MEDIA BROADCASTS - Hanford
Watershed
Intelligence Network
About the WIN Hanford Media Awareness Campaign
The Watershed Intelligence Network has launched a media awareness campaign that supplies Canadian and international media with information bulletins about the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
The bulletins are sent to community leaders and government representatives in both Canada and the United States so that they can offer comments regarding the situation at Hanford.
“This effort seeks to bring Hanford to the forefront of Canadian media so that journalists and news agencies are better able to report on this event from a Canadian perspective”, said project director Don Elzer.
The radioactive waste site at Hanford is next to the Columbia River which is home to a wild salmon run that feeds British Columbia; the site is about 200 miles from the Canadian border at Osoyoos, it is about 50 miles from the tributaries of the Okanogan River; and is within the traditional territories of First Nations people.
According to Hanford Quick Facts, which was published by the State of Washington Department of Ecology, one million gallons (4,000 cubic meters) of highly radioactive waste from Hanford is currently traveling through the groundwater toward the Columbia River and will reach the river in 12 to 50 years if the cleanup operation is delayed. Hanford has the highest level of radioactive waste of any site in the United States. It produced plutonium for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.
The Watershed Intelligence Network provides advocacy and press kit services on behalf of individuals, organizations and businesses that have a concern regarding the environment and the future of the planet. The reference by which this media project is managed is as follows:
The Columbia River is an international waterway. In the wake of the ongoing radioactive spills at Hanford Site in eastern Washington, the governments of Canada and British Columbia must exercise their rights as legal interveners so that they can closely examine, and if need be, take legal action against any possible negligence associated with the spill. They must be present as interveners in order to protect the Columbia River and associated eco-systems and species. By not representing the interests of Canadians and British Columbian’s these governments and their elected officials and employees may be the subject of legal action from citizens and communities.
“Hanford has become an international problem and it has created further questions about how radioactive waste in North America is managed presently and in the future – radioactivity knows no boundaries,” said Don Elzer.
To learn more about this campaign contact Don Elzer
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Hanford Site Information Bulletin #2
October 24, 2015
U.S. Small Nuke Industry proposed
near the Canadian border
Group calls on Trudeau government to legally intervene at Hanford
North Okanagan, British Columbia - The Watershed Intelligence Network (WIN) a Canadian environmental watchdog group is calling on the new Liberal government to pay attention to Hanford. The Hanford Nuclear Reservation (also called Hanford Site) is located in the State of Washington and it continues to leak radioactive waste into the Columbia River drainage and also poses a risk of emitting radiation into the atmosphere south of British Columbia, only 200 miles from the Canadian border.
“The former Harper government ignored the risks posed by Hanford, and now Washington State is considering the creation of a “small nuke industry” in the Tri-cities area, which includes Hanford. There would be small nuclear reactors built; a modular segment would be a mini-reactor of 50 to 300 megawatts and it might be moved to be part of a larger reactor being built close by or far away – this amplifies certain risks,” stated WIN spokesperson Don Elzer.
Hanford Site contains two-thirds of the US high-level radioactive waste by volume. Today, Hanford is the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States and one of the most toxic properties on Earth yet now the designers of these small modular reactors (SMR’s) are expected to decide in about two years whether Washington is a good place to build a plant for manufacturing components which will be sold and commissioned locally, regionally and globally. The company, NuScale has also made an agreement with Energy Northwest, the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems and the U.S. Department of Energy facility at Idaho Falls to build the first such reactor in Idaho by 2023. NuScale plans to submit its design to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission very soon, hoping for a green light within about 40 months.
“The nuclear waste at Hanford is already an international problem and questions continue about how radioactive waste in North America is managed presently and in the future – radioactivity knows no boundaries”, stated Elzer.
Elzer added that the Obama administration is endorsing the move.
