70 Years of Radioactive Risksin America and Japan

Kevin KampsBeyond Nuclear

Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

New York Academy of MedicineMarch 11-12, 2013

Hiroshima to Fukushima

March 10, 2011

Days later

Fukushima Daiichi, after

Dec. 2, 1942

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

FalloutOppenheimer and Groves at “Trinity” test blast site, July 1945

Destroyed Nagasaki Buddhist temple, with flattened city in background, August 1945

Operation Crossroads

Dejà vu, 65 years later

July 25, 1946 Mid-March, 2011

“Atoms for Peace”

“Castle Bravo,” March 1, 1954

Anti-nuclear groundswell in Japan

Daigo Fukuryū Maru Fatal fallout

Radioactively contaminated seafood

Lucky Dragon’s catch, 1954 Fukushima fallout, 2011

CIA deployed to Japan

Lewis Strauss Matsutaro Shoriki

Japan’s infamous “Nuclear Village” is born

Atomic America

Atomic Japan

Workers over-exposed

Tsuruga NPP, Fukui Prefecture, 1981Bruce NGS, Ontario, Canada, Nov., 2009

Sodium firesMonju, Fukui Prefecture,Dec. 8, 1995

Fermi 1, Monroe County, Michigan, May 20, 2008

Reprocessing plant fires/explosions

Tokai-mura, Ibaraki Prefecture, March 1997 West Valley, NY, 1966-1972

Inadvertent nuclear criticalitiesShika NPP, Ishikawa Prefecture, June 18, 1999

Tokai-mura, Ibaraki Prefecture, Sept. 30, 1999

Inadvertent criticality:Fermi 2, Monroe Co., MI

Safety cover-ups

TEPCO, 1989-2000, 2002 Davis-Besse, Oak Harbor, Ohio, 2002

Deadly steam explosionsMihama-3, Fukui Prefecture, Aug. 9, 2004 Surry NPP, VA, 1972, 1986

Radioactive steam releases

Fukushima Daiichi, 2006San Onofre, San Clemente, CA, Jan. 2012

EarthquakesKashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, Niigata Prefecture, July 16, 2007

Entergy’s Indian Point Units 2 & 3, Buchanan, NY

Nuclear earthquakes (and tsunamis)

Additional Risks: RPV Embrittlement

Genkai-1, Saga PrefectureEntergy’s Palisades atomic reactor, Covert, MI

Additional Risks: High-Level Radioactive Waste

Storage Pools

• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 on brink of collapse

• U.S. pools contain much more HLRW than Japanese pools

• Many warnings about risk of catastrophic pool fires

Additional Risks:High-Level Radioactive Waste Leaks

Hanford underground tanks Indian Point HLRW storage pools

False solutions: Reprocessing and Centralized Interim Storage

Rokkasho reprocessing facility, Aomori Prefecture Savannah River Site, South Carolina

Some good news: shutdownsOi, Fukui Prefecture, July 2012(the only 2 reactors in all of Japan to be restarted post-Fukushima)

Kewaunee, WI, June 2013

Some inspiring news: showdowns

Tokyo, 2011-2013 Indian Point, 2011-2013

GE BWR Mark Is & IIs: Early Warnings

“Recent events have highlighted the safety disadvantages of pressure-suppression containments…What are the safety advantages of pressure suppression, apart from the cost saving?...I recommend that the AEC adopt a policy of discouraging further use of pressure-suppression containments, and that such designs not be accepted for construction permits filed after a date to be decided.”

Contained in a memo to his boss by AEC Safety Officer, Stephen Hanauer, Sept. 20,1972

GE Mark I/II: Early Warnings, Ignored

“The acceptance of pressure suppression containment concepts by all elements of the nuclear field…is firmly embedded in the conventional wisdom. Reversal of this hallowed policy, particularly at this time, could well be the end of nuclear power. It would throw into question the continued operation of licensed plants…and would generally create more turmoil than I can stand thinking about.”

Contained in a response by AEC Safety Head, Joseph Hendrie, September 25, 1972

GE 3 blow the whistle

In 1976 Gregory C. Minor, Richard B. Hubbard, and Dale G. Bridenbaugh blew the whistle on safety problems with atomic reactors designed by General Electric. The three resigned from their jobs after becoming increasingly convinced that the atomic reactor design they were reviewing — the Mark 1 — was so flawed it could lead to a devastating accident.

Post-Chernobyl soul searching• In 1986, Harold Denton,

then the NRC's top safety official, told an industry trade group that the "Mark I containment, especially being smaller with lower design pressure, in spite of the suppression pool, if you look at the WASH 1400 safety study, you'll find something like a 90% probability of that containment failing.”

Freeze Our FukushimasThere are 31 still operating GE Mark I and II BWRs in U.S.:

Mark Is (23 units): Browns Ferry 1, 2 and 3, Decatur, AL -- Brunswick 1 & 2, Southport, NC – Cooper, Brownville, NE -- Dresden 2 & 3, Morris, IL -- Duane Arnold, Palo, IA --Edwin Hatch 1 & 2, Baxley, GA -- Fermi 2, Monroe, MI -- Hope Creek, Artificial Island, NJ – Fitzpatrick, Scriba, NY – Monticello, Monticello, MN -- Nine Mile Point Unit 1, Scriba, NY -- Oyster Creek, Lacey Township, NJ -- Peach Bottom 2 & 3, Delta, PA – Pilgrim, Plymouth, MA -- Quad Cities 1 & 2, Cordova, IL -- Vermont Yankee, Vernon, VT.

Mark IIs (8 units): LaSalle 1 & 2, Ottawa, IL -- Nine Mile Point 2, Scriba, NY -- Limerick 1 & 2, Pottstown, PA -- Susquehanna 1 & 2, Salem Twp., PA -- Columbia Generating Station, Richland, WA.

Collusion

Three Mile Island…

Chernobyl…

Fukushima…

Where Next?!