New Report Reveals Scale of Steam Generator Failures at Nuclear Plant
Friends of the Earth
Southern California Edison avoided federal regulatory guidelines when replacing defective steam generators at the San Onofre nuclear power plant—a costly mistake that can’t be fixed by plugging the tubes that carry radioactive steam or by operating the plant at reduced power, according to a new report released today by Friends of the Earth.
The content of the report by nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen details the significant design changes that should have triggered a license review which would have uncovered problems that subsequently led to serious damage and the release of radiation from the defective equipment at San Onofre in January.
Gundersen also criticizes Edison's plans to rapidly restart the damaged reactors at lower power after having done minimal plugging of damaged tubes carrying radioactive water. He warns that these are “non-solutions” that could lead to even more significant equipment failure and releases of radiation. Edison is expected to propose running the reactors at between 50 and 80 percent power. The report challenges the safety and effectiveness of such an approach, concluding:
- Reducing power does not provide a remedy for the underlying structural problems that are creating the vibration that has damaged and will continue to damage the tubes deep inside the San Onofre steam generators
- Reducing power will not change the pressure inside or outside the tubes—previously damaged tubes will continue to vibrate damaging surrounding tubes and tube supports and worsening the existing damage
- Lower power might create a resonate frequency at which vibration might increase without notice causing further damage
- Historical evidence at other reactors has shown that operating at lower power has not been an effective solution
Gundersen concludes that plugging the tubes and restarting the reactor could lead to catastrophe: “If a steam-line accident were to occur, vibrationally induced tube damage at San Onofre could cause an inordinate amount of radioactivity to be released outside of the containment system, compromising public health and safety in one of the most heavily populated areas in the United States.”
“Edison should never have been allowed to install these fundamentally defective steam generators,” said Damon Moglen, climate and energy campaign director at Friends of the Earth. “Now Edison is planning to avoid dealing with the underlying problems and instead restart at lower power. Their claims of nuclear safety first ring completely hollow and must be stopped
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Native American girls from the Omaha tribe attending the Carlisle School in Pennsylvania, the first government-run boarding school for Native American children. © CORBIS / Corbis / Getty Images
Two lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday addressing previous actions the U.S. government inflicted upon Native Americans.
The bill, authored by Rep. Deb Haaland from New Mexico and Sen. Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts, specifically addresses the "intergenerational trauma" caused by policies that tore Native American children away from their families and sent them to boarding schools to be educated in white culture, HuffPost reported.
<p>The bill, called <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/The%20Truth%20and%20Healing%20Commission%20on%20Indian%20Boarding%20School%20Policy%20Act.pdf" target="_blank">The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy in the United States Act</a><em>, </em>would create a formal inquiry to document how the government's Indian boarding school policy amounted to cultural genocide as children were prevented from learning Indigenous traditions. Instead, the government forced them to assimilate into mainstream American culture.</p><p>According to HuffPost, the first-of-its-kind commission would be asked to find ways to improve the public's awareness and incorporate that into public education. That way, future generations of Americans would have a better understanding of the government's former policy and how its consequences continue to affect Native Americans.</p><p>"The Indian Boarding School Policy is a stain in America's history, and it's long overdue that justice is sought for victims of this policy who suffered unimaginable harm and thousands of Native families who remain impacted by this policy," Warren said in a <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-haaland-introduce-bill-to-seek-healing-for-stolen-native-children-and-their-communities" target="_blank">statement</a>. "This is why I'm joining Congresswoman Deb Haaland in introducing legislation to formally investigate the past wrongs of the federal government's practices of cultural genocide and assimilation and to respond to ongoing historical and intergenerational trauma devastating tribal communities today," she added.</p>
<p>The issue hits close to home for Haaland, whose grandparents were separated from their family by the policy, HuffPost reports. She is one of only two Native American women that have ever been elected to Congress.</p><p>"Native people are resilient and strong, but the painful and traumatic history of genocide and forced assimilation by the federal government lives on in our communities and our people have never been able to fully heal," Haaland said in a <a href="https://haaland.house.gov/media/press-releases/haaland-warren-seek-healing-stolen-native-children-and-their-communities" target="_blank">statement</a>. "I know not many people are aware of the history of Indian boarding schools, and I know it's not taught in schools — but our country must do better to acknowledge our real history and push for truth and reconciliation."</p><p>The policy removed hundreds of thousands of Native American children from their families between 1869 and the 1960s — about 83 percent by 1926. The purpose of the policy was to "Kill the Indian, save the man," according to <a href="https://boardingschoolhealing.org/education/us-indian-boarding-school-history/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition</a>.</p>
<p>The children were sent to one of 367 boarding schools across 30 states, which resulted in "human rights violations including spiritual, physical, psychological, and sexual abuse and violence," Haaland and Warren said in their statements.</p><p>The timing of the bill is meant to coincide with President Trump's recent announcement that he would sign an executive order encouraging educators to teach America's greatness instead of its misdeeds and cruelty, HuffPost reported.</p><p>The bill does have bipartisan support, with two Republicans from Oklahoma co-sponsoring the bill. However, the bill's future is uncertain as Congress focuses on a new stimulus package and the upcoming election, HuffPost reported.</p>
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Fall is with us and winter is around the corner, so the season for colds and flu has begun — joining COVID-19. monstArrr / Getty Images
By Gudrun Heise
Just as scientists are scoring successes in coronavirus research, new problems are on their way. Fall is with us and winter is around the corner, so the season for colds and flu has begun — joining COVID-19.
