Ft. Calhoun reactor gets go-ahead

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Nancy Gaarder

Federal regulators gave the flood-idled Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station the green light Friday to move forward with plans for returning to service.

The earliest the plant could be brought back online would be the end of the month, and that assumes everything goes according to plan, said David Bannister, vice president and chief nuclear officer at Omaha Public Power District, which owns the reactor.

Much of the work that lies ahead involves the investigation and testing of equipment.

"Our intention is that we will be able to restart in the coming months; however, we will not compromise on safety for the public or our workers," Bannister said. "That means we absolutely will not restart the plant until we can ensure that it is safe to do so."

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20110903/NEWS01/709039890#ft-calhoun-reactor-gets-go-ahead

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The Fort Calhoun plant on June 27.

[SpiralHawk]

1. Is the city still pumping tons of raw sewage into the Missouri River?

...or did they finally get that fixed?

[Tesha]

2. 'Heck of an "availability factor" on that nuke, ehh? (NT)

[sulphurdunn]

3. Every nuclear reactor

on the planet should be decommissioned before they kill us all.

[TheWraith]

4. Never mind the fact that coal kills more in a year than nuclear has in all human history.

People have no idea of perspective.

[Downwinder]

5. Are you counting Black Lung?

How about cancer and immune system diseases?
Not to mention Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

[sulphurdunn]

7. I was refering to nuclear energy,

not coal. Is it your perspective that because coal "kills more people" that nuclear power is less dangerous or that the potential for the meltdown of hundreds of nuclear reactors around the globe is less a threat to the biosphere and human survival than coal induced climate change?

[stonecutter357]

6. Uranium mining poses huge health risks to its workers

Uranium mining poses huge health risks to its workers, the majority of whom are Native Americans employed in the low paying mining positions. They are exposed to dust and radioactive radon gas, presenting a lung cancer hazard. For example, in the United States 87% of lung cancer cases are a result of smoking. Among underground uranium miners however, it is estimated that 70% of lung cancer deaths in non-smoking miners and 40% of lung cancer deaths in smoking miners are due to exposure to radon progeny.
Mining causes serious environmental and health damage to surrounding land and populations. During mining operations, large volumes of contaminated water are pumped out of the mine and released to rivers and lakes, spreading into the environment. Ventilation of the mines releases radioactive dust and radon gas, increasing the lung cancer risk of residents living nearby. Piles of so-called waste rock often contain elevated concentrations of radionuclides when compared to normal rock. These piles continue to threaten people and the environment after the shutdown of mines due to their release of radon gas and seepage water containing radioactive and toxic materials .
The above problems caused by uranium mining are just a fraction of its negative impacts. The Native American populations which have come in contact with uranium related activity have suffered disproportionately. The number of people to truly benefit from uranium mining is very slim in comparison to the large amount of peoples it harms. This is a case of environmental racism, where the lands and health of Native Americans are destroyed by profit seeking exploits of the government and corporations.http://www.motherearth.org/pages/node/182