shumlin said a change of ownership would make no difference. ?We have a tired nuclear power plant that was designed to be shut down on schedule in 2012, and we should meet that schedule,? he said.

With radioactive materials now in the soil around the plant, he asked: ?Why would anyone else want to inherit that legacy? Or pay cash for it??

But Entergy, which paid $180 million for the plant in 2002 and has made substantial investment in it, is apparently hoping to convince a potential buyer that it could win over the legislature.

?It may be that people like that plant more than they like Entergy,? James Steets, an Entergy spokesman, said.

Randolph D. Brock III, a Republican state senator who won re-election on Tuesday, said the problem was largely Entergy?s ?lack of candor and inept government relations.?

He added, ?Moe, Curly and Larry are more credible than Entergy Louisiana in the Senate.?

John J. Reed, an investment banker who specializes in the purchase and sale of nuclear plants, suggested that a sale could be structured for ?a new owner with a clean track record? and be contingent on the plant?s winning state approval for continued operation.

But other plant opponents agreed with the governor-elect. ?The problems are bigger than ownership,? said Sandra Levine, a senior attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation in Vermont. ?The problems at Vermont Yankee come from it being an old plant that?s leaking radioactivity into the environment. That would not be corrected simply by changing ownership.?

At Entergy?s headquarters, Michael Burns, a spokesman, said that while the license did not expire until March 2012, the company would have to begin making ?some key decisions? in the second quarter of 2011.

One decision would be on how, or whether, to refuel the reactor. It is scheduled for refueling next fall. Several companies are likely to be interested in bidding, he said, but the deal would also depend on ?how willing Entergy is to take an offer that may be a lot less than they thought the plant was worth two years ago.?

Wild that two unrelated incidents have shut down two Entergy nuclear power plants in Vermont and New York within an HOUR!

==============================================

"It was the second shutdown within the hour at an Entergy-owned plant."

===============================================
Transformer explodes at NY nuke plant; no one hurt

Published November 07, 2010 | Associated Press

BUCHANAN, N.Y. ? A transformer exploded at the Indian Point nuclear power plant Sunday night, leading to an automatic emergency shutdown of one of its reactors, authorities said. No one was injured and no radioactive materials leaked.

The explosion happened after 6:30 p.m. and triggered an alert at one of the plant's two main electrical transformers, said officials with Entergy Corp., the plant's owner. An alert is the second-lowest of four classification levels for emergency events.

The alert ended at around 10:20 p.m., but workers would continue to monitor the transformer, Entergy spokesman Jim Steets said.

The affected reactor, Indian Point 2, would remain offline until investigators determined the cause of the explosion, Steets said. The reactor began operating in 1973 and generates about 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

The plant's other main transformer, Indian Point 3, was operating normally, he said.

It was the second shutdown within the hour at an Entergy-owned plant.

The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon, Vt., shut down at about 7 p.m. after workers detected radioactive water seeping from a leaky pipe in the complex.

The cause of that leak wasn't immediately known. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the public wasn't in danger.

NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan called the two shutdowns "complete coincidence."

The Indian Point plant is located in Buchanan, about 25 miles north of New York City.

I'm generally a fan of nuclear power, but growing up within the "peak fatality zone" of Indian Point did freak me out a little. doesn't help that the reactor sits nearly on top of the Ramapo fault line.

Transformer explosion at NY nuclear power plant

Associated Press

BUCHANAN, N.Y. ? A transformer exploded and a fire erupted at a a nuclear power plant north of New York City, leading to an emergency shut down of one of the reactors.

An official with the Indian Point plant in Buchanan says there were no injuries in Sunday's incident.

The plant is owned by Entergy Corp. Company spokesman Jerry Nappi told the Journal News that no radioactive materials leaked.

He said the transformer was outside and not near the reactor.

Indian Point 2 was shut down after the 6:39 p.m. explosion. Indian Point 3 was operating normally.

An alert was declared and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission notified.

Nappi said he didn't know how long Unit 2 would be offline.

The power plant is 24 miles north of the city.

?Copyright 2010 Associated Press

=================================

Explosion closes Indian Point nuclear power plant near New York City; no danger of radiation leak

BY BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, November 7th 2010, 8:28 PM

A transformer explosion prompted the automatic shutdown of one of the two units at the Indian Point nuclear power plant last night.

Officials at the Buchanan plant immediately declared an alert after the 6:39 p.m. emergency, but said the warning was only precautionary.

"Apparently there was an explosion, but no fire to speak of," said James Steets, a spokesman for Entergy Corp., which owns the plant.

"Nobody has been hurt. The plant is in a safe condition," Steets said.

He said the explosion occurred in the main transformer of the Unit 2, the older of the center's two plants.

Steets said there was no danger of a radiation leak at the sprawling energy center 24 miles north of New York City.

It was not immediately clear what caused the transformer explosion. Steets said Unit 2 would remain shut down while the incident is investigated.

"I just spoke to the control room myself and was told the plant responded as designed," said Steets, explaining the automatic shutdown.

Unit 3 remained online and operating at full power last night, the company said.



==========================
How to keep safe booklet:

http://keepingsafe.westchestergov.com ... =view&id=2555&Itemid=4423

Fall out map:


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Unrelated incidents shut down Vermont, New York nuclear power plants

7 NOVEMBER 2010

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- Two unrelated incidents have shut down two Entergy nuclear power plants in Vermont and New York on Sunday, officials said, but there is no threat to public health.

The first incident happened at around 6.39 p.m. EST at Entergy-owned Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of New York City. It supplies around 30 percent of the electricity used by New York City and Westchester County, where it is located.

According to plant officials, a transformer explosion and fire hit Indian Point Unit 2, which was built in 1974. Although few details were released, the transformer is located outside and not near the nuclear reactor itself.

According to The Journal News, a local newspaper, the Verplanck Fire Department responded to the incident at 7.15 p.m. EST but was not allowed onto the grounds and had to wait outside the gates. Only Verplanck Assistant Fire Chief Joseph Curry was later allowed to enter, but did not release details about the incident.

"All I know is we were not needed, and that our department had no hand in any firefighting," Curry told the newspaper. "We were not needed, we were turned away."

The plant has shut down Indian Point 2 until the transformer is fixed, and agencies such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have been notified about the incident.

At around the same time on Sunday, at around 7 p.m. EST, an unrelated radioactive water leak forced the closure of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vernon, Vermont. It is the state's only nuclear power plant and is also owned by Entergy.

The water leak at the plant was discovered in the system pipe section in the turbine building, a problem which cannot be repaired while the plant is in operation.

"A conservative decision was made to take the plant out of service to perform the repair," said Entergy spokesman Larry Smith.

It is unclear how long the shutdown will last, but it is expected to take at least one day as it takes 13 hours for the plant to cool down. Meanwhile, officials say there is no threat to public health.

Last week, Entergy announced it is in a process to explore the potential sale of the 605-megawatt Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. The company released few details, but said it expects interest from multiple parties.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)