nuclear waste

— Shutdown — a new film on community action against a California nuclear power plant

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From the Ecological Options Network

HELP COMPLETE THE FILM

A timely and urgent story with global implications

Filmed over eight years, SHUTDOWN (90 min.) documents how a Southern California community empowered itself to force the closure of a leaky nuclear power plant only to face an even more daunting challenge – what to do with the tons of high-level nuclear waste the plant generated – a major safety concern for all of America as dozens of aging nuclear reactors are decomissioned.

Alarmed by the 2011 Fukushima disaster, an urban planner with young children, an environmentalist couple, a university professor, and a retired systems analyst team up to convince the communities surrounding San Onofre to demand that Southern California Edison (SCE) put safety first at its nuclear reactors. Whistleblowers anonymously provide them information about serious safety violations at the plant. 

The communities battle the giant utility and ultimately win the fight to close the ocean front nuclear power plant, located in a densely populated earthquake and tsunami zone between San Diego and Los Angeles. But they soon discover the lethal threat isn’t over. Just yards from the rising sea, over 3 million pounds of high level nuclear waste created on the site is being dumped into thin, damaged canisters, each containing roughly a Chernobyl’s worth of radioactivity.

After the shutdown, another brave whistleblower comes forward and confirms continued horrendous mismanagement of the waste. He reveals that a 54-ton container of intensely irradiated fuel was almost dropped 18 feet onto cement below, which many believe could have caused a major radioactive disaster in the area, home to 8.5 million people.

SHUTDOWN chronicles the persistent efforts of these five people to grapple with a reckless utility inattentive to the severe perils of the lethal waste it must manage, a Federal regulatory agency (NRC) that is in the pocket of the nuclear industry, state agencies that permitted the radioactive dump to be on the beach, shady waste contractors looking for profit, and a government push to move all nuclear waste to another site across the country and dump it on low income communities of color.

HELP COMPLETE THE FILM

Documenting this critical, but little-known struggle, SHUTDOWN will inform and inspire others faced with aging reactors in their communities, and challenge those now advocating a whole new generation of nuclear power plants.

We’re in the editing studio now, however to complete the film and screen it widely, WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT.  As with other successful mass movements, permanent historical changes only happen when large numbers of people like you realize their involvement is essential to the cause.

To donate, go to https://www.shutdownfilm.com/donate

https://www.shutdownfilm.com/

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— NASA scam declares SSFL exempt from cleanup

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From Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility – PEER

For Immediate Release:  Thursday, October 1, 2020
Contact:  Jeff Ruch (510) 213-7028; Kirsten Stade kstade@peer.org

Nuclear Cleanup Scam on Supremely Contaminated Site

Historic Designation for Santa Susana Lab Excuses Remediation Obligations

Washington, DC — One of the nation’s most highly contaminated sites may escape cleanup by its designation as a cultural district for Native American artifacts, according to formal comments filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).  This attempted maneuver seeks to expand a small loophole in a legally binding cleanup agreement to exempt the entire nearly 3,000-acre highly contaminated site, which includes a partial nuclear reactor core meltdown, from long overdue remediation.

Santa Susana Field Laboratory is a former nuclear reactor and rocket testing facility, home to a partial nuclear meltdown and numerous other radioactive accidents and toxic chemical releases.  It is located in Simi Valley, Ventura County, California, 30 miles northwest of downtown LA.

After a prolonged, tortured history, the site is now under a legally binding cleanup agreement requiring restoration of the site to its condition before it was polluted. There is a very narrow exemption for “Native American artifacts that are formally recognized as Cultural Resources.”

NASA, one of the site’s owners, has nominated the entire Santa Susana site as a Cultural District and declaring all 2,850 acres of soil, much of it extremely contaminated, exempt from cleanup as a purported “Native American artifact.”  This proposal adding the entire Santa Susana site to the National Register of Historic Places is now before the National Park Service.

“This scam by NASA has nothing to do with preserving cultural heritage but everything to do with weaseling out of expensive cleanup responsibilities,” stated Pacific PEER Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the cleanup was supposed to have been completed by the end of 2017, but has yet to begin. “There no good reason why this designation couldn’t wait until after the cleanup was completed.”

The PEER comments also point out that the NASA nomination –

  • Falsely claims designation will keep “the area in a state similar to when [tribal] ancestors used and occupied the area.”
  • Omits that there are already protections for identified cave paintings and grinding stones but this plan would artificially increase by a factor of more than 200 the protected area’s size to precisely match the boundaries of the entire 2,850-acre Santa Susana site; and
  • Glosses over the formal opposition of Ventura County, a fact which, by law, should preclude designation.

