Oh, you don't like nuclear power? Ok, but...

[DGS49]

Did you read that article before you linked it?

There were some injuries, and one guy died of a heart attack, unrelated to radiation exposure. Many people were exposed to radiation at levels that are over internationally-set limits.

My statement was that nobody got sick due to exposure to radiation. If you see something that contradicts that, please copy and paste it. A couple people got minor burns. That is not "getting sick." Several people were injured, just as they would have been if this had been an explosion at any other large plant.

The issue is radiation exposure, not trip & fall accidents.

 

[Old Rocks]

Navy sailors have radiation sickness after Japan rescue | New York Post

Navy sailor Lindsay Cooper knew something was wrong when billows of metallic-tasting snow began drifting over USS Ronald Reagan.
“I was standing on the flight deck, and we felt this warm gust of air, and, suddenly, it was snowing,” Cooper recalled of the day in March 2011 when she and scores of crewmates watched a sudden storm blow toward them from the tsunami-torn coast of Fukushima, Japan.

The tall 24-year-old with a winning smile didn’t know it then, but the snow was caused by the freezing Pacific air mixing with a plume of radioactive steam from the city’s shattered nuclear reactor.

 

[flacaltenn]

If the AGW nuts were serious, they would advocate building a 1000 nuclear power plants today.

But they are simply, nuts, fools, idiots, activists, anti-american progressive revisionist assholes.

The only solution to the con-job AGW is pure Nuclear Power with a low tax policy that entices Industry to settle and develop in the USA.

Instead, the AGW crowd has chosen to destroy third world countries endlessly/constantly using the natural resources of the world at an every increasing rate.

AGW is a con job, the Green/Renewable conard is the spike through the heart of the USA that kills us, forever.

Nuclear is part of the solution. But only a part. First of all it is far the most expensive of the ways of generating power. Second, sited in a subduction zone, it is a constant source of danger. Third, it must be engineered to be completely fail safe. A disaster in a PV generating plant means no juice. In a geo-thermal plant, damage to the plant and maybe a few acres around the plant. A coal fired plant, damage to the plant, same for natural gas. But disaster in just one nuclear plant could contaminate a whole state. Or more.

Wind is now cheaper than coal in almost all applications. When the grid scale batteries are available, it will be even more useful. PV has come down in price to the point it is competative with nuclear, and far easier to install, and much safer. Geothermal is just starting to come into the picture, and will be a major player as time goes on. It has the additional plus of being a source of important minerals.

As for the rest of your stupid rant, grow up, do some real research, quit being such a fool.

Nuclear cannot be part of the solution. We have babies being born without brains around Hanford. Nuclear waste is leaking and causing problems. Japan is dumping 300,000 gallons of nuclear water into the pacific ocean everyday. This cannot go on. There are other, cleaner alternatives without the global disasters. I don't care if solar costs more money, no one had birth defects due to solar power.

Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge and other MILITARY SITES are a criminal neglect. But these are from Nuclear Weapons development mistakes --- not commercial power..

And I blame OUR GOVERNMENT DIRECTLY for the neglect and malfeasance.. It has no bearing on the safety or practices of the nuclear power industry..

It needs to be addressed as a top priority item.. On that -- we ABSOLUTELY agree..

 

[flacaltenn]

Navy sailors have radiation sickness after Japan rescue | New York Post

Navy sailor Lindsay Cooper knew something was wrong when billows of metallic-tasting snow began drifting over USS Ronald Reagan.
“I was standing on the flight deck, and we felt this warm gust of air, and, suddenly, it was snowing,” Cooper recalled of the day in March 2011 when she and scores of crewmates watched a sudden storm blow toward them from the tsunami-torn coast of Fukushima, Japan.

The tall 24-year-old with a winning smile didn’t know it then, but the snow was caused by the freezing Pacific air mixing with a plume of radioactive steam from the city’s shattered nuclear reactor.

