#Carbon14: Another underestimated danger from #nuclear reactors

"There are a number of radionuclides released from nuclear energy facilities. This paper highlights carbon-14 for a number of reasons:

- Carbon-14 is radioactive and is released into air as #methane and #CO2

- Before 2010, carbon-14 releases from nuclear reactors were virtually ignored in the United States. Today only estimates are required and only under certain restrictive circumstances.

- There is no good accounting of releases to date, so its impact on our health, our children’s health, and that of our
#environment remains unknown, yet environmental measurement is possible, but can be challenging under certain
conditions.

- Carbon-14 has a half-life of over 5700 years and the element carbon is a basic building block for life on earth. Therefore, “it constitutes a potential health hazard, whose additional production by #anthropogenic sources of today will result in an increased #radiation exposure to many future generations.”

- Like #tritium, it can collect in the tissues of the fetus at twice the concentration of the tissues in the mother, pointing to its
disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable human lifecycle: the developing child.

The element carbon is found in all organic substances. Carbon is also a primary constituent of #GreenhouseGases that are responsible for #ClimateChange, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (#CH4). Carbon-14 (c-14) is a radioactive form of
carbon that occurs in nature and is also newly formed in nuclear power processes.

"Carbon-14 is a health concern because it is released from #NuclearPower facilities as radioactive carbon dioxide and methane, traveling readily in the local and global environment.

"Over time, carbon-14 becomes part of organic material including food, and has a half-life of approximately 5,730 years, decaying by a type of radioactive particle called a beta. Its hazardous life is 10-20 times its half-life, meaning that harmful exposure to man-made carbon-14 can last for hundreds of generations. The radioactive carbon forms as a byproduct of fissioning of uranium fuel, through a process called activation. The final step is a chemical reaction between carbon-14 and oxygen or hydrogen, which forms methane or carbon dioxide. The radioactive carbon-14 formed by this process is brand new and would not exist without nuclear fission.

"During its long hazardous life, carbon-14 could be responsible for gross physical or
mental defects, stillbirths and childhood deaths, embryonic and neonatal deaths into the many millions over the life of the isotope.

"These millions could be underestimated five times or more. Carbon-14 could also be responsible for #leukemia, bone and other #cancers."

https://beyondnuclear.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/carbon14FINAL.pdf

#NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #RenewablesNow! #BeyondNuclear #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree

HT and congratulations to the @uraniumfestival! Thanks for doing all that you do!

2025 #NuclearFreeFuture Award laureates announced

January 14, 2025

"The 2025 Nuclear-Free Future Awards will this year honor individuals from #Brazil, #India, #Navajo country, the United States and #Zimbabwe for their achievements in working for a #NuclearFree world.

"The Award laureates are chosen by an international jury of their peers and are offered in three categories: #Resistance, Education and Solution. The 2025 laureates are: #SPUdayakumar (India) for Resistance; #MárciaGomesDeOliveira and #NorbertSuchanek (Brazil) for Education; and #EdwickMadzimure (Zimbabwe) for Solution.

"Honorary Lifetime Achievement awards will be given to teacher, author and #AntiNuclear activist, #JoannaMacy, and posthumously to #NativeAmericanActivist and musician, #KleeBenally.

"The Nuclear-Free Future Awards will be held on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at The Great Hall at Cooper Union in New York City (7 E 7th St. NY NY.) A reception at 6pm will be followed by the awards ceremony starting at 7pm. Both events are free admission and open to the public. Media are welcome.

"The Nuclear-Free Future Awards were founded by German journalist, filmmaker and activist, Claus Biegert, in 1998 and were first held in Salzburg, Austria. Since then, the Awards have traveled the world, honoring the largely unsung heroes of the Nuclear Age who work to end uranium mining and rid the world of nuclear weapons, nuclear power and uranium munitions.

"The event is a co-presentation of #BeyondNuclear and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Germany, an affiliate of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization #IPPNW.

