Articles include: Washington moves to cut greenhouse gases; A deadly combination: Extreme heat and power failures; People of color face more pollution. This study was still a surprise; Study: Emissions Cuts Could Drop the Impact of Melting Ice on Oceans by Half; and more.
Category: Nuclear
Nuclear plants and technologies. The Taylorsville Basin has two nuclear power plants within fifty miles and fracking increases both the number and severity of earthquakes; earthquakes near nuclear power plants can be disastrous.
The Daily Climate, April 28, 2021
Articles include: lumber shortage; disabilities and natural disasters; California wildfire season; Study: cut methane emissions quickly; flooding in Michigan; climate vote in Senate; Study: poor communities affected by climate change; low carbon fuel standard; money to modernize grid; Fukushima; Ford making electric vehicles; Study: sea level rise and budgets.
Above the Fold – Week’s Best & Covid
Environmental Health News puts out weekend ‘summary’ emails, in addition to their daily emails.
EHN Week’s Best: April 16, 2021: forever chemicals on paper straws; Piney Point pollution; jails and environmental justice; DDT; PFAS; drought’s impact on farming water; rechargeable batteries – real cost; Mexico and coal; heavy metals in children’s food; Japan dumping Fukushima’s radioactive water into the ocean.
EHN Covid: April 16, 2021: facemask garbage; underserved communities & J&J vaccine halt; green spaces & housing justice; loosing women scientists; how to stop a pandemic.
The Daily Climate, April 12, 2021
Articles include: Flood survivors; Biden’s infrastructure plan; California expands O&G drilling; battery makers; Canadian energy jobs; nuclear power plant shutting down; Russia & the arctic; Maine laws & solar investment; Brazil; home buying and climate change; offshore wind; Navajo farmers.
The Daily Climate, April 8, 2021
Articles include: Marine life can’t survive at the equator; Black climate agenda; Biden to court – dismiss children’s lawsuit; ghost forests and sea level rise; Enbridge pipeline & Michigan; handling the climate crisis; nuclear heating plant; lightning & the Arctic; Report: Canadian wood pellet industry; EPA reverses trump; polar bears’ food plight; PayPal net-zero pledge.
This century-old technology could be the key to unlocking America’s renewable energy future.
Popular Science: This century-old technology could be the key to unlocking America’s renewable energy future. Pumped storage hydro once propped up coal and nuclear power. Now it’s essential for a clean, growing grid.
Like other parts of the US rushing to transition away from fossil fuels, the Pacific Northwest’s grid is increasingly reliant on wind farms like this one, in addition to solar arrays. That’s great when the wind blows and the sun shines, but as anyone who has walked the drizzly streets of Seattle can attest, you can’t always count on that. To guarantee a smooth, carbon-free supply of electricity despite this variability, the grid requires enormous amounts of energy storage, and projections indicate that the region needs up to 10,000 megawatts of backup reserves to meet 100-percent renewable power goals.
The Daily Climate, March 12, 2021
Articles include: Hawaii’s rains, floods cited as examples of climate change; First-ever study of all Amazon greenhouse gases suggest the forest is worsening climate change; How Biden can invest in energy efficient homes; HSBC plans to phase out coal financing by 2040; New US vehicles must be electric by 2030 to meet climate goals – report; 10 years after Fukushima, safety is not the biggest problem for the us nuclear industry.
How dangerous is the Fukushima nuke plant today?
ABC News: How dangerous is the Fukushima nuke plant today? The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant still looks like a bombed-out factory a decade after it was wrecked by a massive earthquake and tsunami.
A decade ago, a massive tsunami crashed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Three of its reactors melted down, leaving it looking like a bombed-out factory. Emergency workers risked their lives trying to keep one of history’s worst nuclear crises from spiraling out of control.
Proper equipment has now replaced ragged plastic hoses held together with tape and an outdoor power switchboard infested by rats, which caused blackouts. Radiation levels have declined, allowing workers and visitors to wear regular clothes and surgical masks in most areas.
But deep inside the plant, danger still lurks. Officials don’t know exactly how long the cleanup will take, whether it will be successful and what might become of the land where the plant sits.
North Anna quake safety questioned
The Central Virginian: North Anna quake safety questioned.
As Dominion Energy pushes to extend North Anna Power Station’s lifespan for another 20 years, critics are calling for a more thorough study of how the plant can withstand a future earthquake.
Beyond Nuclear, the Sierra Club and Alliance for a Progressive Virginia are seeking a formal hearing before an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board panel. They say that since a third reactor at North Anna would meet a new, higher standard for withstanding an earthquake, an upgrade may also be warranted for the two existing units.
North Anna Units 1 and 2 were licensed by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1978 and 1980 for 40-year terms. In 2003, the agency granted 20-year extensions to 2038 and 2040. Dominion’s current request is to continue operating at least until 2058 and 2060.
Study: Sea-level rise could threaten coastal nuclear waste facilities
Yale Climate Connections: Sea-level rise could threaten coastal nuclear waste facilities. A recent study identified vulnerable sites along the U.S. coast.
Nuclear power is a source of low-carbon electricity, but producing it creates dangerous radioactive waste that needs to be stored safely and permanently.
Recent research suggests that as seas rise, some nuclear waste storage facilities are at risk of flooding or storm damage.
“We really focused in to say, ‘OK, well, how many plants might actually be subject to these risks?’” says Sarah Jordaan of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Her team looked at 13 facilities along the U.S. coast.
They found that if seas rise about six feet – which is possible by the end of the century – more than half of the waste storage sites would be directly along the water’s edge or even surrounded by water.