These complaints are just strange coming from sailors aboard a NUCLEAR vessel.. You would THINK that deck monitoring would have made the issue known. And if personnel were exposed, then the Navy put these sailors CONSCIOUSLY into danger..

 

[Againsheila]

Nuclear is part of the solution. But only a part. First of all it is far the most expensive of the ways of generating power. Second, sited in a subduction zone, it is a constant source of danger. Third, it must be engineered to be completely fail safe. A disaster in a PV generating plant means no juice. In a geo-thermal plant, damage to the plant and maybe a few acres around the plant. A coal fired plant, damage to the plant, same for natural gas. But disaster in just one nuclear plant could contaminate a whole state. Or more.

Wind is now cheaper than coal in almost all applications. When the grid scale batteries are available, it will be even more useful. PV has come down in price to the point it is competative with nuclear, and far easier to install, and much safer. Geothermal is just starting to come into the picture, and will be a major player as time goes on. It has the additional plus of being a source of important minerals.

As for the rest of your stupid rant, grow up, do some real research, quit being such a fool.

Nuclear cannot be part of the solution. We have babies being born without brains around Hanford. Nuclear waste is leaking and causing problems. Japan is dumping 300,000 gallons of nuclear water into the pacific ocean everyday. This cannot go on. There are other, cleaner alternatives without the global disasters. I don't care if solar costs more money, no one had birth defects due to solar power.

Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge and other MILITARY SITES are a criminal neglect. But these are from Nuclear Weapons development mistakes --- not commercial power..

And I blame OUR GOVERNMENT DIRECTLY for the neglect and malfeasance.. It has no bearing on the safety or practices of the nuclear power industry..

It needs to be addressed as a top priority item.. On that -- we ABSOLUTELY agree..

This is waste from those nuclear power plants, without them, we wouldn't have the waste.

 

[flacaltenn]

Nuclear cannot be part of the solution. We have babies being born without brains around Hanford. Nuclear waste is leaking and causing problems. Japan is dumping 300,000 gallons of nuclear water into the pacific ocean everyday. This cannot go on. There are other, cleaner alternatives without the global disasters. I don't care if solar costs more money, no one had birth defects due to solar power.

Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge and other MILITARY SITES are a criminal neglect. But these are from Nuclear Weapons development mistakes --- not commercial power..

And I blame OUR GOVERNMENT DIRECTLY for the neglect and malfeasance.. It has no bearing on the safety or practices of the nuclear power industry..

It needs to be addressed as a top priority item.. On that -- we ABSOLUTELY agree..

This is waste from those nuclear power plants, without them, we wouldn't have the waste.

Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge are all government WEAPONS sites. They never were designed to generate safe consumer electricity.. And the utter IRRESPONSIBILITY of the government is on full display there.. No connection whatsoever to a commercial nuclear power plant or their handling of nuclear fuel...

Also no connection to the safety record our navy, who have been powered by safe nuclear reactors for decades.. Got to realize the difference between Top Secret nuclear bomb plants and a power generator ---- right?

 

[bripat9643]

Japan has recently decided to re-start most of the Nuke plants that were shut down in the wake of Fukushima. It is the only rational path forward.

Are we all aware that although F'shima was the "second worst nuclear power disaster in human history," not a single person died from radiation. Not a single person even got sick from radiation.

Are we all aware that even after Chernobyl, only a tiny fraction of the local population had any ill health effects (I think it was kids who were a certain age are more likely to get thyroid cancer, eventually), and 99.9% of the disastrous effects were self-imposed due to irrational panic and fears. More than 100,000 babies were aborted in the wake of the Chernobyl blow-up, and there is no rational reason to conclude that they would have suffered any ill effects at all.

The long-term medical impacts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are also greatly overestimated in the public's mind.

