My Favorite Nuclear Plant

We've been doing a little work near Al Gore's hometown of Carthage, Tennessee and very close to TVA's monument to folly, the Hartsville Nuclear Plant. That would be the one which after an untold amount of money, maybe a couple of billion, was spent in 7 years of construction on another one of those infamous GE boiling water reactors only to be shut down when TVA decided they didn't need the capacity.

It's a beautiful area with rolling hills, the Cumberland river and great farmland which was only until a few years a major tobacco growing area. Now the unused cooling tower stands as a surreal idol to corporate and government insanity, visible for miles especially when standing in an elevated location.

All I can say is ... whew, that was close.  Many of us were none too pleased with the thought of a nuke plant in our area. About 50 miles upriver from Nashville's drinking water, had it gone on line who knows what the outcome would have been. At the least, spent fuel rods would have been accumulating waiting for someone to figure out what to do with them and TVA's  power of eminent domain would have had giant transmission lines spreading out in all directions through the farmland.  The worst case scenario would be difficult to envision but we all know now what it could be.

Speculation of using the site as an industrial park and even as a private for profit prison never materialized so TVA is still spending a ton of money maintaining the complex which of course becomes part of our monthly electric bill.

Interesting stories about the site have become part of the local lore. Some have come up with it as a HAARP outpost. More about that here and here. I actually talked Sunday to an old friend who works for the same Hartsville radio station referred to in these articles and all he could say was the stories appear to have come from one source, his former boss at the station. It also seems that the alleged eyewitness accounts/recordings of strange goings on there have disappeared from the web so there's no confirmation. Still, you never know. The government possibly could be reluctant to let this expensive site go to waste.

As we were traveling alongside the Cumberland river yesterday, the conversation turned to how strong the currents are and that a swim across the river could well end up a death by drowning. It reminded me of what TVA has been reluctant to pursue ... run-of-river electric generation.  Small scale with some environmental impact but nothing compared to coal fired, large dams and nuclear power. With hundreds of miles of river currents not being utilized, why is this not being considered as an alternative?

Anyway, despite the eyesore that the giant cooling tower is upon the countryside, the Hartsville nuclear plant is still my favorite. It's the one that never came on-line.

TVA works for the war machine

Can TVA be trusted to maintain safety with radioactive nuclear bomb making gas when they can't even contain coal ash?

No matter where we turn, we can't escape the militarism that is America's biggest business.
Even paying that electric bill contributes.


The Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in East Tennessee produces tritium for the U.S. nuclear arms program.

TVA's role in nuclear defense program to grow

Plant near Chattanooga to make gas for warheads

By Anne Paine • The Tennessean • August 24, 2009

The United States maintains a hardline policy opposing countries' use of civilian nuclear reactors to produce material for weapons, including Iran and North Korea.

But that is what the U.S. Department of Energy has been doing at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar reactor in East Tennessee since 2003, and now the department has signaled its intention to start additional production of tritium at TVA's Sequoyah plant, near Chattanooga.

Tritium, which is a radioactive form of hydrogen, is needed to boost the explosive power of nuclear warheads. The DOE's 2010 budget proposal includes plans to make tritium at the two Sequoyah reactors, and TVA spokesman Terry Johnson confirmed that the electricity-generating plant is being prepared for the production of the weapons material.

"It's part of national defense needs, and TVA is participating in that," Johnson said. "We feel it's a saving overall for the nation as a whole." He said he doesn't expect production to start before at least 2012.

Critics say, in addition to posing environmental and safety concerns, the move is undermining U.S. policy and the international nuclear nonproliferation treaty that it is a party to.

"The expansion of and continued use of these facilities contradicts our message elsewhere around the world that civilian-power-generating reactors should not be used for military purposes," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, which was established in 1971 to monitor and encourage arms control.

"This has been a core principle of the United States and our allies for more than four decades."

Jennifer Wagner, a spokeswoman for DOE's National Nuclear Safety Administration, said, "Our justification is obviously that our core mission is to maintain the safety and reliability of our stockpile so we have an effective deterrent."

She referred to a speech by President Barack Obama in Prague earlier this year in which he said the goal was to reduce the overall number of nuclear weapons but to maintain an arsenal sufficient to discourage other countries from nuclear arms use.

Tritium production at Watts Bar means higher radiation doses for those at the nuclear plant and within a 50-mile radius, but it's an insignificant amount, according to an Environmental Impact Statement on the project that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved in 2000.

Since production began at Watts Bar, tritium has been found in groundwater on the site, and higher levels than expected have shown up in the cooling water."It hasn't gone above regulated limits," Johnson said. "The tritium that does not stay in the rods is still within the limits the plant is licensed for."
{more - The Tennessean}

"Terrorist" Threat to Keep Toxic Coal Ash Sites Secret?

You would think that there is a 'domestic terrorist' threat behind every rock by the talk of some government 'officials.'

This Tennessee disaster may have given 'terrorists' ideas.

Obama keeps coal ash sites secret

WASHINGTON — The Tennessean -Dozens of communities nationwide are at risk from a coal ash spill like the one that blanketed a Tennessee neighborhood last year, but the Obama administration has decided not to tell the public about it because of the danger of a terrorist attack.

The Environmental Protection Agency has classified 44 coal ash storage ponds in 26 communities as potential hazards.

The EPA’s attempt to catalog coal ash sites around the country began after the December spill at a coal-fired utility plant near Kingston, Tenn., owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

When a retaining wall collapsed, hundreds of acres were covered with coal ash sludge. The grayish, toxic muck destroyed or damaged 40 homes. Cleanup may cost nearly $1 billion.

The agency, which earlier this year pledged to be transparent and carry out its work in the public view, wanted to disclose the information until the Army Corps of Engineers said it shouldn’t because of national security concerns.

