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mai 13, 2017

Tunnel with nuclear waste collapses in Washington state

Informations

Source: timesfreepress.com

FILE – In this July 9, 2014 file photo, a sign informs visitors of prohibited items on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. An emergency has been declared Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

SPOKANE, Wash. — A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet over a 400-square-foot area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. It was discovered during a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Workers near the site of the collapse Tuesday were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the agency said. Some of the 9,000 workers at the site were sent home early along a safe access route.

“No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties,” the U.S. Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. “There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

“Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority,” said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the incident helped show “radioactive waste management is out of control.”

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation’s largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

EXCLUSIVE- UAE delays launch of first nuclear power reactor-source Fire crews finally extinguish Fukushima blaze in no-go zone as officials battle radiation rumors

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Will Cheap Renewables Make Nuclear Power Obsolete?

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Will Cheap Renewables Make Nuclear Power Obsolete?

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mai 13, 2017

Tunnel with nuclear waste collapses in Washington state

غير مصنف

 
 Source: timesfreepress.com

FILE – In this July 9, 2014 file photo, a sign informs visitors of prohibited items on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. An emergency has been declared Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)


SPOKANE, Wash. — A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet over a 400-square-foot area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. It was discovered during a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Workers near the site of the collapse Tuesday were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the agency said. Some of the 9,000 workers at the site were sent home early along a safe access route.

“No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties,” the U.S. Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. “There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

“Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority,” said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the incident helped show “radioactive waste management is out of control.”

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation’s largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

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mai 13, 2017

Tunnel with nuclear waste collapses in Washington state

未分类

 
 Source: timesfreepress.com

FILE – In this July 9, 2014 file photo, a sign informs visitors of prohibited items on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. An emergency has been declared Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)


SPOKANE, Wash. — A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet over a 400-square-foot area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. It was discovered during a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Workers near the site of the collapse Tuesday were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the agency said. Some of the 9,000 workers at the site were sent home early along a safe access route.

“No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties,” the U.S. Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. “There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

“Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority,” said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the incident helped show “radioactive waste management is out of control.”

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation’s largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

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US nuclear regulators greatly underestimate potential for nuclear disaster, researchers say

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US nuclear regulators greatly underestimate potential for nuclear disaster, researchers say

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未分类

Nuclear safety regulation in the post-Fukushima era

The March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident prompted regulators around the world to take a hard look at their requirements for protecting nuclear plants against severe accidents. In the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ordered a “top-to-bottom” review of its regulations, and ultimately approved a number of safety upgrades.

mai 13, 2017

Tunnel with nuclear waste collapses in Washington state

Informations

 
 Source: timesfreepress.com

FILE – In this July 9, 2014 file photo, a sign informs visitors of prohibited items on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. An emergency has been declared Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

SPOKANE, Wash. — A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet over a 400-square-foot area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. It was discovered during a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Workers near the site of the collapse Tuesday were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the agency said. Some of the 9,000 workers at the site were sent home early along a safe access route.

“No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties,” the U.S. Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. “There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

“Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority,” said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the incident helped show “radioactive waste management is out of control.”

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation’s largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

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Informations

Will Cheap Renewables Make Nuclear Power Obsolete?

Cheap renewables are mounting a serious challenge to nuclear power, which in 2017 has had a difficult year. Key projects have been abandoned, costs are rising, and politicians in countries which previously championed the industry are withdrawing their support.

Deux réacteurs nucléaires japonais fermeront définitivement en 2019

Informations

Deux réacteurs nucléaires japonais fermeront définitivement en 2019

La compagnie japonaise d’électricité Kansai Electric Power a officialisé vendredi la fermeture en 2019 de deux de ses réacteurs nucléaires vieillissants. Elle juge trop élevé le coût de leur mise en conformité avec les nouvelles normes de sécurité post-Fukushima.

mai 13, 2017

Tunnel with nuclear waste collapses in Washington state

Unkategorisiert

 
 Source: timesfreepress.com

FILE – In this July 9, 2014 file photo, a sign informs visitors of prohibited items on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. An emergency has been declared Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

SPOKANE, Wash. — A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet over a 400-square-foot area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. It was discovered during a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Workers near the site of the collapse Tuesday were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the agency said. Some of the 9,000 workers at the site were sent home early along a safe access route.