The reason why building nuclear power plants is so expensive is the neurotic regulatory framework that forces layer upon layer of design reviews, testing, re-testing, record keeping, and so on. Having worked for Westinghouse for a few horrible years, I can say that we usually spent two or three times the normal commercial price for everything we bought, simply because of the regulatory bullshit (and because the plants take so long to build that the warranties have to last for 5-7 years).

The advent of small modular reactors will reduce the cost of Nuke Power dramatically, if the NRC doesn't **** it up.

By the way, our GREEN friends in Germany will be building fossil plants for the next two decades to replace the lost capacity of the nuke plants they are shutting down. Stupid as ****, if you ask me.

"Not a single person even got sick from radiation."

Dunno where you got that from, but it's absolutely untrue.

Fukushima 50 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Originally there were approximately 800 workers on 11 March 2011, the day the earthquake and tsunami struck. On 15 March, workers deemed non-essential were withdrawn by the Tokyo Electric Power Company. A total of around 750 workers left due to increased risk and consequently left around 50. It was on this day that the media started to call the remaining workers the "Fukushima 50".

However, on the morning of the 16 March the remaining workers had to be evacuated for a brief period of time due to a radiation spike which was detected which could be harmful to the workers' health. It was reported that when they returned to the plant, a further 130 or so workers joined their colleagues to total of around 180 to stabilize the reactors.[34] The number of workers rose to 580 on the morning of the 18 March.[1] By 12 April, approximately 700 workers were working on-site."

In addition, there's current lawsuits being filed for injuries to responding US military forces.

So who died and who got sick?

 

[bripat9643]

Navy sailors have radiation sickness after Japan rescue | New York Post

Navy sailor Lindsay Cooper knew something was wrong when billows of metallic-tasting snow began drifting over USS Ronald Reagan.
“I was standing on the flight deck, and we felt this warm gust of air, and, suddenly, it was snowing,” Cooper recalled of the day in March 2011 when she and scores of crewmates watched a sudden storm blow toward them from the tsunami-torn coast of Fukushima, Japan.

The tall 24-year-old with a winning smile didn’t know it then, but the snow was caused by the freezing Pacific air mixing with a plume of radioactive steam from the city’s shattered nuclear reactor.

So? Can you name anyone who got sick from radiation?

 

[elektra]

If the AGW nuts were serious, they would advocate building a 1000 nuclear power plants today.

But they are simply, nuts, fools, idiots, activists, anti-american progressive revisionist assholes.

The only solution to the con-job AGW is pure Nuclear Power with a low tax policy that entices Industry to settle and develop in the USA.

Instead, the AGW crowd has chosen to destroy third world countries endlessly/constantly using the natural resources of the world at an every increasing rate.

AGW is a con job, the Green/Renewable conard is the spike through the heart of the USA that kills us, forever.

Nuclear is part of the solution. But only a part. First of all it is far the most expensive of the ways of generating power. Second, sited in a subduction zone, it is a constant source of danger. Third, it must be engineered to be completely fail safe. A disaster in a PV generating plant means no juice. In a geo-thermal plant, damage to the plant and maybe a few acres around the plant. A coal fired plant, damage to the plant, same for natural gas. But disaster in just one nuclear plant could contaminate a whole state. Or more.

Wind is now cheaper than coal in almost all applications. When the grid scale batteries are available, it will be even more useful. PV has come down in price to the point it is competative with nuclear, and far easier to install, and much safer. Geothermal is just starting to come into the picture, and will be a major player as time goes on. It has the additional plus of being a source of important minerals.

As for the rest of your stupid rant, grow up, do some real research, quit being such a fool.

Nuclear cannot be part of the solution. We have babies being born without brains around Hanford. Nuclear waste is leaking and causing problems. Japan is dumping 300,000 gallons of nuclear water into the pacific ocean everyday. This cannot go on. There are other, cleaner alternatives without the global disasters. I don't care if solar costs more money, no one had birth defects due to solar power.

