QFF - Quo Fata Ferunt! De ECHTE Illuminati! -The REAL Illuminati! - Welkom in de He(me)l! - Illuminaten - Illuministen - podcasts, complotten, ufo's, karma, nonsens, wetenschap, paranormaal, ghost busters, kennis en verlichting! Q.F.F. Podcast Series

Het was Bl@de net die er in de schreeuwdoos naar vroeg, en ik heb het een week of twee terug al ergens in een topic aangehaald, en wil er nu graag wat extra aandacht aan besteden... In de VS (U weet wel dat prachtige Amerika, de USA zeg maar) worden de problemen met een tweetal Nucleaire Energie Centrales alleen maar groter, zo groot zelfs dat er oprecht paniek is ontstaan over een mogelijke 'melt-down' die plaats zou vinden of reeds mogelijk al plaats zou hebben gevonden... En de mainstream media zwijgt (zoals wel vaker met dit soort nieuws het geval is) weer in alle talen...

Het geval wil namelijk dat de kerncentrale "Cooper" nabij de plaats Brownville (Nebraska) al op 9 April werd stilgelegd in verband met gepland onderhoud aan de centrale, maar sinds een week of twee staat het gebied om de kerncentrale dus onder water en dat is natuurlijk niet heel handig. Bovendien ligt de ramp in Japan nog in eenieders geheugen daar dit nog maar recentelijk plaats heeft gevonden en de gevolgen daarvan nog vele jaren voort zullen duren...



Naast de ellende bij de Cooper kerncentrale (Nebraska) is er dus nu ook stront aan de spreekwoordelijke knikker bij de kerncentrale van Fort Calhoun (tevens in Nebraska), want ook daar staat de hele zooi onder water!!

En als we het nieuws mogen geloven breken steeds meer dammen door waardoor de zooi alleen nog maar erger en erger aan het worden is..





Stront aan de knikker dus zoals ik hierboven reeds te kennen gaf, en terwijl het Amerikaanse leger gewoon lekker aan het oefenen is en miljoenen dollars spendeert aan de onzinnige oefen operatie met de naam Armored Fist, heeft de mainstream media het alleen maar over onder water staande kerncentrales waar de situatie verder geheel normaal en veilig zou zijn... ahhum jaja gaat U vooral lekker rustig slapen mensen!! Gelukkig doet Yahoo niet mee aan de onzin en melden ze daar wel dat er wel degelijk gevaar kan ontstaan...

Op GLP lopen diverse topics over de alarmerende situatie omtrent de nucleaire reactoren, en zo ook op ATS, maar de msm houdt het verder angstvallig stil wat betreft de berichtgeving omtrent de daadwerkelijke situatie bij de beide kerncentrales.

Dat het veiliger moet daar zijn we het dus allemaal wel over eens, op de een of andere manier heb ik dat dus indirect voorvoelt door ruim voor het ontstaan van deze ellende al eens aandacht te besteden aan Thorium hier op QFF...

Nee, op zulke momenten mis ik die nucleaire shit zoals het hoort... Geheel veilig en goed verzorgd bij U gebracht dankzij de heroïsche inspanningen van die gele gasten...euh... de Simpsons heb ik het dan over hé... Homer en good old Mr. Burns...





Ik wil dan ook iedereen oproepen om hieronder in de comments van dit artikel een vergaarbak te creëren met informatie over deze situatie en het verdere gebeuren...

Alvast bedankt!!

Media Blackout Nebraska Nuclear Plants Flooding !!

weet niet of die al hier in topic staat:

[quote=""combi" post=34953"]NUCLEAR POWER PLANT MELTDOWN IN AMERICA! MEDIA BLACKOUT AND NO-FLY ZONE!

[/quote]

Ziet er nou al groen. Moet makkelijk op te lossen zijn door dat basin aan te vullen met koud geioniseerd water, grond water en fundering genoeg voorlopig..

.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Nebraska Flood their land.. wel upstream natuurlijk..

Niets aan het handje als ik het gehele interview zo door skip.

zeker wel met handjes los van het stuur te kort door de bocht...handjes!


