TMI Update: Jan 14, 2024


Did you catch "The Meltdown: Three Mile Island" on Netflix?
TMI remains a danger and TMIA is working hard to ensure the safety of our communities and the surrounding areas.
Learn more on this site and support our efforts. Join TMIA. To contact the TMIA office, call 717-233-7897.

    

Sustainable Energy Fund
 
 
PA C-SPACE UPDATE
 
 
 
PA C-PACE Counties Are Growing!

In August, both Lancaster and Clinton Counties approved and adopted the C-PACE expansion program. That means there are now a total of 27 pa counties with the financing program.

Does your county have an active C-PACE program?
 
 
 
CHECK HERE
 
 
 
 
 
$5,000,000 in Financing Secured by City Developer: 

Jemal’s CCT, LLC, the owner of Centre City Tower in downtown Pittsburgh received half a million dollars in financing last month. Its projected savings is valued at $74,000 in the first year alone! The 315,585 square foot, multi-tenant office facility sits on a single parcel in Pittsburgh and required some clean energy enhancements including the installation of new HVAC risers, HVAC units, lighting, sealing measures, and elevator and plumbing upgrades.

Read more about the latest Allegheny County C-PACE project.
 
 
 
 
HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE?
 
 
 
     
 

Renewable Fuel Oil: An Invaluable Introduction:

DATE: 10/26/23 
TIME: 10:30 am - 2:00 pm 
LOCATION:SEF Net Zero Building 

Hear from Sustainable Energy Fund (SEF), Ensyn, and the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium (PERC) about a revolutionary opportunity taking shape. Learn how a simple fuel switch could be the key to ensuring PA colleges and universities achieve their ambitious climate goals.

Distilling C-PACE for Stakeholders:

DATE: 10/27/2023
TIME: 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
LOCATION: Innovation Hall, Energy Innovation Center, 1435 Bedford Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Join Sustainable Energy Fund for an informative networking event! Meet SEF staff and learn how you can use C-PACE to finance your next project!
 
 
 
CHECK OUT EVERYTHING THAT'S COMING UP!
 
 
Hello Community!
 
We hope you are all hanging in there and staying safe out there. In addition to our monthly newsletter, we are writing to you with a time-sensitive action to protect our waters and our communities.
 
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has issued a draft permit for the Fermi 2 reactor to use and abuse Lake Erie water.
 
This proposed permit:
 
  • Lists pages of dangerous and carcinogenic chemicals Fermi is discharging into Lake Erie, and gives DTE until 2028 to stop this devastating pollution.
  • Gives no limits on thermal pollution, allowing Fermi to continue to heat Lake Erie and contribute to toxic algae blooms.
  • Does not have the EGLE using its authority to adequately test or regulate the radioactive elements (radionuclides) that can pollute drinking water around Fermi 2 and threaten our safety.
 
The communities around Fermi 2 and Lake Erie cannot afford 5 years of dangerous chemicals and thermal pollution while DTE and EGLE do nothing about it. DTE must be held accountable!
 
Please join CRAFT in calling for a public hearing on this issue. We cannot wait 5 years for DTE to clean up their act. CRAFT has penned a public comment to DTE and EGLE: follow this link to add your signature to our open letter and say NO to this permit to pollute.
You can also submit your own comment on the issue. Click the button below to submit a comment directly to EGLE and voice your opposition to this permit to pollute. We have included a list of key points on our website you can include when writing your comment.
Thank you for supporting us and the wellness of our Great Lakes. Here are some highlights from this month's newsletter:
 
  • The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has authorized the demonstration of the production of "high-assay low-enriched uranium" known as HALEU. The plan for HALEU is to be used as fuel in advanced nuclear reactors being sold internationally. Michael Keegan points out that HALEU is "90 percent of the way to being nuclear bomb material"...so is it fuel or something worse that we are exporting?
     
  • The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant aka the "Zombie Reactor" is still trying to be revived by Holtec International. The reactor was shut down because it was too dangerous and too expensive to operate, but Holtec is pursuing a $1 billion dollar loan from the Department of Energy to revive Palisades.
Read about these topics and more in the Newsletter that our own Jessie Collins very thoughtfully researches and curates every month for our benefit.
 
If you haven't already, check out the final chapter in the Building Bridges blog series! Our community organizer, Jesse Deer In Water, has published the fifth installment of his blog series on Building Bridges: Native Existence, Resistance, and Nuclear Abolition Position! You can read the whole series on our website.
 
