Nuclear Hotseat Hosted By Libbe Halevy

Entergy announces closure of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant at the end of 2014 - so what does it mean? Get perspective from two Vermonters: Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Energy Education, a former nuclear industry insider who explains nuclear problems and dilemmas a la Mr. Wizard; and Hattie Nestle, veteran protester who lives within 20 miles of Vermont Yankee and who's been arrested 35 times protesting the facility. PLUS: Japan finally accepts foreign assistance, PM Shinzo Abe says his government will stop the outflow of tainted water... but neglects to say how they'll do it; six more Fukushima prefecture children diagnosed w/thyroid cancer; NRC to rule to Ft. Calhoun re-opening; calls from nations in both hemispheres for testing of ocean fish for radiation contamination; and Russia offers technical assistance to Japan in dealing w/Fukushima. Good luck!

Organizational psychologist Dr. Lloyd C. Williams gives a clinical explanation of why nukes are nuts -- the industry, that is -- along with strategies we might use in dealing with pro-nukers. NUMNUTZ OF THE WEEK: Fukushima -- the tourist destination? PLUS: No States Rights for Vermont state when it comes to Vermont Yankee; Fukushima governor labels situation a "national emergency;" TEPCO goes to Hanford to learn about radioactive waste control ; salmon disappearing from Canada, Alaska, Russia, while herring found bleeding all over -- and Arnie Gundersen predicted it!

Closing down San Onofre didn't end the southern California nuclear battle, it just shifted to the radwaste front. Gene Stone of Residents Organized for a Safe Environment, talks about how the problems of decommissioning, those pesky spent fuel rods, and some surprising news about fuel radiation levels lead to a regrouping of activists and the upcoming Symposium on Decommissioning San Onofre and the Ongoing Dangers of Nuclear Waste. Then Joseph Mangano of Radiation and Public Health in an encore of his presentation on the impact of Fukushima on American health. This is an encore taken from his speech at Dr. Helen Caldicott's Symposium on the Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. PLUS: TEPCO Radwater releasing BILLIONS of bq of cesium per liter; US Federal court commands Yucca Mountain be opened , and FOUR, count them, FOUR Numnutz of the Week! Numnutzes of the Week? FOUR!

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Anniversary. Interviews wth Fukushima survivor Chikako Nishiyama and San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace organizer Carole Hisasue on the northern California commemorative events. NUMNUTZ OF THE WEEK: UC Berkeley professor claims Fukushima radiation "no problem" for USA while EPA spokesidiot claims "Any kind of release i Japan would be non-detectable here!" Flat Earth Society, anyone? PLUS: TEPCO admits radiation at Fukushima up 47 TIMES since just last week and they haven't a clue why; company admits the situation is "bleak." Yet Japanese government allows residents to "come home" to Fukushima (for what, to get more radiation exposure?); TEPCO games leukemia compensation program for workers so only four of almost 10,000 qualify; Palisades NPP in Michigan leaks radioactive water into Lake Michigan - again; Farley in Alabama at ALERT when former award-winning thermal seals prove defective; St. Louis landfill fire breaches fire line on way to nuclear waste dump; Duke cancels Levy in F

Psssst! Wanna be part of a 2,000-person human billboard to stop nuclear? Listen in as John Bertucci, a San Francisco-area anti-nuclear activist, explains the planned October 19 action and how you can participate, either in SF or your own nuclear-riddled home turf. Then hear a special encore presentation of Daniel Hirsch, nuclear policy lecturer from UC Santa Cruz talk about how his students discovered a hidden US nuclear disaster -- the 1959 reactor meltdown at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory only 30 miles from Los Angeles. PLUS: TEPCO fakes its apologies with help from its cronies, WHO refuses to acknowledge depleted uranium as a possible cause of Iraqi mutations, Idle No More! First Nation activists instrumental in blocking Great Lakes transport of radioactive steam generators to Sweden, and San Onofre fuel removed from reactor in record time, effectively terminating SCE's license - WOO HOO!