[video][/video]

AP IMPACT: Tritium leaks found at many nuke sites

BRACEVILLE, Ill. – Radioactive tritium has leaked from three-quarters of U.S. commercial nuclear power sites, often into groundwater from corroded, buried piping, an Associated Press investigation shows.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110621/ap_ ... BhY3R0cml0

ninti : nee maar, eindelijk een MSM krant die het rappporteerd «link»


Inches away from being America's Fukushima: Nuclear plant dangerously close to being engulfed by Missouri floods
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... banks.html

Nuclear plant inches from being totally flooded, but is saved - for now
Damage would be likely to cause energy prices to soar
Six to 12 inches of heavy rainfall over the last few weeks
Record floods hit 44.4 feet, topping 44.3 feet record set in 1993
Levees fail to stem surge of water from rain and melting snow
Flooding expected to continue until August
Residents begin burning wood to avoid it becoming flood debris
Meanwhile, engineers close the Bonnet Carre Spillway near New Orleans

A nuclear plant was inches away from being engulfed by the bloated Missouri River after several levees in the area failed to hold back its surging waters, raising fears it could become America's Fukushima.

Dramatic pictures show the moment the plant was threatened with being shut down today, as water levels rose ominously to within 18 inches of its walls.

The river has to hit 902 feet above sea level at Brownville before officials will shut down the Cooper Nuclear Plant, which sits at 903 feet. It stopped and ebbed slightly yesterday, a reprieve caused by levee breaches in northwest Missouri - for now.



Flooding is a major concern all along the river because of the massive amounts of water that the Army Corps of Engineers has released from six dams. Any significant rain could worsen the flooding especially if it falls in Nebraska, Iowa or Missouri, which are downstream of the dams.

The river is expected to rise as much as five to seven feet above the official 'flood stage' in much of Nebraska and Iowa and as much as 10 feet over in parts of Missouri. The corps predicts the river will remain that high until at least August.

Nebraska Public Power District spokesman Mark Becker said the river rose to 900.56 feet at Brownville on Sunday, then dropped to 900.4 feet later in the day and remained at that level on Monday morning.

The Missouri River set a new record Sunday at Brownville when its depth was measured at 44.4 feet, topping the previous record of 44.3 feet set during the 1993 flooding, according to the National Weather Service.





Meanwhile, just north of New Orleans, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers workers finally closed the final bays of the Bonnet Carre Spillway today.

The gates were opened weeks ago in an effort to redirect high water on the Mississippi River which threatened levees.

The Cooper Nuclear Plant remains operating at full capacity today but the Columbus-based utility sent an emergency 'notification of unusual event' to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission when the river rose to 899 feet early on Sunday morning.

'We knew the river was going to rise for some time,' Becker said. 'It was just a matter of when.'

The nuclear plant has been preparing for the flooding since May 30. More than 5,000 tons of sand has been brought in to construct barricades around it and access roads, according to NPPD.

Should water levels engulf the facility, forcing closure and repairs, energy bills in the area would be likely to rocket to cover the cost.

'In that case we may have to raise rates,' a spokeswoman said.







The Army Corps of Engineers said the river level at Brownville had surged about two feet from Saturday morning to Sunday morning and that it continued to rise because of heavy rain on the Nishnabotna River, which flows into the Missouri River from Iowa.

The Cooper Nuclear Station is one of two plants along the Missouri River in eastern Nebraska. The Fort Calhoun Station, operated by the Omaha Public Power District, is about 20 miles north of Omaha. It issued a similar alert to the regulatory commission on June 6.



The river has risen at least 1.5 feet higher than Fort Calhoun's 1,004-foot elevation above sea level. The plant can handle water up to 1,014 feet, according to OPPD. The water is being held back by a series of protective barriers, including an 8-foot rubber wall outside the reactor building.

Its reactor already had been shut down for refuelling and maintenance since April, and it won't be turned on again until the flooding subsides.

The entire plant still has full electrical power for safety systems, including those used to cool radioactive waste. It also has at least nine backup power sources.

A spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the NRC thinks OPPD managers have 'done everything that they need to do to respond to the current conditions' at the nuclear plant.

Over the weekend, several northern Missouri levees failed to hold back the raging floodwaters, and the hole in a Holt County levee that ruptured last week continued to grow.

The water started pouring over levees on Saturday night and Sunday morning in Holt and Atchison counties, flooding farmland, numerous homes and cabins.



The recreational community of Big Lake, which is home to a state park and less than 200 people, is being threatened by the floodwater.

Most of Big Lake's residents have already evacuated. The area 78 miles north of Kansas City has been high for the past couple weeks, has experienced major flooding in three of the last five years.



Water flooded two highways, several homes were under as much as five feet of water and there was extensive farmland flooding, said Diana Phillips, clerk and flood plain manager for the village of Big Lake.

'It's only going to get worse because there is lots of water coming in,' Phillips said.

In Atchison County, where farmland was flooding, people have been evacuating for days, said Julie Fischer, a dispatcher for emergency services.



'Everybody is pretty much gone,' Fischer said. 'The roads are closing, there is no way in or out.'

Authorties have urged around 250 people in northwester Missouri to leave their homes.

Jud Kneuvean, chief of emergency management for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Kansas City District, said the Missouri River dipped by almost 1 foot after the Big Lake breach in Missouri but that the water started to rise again by Sunday afternoon.

He said Big Lake is seeking permission to cut a relief hole in an already-damaged county levee to allow water trapped behind the levee to flow back into the river.

The Corps increased water releases on Saturday from two dams -- Oahe above Pierre, South Dakota's capital, and Big Bend Dam just downstream -- to make room for expected potentially heavy rains through early next week.

They have been increasing water releases from five dams in North Dakota and South Dakota to roughly double prior records to relieve reservoirs

Most people left their homes well in advance of the flooding. Those who stayed were told Saturday night that water was flowing into the area.

The Big Lake area, where water has been high for the past couple weeks, has experienced major flooding in three of the last five.

Mike Crecelius, the Fremont County Emergency Management chief, said that in Hamburg, Iowa, the river was expected to crest at 10 feet over flood stage in the coming days.

Crecelius said the river has been over flood stage since late April, and that forecasters are projecting river flows of 150,000 cubic feet (1.1 million gallons) per second through August.

'[The levees] are not designed for this amount of pressure for this length of time,' Crecelius told CNN. 'They've never been tested like this.'





'There was some talk this morning about more than 150,000 cubic feet per second coming out of Oahe,' said Jerry Compton, working on Sunday at a convenience store in Missouri Valley.

The threat of flooding is stressful, said Compton, who knows her customers by name and even knows what brand of cigarettes they buy.

'People either moved out of their homes to another house, or they're trying to live in a camper. Some people have had their utilities cut off,' she said. 'We just sit here and wait.'

Peak releases are planned until at least mid-August and high flows are expected until December.

The National Weather Service said that the six to 12 inches of rainfall in the upper Missouri basin in the past few weeks is nearly a normal year's worth of raid, while runoff from the mountain snowpack is 140 per cent of average levels.

Precies het probleem van het kapitalisme, als je slim bent kom je bij het geld terecht en niet bij de army core.. Als je wijs ben dan ga je beunen als een gek, alle hens aan dek.

Radioactive tritium leaks found at 48 US nuke sites!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43475479/ns ... vironment/

NPPD: Nuke Plant Could Be Shut Down “In Three Seconds”, Critics Still Worry

June 21, 2011 | Filed under: Nebraska | Posted by: Nebraska Watchdog
http://missouri-news.org/midwest-news/n ... worry/6173


Despite ongoing and growing flood worries don’t tell the folks who run a Nebraska nuclear power plant, which is designed similar to the wrecked reactor in Japan, that the facility 70 miles from Lincoln and Omaha is an accident waiting to happen.

Even in the face of key safety questions over the years, some as recently as two months ago, the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) insists the 37-year-old Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville, which sits on the raging Missouri River, is as secure as they come.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the safest, Alan Dostal who is NPPD’s nuclear expert says, ”We are an absolutely safe plant, that’s a 10.”