"The 2025 Awards event takes place during the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of #NuclearWeapons March 3-7 at the United Nations."

https://beyondnuclear.org/2025-nuclear-free-future-award-laureates-announced/
#NoUraniumMining #UraniumFilmFestival #NoNukes #NoWar #RadioactivePollutionKills #ItsTimeToCleanUpTheMines #NuclearFreeFuture #NuclearWeapons

#KleeBenally Honored as #NuclearFree Futures Awardee 2025

via #CensoredNews: "Klee was a passionate campaigner and filmmaker exposing the #colonialist legacy of #UraniumMines and working for the cleanup of the more than 500 abandoned uranium mines that continue to contaminate the #NavajoNation. A month before his death on December 30, 2023, Klee published his book, 'No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred.'" [Order Klee's book at the link at the end of the post.]

In addition to Klee, those honored by #BeyondNuclear include the @uraniumfestival founders #MárciaGomesDeOliveira and #NorbertSuchanek, #SPUdayakumar, #EdwickMadzimure, and #JoannaMacy. Klee's award will be accepted by his mother Berta Benally.

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/01/klee-benally-honored-as-nuclear-free.html

Order Klee's book here:
https://detritusbooks.com/products/no-spiritual-surrender-indigenous-anarchy-in-defense-of-the-sacred
#NuclearFreeFuture #UraniumFilmFestival #NoNukes #NoUraniumMining #NoSpiritualSurrender

A tale of two #NuclearPowerPlants along #LakeMichigan: Extended life and a revival?

WUWM 89.7 FM | By Chuck Quirmbach
Published January 10, 2025

"This year could be a big year for the status of two nuclear power plants around Lake Michigan.

"That includes a shutdown plant just 120 miles east of Kenosha that is seeking a first-of-its-kind restart.

"The year could also be significant for extending the life of #Wisconsin's only working commercial plant, located 95 miles north of #Milwaukee.

"On the west shore of Lake Michigan, #NextEraEnergy says it still wants a 20-year extension for the two reactors at the #PointBeachNuclearPowerPlant, located north of #TwoRivers, which would keep the site operating until the early 2050s.

"If that plan sounds familiar, it’s because #WUWM has been reporting on the proposal for about four years. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (#NRC) approval is still pending.

"In a written statement this month, Florida-based #NextEra said it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Point Beach, 'ensuring it’s ready to produce energy for decades to come.' The company says the plant powers nearly 1 million homes and businesses and provides about 14% of Wisconsin’s electricity.

"But nuclear power critics, like #KevinKamps of #BeyondNuclear, say there are concerns that key parts of the power production units are too #brittle to last another 20-plus years. He says there’s an alternative.

"'Point Beach’s electricity could easily be replaced through the expansion of #RenewableEnergy in Wisconsin. It’s ready to go. It would be more effective for the people of Wisconsin. It would certainly be much safer,' Kamps says.

"On the east shore of the lake, the #PalisadesNuclearPlant in #CovertTownship, Michigan, shut down nearly three years ago. But at the urging of some federal, state, and local officials, the Biden administration has provided a $1.5 billion loan to Holtec International, which bought the mothballed plant from the utility Entergy, so Holtec can try to restart Palisades.

[...]

"A key concern appears to be the damaged steam generator tubes at Palisades, which are likely to need repair or replacement. On Jan. 14, Holtec and the NRC are scheduled to discuss the matter.

"The NRC says Holtec will have to prove the plant is safe.

"Incoming President Donald Trump has made conflicting statements about nuclear power, so it’s unclear if he will try to get the NRC to favor either of the Lake Michigan plants."

https://www.wuwm.com/environment/2025-01-10/a-tale-of-two-nuclear-power-plants-along-lake-michigan-extended-life-and-a-revival
#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart #HoltecLies #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #AgingNuclearPlants #NuclearSafety #NuclearWaste #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree

☢️ «Los bancos rechazan la financiación #nuclear, las acciones caen en picado y la industria dice que debería, lo crea o no, ralentizarse.»