Yet, you have Zero Mother's being exposed to Radiation around Hanford. Zero. That is the tri-cities yes, home to WOOPs (the name has been changed I believe), its like Washington/Oregon power system, I could google it but.....

Woman are extremely regulated as well as warned. Dividing cells are the most susceptible to ionizing radiation hence the NRC is very strict on women working around radiation while in child bearing years or while pregnant.

There are no Nuclear sites, DOE or Commercial that will allow Pregnant woman exposure to radiation.

So what type of radiation do you suppose these people were exposed to, Alpha, Beta, or Gamma?

Beta is low level harmless radiation, the NRC allows us to actually breath Beta radiation. Beta can travel a few feet and can not penetrate the skin, so Beta radiation is an impossibility.

Alpha particles? Nope, they travel inches and lose energy if they strike anything.

Neutron radiation, impossible, neutron radiation is extremely powerful hence detectable with great ease, hence simple to find and clean up. Nobody gets exposed to Neutron Radiation, Neutron radiation comes directly from ionized sources such as nuclear fuel.

Gamma is the only radiation anyone is exposed to,

Gamma? Doubtful, gamma radiation is not emitted very far from its source at Hanford, maybe 16 feet. The only exposure possible for a woman is Gamma radiation. The components related to nuclear power can become ionized and radiate gamma radiation, but only a short distant, so its easily monitored and protected against.

Gamma, I got burnt out on Gamma radiation on one of my first jobs, I had to enter a "Very High Radiation" area. They put dosimeters on every part of my body, dressed me in a plastic bubble hood/suit, kept in wired communication with me and used a stop watch to time the amount of time I was in the Very High Radiation area. In 6 minutes I took 1.8 rem.. At that time I believe the NRC allowed 2.5 rem for the quarter thus I could not be exposed to radiation for the rest of the year.

1.8 rem in 6 minutes is an exposure that is impossible for anyone in the Hanford area to receive. I have since had two perfect baby boys, 7-8 years old now, thank god.

So, if babies are being born without brains, most likely its an extreme rarity or space aliens.

 

[Old Rocks]

Damn. More idiocy on display from elektra!

Alpha, a naked helium nucleus. Very low penetration, but very mutagenic.

Beta. An electron. Ionizing radiaton, capable of penetrating human skin and muscle. Also mutagenic.

Gamma. This is electro-magnetic radiaton, just a step more energetic than X-ray. We use it to steralize food for long preservation. Like X-ray, it penetratrates deeply, and kills living tissue and organisms.

What Types of Radiation Are There?

 

[flacaltenn]

Elektra:

No way can I minimize the total clusterfuck that is what remains of Hanford. They bury the damn bulldozers on site because of the radiation burden.. There are buildings there with LETHAL levels of radiation leaking. And THOUSANDS of containers rotting on site..

So you are correct about the PUBLIC exposure to Hanford. But the danger of leakage into municipal water or AIRBORNE dust is real.. Even MORE so at Savannah River, where there IS leakage into the waterways. It needs to get fixed.. It's a black eye on the very government that has caused COMMERCIAL nuclear to be so expensive because of MASSIVE oversight and regulation.. What kind of credibility do they have whilst these stinking waste dumps of THEIRS exist?

 

[Againsheila]

Nuclear is part of the solution. But only a part. First of all it is far the most expensive of the ways of generating power. Second, sited in a subduction zone, it is a constant source of danger. Third, it must be engineered to be completely fail safe. A disaster in a PV generating plant means no juice. In a geo-thermal plant, damage to the plant and maybe a few acres around the plant. A coal fired plant, damage to the plant, same for natural gas. But disaster in just one nuclear plant could contaminate a whole state. Or more.

Wind is now cheaper than coal in almost all applications. When the grid scale batteries are available, it will be even more useful. PV has come down in price to the point it is competative with nuclear, and far easier to install, and much safer. Geothermal is just starting to come into the picture, and will be a major player as time goes on. It has the additional plus of being a source of important minerals.