Dostal’s comments came during an interview with Nebraska Watchdog on March 29, five days before three workers at Cooper were exposed to radiation. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) a fuel rod accident triggered alarms that are worn by the workers. NPPD says the incident which is still under investigation did not cause any apparent injuries but was “unacceptable.” The NRC wants “to understand why normal work practices were not followed.”

In the meantime Beyond Nuclear, an anti-nuclear power group, is petitioning the NRC to suspend Cooper’s license along with the licenses of 20 other U.S. reactors that in many respects mirror the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.

In its petition, filed before the Flood of 2011, Beyond Nuclear didn’t mention Nebraska’s weather by name but did say “a severe flood followed by a severe thunderstorm or accompanied by a large tornado” could cause a Fukushima like situation.

In addition the federal government’s own Sandia National Laboratories has concluded that similarities between the Dai-Ichi plant and reactors like Cooper pose a significant problem: specifically that a lengthy loss of electrical power could cause a nuclear meltdown.

But when it comes to Cooper, NPPD’s Dostal finds the Sandia study a case of apples and oranges. Dostal says, “We don’t believe that the Sandia analysis lines up very well with our configuration.” Asked by Nebraska Watchdog if he out rightly dismisses the Sandia research Dostal replied, “Well you wouldn’t dismiss it, you just have to understand that what they analyzed and what we have are not the same thing.”

As for the threatening Missouri River, following Monday evening’s rain storm, it was two feet from forcing NPPD to declare an “Alert” and shut the reactor down. According to NPPD spokesman Mark Becker if the river hits 45.5 feet (it was at 43.5 feet Tuesday morning) the shutdown would occur over a period of 4-10 hours although Becker adds they could shut it down “within three seconds” if necessary. Becker (see full statement below) insists that there is no fear of a meltdown because Cooper “would be operating with power from off-site sources that would run the pumps and other equipment necessary to keep the reactor and spent fuel storage facility with cooling water.”

Becker has also noted that late last year the NRC extended the plant’s license for another 20 years. According to Becker that finds Cooper “focused on the future and improved by the past.”

Cooper’s past is not without problems. According to a 1997 report from the federal General Accounting Office (GAO), Cooper spent 20 years operating on the edge. According to the GAO from1974 until 1994 the NPPD plant “did not ensure that its system to prevent leaks of radioactivity was maintained” to meet NRC standards.

Asked about the plant’s history Becker downplays the past. Becker tells Nebraska Watchdog it doesn’t make any sense going back over reports “that may or may not pertain to today’s operations.”

But according to Beyond Nuclear the disaster in Japan clearly indicates that industry fixes over the years have not been foolproof. Beyond Nuclear says because of design flaws “experimental back fits” have not worked.

Reported by Joe Jordan, joe@nebraskawatchdog.org

Editor’s note: to subscribe to News Updates from Nebraska Watchdog at no cost, click here

NPPD spokesman Mark Becker’s response (as of 3 p.m. Monday) regarding issues surrounding the Cooper plant and the threatening waters of the Missouri River:

“If we would be required by our procedures to shutdown the reactor if water reached the 902 feet above sea level (45.5 on the Brownville river gauge) we would do a shutdown. More than likely we would do a shutdown over a period of 4 to 10 hours, but could shut the reactor down within three seconds. We prefer to slowly go down to avoid errors. No melt down would occur because the safety systems would be operating with power from off-site sources that would run the pumps and other equipment necessary to keep the reactor and spent fuel storage facility with cooling water. The shutdown would be similar to the same types of actions taken when we go into a refueling outage and we have gone through more than 26 refueling outages. In the event we would lose off-site power, we have three diesel generators available to operate the safety systems. There is already diesel fuel available for 20 days of continuous operation (diesel; generators are tested monthly and we added the third backup system during the last refueling outage) plus we have brought in several tankers filled with diesel fuel and have alerted our fuel supplier to need of additional fuel if needed. We also have available backup sources of power with the use of batteries that can operate 4-8 hours with a portable diesel generator available to recharge those batteries.”