“Failure to clean Santa Susana leaves surrounding communities at risk of toxic migration,” added Ruch, pointing out wildfires and other natural events can spread contaminants far offsite.  “Nuclear and chemical waste are not cultural artifacts we want preserved.”

###


Read the PEER comments

View the opaque Federal Register Notice

https://www.peer.org/nuclear-cleanup-scam-on-supremely-contaminated-site/

— NRC says San Onofre Holtec nuclear waste containers are all damaged and SCE knew in January; community meeting Nov. 29

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From San Onofre Safety
November 29, 2018

Handout: https://sanonofresafety.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/nrc-allholteccanistersdamaged2018-11-29.pdf 

The Holtec nuclear waste storage canisters at San Onofre are lemons and must be replaced with thick-wall casks.

11/29/2019 Oceanside:   The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) admits in their November 28, 2018 NRC Inspection Report and Notice of Violation, ML18332A357 (page 8 and 9) every Holtec canister downloaded into the storage holes is damaged due to inadequate clearance between the canister and the divider shell in the storage hole (vault).  The NRC states canister walls are already “worn”.  This results in cracks. Once cracks start, they continue to grow through the wall.

The NRC stated Southern California Edison (and Holtec) knew about this since January 2018, but continued to load 29 canisters anyway.  Edison’s August 24, 2018 press release states they plan to finish loading mid 2019.

The NRC states Edison must stop loading canisters until this issue is resolved.  However, there is no method to inspect or repair cracking canisters and the NRC knows this.

Attend November 29th SONGS Community Engagement Panel meeting. Tell the NRC and Edison:
The Holtec thin canister system is a lemon and must be replaced. Demand they replace all thin-wall canisters with proven thick-wall casks before it’s too late. Ratepayers didn’t pay for lemons.  

  • QLN Conference Center, 1938 Avenida Del Oro, Oceanside, CA 92056
  • November 29, 2018 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM
  • More meeting details at songscommunity.com website

For the rest of the story: 

11/29/2018: NRC admits San Onofre Holtec nuclear waste canisters are all damaged

— Canada’s First Nations and nuclear waste — UN special event April 23, 2018 (revised location)

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From Planetary Association for Clean Energy 

  • Radioactivity causes cancer and damages unborn children
  • Radioactive wastes remain dangerous for thousands of years
  • Radioactive poisons contaminate air, soil, food and water
  • Radioactive wastes are trucked through indigenous territories
  • Radioactive wastes are dumped on or near indigenous lands
  • Indigenous people have not given free prior informed consent
  • Indigenous communities have not been adequately consulted

Revised event flyer PDF

On the occasion of the 17th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, meeting from April 16 to 27 in NYC, the Anishinabek Nation and the Iroquois Caucus are hosting a special event to address “Canada’s First Nations & Radioactive Waste”.
April 23, 1:15 to 2:30 pm.

Conference Room 4 (CR4)
 UN Headquarters Building
(The scheduled room was changed to allow for webcasting.)
New York City

and will be webcast live on the United Nations web site. 


In attendance will be Grand Chief Patrick Madahbee of the Anishinabek Nation, Chiefs Clinton Phillips and William Diabo of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, and Chiefs Troy Wilson and April Adams-Phillips of the Mohawk Council of Akwasasne.

Dr. Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibilityand Dr. Ole Hendrickson on the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area will also be in attendance as resource persons and technical advisors.

Ukraine to pay US $1.4 billion to become a “nuclear dump”

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Ukraine is a country in economic and social free fall after the coup that overthrew its government in 2014.  Nuclear waste dumps in stable countries have many serious problems. A nuclear dump in Ukraine will be a disaster. 