As for the rest of your stupid rant, grow up, do some real research, quit being such a fool.

Nuclear cannot be part of the solution. We have babies being born without brains around Hanford. Nuclear waste is leaking and causing problems. Japan is dumping 300,000 gallons of nuclear water into the pacific ocean everyday. This cannot go on. There are other, cleaner alternatives without the global disasters. I don't care if solar costs more money, no one had birth defects due to solar power.

Yet, you have Zero Mother's being exposed to Radiation around Hanford. Zero. That is the tri-cities yes, home to WOOPs (the name has been changed I believe), its like Washington/Oregon power system, I could google it but.....

Woman are extremely regulated as well as warned. Dividing cells are the most susceptible to ionizing radiation hence the NRC is very strict on women working around radiation while in child bearing years or while pregnant.

There are no Nuclear sites, DOE or Commercial that will allow Pregnant woman exposure to radiation.

So what type of radiation do you suppose these people were exposed to, Alpha, Beta, or Gamma?

Beta is low level harmless radiation, the NRC allows us to actually breath Beta radiation. Beta can travel a few feet and can not penetrate the skin, so Beta radiation is an impossibility.

Alpha particles? Nope, they travel inches and lose energy if they strike anything.

Neutron radiation, impossible, neutron radiation is extremely powerful hence detectable with great ease, hence simple to find and clean up. Nobody gets exposed to Neutron Radiation, Neutron radiation comes directly from ionized sources such as nuclear fuel.

Gamma is the only radiation anyone is exposed to,

Gamma? Doubtful, gamma radiation is not emitted very far from its source at Hanford, maybe 16 feet. The only exposure possible for a woman is Gamma radiation. The components related to nuclear power can become ionized and radiate gamma radiation, but only a short distant, so its easily monitored and protected against.

Gamma, I got burnt out on Gamma radiation on one of my first jobs, I had to enter a "Very High Radiation" area. They put dosimeters on every part of my body, dressed me in a plastic bubble hood/suit, kept in wired communication with me and used a stop watch to time the amount of time I was in the Very High Radiation area. In 6 minutes I took 1.8 rem.. At that time I believe the NRC allowed 2.5 rem for the quarter thus I could not be exposed to radiation for the rest of the year.

1.8 rem in 6 minutes is an exposure that is impossible for anyone in the Hanford area to receive. I have since had two perfect baby boys, 7-8 years old now, thank god.

So, if babies are being born without brains, most likely its an extreme rarity or space aliens.

Yeah, it's just a coincidence that Hanford is leaking and this is where it's happening.

 

[HenryBHough]

Anyone get sick or die from radiation?

From personal experience:

At least one died hours after massive radiation exposure at a nuclear reclamation plant in Wood River Junction, Rhode Island in 1964:

Nuclear Fatality at Wood River Junction | Yankee Classic Article » Yankee Magazine

Though there were no other immediate fatalities several other workers died of various cancers within a few months of the accident.

My personal contact was with the ambulance attendant who rode with the victim when he was transferred from Westerly Hospital to a bigger facility in Providence - about a one- hour drive in close proximity to then very radioactive, soon to be dead, worker. That attendant, who had never smoked, died of a very aggressive lung cancer about nine months after that trip.

All that said, halting all use of nuclear power because of the very few documented deaths would be akin to halting all generation of electricity because of the number of accidental electrocutions each year or banning motor vehicles entirely because of highway deaths.

 

[elektra]

Elektra:

No way can I minimize the total clusterfuck that is what remains of Hanford. They bury the damn bulldozers on site because of the radiation burden.. There are buildings there with LETHAL levels of radiation leaking. And THOUSANDS of containers rotting on site..

So you are correct about the PUBLIC exposure to Hanford. But the danger of leakage into municipal water or AIRBORNE dust is real.. Even MORE so at Savannah River, where there IS leakage into the waterways. It needs to get fixed.. It's a black eye on the very government that has caused COMMERCIAL nuclear to be so expensive because of MASSIVE oversight and regulation.. What kind of credibility do they have whilst these stinking waste dumps of THEIRS exist?