“No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties,” the U.S. Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. “There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

“Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority,” said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the incident helped show “radioactive waste management is out of control.”

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation’s largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

EXCLUSIVE- UAE delays launch of first nuclear power reactor-source Fire crews finally extinguish Fukushima blaze in no-go zone as officials battle radiation rumors

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Unkategorisiert

Malédiction sur les contrats signés par Sarko

Tout avait si bien comencé! L’arrivé à Rio sous le soleil, l’êntreinte chaleureuse de son ami Lula, la signature d’un mégacontrat d’armament – 6,7 millards d’euros pour cinq sous-marins, dont un nucléaire – et, pour finir, les fêtes de Noel chez le pater de Carla, à São Paulo… Huit ans et des brouetter plus tard, les couleurs de la carte postale bavent un pen: des juges brésiliens et français enquêntet sur la vente de notre quincaillerie militaire en pleine lune de miel entre Sarko et Lula.

US nuclear regulators greatly underestimate potential for nuclear disaster, researchers say

Unkategorisiert

US nuclear regulators greatly underestimate potential for nuclear disaster, researchers say

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) relied on faulty analysis to justify its refusal to adopt a critical measure for protecting Americans from the occurrence of a catastrophic nuclear-waste fire at any one of dozens of reactor sites around the country, according to an article in the May 26 issue of Sciencemagazine. Fallout from such a fire could be considerably larger than the radioactive emissions from the 2011 Fukushima accident in Japan.

Nuclear safety regulation in the post-Fukushima era

Unkategorisiert

Nuclear safety regulation in the post-Fukushima era

The March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident prompted regulators around the world to take a hard look at their requirements for protecting nuclear plants against severe accidents. In the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ordered a “top-to-bottom” review of its regulations, and ultimately approved a number of safety upgrades.

mai 13, 2017

Tunnel with nuclear waste collapses in Washington state

Non categorizzato

 
 Source: timesfreepress.com

FILE – In this July 9, 2014 file photo, a sign informs visitors of prohibited items on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. An emergency has been declared Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

SPOKANE, Wash. — A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet over a 400-square-foot area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. It was discovered during a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Workers near the site of the collapse Tuesday were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the agency said. Some of the 9,000 workers at the site were sent home early along a safe access route.

“No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties,” the U.S. Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. “There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

“Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority,” said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the incident helped show “radioactive waste management is out of control.”

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation’s largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

EXCLUSIVE- UAE delays launch of first nuclear power reactor-source Fire crews finally extinguish Fukushima blaze in no-go zone as officials battle radiation rumors

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Energia solar está prestes a atingir 100 gigawatts graças à China

Non categorizzato

Energia solar está prestes a atingir 100 gigawatts graças à China

A indústria de energia solar está prestes a atingir um marco: as instalações globais deverão atingir 108 gigawatts este ano graças à China, mostram projeções da IHS Markit.

Will Cheap Renewables Make Nuclear Power Obsolete?

Non categorizzato

Will Cheap Renewables Make Nuclear Power Obsolete?

Cheap renewables are mounting a serious challenge to nuclear power, which in 2017 has had a difficult year. Key projects have been abandoned, costs are rising, and politicians in countries which previously championed the industry are withdrawing their support.

Deux réacteurs nucléaires japonais fermeront définitivement en 2019

Non categorizzato

Deux réacteurs nucléaires japonais fermeront définitivement en 2019

La compagnie japonaise d’électricité Kansai Electric Power a officialisé vendredi la fermeture en 2019 de deux de ses réacteurs nucléaires vieillissants. Elle juge trop élevé le coût de leur mise en conformité avec les nouvelles normes de sécurité post-Fukushima.

mai 13, 2017

Tunnel with nuclear waste collapses in Washington state

カテゴリーなし

 
 Source: timesfreepress.com

FILE – In this July 9, 2014 file photo, a sign informs visitors of prohibited items on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. An emergency has been declared Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

SPOKANE, Wash. — A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet over a 400-square-foot area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. It was discovered during a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Workers near the site of the collapse Tuesday were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the agency said. Some of the 9,000 workers at the site were sent home early along a safe access route.

“No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties,” the U.S. Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. “There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

“Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority,” said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the incident helped show “radioactive waste management is out of control.”