From Fort Russ News

November 16 , 2017

Vesti-Ukr  – translated by Inessa Sinchougova
Outside Kiev, they have begun to build a repository for used nuclear fuel, in order to abandon the apparently expensive Russian waste services. The authorities assure that it does not carry a threat to people, but local residents and environmentalists are seriously concerned.
–
Not far from Kiev, in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, the construction of a centralized storage of used nuclear fuel has begun. The construction site is located between the former villages of Staraya Krasniţa, Buryakivka, Chistogalovka and Stechanka of the Kiev region. As reported in the Ministry of Energy, the cost of construction will cost Ukraine $ 1.4 billion. The facility will be a platform which will build concrete containers of nuclear waste. The full construction is planned to be erected within 16.5 years in 15 stages.
–
“Financing will be carried out by the operator of Ukraine’s NPPs – Energoatom company, without attracting funds from the state budget, while more than 80% of the amount ($ 1.17 billion) will be spent on technological equipment,” the agency noted.
–
So far, in Ukraine there was only one such storage facility – at Zaporizhzhya NPP. To date, used fuel at Ukrainian NPPs was shipped for processing to Russia. For this, depending on the volume, Ukraine annually paid $ 150-200 million. Therefore, in order to save money, the authorities decided to build their own nuclear burial ground 100 km from the capital – with an American company.
–
Are the savings justified?
–
As the head of the Supervisory Board of the Institute of Energy Strategies, Yuri Korolchuk, stated – in the current political situation the construction looks favourable, but the main question is how effectively the project will be implemented.
–
“Despite the fact that the construction company will be working with the American company Holtec, its own specialists will not be working in Ukraine. Instead, they will involve other contractors, maybe even Ukrainian ones, so how much the project will be environmentally safe and technically effective remains a mystery,” says Korolchuk.

Continue reading →

California: 1st Nation tribes not included in San Onofre nuclear waste consultation (VIDEO)

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From the Ecological Options Network

Why No Tribal Voices on San Onofre Waste?

Published on May 28, 2017

When SONGS Community Engagement Panel Secretary Dan Stetson asked about Native American involvement in the process of dealing with San Onofre’s 3 tons of nuclear waste, Edison’s Tom Palmisano assured the Panel that tribal governments had been consulted as part of normal procedure. Apparently he was misinformed.

Tribal spokeswoman Angela Mooney-D’Arcy, Acjachemen tribe member and Executive Director of the Sacred Places Institute. denied that regional tribal governments had been consulted, and she had documents to prove it.

— Canada: They want to bury nuclear waste next to the Ottawa River

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For more information:

https://physiciansfortheenvironment.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/chalk-river-un-projet-tres-inquietant-a-project-of-great-concern/

——————————————

To: Hon. Catherine McKenna, MP
 <Catherine.McKenna(at)parl.gc.ca>
Date: Wed, May 17, 2017 at 8:31 AM
Subject: Near Surface Disposal Project – your urgent attention required

Dear Ms. McKenna,

We are writing to express our growing concerns about the proposed Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) at Chalk River, Ontario. We request your urgent attention and efforts along with those of your cabinet colleagues to put a stop to the NSDF Project.

It has become very clear that the landfill type technology proposed for this project is entirely inappropriate and flouts the International Atomic Energy Agency safety standard (IAEA safety standard SSR-5 Disposal of Radioactive Waste, Section 1.14) on how to manage radioactive wastes. This international standard states that landfills can only be used for “Very Low Level” radioactive wastes, such that the wastes decay to a harmless state before the liners and covers break down. The international consortium now running AECL, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), is proposing to place one million cubic meters of “Low Level” and “Intermediate Level” radioactive waste in the NSDF landfill.  No mention is made in the proponent’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) of “Very Low Level” radioactive wastes, the only classification of radioactive waste that would be considered suitable for disposal in a landfill by the IAEA.

The proponent’s EIS clearly states their intention to dispose of ALL of the radioactive wastes from decommissioning at the Chalk River facility and Whiteshell Labs in Manitoba in the NSDF landfill. This includes many highly-toxic and long-lived radionuclides that will be hazardous for thousands of years. The relevant section of the EIS may be viewed (here). Some of these radioactive wastes are also mixed with toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic; and with persistent organic pollutants such as dioxin and PCBs. To propose to dispose of and ultimately abandon such materials in a landfill beside the Ottawa River is brazen and scientifically indefensible.

This proposal should never have reached the Environmental Assessment stage given that from the outset it clearly proposed to violate IAEA standards on management of radioactive waste. Canada’s gutted Environmental Assessment process and Canada’s policy vacuum on the long-term management of non-fuel radioactive wastes are two factors contributing to this potential debacle, which have negative implications for all projects involving the governance of radioactive waste in Canada. We are preparing a petition to the Auditor General that will request an investigation into these and other problems that have allowed this colossal waste of taxpayer dollars to get as far as it has.

Our group is actively participating in the flawed Environmental Assessment process for this project. Our comments on the initial and revised project descriptions are posted on the CEAA website and we recently submitted a detailed list of serious deficiencies in the EIS for the project.