“Small modular reactors represent a new generation of safe, reliable, low-carbon nuclear energy technology and provide a strong opportunity for America to lead this emerging global industry…the Energy Department is committed to strengthening nuclear energy’s continuing important role in America’s low carbon future, and new technologies like small modular reactors will help ensure our continued leadership in the safe, secure and efficient use of nuclear power worldwide.” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
According to Elzer, it’s the tip of the nuclear iceberg. The NuScale reactors are similar to the small reactors that operate on U.S. Navy ships. The SMR’s are prefab reactors with parts being manufactured in one location, and then transported to the reactor site for final assembly. A modular segment would be a mini-reactor of 50 to 300 megawatts. In Washington, Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station, a nuclear plant, produces more than 1,190 megawatts of electricity, equal to about a tenth of the state’s energy needs. Small modular reactors are supposed to be designed so extra modules can be added as needed — with 12 modules being the theoretical maximum.
So if twelve 300 megawatt modules were assembled into a single unit then that might translate into a 3600 megawatt nuclear facility or well over twice the size of the Columbia Generating Station.
“It’s uncertain whether we have regulations and safety provisions in place for these small component-based SMR’s. Could companies and utilities place them in rural or remote communities, schools, or shopping malls – without telling anyone? The potential risks not only will prime the laws of unintended consequences but it will create an entirely new level of stress for future generations,” said Elzer.
The cost of nuclear waste is not factored into the supply cost for nuclear energy, just like the environmental damage from fossil fuels and fracking is not factored into the supply costs of those energies. The worlds 437 operating nuclear reactors now produce about 11,000 tonnes of high level nuclear waste a year, or the equivalent of 100 double-decker busses according to the World Nuclear Association. Much of this waste is not being dealt with.
“With the democratization of nuclear energy it’s becoming cheaper and more available to masses of consumers and there’s no telling what might happen in the near or distant future. While we get sensitive to the idea of rogue nuclear warheads, there’s still no ethical approach to nuclear energy itself. While we understand that nuclear accidents can be catastrophic we still develop energies that are to dangerous to fail,”said Elzer.
The radioactive waste site at Hanford is next to the Columbia River which is home to a wild salmon run that feeds British Columbia; the site is about 200 miles from the Canadian border at Osoyoos, it is about 50 miles from the tributaries of the Okanogan River; and is within the traditional territories of First Nations people.
Elzer is calling on the Trudeau government to become engaged with this issue citing that the Columbia River is an international waterway.
In an official statement WIN is requesting: “In the wake of the ongoing radioactive spills at Hanford Site in eastern Washington, the governments of Canada and British Columbia must exercise their rights as legal interveners so that they can closely examine, and if need be, take legal action against any possible negligence associated with the spill. They must be present as interveners in order to protect the Columbia River and associated eco-systems and species. By not representing the interests of Canadians and British Columbian’s these governments and their elected officials and employees may be the subject of legal action from citizens and communities.”
“Hanford has become an international problem and if the nuclear industry expands along the Canadian/US border then even greater risks will occur. We need transparency and we need to be able to get answers about how radioactive waste in North America is managed presently and in the future – radioactivity knows no boundaries,” said Elzer.
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For more information contact Don Elzer at the Watershed Intelligence Network located at the Wildcraft Forest at 250.547.9812 or by email: mediaservices@uniserve.com
The Neighborhood Nuke Market
Small nuclear reactors will democratize nuclear energy and this does not seem to be gathering much interest with decision makers. SMR’s will allow utilities to provide an energy solution in remote areas and into developing countries; it will allow for companies to do the same; and even cities, neighborhoods and individuals.
We need to ask certain questions in advance of SMR’s being introduced because they will evolve within the marketplace:
- “Would terrorist or paramilitary organizations like to have access to their own SMR?”
- “What might a brilliant high school student create if they had an small SMR in their backyard?”
- “Where would the fuel come from, and how would it be shipped – and how might it be refueled every two years – and what if its not?”
- “Where does the nuclear waste go?”
- “Who monitors the SMR and how does it get decommissioned if need be?”
These questions represent the tip of the nuclear iceberg. The NuScale reactors are similar to the small reactors that operate on U.S. Navy ships. The SMR’s are prefab reactors with parts being manufactured in one location, and then transported to the reactor site for final assembly. A modular segment would be a mini-reactor of 50 to 300 megawatts. In Washington, Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station, a nuclear plant, produces more than 1,190 megawatts of electricity, equal to about a tenth of the state’s energy needs. Small modular reactors are supposed to be designed so extra modules can be added as needed — with 12 modules being the theoretical maximum.