 
 
Heart of Dinetah, Tahchee Blue Gap and Solutions
Building Bridges Pt. 5
 
The day with Petuuchhe was going to be a big one. He is a leader in his community and of many long-standing groups that protect the lands, build movements to resist further colonization, and strengthen relationships between people in the mix. We were going to pick him up at his home there on the Acoma rez and then do a big circle seeing a few big mine sites then Kaawheeshtimaa (Mt. Taylor). Mt Taylor is considered sacred ground by the Dine and The Pueblo people and it has felt the impacts of mining, its uranium included. Also it is the southernmost sacred mountain for the Dine called Dootliizhii Dziil (Turquoise Mountain). We had planned to take a couple hours once we were up on the mountain to do a little strategy work around the indigenous part of the nuclear abolition and the support network we are weaving together. This was the plan, it worked out far better than what we planned for.
 
 
Thank you all so much, here is to a safe and just energy future.
 
Peace and Safety,
 
The CRAFT Team
Citizen's Resistance At Fermi Two (CRAFT) is an Indigenous-led, grassroots, organization, committed to an accessible, fair, and just energy future for all! CRAFT originally formed after the Christmas Day 1993 incident at the Fermi2 nuclear reactor that dumped 1.5 million gallons of untreated toxic, radioactive water into Lake Erie. We will continue to push for the closing of Fermi2, and for a safer world powered by renewables.
 
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
4:00 - 5:15 pm Eastern Time (US)
Hybrid Event on Zoom and In-Person
Shiffman 217, Brandeis University
 
 
 
**Speaker will present via Zoom

About the Event

Nuclear report cover by Mycle SchneiderContrary to public perception, the nuclear power industry continues its slow, decades-long decline. Over the past two decades, 99 reactors were connected to the grids in the world while 105 were closed. Since 49 of the startups and no closures were located in China, the reactor fleet in the rest of the world declined by 55 units. Did the trend change in recent years? No. In 2022, nuclear power production outside China dropped by 5 percent to its lowest level since the mid-1990s. Since December 2019, all of the 28 reactor construction-starts in the world were implemented either in China (17) or by the Russian nuclear industry (11) in various countries.

Even in China, nuclear expansion remains modest. In 2022, three reactors with a combined 2.2 GW of capacity came online compared to 125 GW of wind and solar. Nuclear power is irrelevant in the global market place for electricity generating technologies. In the meantime, the existing nuclear fleets are aging—US reactors average 42 years on the grid—and are struggling in many countries with unplanned or excessively long outages for inspections, maintenance, and repairs. The largest nuclear operator in the world, French state-owned utility EDF, carries a net debt load of US$70 billion. Its nuclear fleet’s annual load factor—equivalent hours at full nominal capacity—dropped to 52 percent in 2022. The best performing Scottish wind farm averaged 54 percent over the past five years. While the impression is that of a blooming sector, the nuclear industry is struggling in all areas, especially with its fierce renewable energy competitors.

World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR)

 

 




About the Speaker

head shot of mycle schneider

Mycle Schneider works as independent international analyst on energy and nuclear policy and is the Coordinator and Publisher of the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report. He is a Founding Board Member and Spokesperson of the International Energy Advisory Council (IEAC), USA, and a Founding Member of the International Nuclear Risk Assessment Group (INRAG), Vienna. In July 2018, he was appointed to the International Nuclear Security Forum (INSF), hosted by the Stimson Center, Washington D.C. Since 2007, he has been a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), based at Princeton University, USA. In 2013, he initiated the Seoul International Energy Advisory Council (SIEAC) advising the Seoul Metropolitan Government, South Korea, and acted as its coordinator until 2019. Between February 2010 and June 2011, he was a Lead Consultant for the Asia Clean Energy Policy Exchange, implemented by IRG, funded by USAID, with the focus of developing a policy framework to boost energy efficiency and renewable energies in six Asian countries.

 
 
 
 
 
 
©Nina Schneider
Today, the U.S. NRC Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report on the NRC’s oversight of its Research and Test Reactor (RTR) Program.  The OIG’s Special Inquiry saw its origins in an investigation into the events and circumstances surrounding a February 2021 radiation release at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and later broadened to include consideration of the NRC’s oversight of other RTR facilities nationwide, to assess potential systemic issues.
 
“As our report shows, addressing opportunity areas in the NRC’s RTR program is vital to ensuring successful regulatory oversight of new projects, such as medical isotope facilities and prospective RTRs based on advanced reactor technology, since these programs are currently planned to be reviewed under RTR policy guidance.  This report demonstrates that the same or similar causes that led to the NIST event have ramifications for other RTRs nationally,” said Inspector General Robert J. Feitel.
 