Missouri River flooding prompts northwest Missouri evacuations

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri River flooding prompted state officials Friday to close a park near the swollen river and forced some residents in northwestern Missouri to flee.

Lewis and Clark State Park between Kansas City and St. Joseph was closed, but park officials already removed equipment and prepared for high water because the park is on an oxbow lake near the Missouri River and has flooded in the past. People camping in the park were allowed to move to another park farther south, and officials were monitoring water levels to determine when Lewis and Clark State Park could be reopened.

Floodwaters upstream inundated bottomland in Atchison County, and residents began leaving after a levee failed Thursday night. Officials said the levee breach was about three miles from a bridge crossing the Missouri River and appeared to be about 300 yards wide. Phelps City was flooded, and water was entering nearby Watson and Langdon, threatening the roughly 250 people living in those towns, officials said.

In Watson, the water was rising Friday as Wenona Fischer made final sweeps through her home to gather some heirlooms and smaller items left behind when her bigger possessions were moved. Fischer said a big flood in 1993 did not compare to what they were seeing now.

"We are surprised that we had this much this fast. We were not expecting this," said Fischer, 56. "In 1993, when it flooded, it was nothing like this. This is a lot quicker and a lot faster."

She estimated water was about a foot deep around lunchtime Friday and said it had risen several inches in about an hour.

The area could see water for some time. The Army Corps of Engineers has been releasing water from upstream dams after heavy rain and snow melt. Water releases at the Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota hit 160,000 cubic feet of water per second Thursday, and the corps plans to continue releasing water at that rate until at least August.

Several areas downriver got some temporary relief Friday. In southeastern Nebraska, near the Cooper nuclear power plant, the Missouri River had dropped by more than a foot, but forecasters expected the water to rise this weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

Sen. Roy Blunt met Friday with officials from the Jefferson City area to discuss flood preparations around the capital city, where the river was just below flood stage. Officials described their efforts, which include finding places to stay for people who commute to Jefferson City if highways are closed. Although many homes in Jefferson City are in the bluffs or away from the river, flooding could threaten several houses and businesses, hotels, some city streets, an airport and a water treatment plant.

Speaking on a boat ramp near the Capitol, Blunt said the corps did a good job implementing the current plan for managing the river, but it was time to revisit that plan and consider changes. Blunt said flood control should be the top priority.

"It's a real opportunity to look at the plan again," he said.

Blunt and Rep. Sam Graves were to take an air tour of flooded areas Saturday and meet with residents and local leaders in Rock Port and St. Joseph.

Bron: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stori ... oses-park/

Ft. Calhoun nuke plant now running on emergency generators as workers try to restore electricity — Power supply cut after water surrounded main electrical transformers

June 26th, 2011 at 02:40 PM
http://enenews.com/ft-calhoun-nuke-plan ... ansformers


Flood berm collapses at Nebraska nuclear plant, Associated Press, June 26, 2011:

[...] The berm’s collapse didn’t affect the reactor shutdown cooling or the spent fuel pool cooling, but the power supply was cut after water surrounded the main electrical transformers, the NRC said. Emergency generators powered the [Ft. Calhoun] plant Sunday while workers tried to restore power. [...]

Why is there a Media Blackout on Nuclear Incident at Fort Calhoun in Nebraska?

Global Research
Patrick Henningsen
Sunday, June 26, 2011
http://weeklyintercept.blogspot.com/201 ... clear.html


Since flooding began on June 6th, there has been a disturbingly low level of media attention given to the crisis at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Facility near Omaha, Nebraska. But evidence strongly suggests that something very serious has in fact happened there.

On June 7th, there was a fire reported at Fort Calhoun. The official story is that the fire was in an electrical switchgear room at the plant. The apparently facility lost power to a pump that cools the spent fuel rod pool, allegedly for a duration of approximately 90 minutes.


FORT CALHOUN NUKE SITE: does it pose a public risk?

The following sequence of events is documented on the Omaha Public Power District’s own website, stating among other things, that here was no such imminent danger with the Fort Calhoun Station spent-fuel pool, and that due to a fire in an electrical switchgear room at FCS on the morning of June 7, the plant temporarily lost power to a pump that cools the spent-fuel pool.

