This week's show is all about money. We look at how some utility owned U.S. nuclear power plants continue to drain the public's pocketbook, sometimes to the tune of fifty million dollars a month, without generating a single watt of electricity.
Read MoreFairewinds examines continuing problems at four US nuclear reactors, each of which have been shutdown for more than two years. Upstream dam failures continue to plague Ft. Calhoun, steam generator tube failures at San Onofre jeopardized Los Angeles. Crystal River's containment repairs burden Floridians with excessive costs. Finally, Arnie examines a new proposal by the Department of Energy to melt radioactive scrap metal and reuse it in consumer goods like knives and forks.
Read MoreThanks to our listeners and viewers, Fairewinds' fundraiser was a success. Thank you to all our donors who helped us to reach our goal. It's a new year, and 2013 has already kicked off a repeat of the same safety and engineering issues that plagued the nuclear industry in 2012. The two, eye opening nuclear safety issues we discuss in today's Fairewinds' Podcast are: a radiation scandal in Japan and a major safety problem in the US at Fort Calhoun. Arnie Gundersen alerts us to the fact that radiation exposure cover-ups did not occur only in Japan, and have occurred repeatedly in the US as well as in many other countries. Finally, we discuss Wall Street's financial worries over US reactors.
Read MoreIn this week's Fairewinds podcast Arnie Gundersen discusses recent problems at two nuclear reactors and how the NRC is failing to enforce its own laws governing those reactors. Gundersen discusses nuclear containment problems at the Ft. Calhoun reactor near Omaha and accident release rates at the San Onofre nuclear plant south of Los Angeles. In both cases, the NRC seems willing to ignore its own regulations and allow these two damaged reactors to restart.
Read MoreArnie explains that Oyster Creek is the only nuclear plant in the US that lacks a modern High Pressure Safety Injection System. This means that the recently discovered pipe crack in a 3 inch pipe at Oyster Creek would create a serious safety threat if it were to completely break. Arnie also discusses the cost of operating nuclear plants, and how many nuclear plants around the country are no longer a low cost electric producer. Finally, Arnie looks at the three nuclear plants with extended shutdowns (Ft. Calhoun, San Onofre and Crystal River) and concludes that the cost of maintaining large staffs when no electricity is being produced is not in the best interests of the ratepayers.
Read MoreFairewinds Energy Education is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to furthering public understanding of nuclear power and nuclear safety related issues.
