EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.
"UK Nuclear Sites at Risk of Flooding, Report Shows"
Guardian, 03/08/2012"As many as 12 of Britain's 19 civil nuclear sites are at risk of flooding and coastal erosion because of climate change, according to an unpublished government analysis obtained by the Guardian."
"Nuclear Industry Sues to Reverse Grand Canyon Uranium Land Withdrawal"
ENS, 03/02/2012"The Nuclear Energy Institute and the National Mining Association, Monday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to reverse the Obama administration's withdrawal of one million acres of public land in Arizona from uranium mining for 20 years."
Report: Japan's 2011 Nuke Disaster Narrowly Avoided Being Much Worse
PRI/The World, 02/29/2012"A new independent report from Japan details just how close that country came to a "devil's chain reaction" of nuclear plant after nuclear plant melting down and sending a plume of radiation over the city of Tokyo and its 30 million inhabitants."
"Fifteen 'Near-Misses' at U.S. Nuclear Plants in 2011"
ENS, 02/29/2012"The Union of Concerned Scientists has documented 15 'near-misses' at 13 U.S. nuclear plants during 2011 and evaluates the response of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to each event in a report released today."
"US Nuclear Watchdog Questions Oversight of Safety Enforcement"
MSNBC, 02/16/2012"The federal government's nuclear watchdog has faulted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for failing to follow through on safety agreements with nuclear facilities, saying its system for tracking corrective action raises questions about its oversight of nuclear safety and security."
"Fukushima Reactor Readings Raise Reheating Concern"
Guardian, 02/13/2012"Concern is growing that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan is no longer stable after temperature readings suggested one of its damaged reactors was reheating."
"Nuclear Safety, Costs Loom Over OK'd Reactors"
NPR, 02/10/2012"The nuclear industry is celebrating the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to give the go-ahead for a utility company to build two new nuclear reactors in Georgia, the first license to be granted for a new reactor in the U.S. since 1978. But last year's accident at reactors in Fukushima, Japan, still clouds the future of nuclear power, as does the cost of new power plants."
Today: "Regulatory Approval Is Expected for New Reactors in Georgia"
NY Times, 02/09/2012"For the first time in over three decades, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to decide to grant a license to build a nuclear reactor -- a milestone for an industry whose long-hoped-for renaissance is smaller and later than anticipated."
"The vote, set for Thursday, is on two new reactors at the Southern Company's Alvin W. Vogtle plant near Augusta, Ga. It would be the first vote on a construction license since 1978, a year before the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania.
"Hanford Nuclear Waste 'Vit Plant' Has Safety Board Worried"
ENS, 02/09/2012The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is worried about the safety of pipes and equipment which will entomb in glass decades worth of nuclear waste from the cold-war Hanford weapons facility.
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"RICHLAND, Wash. -- Bechtel National, Inc. is designing and building the world's largest radioactive waste treatment plant for the U.S. Department of Energy at the Hanford Site near the Columbia River in southeastern Washington state.
Messages Show Conflict Within NRC After Japan's Earthquake And Tsunami
Wash Post, 02/08/2012"In the confusion following the earthquake and tsunami that damaged Japan's Fukushima nuclear complex last March, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it was standing by to help. But a trove of e-mails posted on the NRC's Web site shows an agency struggling to figure out how to respond and how to deal with the American public while cutting through what one official called "the fog of information" coming out of Japan."
Inspectors Find 'Unusual' Wear on Tubes at Calif. Nuclear Plant
AP, 02/03/2012"LOS ANGELES — Unusual wear has been found on hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water at Southern California’s San Onofre Unit 2 nuclear plant, raising questions about the integrity of equipment the company installed in a multimillion-dollar makeover in 2009.
The disclosure came two days after a tube leak at the plant’s other unit prompted operators to shut down the reactor as a precaution. A tiny amount of radiation could have escaped, but officials say workers and the public were not endangered.
"Advising Congress to Cede Control"
Green (NYT), 02/02/2012"The two chairmen of a study group established after the Obama administration killed a plan for a nuclear waste repository in Nevada appeared before a House subcommittee on Wednesday to explain a proposed solution to the enduring waste dilemma. They found their idea tough to sell. Last week the so-called Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future released a report calling for a new approach to finding a site, based on local consent rather than Congressional dictate."
"A Vast Canadian Wilderness Poised for a Uranium Boom"
YaleE360, 02/01/2012"Canada’s Nunavut Territory is the largest undisturbed wilderness in the Northern Hemisphere. It also contains large deposits of uranium, generating intense interest from mining companies and raising concerns that a mining boom could harm the caribou at the center of Inuit life."
"Freezing Fukushima Nuclear Plant Leaks Water"
ENS, 01/31/2012"TOKYO -- The temperature fell to minus 8.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday morning near Japan's crippled nuclear power plant, causing water pipes and valve seals to rupture, leaking tons of water."
"Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant discovered Sunday that the damaged pipes spilled nearly eight tons of water from 14 locations. Two additional water leaks were discovered today, according to plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company.
"Drive-by Scanning" Screeners Covertly Expand Use and Dose of Radiation
ProPublica, 01/30/2012"U.S. law enforcement agencies are exposing people to radiation in more settings and in increasing doses to screen for explosives, weapons and drugs. In addition to the controversial airport body scanners [2], which are now deployed for routine screening, various X-ray devices have proliferated at the border, in prisons and on the streets of New York. Not only have the machines become more widespread, but some of them expose people to higher doses of radiation. And agencies have pushed the boundaries of acceptable use by X-raying people covertly, according to government documents and interviews."

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