In addition to the flooding that has occurred on the banks of the Missouri River at Fort Calhoun, the Cooper Nuclear Facility in Brownville, Nebraska may also be threatened by the rising flood waters.

As was declared at Fort Calhoun on June 7th, another “Notification of Unusual Event” was declared at Cooper Nuclear Station on June 20th. This notification was issued because the Missouri River’s water level reached an alarming 42.5 feet. Apparently, Cooper Station is advising that it is unable to discharge sludge into the Missouri River due to flooding, and therefore “overtopped” its sludge pond.

Not surprisingly, and completely ignored by the Mainstream Media, these two nuclear power facilities in Nebraska were designated temporary restricted NO FLY ZONES by the FAA in early June. The FAA restrictions were reportedly down to “hazards” and were ‘effectively immediately’, and ‘until further notice’. Yet, according to the NRC, there’s no cause for the public to panic.


FORT CALHOUN: Under water now. Is it potentially the next Fukushima?

A news report from local NBC 6 on the Ft. Calhoun Power Plant and large areas of farm land flooded by the Missouri River, interviews a local farmer worried about the levees, “We need the Corps-Army Corps of Engineers–to do more. The Corps needs to tell us what to do and where to go. This is not mother nature, this is man-made.” Nearby town Council Bluffs has already implemented its own three tier warning system should residents be prepared to leave the area quickly.

On June 6, 2011, the Federal Aviation Administration put into effect ‘temporary flying restrictions’–until further notice–over the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant in Blaine, Nebraska.

To date, no one can confirm whether or not the Ft Calhoun Nuclear incident is at a Level 4 emergency on a US regulatory scale. A Level 4 emergency would constitute an “actual or imminent substantial core damage or melting of reactor fuel with the potential for loss of containment integrity.” According to the seven-level International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, a Level 4 incident requires at least one death, which has not occurred according to available reports.


Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen explains how cooling pumps must operate continuously, even years after a plant is shut down.

According a recent report on the People’sVoice website, The Ft. Calhoun plant — which stores its fuel rods at ground level according to Tom Burnett – is now partly submerged and Missouri River levels are expected to rise further before the summer if finished, local reports in and around the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant suggest that the waters are expected to rise at least 5 more feet.



Burnett states, “Ft. Calhoun is the designated spent fuel storage facility for the entire state of Nebraska... and maybe for more than one state. Calhoun stores its spent fuel in ground-level pools which are underwater anyway – but they are open at the top. When the Missouri river pours in there, it’s going to make Fukushima look like an X-Ray.”

The People’s Voice’s report explains how Ft Calhoun and Fukushima share some of the very same high-risk factors:

“In 2010, Nebraska stored 840 metric tons of the highly radioactive spent fuel rods, reports the Nuclear Energy Institute. That’s one-tenth of what Illinois stores (8,440 MT), and less than Louisiana (1,210) and Minnesota (1,160). But it’s more than other flood-threatened states like Missouri (650) and Iowa (420).”

Conventional wisdom about what makes for a safe location regarding nuclear power facilities was turned on its head this year following Japan’s Fukushima disaster following the earthquake and tsunami which ravaged the region and triggered one of the planets worst-ever nuclear meltdowns.

As was the critical event in Fukushima, in Ft Calhoun circulatin g water is required at all times to keep the new fuel and more importantl y the spent radioactive material cool. The Nebraska facility houses around 600,000 – 800,000 pounds of spent fuel that must be constantly cooled to prevent it from starting to boil, so the reported 90 minute gap in service should raise alarm bells.

TV and radio journalist Tom Hartmann explores some of these arguments here:


Nebraska’s nuclear plant’s similarities to Japan’s Fukushima, both were store houses for years of spent nuclear fuel rods.

In addition to all this, there are eyewitness reports of odd military movements, including unmarked vehicles and soldiers. Should a radiation accident occur, most certainly extreme public controls would be enacted by the military, not least because this region contains some of the country’s key environmental, transportation and military assets.