<p>The coronavirus is already new territory for science, and the effects of its combination with influenza are equally unknown. There is much speculation about what is to be expected and what will or could happen when these two dangerous infectious diseases come together. This is what is making it so difficult to prepare adequately for the cold time of year.</p><p>Coughing, sniffles and hoarseness in fall and winter are nothing new, and flu is also a regular feature of these seasons. But we can be vaccinated against it, and that is of advantage in diagnosing cases of coronavirus as well.</p><p>"If people who have been vaccinated against influenza still have flu symptoms, it is more likely that it is not influenza," says <a href="https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/de/forschung/forschungsschwraund-virale-krankheitserreger/epidemiologie/gerard-krause/" target="_blank">Gerárd Krause from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in the northern German city of Braunschweig</a>. "This, in turn, makes it easier to decide matters regarding home quarantine and getting a clear diagnosis."</p>
Influenza Vaccination
<p>A flu vaccination may thus be able to narrow down the diagnostic options when flu-like symptoms occur, but whether such a vaccination also has an influence on the behavior of the dangerous new virus is — like so much else — not clear. "It is conceivable that there is an indirect effect. But it is, I believe, a matter of speculation whether it has an immunological effect in the narrower sense," says Krause.</p><p>Every winter, doctors' waiting rooms are full of people who are coughing and sniffing but who mostly turn out to have only a severe respiratory infection. According to current knowledge, the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, is also likely to be subject to seasonal fluctuations. </p><p>In winter, cold viruses, at least, flourish because cold and dry air offers ideal conditions for their spread. In addition, it becomes more difficult to air rooms regularly and intensively — an important further measure to counteract the coronavirus and contain to some extent the danger posed by aerosols.</p><p>According to the <a href="https://www.rki.de/DE/Home/homepage_node.html" target="_blank">Robert Koch Institute, Germany's public health agency</a>, between 5% and 20% of people in Germany become infected with flu viruses every year. These viruses are also dangerous and can be fatal. The flu vaccination must be adapted to the influenza viruses every year, because they mutate. But at least there is a vaccination.</p><p>Most experts agree that there is unlikely to be a vaccine against the coronavirus by the time the next wave of influenza comes around. And even if a vaccine were to be approved, many unknowns remain.</p>COVID-19 and Flu Simultaneously
<p>For example, there is a lack of practical experience in dealing simultaneously with SARS-CoV-2 and influenza. It is possible to speculate that having influenza could facilitate the entry of the coronavirus into the human body. "The general weakening of the immune system during an influenza infection could increase the susceptibility of a patient to a SARS-CoV-2 infection," Krause says.</p><p>However, it is uncertain how dangerous this double infection could ultimately be and what can be done about it. Krause is of the opinion that we must arm ourselves against all three diseases — colds, flu and COVID-19. If we have a cold, bed rest, hot tea and cough medicine usually help. We can get vaccinated against flu. But how do we deal with COVID-19?</p><p><span></span>Probably people can only hope that if they get the illness, they will have a mild form with as few after-effects as possible. Here, it will certainly help to stick to suggested rules on hygiene to reduce or prevent our exposure to the virus. In an interview with DW, Bonn-based virology professor Hendrik Streeck made it clear that COVID-19 usually takes a more severe course when there is a high viral load at infection.</p>Hygiene, Hygiene, Hygiene
<p>The same hygiene measures with which we are trying to get at least some kind of grip on COVID-19 also apply to influenza. The less we come into contact with viruses, the greater the chance that we will be spared an infection or that it will be mild.</p><p>These measures include general hygiene precautions such as frequent hand washing and the wearing of protective face masks. "The various hygienic measures against COVID-19 will also reduce the spread of influenza," says Krause. "Possibly, further connections of a more immunological nature will be discovered."</p><p>Let us hope that is the case, because the flu season hasn't even started.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Icebergs float at the mouth of the Ilulissat Icefjord during a week of unseasonably warm weather on Aug. 4, 2019 near Ilulissat, Greenland. Sean Gallup /Getty Images