The Inspector General added, “The OIG’s investigative and technical staff must be commended for such a thorough and far-reaching report that demonstrates superb, independent oversight.”
 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: 23-062 September 29, 2023
CONTACT: Scott Burnell, 301-415-8200
David McIntyre, 301-415-8200
 
NRC Approves License Transfers for Energy Harbor Nuclear Plants
 
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the transfer of the licenses for four operating reactors and their associated spent fuel storage facilities from Energy Harbor Nuclear Corp. to Vistra Operations Company LLC. The transfer is part of VistraOps’ acquisition of Energy Harbor’s nuclear assets.
 
The transfer covers the following operating reactors:
  • Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 and 2 (Shippingport, Pennsylvania)
  • Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station (Oak Harbor, Ohio)
  • Perry Nuclear Power Plant (Perry, Ohio)
VistraOps currently operates the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant and its spent fuel storage facilities, which are located in Glen Rose, Texas.
 
The NRC staff’s review of the license transfer application concluded that VistraOps is financially and technically qualified to conduct the activities authorized by the licenses. The NRC staff also concluded that VistraOps satisfies the NRC’s decommissioning funding assurance requirements, and that the facilities are not owned, controlled, or dominated by a foreign entity.
 
https://files.constantcontact.com/abc65024401/7ee258bf-32c2-48a3-bbd6-c0cec7c545aa.jpg?rdr=true

Beyond Nuclear Bulletin
September 28, 2023

MEET THE WINNERS!
Nuclear-Free Future Awards event

In 2022, three extraordinary activists were honored with a Nuclear-Free Future Award. However, at the end of 2022, the Awards transited out of their former home at the Nuclear Free Future Foundation and there was no official ceremony. Until now! Beyond Nuclear invites you to meet the 2022 winners at a special online awards ceremony on Friday, October 13 at 1pm U.S. ET. Please register at the link below to hear from uranium mining activist, Anthony Lyamunda, Resistance (Tanzania); Nuclear Hotseat podcaster, Libbe HaLevy, Education (USA); and nuclear policy researcher, Malte Göttsche, Solution (Germany) as they are interviewed about their work. A special announcement about the 2023 Awards event and winners will be made during the event.

  Register  

BAIT AND SWITCH
Holtec license transfer NRC meeting

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced an October 3 meeting with Holtec at 1 - 3pm ET. (Pre-register to attend) Holtec schemes to not only restart the half-century old, permanently shutdown Palisades reactor, but also to build four small modular reactors (SMRs) on the site. Holtec had claimed from 2020 until April 2022, that it was taking over Palisades to decommission the nuclear plant. But then Holtec CEO, Krishna Singh, floated building SMRs there. Days later, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer floated restarting the closed reactor. Holtec announced in September 2022 it had already applied to the U.S. Department of Energy for billions of dollars to restart the closed reactor and $7.4 billion more for the SMRs.

Read More

SAVE THE DATES!
Native American Nuclear Issues Forum

Ian Zabarte (pictured), Principal Man of the Western Shoshone, has announced the 2023 Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues, November 20 & 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will also be webcast. Western Shoshone Spiritual Leader Darlene Graham will attend. Day 1 presenters include: Carletta Tillousi; Lorraine Rekmans; Anna Rondon; Dr. Tommy Rock; Peter d'Errico; Steve Newcomb; Joe Kennedy; Beatta Tsosi-Peña; Mary Gibson; Dave Archambault, Sr.; and Zabarte (moderator). Day 2 presenters include: Susan Alzner; Rozsa Greg Gyorgy; Mary Palevsky; Mary Olson; Judy Treichel; Steve Frishman; Kevin Kamps; Melissa Bumstead; Sarah Fox; Dave Hazzenzhal; and Molly Johnson (moderator). More info is at the Native Community Action Council website. The Western Shoshone have led the resistance against nuclear dangers in Newe Sogobia for many decades.

Read More

HELP RADIATION SURVIVORS
Long-fought-for compensation within reach

Hope exists for those exposed to falloutand others who were ignored. For nearly two decades, Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium (TBDC) has pushed to amend The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to include Trinity downwinders. The U.S. Senate as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has not only added Trinity downwinders, but others in seven additional states and uranium workers employed post 1971. The Senate and the House NDAAs will now go through the reconciliation process. The House bill needs to have the RECA amendments included. Thank your Senator and please contact your U.S. Representative using the web comment form provided by Union of Concerned Scientists. Ask them to support adding the RECA amendments to the NDAA to mirror what was passed in the Senate with no changes.