Here is a video regarding the flooding experienced along the Missouri River in Nebraska:


RISK: Levees in and around Omaha were not designed for 3 months of water.

Angela Tague at Business Gather reports also that the recent Midwest floods may seriously impact food and gas prices. Lost farmland may be behind the price spike to $7.55 a bushel for corn, already twice last year’s price. Tague notes also:

“Corn is a key ingredient in ethanol gasoline, feeds America’s livestock and is found in many food products including soft drinks and cereal. Prices will undoubtedly increase steadily at the grocery store, gas pump and butcher shop throughout the summer as Midwest flooding continues along the Missouri River basin. Not only are farmers losing their homes, land and fields — ultimately their bank accounts will also suffer this season.”

One of the lessons we can learn for Japan’s tragic Fukushima disaster is that the government’s choice to impose a media blackout on information around the disaster may have already cost thousands of lives. Only time will tell the scope the disaster and how many victims it will claim.

More importantly, though, is that public officials might do well to reconsider the “safe” and “green” credentials of nuclear power- arguably one of the dirtiest industries going today. Especially up for inspection are those of 40 year old facilities like Ft Calhoun in the US, strangely being re-licensed for operation past 2030. Many of these facilities serve little on the electrical production front, and are more or less “bomb factories” that produce material for nuclear weapons and depleted uranium munitions.

Perhaps ‘Fukushima’ could become an annual event for the nuclear industry.

Wildfire shuts down Los Alamos nuke lab
Wind shifts on supercomputer behemoth

By Timothy Prickett Morgan
Posted in HPC, 27th June 2011 16:49 GMT
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/27 ... _wildfire/


Los Alamos National Laboratory – one of the big nuke labs run by the US Department of Energy and a big supercomputing center – has been shut down by the Las Conchas fire that is burning on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The lab – which is 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe and which is home to the "Roadrunner" hybrid Opteron-Cell supercomputer, the first machine to break above 1 petaflops performance three years ago – has voluntarily shut down as the Las Conchas fire burns to the southwest of the government compound.

According to a statement put out by the LANL this morning, winds were blowing from the northwest during the night, which kept the fire at bay and off Uncle Sam's nuclear turf. But the winds are expected to shift around the middle of the day, so lab director Charles McMillan took the precaution of shutting down the lab to all non-essential personnel.

LANL employs nearly 12,000 people, including 9,665 who work for national security projects and 1,116 grad students who work for peanuts. The lab has an operating budget of $2bn and occupies 36 square miles and has over 8 million square feet of facilities in over 2,000 different structures.

Being a government facility that spares no expense, LANL has its own observation aircraft, which have been deployed to monitor the Las Conchas fire. The lab cut off natural gas to lab facilities last night as a security precaution, and McMillan wanted to make clear that all "hazardous and radioactive materials" are accounted for and protected, as are key facilities such as LANL' s proton accelerator and supercomputing centers. A meeting scheduled for tonight to talk to the public about the modification for a hazardous waste permit for the transuranic waste facility on the site was canceled.

"It's been a very long night for the fire crews,” said McMillan said in a statement. "There has been an outpouring of support from the region, the state, and the federal government and for that we are profoundly grateful."

Sure beats having some nukes catch fire. That's tax money well spent.

The big problem at the moment, since the fire has not yet entered the compound, is smoke.

The Los Conchas fired started on Sunday afternoon and has consumed more than 43,000 acres according to a report in the Los Alamos Monitor. Around 100 homes near the towns of Los Alamos and White Rock have been voluntarily evacuated as of this morning. The National Guard has been called up to help with evacuations. All told, Los Alamos and White Rock have around 18,000 people living in them.

Only three days before the Los Conchas fire started, the New Mexico State Forestry expanded fire restrictions to cover all 33 counties in the state. The restrictions were put in place because portions of the state have not had significant rainfall in months and the risk of wildfire was high – particularly with the July 4th holiday right around the corner. The restrictions including making people smoke indoors or in their cars and the banning of campfires, fireworks, and any open burning. Someone clearly did not get the memo – perhaps even Mother Nature.