Early in my career I worked in Non-Compactible low level radioactive waste, I packed 4x4x8 boxes to be shipped to Hanford for disposal. The Maximum weight per box was 2500 lbs. The Material emitted Gamma radiation, no more then 16' at which point the energy level died to zero. It was contaminated with dust/dirt that was Beta radiation.

Yes, Hanford is a big mess. Who knows what they have there, I do not pretend I know. But I am a bit more familiar then the average person.

 

[elektra]

Old Crock. You are liar. We are building nukes in the USA.

When the leftist liberal democrat Marxist can not defend their insane contentions they become brazen liars.

If the green renewable energy nuts are so stupid that they post lies so easily exposed how do they have the intelligence to tell press releases from fact and science. With such low intelligence there is no chance they will survive.

Hone the reading comprehension skills there, old boy. In any number. Also note the link is not a press release. And try to find something other than blather to back up your assertations.

Old Crock, your post links to a PDF explaining that due to all the government regulations Nuclear Power is expensive, just like I stated, thanks for helping me.

Old Crock, blather and lying is your speciality, which I am pointing out with a simple pic from Georgia.

Georgia Power Achieves Critical Milestones in Historic Vogtle 3 and 4 Pproject | Energizing content from TDWorld

Georgia Power continues to track positive progress in the construction of the new Vogtle units 3 and 4 facility near Waynesboro, Georgia, U.S. The project, among the first new nuclear units to be built in the United States in three decades, has marked numerous significant milestones in 2013.

Old Crock, you can either admit you're a liar, admit you know nothing about what you speak, or prove that Leftist/Liberal/Democrats are vile cowardly snakes by ignoring facts.

Damn. More idiocy on display from elektra!

Alpha, a naked helium nucleus. Very low penetration, but very mutagenic.

Beta. An electron. Ionizing radiaton, capable of penetrating human skin and muscle. Also mutagenic.

Gamma. This is electro-magnetic radiaton, just a step more energetic than X-ray. We use it to steralize food for long preservation. Like X-ray, it penetratrates deeply, and kills living tissue and organisms.

What Types of Radiation Are There?

Old Crock, you have proven yourself of having zero knowledge or credibility, Old Crock you stated "no nuclear plants" are being built while the fact is there are two being built today in the USA.

100% wrong on the simplest facts.

How about using a spell checker Old Crock.

Neutron Radiation ignored by Old Crock. Neutron Radiation is emitted from Nuclear Fuel.
Alpha Radiation is also only emitted from Nuclear fuel, hence its irrelevant beings that we have no fuel problems in Commercial Nuclear power.

You know how we protect ourselves (as in how I who works in the nuclear power industry) from Beta radiation, we wear cotton pajamas.

Beta radiation is only associated with contamination, meaning dust, dirt, tiny specs of stuff from doing work like grinding or opening systems, repairing valves.

Beta can penetrate the skin but then loses its energy and is harmless. In recent years the NRC changed the regulations to allow people who work in Nuclear Power to breath Beta particles. This is called "Internal Dose".

Gamma radiation is X-rays, nothing more, nothing less. We get exposed every day to Gamma rays by the Sun.

Everyday we are exposed to background Radiation, off the top of my head I say 200 mrem. Of course I am a middle ages and now I think they use sievers as the measurement.

As a Consultant/Analyst/Scientist I no longer go inside Nuclear Power Plants.

I just finished a Scientific Analysis Consulting job here at H.B. Robinson which was shutdown for a leak.

You can google it if you like, I have established my credentials which are impeccable.

So, go ahead and spout off how smart you are, go google your answer and play it like a card in the, Game Go Fish.

I am speaking of Radioactivity as in what Men and Women are exposed to in life, at work, not theory.