We note that CNL and CNSC officials have signed an “Administrative Protocol” with an Appendix that includes several “federal review” phases.  We request that you ensure that officials in your department are reviewing this project, that you provide them with this letter, and ask them to inform you about the review comments that they have provided or will be providing to CNSC.

In case you are not already aware, Bloc Quebecois Leader, Martine Ouellet, recently gave an excellent speech on the threat posed by the NSDF to Quebecers. Here is a link to her speech to the Quebec National Assembly’s Commission des Transports et de l’Environnement on May 3, 2017.

The NSDF must be stopped or, at minimum, be put on hold until Canada’s Environmental Assessment Process can be repaired according to the recommendations in the Report of the Expert Panel, which recommends sole decision making authority not reside with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on projects such as this. We would be happy to meet with you to provide any additional information that you require in order to take appropriate action.

Yours sincerely,

Lynn Jones

Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area

https://sites.google.com/site/concernedcitizensrca/

cc:

Jim Carr, Minister of Natural Resources

Elizabeth May, Green Party Leader

Tom Mulcair, NDP Leader

Rona Ambrose, Conservative Party Leader

Linda Duncan, NDP Environment Critic

Martine Ouellet, Bloc Quebecois Leader

Monique Pauze, Bloc Environment Critic

Ed Fast, Conservative Environment Critic

Stéphane Bergeron, MNA for Verchères

David McGuinty, MP for Ottawa South

Will Amos, MP for Pontiac

Cheryl Gallant, MP for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke

Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa

Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal

Marc Demers, Mayor of Laval

Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, Mayor of Gatineau

Bob Sweet, Mayor of Petawawa

Joan Lougheed, Mayor of Deep River

Mike LeMay, Mayor of Pembroke

Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario

Phillippe Couillard, Premier of Quebec

Jennifer Murphy, Warden of Renfrew County

Raymond Durocher, Warden of Pontiac County

Julie Gelfand, Environment Commissioner, Office of the Auditor-General

— Japan alert: May-June symposiums to reveal maps of proposed nuclear waste dumps

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Many half-truths and untruths in this article.

“Robust containers” — really? Sounds like an advert. No mention of manufacturer. Also the thickness of the containers is conspicuously missing.  Also, are these single-walled or double-walled?

Selection will be based on “scientific grounds rather than waiting for municipalities to volunteer”. In other words, these waste storage sites will be forced on communities.

The most hilarious statement is that these facilities will be in stable bedrock. Where does that exist in Japan, a country on the Ring of Fire, with earthquakes and volcanoes?

On what basis is the claim that radioactivity will be reduced to 1/1000 in 1000 years? On which radioactive element is the government and the news media basing this claim, and what about all the other radioactive elements?

There’s enough scary information — 1,500 sieverts per hour from these containers — to make any sane person ask, “What are we doing creating and increasing this lethal nightmare every single day?” 

But then sanity was never part of nuclear energy’s scheme.

From Japan Times

Government to release map of potential final nuclear disposal sites this summer

May 2, 2017

The government has set the criteria for a map meant to identify potential final disposal sites for high-level radioactive nuclear waste, paving the way for its release as early as this summer.

The process of finding a host for nuclear waste could face challenges amid public concerns over safety.

Based on the map, the government will approach select municipalities to allow research to be conducted for suitable sites to store waste from nuclear power generation.

For permanent disposal, high-level nuclear waste needs to be stored at a final depository more than 300 meters underground for up to about 100,000 years until radiation levels fall and there is no longer potential harm to humans and the environment.

The government plans to create a permanent underground repository somewhere in stable bedrock so the canisters can be stored for tens of thousands of years.

The map is likely to classify which areas are geologically suitable for such a structure to be built deep enough underground. This would rule out areas near active faults and volcanoes as well as oil and coal fields.

Based on waste transport criteria, the map is likely to show that zones within 20 km of the coastline are favorable to host final disposal sites.

The government hopes other municipalities — not just the ones located near nuclear power plants — may also become interested in hosting the disposal facilities. It also wants to show that a variety of places nationwide are suitable for nuclear waste management.

The map was originally planned for a 2016 release but the publication date was later postponed, as some local governments were wary that disposal sites would be imposed on them.

About 18,000 tons of spent fuel currently exist in Japan. Including spent fuel that has already been reprocessed, the country’s total jumps to about 25,000 canisters of vitrified high-level waste, all of which needs to be managed.

The process to find local governments willing to host final storage started in 2002, but little progress was made due mainly to opposition from local residents.

In May 2015, the central government introduced a plan announcing that final depository site selection would be based on scientific grounds, rather than waiting for municipalities to volunteer.