Rising temperatures in the air and the water surrounding Greenland are melting its massive ice sheet at a faster rate than anytime in the last 12 millennia, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
<p>The study, <em>Rate of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet will exceed Holocene values this century</em>, found that while Greenland is losing ice rapidly now, the worst is yet to come. At its current trajectory, the Greenland ice sheet will lose its ice mass roughly four times faster than at anytime in the last 11,700 years. The researchers say the massive dump of freshwater into the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> will disrupt the ocean's currents and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">raise sea levels</a>, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/30/greenland-ice-melt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>Advanced prediction models had led scientists to conclude that Greenland's melting ice, which is currently the largest contributor to sea level rise, is raising sea levels by 0.7 millimeters each year. And, by the end of the century, that number could increase anywhere from four to ten times its current contribution.</p>
<p>This new paper found that prediction to be a severe underestimation. It revised that prediction and accounted for a wide range of greenhouse gas emissions to conclude that Greenland's contribution to sea level rise will actually be much worse. By the end of the century, it will lift sea levels between 2 to 10 centimeters every year, according to a commentary in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02700-y#:~:text=Briner%20et%20al.4%20have,about%206%2C000%20gigatonnes%20per%20century." target="_blank"><em>Nature</em></a>.</p><p>The Washington Post noted that while Greenland is the largest contributor to rising sea levels, the melting ice sheets in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica">Antarctica</a> may raise sea levels even more.</p><p>"We have altered our planet so much that the rates of ice sheet melt this century are on pace to be greater than anything we have seen under natural variability of the ice sheet over the past 12,000 years," said Jason Briner, a geologist at the University of Buffalo and lead author of the paper, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/30/greenlands-ice-melting-faster-sea-level-rise" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p>
<p>Briner pointed out that the current ice melt is not due to the natural variability, which is why it is so different from historical patterns. This melting is strictly man-made, which is unprecedented in the history of the world, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/30/weather/greenland-ice-sheet-melt-carbon-emissions-climate-change/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The commentary in <em>Nature</em>, written by Andy Aschwanden from the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, noted that there is really only one way available to us to stop the acceleration of sea ice loss from Greenland.</p><p>"Thanks to the work of Briner and colleagues, we are now one step closer to the goal of accurately and confidently predicting mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet," Aschwanden concluded. "However, we are also increasingly certain that we are about to experience unprecedented rates of ice loss from Greenland, unless greenhouse-gas emissions are substantially reduced."</p><p>To conduct the research, the scientists used a combination of on-the-ground observations in southwest Greenland and advanced computer modeling. The geologists looked at the composition of Greenland's boulders to determine when ice was there and when it melted away. That analysis allowed them to put together an uninterrupted history of Greenland's ice sheet and a predictive model for the next century, as The Washington Post reported.</p>
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A grim new assessment of the world's flora and fungi has found that two-fifths of its species are at risk of extinction as humans encroach on the natural world, as The Guardian reported. That puts the number of species at risk near 140,000.