  Act Now  

Beyond Nuclear | 301.270.2209 | www.BeyondNuclear.org

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Subject: Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Unit 2 - Authorization and Safety Evaluation for Alternative Request for Valve 251130 (EPID L-2023-LLR-0045)
 
ADAMS Accession No.: ML23257A122
 
 
Using Web-based ADAMS, select “Advanced Search”
Under “Property,” select “Accession Number”
Under “Value,” enter the Accession Number
Click Search
Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: II-23-028 September 23, 2023
Contact: Dave Gasperson, 404-997-4417
 
NRC Approves Further Uranium Enrichment at American Centrifuge Plant
 
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has authorized American Centrifuge Operating LLC to proceed with its planned demonstration project to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium, known as HALEU, under its contract with the Department of Energy. This is a major step in developing advanced fuels for the next generation of nuclear reactors.
 
The authorization signed Sept. 21 allows the company to possess and use enough uranium to perform Phase 1 of the company’s contract with DOE, the production of 20 kilograms of HALEU. The company plans to enrich the uranium in its HALEU Demonstration Cascade module at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. HALEU is enriched up to 20 percent in the isotope U-235, higher than the typical 3-5 percent found in current nuclear reactor fuel.
 
“This authorization follows a rigorous review of the American Centrifuge Plant’s safety features and operating procedures,” said NRC Region II Administrator Laura A. Dudes. “The NRC is committed to ensuring that all nuclear facilities operate safely and securely, and we will continue to closely monitor the HALEU Demonstration Cascade to ensure that it continues to meet our high safety standards.”
 
The NRC in June authorized the company to possess a smaller amount of material as part of its project preparations. The company plans to initiate HALEU production in October and complete Phase 1 in December.
 
The amount of material and higher enrichment level authorized make the American Centrifuge Plant the first Category II fuel facility licensed by the NRC.
Details of the inspections and the latest authorization letter are available on the NRC website.
 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Items of Interest
Week Ending September 8, 2023
 
Inflation Adjustments to the Price-Anderson Act Financial Protection Regulations: Final
Rule; 10 CFR Part 140 [NRC-2023-0110; RIN 3150-AL01]
On September 5, 2023, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a notice in
the Federal Register (88 FR 60565) amending its regulations to adjust for inflation the maximum
total and annual standard deferred premiums specified in the Price-Anderson Act. The NRC
must perform this adjustment at least once during each 5-year period following August 20, 2003,
as mandated by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. This final rule is effective on
October 5, 2023.

Increased Enrichment of Conventional and Accident Tolerant Fuel Designs for LightWater Reactors: Regulatory Basis; Request for Comment; 10 CFR Parts 50, 51, and 71
[NRC-2020-0034; RIN 3150-AK79]

On September 8, 2023, the NRC published a notice in the Federal Register (88 FR 61986)
requesting comments on a regulatory basis to support a rulemaking to amend the NRC's
regulations related to the use of conventional and accident tolerant light-water reactor fuel
designs. The NRC's goal is to establish effective and efficient licensing of applications using
fuels enriched to greater than 5.0 and less than 20.0 weight percent uranium-235. The NRC will
hold a public meeting to promote a full understanding of the planned rulemaking and facilitate
public comment on the regulatory basis. Comments are requested by November 22, 2023.



New Podcast Episode

Boy and Island: Episode 4
 

Welcome back to the Boy and Island podcast!!!

Introducing: Episode 4 "Honor Thy Error as a Hidden Intention"
After a routine medical procedure goes awry, sending his father Jim into a months-long health crisis, Hurst embarks on an esoteric ponderance on the nature of errors that includes the zen wisdom of composer John Cage, Brian Eno’s “Oblique Strategies,” the roving spirituality of walking, the pleasures and terrors of misunderstood song lyrics, the tragic convergence of mechanical and human error at the center of the accident at Three Mile Island, and more!  Listen now

And a quick reminder to check out my very special interview with my mom, Anne Hurst, that commemorated the 44th anniversary of the accident at Three Mile Island back in March.

Thanks again for your interest. Stay tuned for some exciting news on the Boy and Island project.  Go to boyandisland.com for more info, drop me a line, tell a friend and take care!

Best,
A

Listen on boyandisland.com
Listen on Apple Podcasts
 
The Boy and Island podcast is a companion to the book project currently in development by Andrew Hurst. The podcast follows Andrew's creative process as he reflects on the Three Mile Island accident after 40-plus years and examines the remarkable ways that time has distorted, as well as clarified the event's importance as a pivotal moment in world history and as a penultimate event in his family's history.

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