Old Crock knows not that we are currently building two Reactors, not only does Old Crock not know, Old Crock actually posted emphatically, that NO NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS are currently under construction.

Yes, Hanford sucks, move away if your afraid, I have friends that live and work there, they do not plan on moving.

Nobody at Hanford is being exposed to 1.6 rem in 6 minutes, as I was at Palisades. I am fine and my kids are fine. How is that. My body was not damaged at all. Yet people post the opposite.

People are exposed everyday, if you smoke cigarettes or did, you exposed yourself to a higher "Lifetime" does than I incurred.

My "LifeTime" dose is about 15 rem. The NRC has a record of me and my dose.

 

[Abraham3]

Two plants! Wow. I wonder if that has anything to do with the Obama administration and their response to global warming. Let's see, that would bring the total in the US to, let's see...

As of 2013, nuclear power in the United States is provided by 100 commercial reactors (65 pressurized water reactors and 35 boiling water reactors) licensed to operate at 65 nuclear power plants, producing a total of 790 TWh of electricity, which was 19.2% of the nation's total electric energy generation in 2011.[1] The United States is the world's largest supplier of commercial nuclear power.
All US nuclear power plants, and almost all reactors, began construction by 1974; following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and changing economics, many planned projects were canceled. Of the 100 reactors now operating in the U.S., ground was broken on all of them in 1977 or earlier.[2][3][4]
There has been no ground-breaking on new nuclear plants in the United States since 1974. Up until 2013, there had also been no ground-breaking on new nuclear reactors at existing power plants since 1977. Then in 2012, the NRC approved construction of four new reactors at existing nuclear plants. Construction of the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station Units 2 and 3 began on March 9, 2013. A few days later, on March 12, construction began on the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 3 and 4. In addition, TVA's new reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station is at an advanced stage, after construction was resumed after being halted in 1988.[5]
There was a revival of interest in nuclear power in the 2000s, with talk of a "nuclear renaissance", supported particularly by the Nuclear Power 2010 Program. A number of applications were made, but facing economic challenges, and later in the wake of the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents, most of these projects have been canceled, and as of 2012, "nuclear industry officials say they expect five new reactors to enter service by 2020 – Southern's two Vogtle reactors, two at Summer in South Carolina and one at Watts Bar in Tennessee";[6] these are all at existing plants. As of August 2013, there are construction delays at Vogtle and Summer.[7]
In 2013, four aging reactors were permanently closed before their licenses expired because of high maintenance and repair costs at a time when natural gas prices have fallen: San Onofre 2 and 3 in California, Crystal River 3 in Florida, and Kewaunee in Wisconsin.[8][9] The state of Vermont is trying to close Vermont Yankee, in Vernon. New York State is seeking to close Indian Point in Buchanan, 30 miles from New York City.[9] Loss of nuclear generating capacity is expected to be offset by the five new nuclear reactors currently under construction, with a proposed combined capacity of more than 5,000 MW.[10]
As of December 2013, planned additions to US nuclear power amounted to 7,700 MW of summer generating capacity, while planned retirements of nuclear facilities equaled 1,200 MW.[11][/quote]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_the_United_States

Looks like a total of nine plants underway (and four permanently shut down) after an EXTENDED hiatus. NO new plant has operated in the US in over 37 years.

Don't get me wrong. I like nuclear power. Always have. But until recently, the US had built NONE in decades.

 

[Old Rocks]

Elektra, you may have worked at Hanford, but you are showing yourself to be damned ignorant of what radiation is. Alpha is emitted by Plutonium in massive amounts. One speck of Plutonium in your lungs, and you are going to develop cancer. Plutonium is one of the elements created in the use of Uranium to fuel the commercial reactors.