What would a natural disaster do to nuclear power facilities? How vulnerable are our nuclear reactors to global warming? Veteran disaster preparedness pro Chuck McCune shares information FEMA doesn't make public about exactly what we face, along with a vision of activism that gives real muscle to our movement. PLUS: Former San Onofre partners SCE, SDG&E and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries battling it out over who owes who what for those faulty steam generators that got the site SHUT DOWN FOREVER; Fukushima #3 blowing off steam; Pilgrim in hot water, shut down; Ft. Calhoun may force Omaha Public Power District to take a Moody's Investors Service rating cut; Japan elects no-nuke actor to Upper House but supports pro-nuke LDP despite 80% believing nuclear disaster "probable;" and Washington state health blind spot is the tragic Numnutz of the Week.

Award-winning investigative reporter Susannah Frame from KING 5 News in Seattle has not only covered the problems at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington, she has broken several of the most important recent stories. Listen to what a real reporter goes through to get the hottest nuclear news and put it out into mainstream media. PLUS: Greenpeace invades French nuclear power plant; Kudankulam activists "drop dead" as facility fires up to criticality; Switzerland outraged after radioactive cesium found in lake near nuke plant that is used for drinking water; Dr. Emoto blesses San Onofre waters; NRC DUCK! Report on the usual "unusual occurrences," and NUMNUTZ OF THE WEEK - Japan opens the beaches of Fukushima by claiming no radiation in the ocean - HUH?

Two years ago, the Ft. Calhoun nuclear reactors near Omaha were surrounded by an inflatable berm that was surrounded by flood-level water - a veritable island of nukes. What's happened since? Nebraska energy activist LaVerne Traen fills in the picture, and like all things nukes, it's not a pretty one. PLUS: Fukushima radiation levels soaring for unexplained reasons; TEPCO failings revealed by Japanese comedienne; Japan's Labor Democratic Party pushes for nuke restarts and nuke-adjacent mayors agree; rats attack Fukushima Daiini; Japan selling nuke technology to Vietnam (what could possibly go wrong?!?); scandal brewing as North Anna operator covered up existence of fault lines to NRC; and SanO operator SCE bemoans nuke shutdown as it dumps chemicals into ocean and buys a solar company. Mixed metaphor, anyone?

Do you know where your green tea came from? Might it be northeast Japan? Kimberly Roberson of Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network brings us up to date on the latest foods and supplement ingredients to avoid, and with Citizens for Health's Sean Witzling, tells us about the FDA petition that can make a big difference in our food safety. PLUS: Scientists and medical experts take on the UN over Fukushima radiation report; Energy Dept. considers dumping $3.7 billion boondoggle Savannah River Site; Davis-Besse shuts down - again; millions of shrimp-like krill dead on beaches of northern California, Oregon; India/Russia nuclear liability head-butting may permanently sink proposed Koodankulam 3,4,5 & 6, even as #1 may be commissioned "at any time;" TEPCO shareholders demanding the utility dump nukes; scandal brewing in Japan over funds for recovery from the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster diverted to cover utility companies ; and NUMNUTZ OF THE WEEK: The US "alternative energy" loan guarantee program guar

Michael Keegan, Chair of the Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, fills us in on how San Onofre strategy will be the model for shutting down Davis-Besse. Then MamaBears Brigade's Dr. Catherine "Wind" Euler and native medicine man Havasupai Waters on their continuing protest of uranium mining at the Grand Canyon, including elevated radiation readings on tourist walkways. PLUS: Hanford leak is "worst case scenario;" MacFarlane re-nominated as NRC Chair; Lochbaum provides the NRC "DUCK!" Report on Non-Detecting Examinations; elevated levels of tritium, strontium found in harbor at Fukushima Daiichi; Yablokov takes on the UNSCEAR; first of the Fukushima 50 dies of lung cancer; and NUMNUTZ OF THE WEEK goes to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority.

Nuclear Hotseat's producer/host Libbe HaLevy's exclusive interview with former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan after the June 4 "Fukushima Daiichi Disaster: Lessons for California" panel discussion in San Diego. PLUS: more from PM Kan's presentation and more celebratory interviews with So Cal activists following the San Onofre closure; Hanford leaks getting worse; Canada planning to bury nuke waste less than a kilometer from Lake Huron; current Japanese Prime Minister's wife is anti-nuke; two "Numnutz of the Week" for last week and this; the NRC "DUCK!" Report; and it's official: "Pandora's Box" is a box office dud.