Before presenting the map, the government will hold symposiums between mid-May and June at nine cities to explain the map criteria to the public. The cities include Tokyo, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

Radioactive waste is classified into two categories: The high-level type is generated from reprocessing spent fuel by separating the plutonium and uranium for recycling, while the low level type refers to all other waste.

High-level waste is a byproduct of fission in the reactor core, which is very hot and dangerous. It is mixed with glass and solidified before being placed in robust heat-resistant stainless steel canisters that are 130 cm high, 40 cm in diameter and weigh 500 kg each.

A full canister emits about 1,500 sieverts per hour — an extremely lethal biological level — and has a surface temperature in excess of 200 degrees.

Its radioactivity starts at 20,000 trillion becquerels. It will take about 1,000 years to fall to one-thousandth of that level, and tens of thousands of years to weaken to the same intensity as natural uranium ore, the Natural Resources and Energy Agency says.

Worldwide, only Finland and Sweden have been able to successfully decide on a final depository site for nuclear waste, while many other countries with nuclear plants face difficulties in doing so.

The United States decided in 2009 to call off a plan to build a site to dispose spent fuel in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain due to local opposition, but President Donald Trump earmarked funds to revive the plan in the budget proposal for fiscal 2018 unveiled in March.

In Japan, the selection process is also a touchy issue and has triggered conflicts in the communities around which prospective depository sites have been considered.

In one example, Minamiosumi Mayor Toshihiko Morita in Kagoshima Prefecture filed a criminal complaint against a 65-year-old resident for libel, claiming that his allegations that the rural town office had been actively inviting such a facility was not only groundless but also defamation.

The resident handed out flyers to about 500 households in the town in January which said Morita went to Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, and Horonobe in Hokkaido at the invitation of the private sector involved in the construction of nuclear waste disposal facilities. Both municipalities host nuclear-related facilities.

Morita flatly denied the allegations, telling Kyodo News in writing that he has heard “rumors” that there have been moves aimed at hosting a nuclear waste disposal facility but “I myself haven’t gone anywhere and been treated to anything.”

“I would reject any request from the central government” to host one, Morita said. The town approved an ordinance to reject a plan to host a nuclear waste disposal facility the year after the 2011 nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

A supporter of the mayor, however, did visit nuclear-related facilities in locations including Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, several years ago, according to the supporter’s admission, and a Tokyo company covered the expenses of the trip.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/05/02/national/government-release-map-potential-final-nuclear-disposal-sites-summer/#.WQ11pfnysnQ

Posted under Fair Use Rules.

— “Interim” parking lot dump for 50% of U.S. nuclear waste in Andrews, Texas? NRC public scoping hearing February 23; attend and comment — in person, by phone, by webinar, by email

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From Beyond Nuclear

February 8, 2017

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has, at long last, published the announcement for its quickly approaching HQ meeting, at its Rockville, MD HQ, re: WCS, TX’s environmental scoping public comment opportunity, to be held on Thursday, February 23, 2017. Please attend in person if you can, or by Webcast/Teleconference Call-In. Please pre-register in advance to make oral public comments for the official record, raising various concerns in opposition to WCS’s application.

NRC’s announcement is posted at: https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg?do=search.results&pageno=1&StartDate=2/23/2017&EndDate=2/23/2017

Here are those details and additional links:

Date/Time: 02/23/17, 1:00PM – 4:00PM

Purpose:

To conduct a public scoping meeting for the NRC’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Waste Control Specialist LLC (WCS) license application to construct and operate a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel at the WCS site in Andrews County, Texas. At the meeting, the NRC will receive comments from the public on the appropriate scope of issues to be considered in, and the content of the EIS. [more…]

Participation: Category 3

Teleconference/Webcast

[Here is the Webinar info.:

Webinar

Webinar Link:https://video.nrc.gov/
Webinar Meeting Number:None
Webinar Password:None

Here is the teleconference/call-in info.:

Teleconference

Bridge Number: 8006199084
Passcode: 3009542]

[Yes, comments can be submitted orally via the Webcast/Call-in options. Please sign up in advance — see below — and do make comments!]

