Nuclear Power and Waste

Cancer and the Nuclear Power Industry’s Radioactive Emissions By Paul Koberstein Like all commercial nuclear power plants operating in the United States, the Columbia Generating Station, located on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in rural South-Central Washington, emits a small, but steady stream of radioactive pollution to the air. In the words of the plant’s radiological …

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Columbia Plant Frequently Violates Federal Nuclear Safety Rules The Columbia Generating Station never had a better year than 2012. The Northwest’s only nuclear power plant recorded the second highest amount of electricity produced in a single calendar year: 9.7 million megawatt-hours. It also went the longest amount of time without an emergency shutdown: 3 years, …

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Leaks and Cracks in the Machine By PAUL KOBERSTEIN A nuclear power plant is one of the most dangerous machines ever devised. A nuclear plant with defects can be even more dangerous. Two major original components of the Columbia Generating Station came with serious defects, including the reactor containment system, as revealed in Part 1 …

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REDACTED: The safety report that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission doesn’t want you to see By PAUL KOBERSTEIN A quarter of the 104 nuclear power reactors in the United States may be at risk to a newly identified safety hazard. It’s a concern has generated eerie comparisons with the tsunami that crippled reactors at Fukushima, Japan. …

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SCRAM! When Disaster Strikes On 23 occasions since 2000, the Columbia Generating Station faced emergency situations that forced the plant to “scram” – a term defined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as an unplanned automatic or manual shut  down, usually achieved by the insertion of control rods into the reactor. In each of the 23 …

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Secretive Industry Group Gives Columbia Nuclear Plant Low Marks The Nuclear Regulatory Commission isn’t the only organization that has expressed a low regard  for the Columbia Generating Station and its poor performance over the years. By Paul Koberstein INPO, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, an industry group, conducted several evaluations of Columbia’s operations over …

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The Long Tragic Trail of Defective General Electric Nuclear Reactors, from Hanford to Fukushima Troubled throughout its entire history, the Columbia Generating Station nuclear power plant at Hanford, Wash., will turn 30 years old in 2014. The plant’s opening in 1984 was marred by the failure to complete four of its sister plants in what …

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The Most Dangerous Nuclear Power Plants in America In this report, we learned that the Columbia Generating Station has faced some serious problems with aging and defective components and has frequently violated nuclear safety regulations. The plant emits measurable amounts of radioactive pollution on a continuing basis. But how is the Columbia plant doing in …

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The Relicensing of Columbia: Cover-Up or Gross Negligence? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which regulates commercial nuclear power plants in this country, has renewed and extended the Columbia nuclear plant’s 40-year operating license to 2043, even though it wasn’t due to expire until 2023. By Paul Koberstein The early license renewal meant the plant’s aging components …

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Washington Department of Ecology told to “do the right thing’ at Hanford By ROBIN KLEIN A standing-room only crowd filled a hearing room next to the Columbia River in Portland on May 16 urging the Washington Department of Ecology to forbid disposal of additional radioactive wastes at the US Department of Energy’s Hanford nuclear site, …

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