<p>The new report, <a href="https://www.kew.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/Kew%20State%20of%20the%20Worlds%20Plants%20and%20Fungi.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">State of the World's Plants and Fungi 2020</a>, and an accompanying <a href="https://youtu.be/fTHKjZyuUos" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">short video</a> were published by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and depict an international effort from hundreds of scientists from 42 countries who analyzed the health of thousands of animal species. The researchers looked at how people are interacting with plants, how plants and fungi are being used, and what opportunities people are missing, as <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/two-fifths-of-world-s-plants-at-risk-of-extinction-report-warns-1.4368362" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Irish Times</a> reported.</p>
<p>The report highlights that plants are crucial to sustaining life as they provide food, medicine, raw materials, fuel and food. And yet, the report notes, "Never before has the biosphere, the thin layer of life we call home, been under such intensive and urgent threat. Deforestation rates have soared as we have cleared land to feed ever-more people, global emissions are disrupting the climate system, new pathogens threaten our crops and our health, illegal trade has eradicated entire plant populations, and non-native species are outcompeting local floras. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">Biodiversity</a> is being lost – locally, regionally and globally."</p><p>The report notes that scientists are racing against the clock to rescue plant and fungi species and they are also working to figure out how to leverage plants and fungi to combat the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a> and food insecurity, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54344309" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p>
<p>When Kew issued its first report in 2016, it found that 20 percent of plant species were at risk. That number has doubled in just four years. However, that does not mean that twice as many plant species are at risk. Instead, the huge jump in percentage is due to advances in assessments that now make a more accurate account for plants that were over- or underrepresented in the 2016 report, according to The Irish Times.</p><p>The fact that 40 percent of plant species are at risk paints "a very worrying picture of risk and urgent need for action," according to Alexandre Antonelli, director of science at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, as The Irish Times reported.</p>
<p>"We are also losing the race against time, species are probably disappearing faster than we can find and name, and many of them could hold important clues for solving many of the pressing challenges of medicine and perhaps even some of the emerging or current pandemics," he added.</p><p>The scientists involved in the research noted that more than 4,000 plant and fungi species were discovered last year. These plants are an untapped resource that holds tremendous promise as food, medicine and biofuels, according to the paper, as The Guardian reported. Some of the new species discovered include members of the onion family, plants similar to spinach, and relatives of the staple crop cassava.</p>
<p>Around the world, billions depend on plants as their primary source of medicine. The report noted that 723 species used as therapeutic treatments are threatened with extinction.</p><p>"We would not be able to survive without plants and fungi. All life depends on them, and it is really time to open the treasure chest," said Antonelli, as The Guardian reported. "Every time we lose a species, we lose an opportunity for humankind."</p>
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Flowers like bladderwort have changed their UV pigment levels in response to the climate crisis. Jean and Fred / CC BY 2.0
As human activity transforms the atmosphere, flowers are changing their colors.
<p>A study published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31267-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982220312677%3Fshowall%3Dtrue" target="_blank">Current Biology this month</a> found that the ultraviolet (UV) pigmentation of certain flowers had changed in response to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> and the depletion of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ozone" target="_self">ozone</a> layer. While this isn't something that would be visible to the human eye, flowers rely on their UV patterns to attract <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pollinators" target="_self">pollinators</a>. If those patterns change, it could seriously impact the ability of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plants" target="_self">plants</a> to reproduce.</p><p>"This has implications for plant reproduction of both native wildflowers and domesticated crop species that have UV floral patterning like canola and sunflowers," study coauthor and Clemson University scientist Matthew Koski told the <a href="https://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/researcher-travels-world-to-measure-how-climate-change-is-altering-the-color-of-flowers/" target="_blank">Clemson Newsstand</a>. "Altered UV floral coloration has the potential to disrupt pollination services."</p>
<p>To achieve his results, Koski traveled to Europe, Australia and North America and collected plant specimens dating from the 1940s to 2017. All in all, he and his team looked at 1,238 specimens to see how and if their UV pigmentation had responded to changes in UV exposure and temperature.</p><p>Overall, they found that UV pigmentation increased by two percent each year. This makes sense because flowers use UV pigment to protect their pollen from UV radiation, <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/flowers-are-changing-their-colors-adapt-climate-change#:~:text=Now%2C%20research%20suggests%20that%20over,UV)%20pigments%20in%20their%20petals" target="_blank">Science explained</a>. In an earlier study, Koski had found that flowers living in areas with more UV exposure, such as higher altitudes, had more UV pigment. This finding matched the researchers' prediction that flowers would evolve to make more pigment as ozone levels declined and UV radiation exposure increased.</p><p>However, the flowers' responses to both ozone and temperature changes were heavily influenced by whether the flowers had exposed pollen or not, Science explained.</p>
<p><strong>Flowers With Exposed Pollen:</strong> For these saucer-shaped flowers, like buttercups, UV pigmentation went up when ozone declined and went down when ozone rose.</p><p><strong>Flowers with Concealed Pollen:</strong> For these flowers, such as bladderwort, UV pigment levels were determined by temperature, not radiation exposure. If temperature went up, pigment levels fell, even if ozone levels also declined.</p><p>This is because concealing pollen in petals can protect it from UV exposure but also expose it to additional heat, Harvard plant biologist Charles Davis, who was not involved with the study, told Science. When temperatures rise, the extra protection risks overheating the pollen. Reducing UV pigment also reduces the amount of solar radiation the petals absorb and can therefore help keep pollen cool.</p><p>Pigment changes could impact plants' ability to attract pollinators because pollinators are attracted by a "bull's-eye" pattern that contrasts high and low UV pigment, Koski explained. Altering pigment levels could also alter the effectiveness of this pattern.</p><p>Koski told the Clemson Newsstand he hopes to continue his research, in part by investigating further how changes in flower pigmentation will impact their ability to attract pollinators. He also hopes to determine if changes to ozone and temperature alter flowers' visible hues.</p>
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