Location [yes, in person attendance is an option, and oral comments can be made there]:


NRC One White Flint North
11545 Rockville Pike
Commission Hearing Room
Rockville MD

NRC Contacts:

James Park
301-415-6954

Debbie Miller
301-415-7359

From NRC’s Public Meeting Schedule: Meeting Details link: https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg?do=details&Code=20170198

Members of the public who will attend the meeting in person, and those wishing to present oral comments [via Webcast and/or teleconference/call-in] may register in advance by contacting Mrs. Debra Miller at (301) 415-7359, or by email to Debra.Miller@nrc.gov, no later than February 21, 2017. Those comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who wish to speak. Please provide name and company or organization for each attendee. Arrive 30 minutes early to allow time for security registration.

[Please see entries below, for more background details and links to additional information. Please attend by watching the webcast and/or calling in. Please sign up to make comments at the meeting. Additional written comments can be made until March 13th. Legal intervention deadline is March 31st (or forever hold your peace). See entries below for links to more info.

See http://www.beyondnuclear.org/centralized-storage/

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/centralized-storage/2017/2/8/nrc-environmental-scoping-mtg-for-public-comment-on-wcs-tx-c.html

— Toshiba to withdraw from nuclear plant construction, chairman to quit

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Comments from Beyond Nuclear below.

From Japan Times

January 28, 2017

Toshiba Corp. will cease taking orders related to the building of nuclear power stations, sources said Saturday, in a move that would effectively mark its withdrawal from the nuclear plant construction business.

The news comes amid reports Toshiba’s chairman may resign over the massive write-down that has doomed the company’s U.S. nuclear business.

The multinational conglomerate said Friday it will review its nuclear operations and spin off its chip business to raise funds in a bid to cover an expected asset impairment loss of up to ¥700 billion ($6.08 billion).

After Toshiba ceases taking new orders, it will focus on maintenance and decommissioning operations, according to the sources.

The company will continue work on four nuclear plants under construction in the United States that are expected to be completed by 2020.

The Japanese industrial conglomerate may announce company chairman Shigenori Shiga’s resignation as soon as Feb. 14, when it reports its April-December financial results, the sources also said.

Shiga once served as president of the U.S. nuclear unit, Westinghouse Electric Co., which Toshiba has said could face a multibillion-dollar loss due to cost overruns from delays in plant projects.

The post of Toshiba chairman is expected to remain vacant after Shiga’s resignation.

Westinghouse Chairman Danny Roderick is also set to step down, the sources said, but Toshiba President Satoshi Tsunakawa is likely to stay on.

Shiga, Roderick and Tsunakawa took their current posts last June as Toshiba reshuffled its management following an accounting scandal that surfaced in 2015.

Shiga was the vice president in charge of the power systems business when Westinghouse acquired CB&I Stone & Webster in late 2015. CB&I Stone & Webster is the U.S. nuclear plant construction firm at the heart of Toshiba’s massive write-down problem.

Comment on article:

Marianne Birkby • 5 days ago

Does this mean that Toshiba will scrap plans for the “biggest nuclear development in Europe” in Cumbria, UK.? TOshiba have already damaged 1500 acres of greenfield and floodplain in Cumbria. Toshiba are right now dumping radioactive wastes from 300 boreholes (which have brought up decades of deep contamination from Sellafield) into the river Ehen. What about Toshibas nuclear fuel manufacturing at Springfields in Preston …how reassuring (not) to have this financially broken company running a nuclear fuel manufacturing plant which dumps radioactive waste into landfill on the site and to nearby Clifton Marsh. Springfields also has a “discharge” pipeline direct to the river Ribble. There is no spotlight shone on Springfields Toshiba activities…despite the worlds first nuclear fuel manufacturing plant providing nuclear fuel for nuclear catastrophes such as the Windscale Fire. #StopMoorside

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/01/28/business/corporate-business/toshiba-chairman-resign-struggling-u-s-nuclear-business#.WJPMslMrInS

Posted under Fair Use Rules.

From Beyond Nuclear:

…Toshiba will suffer an estimated $6 billion loss due to its uneconomic nuclear business and is looking to offload Westinghouse, its U.S. subsidiary. The company turmoil could throw a welcome wrench into the proposed new reactor at Moorside in the U.K., a nation whose nuclear problems are compounded by its exit of Euratom as part of the Brexit deal. Toshiba says its 4 Westinghouse AP-1000 reactor projects underway in Georgia and South Carolina will continue although the Vogtle project (pictured) is at least three years behind schedule and more than $3 billion over budget. And with the Trump administration threatening to weaken already inadequate federal regulations, Toshiba is seizing the opportunity to blame its financial woes on what it calls “stricter safety standards in the U.S.” Our mandate will now mean not only insisting on the enforcement of existing regulations, but likely a fight to block them from being gutted.

http://www.beyondnuclear.org