Mientras tanto, las energías renovables nos vamos abaratando y extendiendo con rapidez 💪

Via @ElSaltoDiario
#BeyondNuclear #Energía #Renovables #FinanzasEticas #BancaEtica
https://www.elsaltodiario.com/desconexion-nuclear/nuclear-es-lo-ultimo

Article includes map of #Flood vulnerable #USNuclearPlants

Can Aging U.S. #NuclearPowerPlants Withstand More #ExtremeWeather?

There is no consensus on how #ClimateChange has already affected nuclear power plants globally, but one researcher found an increasing rate of reactor outages linked to climate-related disruptions since 1990.

By James Dinneen
April 24, 2024

"This debate is now playing out again in fights over the future of nuclear power plants as they reach the end of their design lives. Paul Gunter at #BeyondNuclear, an anti-nuclear advocacy group, argues continued vulnerability to climate hazards is a reason the NRC should deny relicensing applications at some plants, such as the #NorthAnnaNuclearGeneratingStation in #Virginia, where Gunter plans to specifically cite the GAO report’s findings on flooding. According to the report, around two-thirds of U.S. #NuclearPlants are in areas with high #flood hazard."

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/u.s.-nuclear-power-climate-change

#NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #ClimateCrisis #SeaLevelRise #ClimateCatastrophe

#WinterStorm Exposes Vulnerability of #NuclearPowerPlants

Shutdown of #PilgrimNuclear facility in #Massachusetts fuels critics' challenge.

By Zahra Hirji
January 29, 2015

"As reported by the Pulitzer-Prize winning online publication Inside Climate News, the 'Shutdown of Pilgrim facility in Massachusetts fuels critics' challenge.'

"The article reports: '...Tim Judson, executive director of the anti-nuclear activist group Nuclear Information and Resource Service, told InsideClimate News that during emergency shutdowns—especially during #ExtremeHeat or #ExtremeCold—grid operators 'are scrambling to find generators to make up the power.'

"...Judson is skeptical of the plan [by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to incorporate more extreme weather risks to atomic reactors,] and blamed the #NRC of 'doing everything they can to delay' industry facing up to new rules.'

"Pilgrim is a #FukushimaDaiichi twin-design and vintage, a GE BWR Mark I. One of those
'Fukushima Lessons Learned' new rules that NRC has not just delayed, but killed, is the requirement to add radiological filters to the fatally-flawed, too small, too weak containments on Mark Is (and similarly designed Mark IIs). The U.S. has 22 operating Mark Is, and 8 Mark IIs.

"For many years, Nuclear Energy Information Service in Chicago has warned 'It's the Water, Stupid!' regarding risks of extreme weather to atomic reactors. Far from nuclear power being a solution for the #ClimateCrisis, #BeyondNuclear has warned that atomic reactors cannot safely operate amdist climate chaos, as has #NIRS."

https://archive.beyondnuclear.org/safety/2015/1/29/winter-storm-exposes-vulnerability-of-nuclear-power-plants.html

#SeaLevelRise #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #ClimateCrisis #Flooding #ClimateCatastrophe #WaterIsLife #GlobalSeaLevelRise

https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2023/11/06/the-dann-sisters-blazed-a-trail/#more-12166

#FirstNations Western #Shoshone #YuccaMountain
#BeyondNuclear

2023 #NuclearFreeFuture Awards https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2023/10/22/2023-nuclear-free-future-awards-event-and-winners-announced/

"Ukraine operates four #nuclearpower plants with a total of 15 #nuclearreactors..the largest nuclear power plant in Europe... 120 miles from the #donbas region, where the separatists and the Ukrainian forces have been fighting... #Ukraine and the region could face another #Chernobyl...if one of these plants was bombed or went offline... I want to turn to a recent presentation made by #LindaPentzGunter of the group #BeyondNuclear." #IraHelfand #DemocracyNow #USA #Russia #NuclearWeapons #原発 #脱原発