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation’s largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

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La compagnie japonaise d’électricité Kansai Electric Power a officialisé vendredi la fermeture en 2019 de deux de ses réacteurs nucléaires vieillissants. Elle juge trop élevé le coût de leur mise en conformité avec les nouvelles normes de sécurité post-Fukushima.

mai 13, 2017

Tunnel with nuclear waste collapses in Washington state

Informações

 
 Source: timesfreepress.com

FILE – In this July 9, 2014 file photo, a sign informs visitors of prohibited items on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. An emergency has been declared Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

SPOKANE, Wash. — A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet over a 400-square-foot area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. It was discovered during a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Workers near the site of the collapse Tuesday were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the agency said. Some of the 9,000 workers at the site were sent home early along a safe access route.

“No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties,” the U.S. Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. “There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

“Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority,” said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the incident helped show “radioactive waste management is out of control.”

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation’s largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

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Will Cheap Renewables Make Nuclear Power Obsolete?

Cheap renewables are mounting a serious challenge to nuclear power, which in 2017 has had a difficult year. Key projects have been abandoned, costs are rising, and politicians in countries which previously championed the industry are withdrawing their support.

Deux réacteurs nucléaires japonais fermeront définitivement en 2019

Informações

Deux réacteurs nucléaires japonais fermeront définitivement en 2019

La compagnie japonaise d’électricité Kansai Electric Power a officialisé vendredi la fermeture en 2019 de deux de ses réacteurs nucléaires vieillissants. Elle juge trop élevé le coût de leur mise en conformité avec les nouvelles normes de sécurité post-Fukushima.

mai 13, 2017

Tunnel with nuclear waste collapses in Washington state

Без категории

 
 Source: timesfreepress.com

FILE – In this July 9, 2014 file photo, a sign informs visitors of prohibited items on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. An emergency has been declared Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

SPOKANE, Wash. — A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet over a 400-square-foot area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. It was discovered during a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Workers near the site of the collapse Tuesday were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the agency said. Some of the 9,000 workers at the site were sent home early along a safe access route.

“No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties,” the U.S. Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. “There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

“Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority,” said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the incident helped show “radioactive waste management is out of control.”

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation’s largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

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Deux réacteurs nucléaires japonais fermeront définitivement en 2019

Без категории

Deux réacteurs nucléaires japonais fermeront définitivement en 2019

La compagnie japonaise d’électricité Kansai Electric Power a officialisé vendredi la fermeture en 2019 de deux de ses réacteurs nucléaires vieillissants. Elle juge trop élevé le coût de leur mise en conformité avec les nouvelles normes de sécurité post-Fukushima.

mai 13, 2017

Tunnel with nuclear waste collapses in Washington state

Informaciones

 
 Source: timesfreepress.com

FILE – In this July 9, 2014 file photo, a sign informs visitors of prohibited items on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. An emergency has been declared Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

SPOKANE, Wash. — A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet over a 400-square-foot area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. It was discovered during a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Workers near the site of the collapse Tuesday were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the agency said. Some of the 9,000 workers at the site were sent home early along a safe access route.

“No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties,” the U.S. Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. “There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

“Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority,” said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the incident helped show “radioactive waste management is out of control.”

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation’s largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

EXCLUSIVE- UAE delays launch of first nuclear power reactor-source Fire crews finally extinguish Fukushima blaze in no-go zone as officials battle radiation rumors

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Energia solar está prestes a atingir 100 gigawatts graças à China

A indústria de energia solar está prestes a atingir um marco: as instalações globais deverão atingir 108 gigawatts este ano graças à China, mostram projeções da IHS Markit.

Will Cheap Renewables Make Nuclear Power Obsolete?

Informaciones

Will Cheap Renewables Make Nuclear Power Obsolete?

Cheap renewables are mounting a serious challenge to nuclear power, which in 2017 has had a difficult year. Key projects have been abandoned, costs are rising, and politicians in countries which previously championed the industry are withdrawing their support.

Deux réacteurs nucléaires japonais fermeront définitivement en 2019

Informaciones

Deux réacteurs nucléaires japonais fermeront définitivement en 2019

La compagnie japonaise d’électricité Kansai Electric Power a officialisé vendredi la fermeture en 2019 de deux de ses réacteurs nucléaires vieillissants. Elle juge trop élevé le coût de leur mise en conformité avec les nouvelles normes de sécurité post-Fukushima.

© Nuclear Free World 2017
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