The information is now caught in a bureaucratic tussle, with one agency wanting to alert the public to the hazard and another agency fearing that widespread release of the information might, if terrorists got involved, put the public in danger.

Senator wants disclosure

In a letter dated June 4, the Corps told the EPA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency that the federal government should not alert the public to the whereabouts of the sites.

“Uncontrolled or unrestricted release (of the information) may pose a security risk to projects or communities by increasing its attractiveness as a potential target,” Steven L. Stockton, the Army Corps’ director of civil works, wrote in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

At the same time, the Corps letter says the information should be passed on to state officials or coal plant operators and they should tell nearby communities of the risks.

California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer called Friday for the disclosure of the hazardous coal ash storage sites around the country.

“If these sites are so hazardous, then I believe that it’s essential to let people know,” Boxer said.

“I think secrecy might lead to inaction.”

She said she has written to the three federal agencies asking whether withholding the information is consistent with the way information about other hazardous sites is handled.

Boxer, as chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has held several hearings on the issue and has promised more.

Boxer said she was allowed to tell other senators who represent states where the dangerous sites are located, and they have contacted emergency response agencies in those areas.

She said the restriction on disclosing the locations doesn’t make sense to her.
“There is a huge muzzle on me,” she said.

Decision isn't final

The sites have existed for years with little or no federal regulation. And oversight at the state level varies, with some treating coal ash ponds like dams used for power generation and flood control and others not regulating their construction or siting at all.

The 44 sites were ranked as high hazards, meaning they could cause death and significant property damage if a storm, a terrorist attack or a structural failure caused them to spill into surrounding neighborhoods.

Eric Halpin, special assistant for dam and levee safety for the Corps of Engineers, said that “we did not direct anyone to withhold or not release information,” but he said federal policy says “you shouldn’t make it easy for the bad guys to do their jobs” by posting lists on the Internet or giving them to the media.

A Homeland Security Department spokeswoman said late Friday that the Corps position was not the final word on the matter and could be reversed. A final recommendation will be made by the FEMA administrator after a review by the National Dam Safety Review Board.

The EPA estimates that about 300 dry landfills and wet storage ponds are used around the country to store ash from coal-fired power plants.

The man-made structures hold a mixture of the noncombustible ingredients of coal and the ash trapped by equipment designed to reduce air pollution from the power plants.

The latest Energy Department data indicate that 721 power plants nationwide produced 95.8 million tons of coal ash in 2005.

The ash can contain heavy metals and other toxic contaminants, but there are no federal regulations or standards that govern its storage or disposal.

source: The Tennessean

~~~~~~~

Barbara Boxer cares?? She's more interested in getting the cap and trade bill passed. It's where the money for a few is to be made at the expense of the people. That's her caring.

Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-California) has now signaled her panel might act before August.

Boxer for the first time Thursday stated a clear desire to mark up a cap-and-trade bill in her panel before the August recess.

Boxer has waited for House Democratic leaders to act in order to help use their deal-making with an array of Democrats to make it easier for her to get a filibuster-proof 60 votes.

She is not expected to make major changes to the House bill. {source}

TVA seeks financial “immunity” in ash spill cases

Immunity from liability seems to be the norm if you are a government entity, bank or large corporation.

TVA Kingston Fly Ash Pond Spill Photo Slide Show

View more presentations from Nbii Sain.

By: Pam Sohn - Chattanooga Times Free Press

TVA is seeking immunity from financial liability for the Dec. 22 Kingston fly ash spill.

In a Knoxville hearing Thursday in federal court, Tennessee Valley Authority attorneys agreed to an April 17 deadline to file a motion to dismiss all of the cases in their entirety based on TVA’s claim of “discretionary function” immunity.

TVA spokesman Gil Francis declined comment on court actions Thursday, but said TVA plans to be in federal court next week to defend against the myriad of lawsuits now combined into one case.

Residents’ attorney Elizabeth Alexander said TVA is claiming that, as a federal government entity, it cannot be sued.

“On the one hand, TVA has made representations to the community that they want to make everything better and, on the other hand in the court, they’re seeking complete immunity from responsibility,” she said after the hearing.

The cases are the result of more than 1.1 billion gallons of ash sludge falling into the Emory River and rural farmland in Harriman and Kingston, Tenn., when a earthen berm landfill wall collapsed.

Bob Giltnane, a plaintiff in the case, said he was shocked by TVA’s position.

“I don’t understand why TVA thinks it can devastate our community, families and businesses, and then claim TVA can avoid accountability for its actions,” he said in a statement prepared by the law firm. “TVA should take responsibility for what it has done to us.”

_____________

More than 70 properties bought near TVA's Ash spill

TVA has bought more than 70 properties near the Kingston plant where the coal ash spill happened in December, the agency announced today.

The purchases include properties from less than one-quarter acre in size to more than 20 acres. About $20 million was paid for the total of about 225 acres bought, TVA spokesman Gil Francis said this afternoon.

Those just outside the area are still in limbo, but TVA says it has been working to help those most affected get compensated.

Others who are also nearby and are affected are being shut out, said an attorney for some of those just outside the immediate area.

“Thousands and thousands of other folks in Roane County impacted by the spill have not gotten any money from the TVA,” said Mark Chalos, attorney with Lieff, Cabraser law firm in Nashville, representing about 20 individuals, families and businesses.

The firm has also filed a class action lawsuit, asking for medical monitoring of family, environmental testing and compensation for any harm.

“TVA has created this impression that …’We’ll get to you eventually.'
“What they’re doing in legal terms is trying to get the court to find they’re immune and don’t have to pay anybody anything for the harms they’ve caused.”

{more}