Plutonium

Over one third of the energy produced in most nuclear power plants comes from plutonium. It is created in the reactor as a by-product.
Plutonium has occurred naturally, but except for trace quantities it is not now found in the Earth's crust.
There are several tonnes of plutonium in our biosphere, a legacy of atmospheric weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s.
In practical terms, there are two different kinds of plutonium to be considered: reactor-grade and weapons-grade. The first is recovered as a by-product of typical used fuel from a nuclear reactor, after the fuel has been irradiated ('burned') for about three years. The second is made specially for the military purpose, and is recovered from uranium fuel that has been irradiated for only 2-3 months in a plutonium production reactor. The two kinds differ in their isotopic composition but must both be regarded as a potential proliferation risk, and managed accordingly.
Plutonium, both that routinely made in power reactors and that from dismantled nuclear weapons, is a valuable energy source when integrated into the nuclear fuel cycle. In a conventional nuclear reactor, one kilogram of Pu-239 can produce sufficient heat to generate nearly 10 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

 

[Old Rocks]

Plutonium Risks To Health | SimplyInfo

Ingestion allows only a percentage of the plutonium ingested to enter the blood stream, though the plutonium that gets passed through the intestinal tract continues to emit radiation inside the body during that time. Inhalation of plutonium seems to be dependent on the size of the particles. If the particles are large they can be caught by nose hair. Smaller particles can enter into the lungs.

In an experiment on beagles, plutonium in the lungs had a high probability of causing lung cancer. While these numbers can be extrapolated over to humans, there is some room for difference depending on the species. Dogs are frequently used as test subjects for cancer research.

The problem is that a person who has internal plutonium contamination will be subjected to the effects of those radioactive emissions in that area of the body for the rest of their life. The plutonium particles have a long biological half life of 200 years so they are emitting radiation for the rest of the person’s life. Studies have also shown that small amounts of plutonium can cause genetic damage.

Plutonium can:

Cause dangerous bodily contamination even in small amounts
Be ingested in foods & water or inhaled when the particles are fine
Stay in the body emitting dangerous radiation
Lodge in the bones, liver and lungs
Cause cancer, genetic mutations and other illnesses even in small amounts
Continue to be dangerous for centuries; the most common kind has a half life of 24,100 years

 

[Old Rocks]

Elektra:

No way can I minimize the total clusterfuck that is what remains of Hanford. They bury the damn bulldozers on site because of the radiation burden.. There are buildings there with LETHAL levels of radiation leaking. And THOUSANDS of containers rotting on site..

So you are correct about the PUBLIC exposure to Hanford. But the danger of leakage into municipal water or AIRBORNE dust is real.. Even MORE so at Savannah River, where there IS leakage into the waterways. It needs to get fixed.. It's a black eye on the very government that has caused COMMERCIAL nuclear to be so expensive because of MASSIVE oversight and regulation.. What kind of credibility do they have whilst these stinking waste dumps of THEIRS exist?

Well, that makes two things that we agree on. The world will end tomorrow.

As a concerned citizen, I have attended some meetings on the dangers of Hanford. There is no way to minimize what it happening there. During WW2 and afterwards, the decisions there were not made by scientists as to what to do with the waste. They simply took it out and dumped in the big vats in the ground that were constructed of single wall carbon steel. There was no consideration of the chemical interactions of the constituents of what was dumped into those vats, and no consideration of the chemical interaction of the daughter elements. They literally have no idea of what they are dealing with in most of the tanks. And many are leaking right now, and the plume is entering the water table. A water table that will eventually end up in the Columbia River.

 

[mamooth]

The "inhaling one hot plutonium particle guarantees lung cancer!" thing is a myth. 25 Los Alamos workers inhaled significant amounts of plutonium in 1944-1945. Only 3 of them eventually developed lung cancer, and those 3 were smokers. If plutonium is all lethal as some claim, all of them should have developed lung cancer.

This 1970s report puts it as "risk per particle is probably overestimated by a factor of 10^3 to 10^4."

http://www.irpa.net/irpa4/cdrom/VOL.3/P3_2.PDF