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Fukushima USA? Dangerous radioactive leaks and cracked foundations go unpunished at American nuclear power plants

Safety has taken a back seat to cost-cutting at most of the nation’s nuclear power plants, sparking fears that America could be facing its own Fukushima disaster.

An investigation by the Associated Press has revealed federal regulators are repeatedly weakening – or simply failing to impose – strict rules.
Officials at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have frequently decided that original regulations were too strict, arguing that safety margins could be eased without peril.. . . . .

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2005977/Standards-nuclear-power-plants-question-radioactive-leaks-cracked-foundations-unpunished.html 

About spent nuclear fuel storage :

U.S. official says Yucca nuclear dump not an option 

(Reuters) – A controversial Nevada site is not an option for storing toxic waste from nuclear power plants, a senior U.S. official said, dismissing Republican efforts to revive the Bush-era plan.

“We do not see Yucca Mountain as a solution here,” U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman said on the sidelines of a major international meeting to strengthen global nuclear safety after Japan’s Fukushima atomic crisis.

“It is time to turn the page and try to find a better set of solutions,” he told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

The world has struggled with what to do about nuclear waste for decades, but Japan’s nuclear disaster three months ago brought fresh attention to the dilemma as much of the waste is now stored in pools next to reactors. . . .

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/21/us-nuclear-safety-us-idUSTRE75K0PZ20110621?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71

NOTE: Nebraska nuke plants have plenty of spent fuel rods on site that need constant cooling. It is misleading when the energy co. says the plant is ‘shut down’ etc. – as if it is safe from flood waters.

Sandia Labs: Similarities between Fukushima Dai-Ichi and reactors like Nebraska’s Cooper nuke plant pose significant problem — Loss of electricity could cause meltdown

More than 80% of the Japanese people distrust anything their government says about Fukushima.

ALSO:

TVA’s nuclear expansion plans carry great safety risk, costs

Japan has three reactors at Fukushima in a state of meltdown, pouring radiation into the air and ocean.Fort Calhoun, a nuclear power plant in Nebraska, was flooded by the Missouri River earlier this month and has experienced loss of power for the cooling of fuel rods. Three reactors at Browns Ferry narrowly missed an F5 tornado and lost outside sources of power for weeks.

You would think that these warnings would be enough for sane people to back off from production of new nuclear reactors. But what is TVA doing? Completing one new reactor at Watts Bar; getting ready to launch a $7 billion plan to build new reactors at Bellefonte and to take an old reactor there out of mothballs and spruce it up to go; contracting with Babcock & Wilcox to purchase four new mini-reactors for East Tennessee.

 http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110622/OPINION02/306220067/TVA-s-nuclear-expansion-plans-carry-great-safety-risk-costs

From June 22: 

Project Flood nuclear ‘alert’: Obama, Red Cross declare emergencies

Project Flood 2011 and tornados meet two nuclear stations

Two United States nuclear power plants are on alert and President Obama has declared emergencies in Nebraska’s counties where the two nuclear stations are both experiencing “unusual events.” The official emergency declarations apply to both counties where the nuclear facilities are threatened with flood waters. Red Cross closed its emergency shelter at Fort Calhoun, home of one of the nuclear facilities, and is now referring and transitioning evacuees to other shelters. Red Cross is due to assess Fort Calhoun when conditions permit. . . .  (more)

[ Red Cross says they closed the shelter near Ft. Calhoun due to low need — F.C.]

http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/project-flood-nuclear-alert-obama-red-cross-declare-emergencies