Diablo Canyon: The Devil’s in the Details; Part 1: A Troubled History

Diablo Canyon: The Devil’s in the Details; Part 1:  A Troubled History

In this Fairewinds Energy Education Podcast series, the Fairewinds Crew will share the troubled history of Diablo Canyon and speak with the leading activists in opposition to Diablo Canyon’s ominous 50-year presence along the California coast.  

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Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Seismic Report Part 1

Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Seismic Report Part 1

In this podcast, the Fairewinds Crew discusses seismicity risks and atomic power with Fairewinds Science Advisor Dr. Leslie Kanat, a double Fulbright scholar and professor of geology at Johnson State College. Dr. Kanat explains the difference between fault and subduction zones, why earthquakes are near impossible to predict, and how history can and does repeat itself. 

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The NRC’s Magnificent Seven

The NRC’s Magnificent Seven

Invited guest David Lochbaum from the Union of Concerned Scientists and Maggie and Arnie Gundersen discuss the brave seven who submitted the "put up or shut down" petition in this most recent Fairewinds podcast.

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Against the Will of the People – Japan Speaking Tour Series No. 5

Against the Will of the People – Japan Speaking Tour Series No. 5

Listen as the Fairewinds Crew uncovers the truth behind the Abe administration’s new “nuclear safety myth”.

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NRC: Lapdog or Watchdog?

NRC: Lapdog or Watchdog?

Arnie and Maggie Gundersen discuss the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's (ASLB) decision to hold public hearings about restarting the San Onofre Nuclear Plant.  "This whole issue is about the public's right to know. The nuclear industry and the NRC have developed a process to keep the public out," Arnie says.

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Nuclear Contamination Knows No Borders

Nuclear Contamination Knows No Borders

On today’s podcast, Arnie talks about international nuclear contamination with Dr. Gordon Edwards, President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. 

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Can't Win? Change the Rules!

Can't Win? Change the Rules!

The US and Japan are trying to raise acceptable radiation exposure limits. "If you can't decrease the water level, you elevate the bridge," says pediatrician and author Dr. Helen Caldicott. 

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Too Big to Fail

Too Big to Fail

The most striking thing about seeing any nuclear power plant up close is their sheer size. They are such impressive feats of construction and design, and it's hard to imagine that something so robust could fail. In this week's podcast, find out why nuclear power plants fail, and why failure is a fact of life that the industry refuses to acknowledge.

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Tipping the Scale: The 3/11 Formula

Tipping the Scale: The 3/11 Formula

Former NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko was forced out of the NRC by Congress for not adequately supporting the nuclear industry. The NRC claims all nuclear plants are still safe, but how are they doing their math?

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Nuclear Power and Earthquakes

Nuclear Power and Earthquakes

Why is a geologist interested in nuclear plants?  Listen to Fairewinds Board member geologist Dr. Les Kanat talk with nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen about seismological events in relation to nuclear power.  Why do east coast nuclear plants have higher Core Damage Frequencies and are more likely to be damaged from an earthquake than those in California?  Do corporate economic concerns mean that nuclear plants are not designed to handle the worst 'quake? Tune in and discover what the NRC has identified as the most dangerous plant in America.

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Hot Air

Hot Air

TEPCO claims water around Fukushima reactors filtered out the cesium.  Could water really exist at these high temperatures or is it just a bunch of hot air?

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NRC Plays Keep Away...

NRC Plays Keep Away...

Critical safety documents are continuously withheld from the public with a total lack of openness and transparency.  Fairewinds founder Maggie Gundersen and Enformable.com editor Lucas Hixson discuss the difficulties the public has in obtaining information from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and from reactor owners.  The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been a failure in allowing the public to have access to information that affects the safety of their communities

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Follow The Money

Follow The Money

This week's show is all about money.  We look at how some utility owned U.S. nuclear power plants continue to drain the public's pocketbook, sometimes to the tune of fifty million dollars a month, without generating a single watt of electricity.

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Forgotten Fukushima - Japan Two Years After the Daiichi Accident

Forgotten Fukushima - Japan Two Years After the Daiichi Accident

Dr. Caldicott details the impressive credentials of the international scientists who will be presenting their evidence at an important Scientific Symposium at the The New York Academy of Medicine in New York City.  Entitled: the Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident, the symposium is being held on March 11th and 12th on the second anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi accident.

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Are Whistleblowers Being Protected By The NRC? Not Really!

Are Whistleblowers Being Protected By The NRC? Not Really!

Fairewinds Chief Engineer Arnie Gundersen and special guest David Lochbaum, the Director of Nuclear Safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists, compare experiences about how nuclear whistleblowers are NOT protected by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission if they bring safety concerns forward. They will also discuss examples citing instances of the NRC failing to support the legitimate concerns of whistleblowers in the nuclear industry, including inside the NRC itself.

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Not Returning to Normal

Not Returning to Normal

What Is Life Like In Northeastern Japan After the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster? Arnie talks with Fairewinds board member Chiho Kaneko to discuss her recent trip to northeastern Japan. Ms. Kaneko discusses the difficulties of trying to live there surrounded by radioactive contamination, and the psychological pressure people experience as the try to reestablish their lives after the accident.

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Nuclear Industry Double Standards

Nuclear Industry Double Standards

Fairewinds Maggie Gundersen and Arnie Gundersen share this podcast to discuss the  recent internet attack against the Fairewinds website. Maggie and Arnie also discuss the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's double standard of allowing Nuclear Senior managers off the hook for significant violations while strongly reprimanding, firing, or filing criminal charges against its technicians and engineers.  Lastly, Arnie Gundersen then discusses saltwater intrusions and what that means for Japan's Hamaoka nuclear plant and how nuke speak is used to confuse the general public and press.

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The Games People Play

The Games People Play

In this week's podcast, Fairewinds looks at how difficult it is for the public to meaningfully participate in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing process.  Arnie Gundersen was retained by Friends of the Earth to assess major problems at the San Onofre nuclear plant in California that have caused a year long shutdown.  Arnie met with the NRC this week concerning  his analysis of what went wrong and how the problems were foreseeable.  In this podcast, Arnie discusses how Southern California Edison deliberately withheld information to make his technical analysis more difficult to accomplish. Fairewinds taped the meeting, so our podcast listeners can hear for themselves the difficulties Arnie encountered and the games the nuclear industry plays to prevent public participation.

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Repairs at Four Nuclear Reactors Are So Expensive That They Should Not Be Restarted

Repairs at Four Nuclear Reactors Are So Expensive That They Should Not Be Restarted

Fairewinds examines continuing problems at four US nuclear reactors, each of which have been shutdown for more than two years.  Upstream dam failures continue to plague Ft. Calhoun, steam generator tube failures at San Onofre jeopardized Los Angeles.  Crystal River's containment repairs burden Floridians with excessive costs.  Finally, Arnie examines a new proposal by the Department of Energy to melt radioactive scrap metal and reuse it in consumer goods like knives and forks.

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Happy New Year, 2013

Happy New Year, 2013

Thanks to our listeners and viewers, Fairewinds' fundraiser was a success. Thank you to all our donors who helped us to reach our goal. It's a new year, and 2013 has already kicked off a repeat of the same safety and engineering issues that plagued the nuclear industry in 2012. The two, eye opening nuclear safety issues we discuss in today's Fairewinds' Podcast are: a radiation scandal in Japan and a major safety problem in the US at Fort Calhoun. Arnie Gundersen alerts us to the fact that radiation exposure cover-ups did not occur only in Japan, and have occurred repeatedly in the US as well as in many other countries. Finally, we discuss Wall Street's financial worries over US reactors.

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