Jubilant activists celebrate SCE's announcement that the San Onofre Nuclear Power Facility WILL NEVER BE GOING BACK ONLINE! Hear those on the front lines of the battle share how they heard the news, how they felt, how they celebrated -- and what's still ahead to get SanO decommissioned without ratepayers shouldering the payments. PLUS: Oak Ridge Y-12 facility broached again; Japanese parents take thyroid testing of their children into their own hands as 27 Fukushima children now confirmed or suspected for thyroid cancer; explosion at France's Cattenom NPP threatens Luxembourg's capital; and Swedish utility Vattenfall shopping for land for new nuke. Sweden, don't touch it! It's evil!

San Diego summit: speak-out on Fukushima Daiichi Disaster: Lessons for California from the men who had to take responsibility in a nuclear crisis: Former Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Gregor Jaczko, former NRC Commissioner Peter Bradford, former nuclear industry vice president Arnie Gundersen. Plus interview with Torgen Johnson, the "I'm not an activist; I'm a concerned father" man behind the vision and actions that created this event. Listen to history being made.

Kumar Sundaram, Research Consultant with the Indian Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) on Japan's push to sell nuclear technology to India and his country's massive, growing anti-nuclear movement. PLUS: Sen. Boxer demands Justice Dept. investigates SCE execs after 2004 letter surfaces showing company doubts over steam generator design; Kentucky nuke faces disaster when TVA turns off the lights; seaweed shuts down 2 Scottish nuke plants while Greenpeace lands a warning on Sweden's Ringhals reactor...and gets no reaction; what would George Takai think of the new Numnutz of the Week?; and TEPCO has problems keeping employees -- can you imagine?

Daniel Noonan of Washington State Physicians for Social Responsibility on the complex history of the Hanford nuclear site, repository of 60% of America's high level nuclear waste and this week's public meeting at the University of Washington. Plus organic grape grower and winemaker Paul Frey on reactor accident impact on America's agriculture. BONUS: How to make a radiation impact map for your local neighborhood nuclear reactor! PLUS: Belgium's 2 nukes cracked "but safe!"; Hamburg ship fire threatened radioactive materials AND explosives in same cargo hold ; massive anti-nuke protests in Taiwan; Fukushima growing rice for sale in "former" hot zone ; and all you need to march Hanford waste across town is a parade permit! No, really!

Friends of the Earth's Nuclear Campaigner Kendra Ulrich explains the importance of the ASLB's determination calling for the NRC to hold an adjudicated evidentiary hearing - a TRIAL - on Southern California Edison's proposed restart of the damaged leaking Unit 2. Featured interview w/Rudolph Herzog, author of "A SHORT HISTORY OF NUCLEAR FOLLY: MAD SCIENTISTS, DITHERING NAZIS, LOST NUKES AND CATASTROPHIC COVER-UPS." PLUS: 83-year-old Sister Megan Rice and two associates found guilty of conscience-driven break-in at Y-12 nuclear processing plant in Tennessee, could get 30 years ; Palisades NPP crack caused leaks into Lake Michigan and Michigan Congressman w/clout demands full accountability; Hanford may be "too dangerous to clean up" - huh?; NRC Commissioner Ostendorff owned stock in NRC licensee Honeywell during labor lockout; horses dying and stroke rate spiking in Fukushima; and SCE still trying to get someoe to take that senior management position as Nuclear Communications Project Manager - any takers?

From the Macro to the Micro on San Onofre: Friends of the Earth's Nuclear Campaigner Kendra Ulrich on facing down the NRC "in the belly of the beast," and nuclear videographer Myla Reson gets Rep. Henry Waxman all righteous on our behalf. PLUS: Palisades leaks "very slightly/mildly/diluted' radioactive water into Lake Michigan but "there's no impact on health and safety!"; Duke dumps plans for 2 new nukes; DU implicted in GI suicides?; 83-year-old nun + 2 on trial for breaking into Oak Ridge and praying; Indian high court okays Koodankulam start-up; KEWAUNEE IS HISTORY - 103 AND COUNTING DOWN!... and all right, who put the goldfish in Perry?

LaSalle NPP near Chicago goes SCRAM four times w/an uncontrolled radiation leak in less than two weeks; is the country's most nuclear state about to go critical? Nuclear Energy and Information Service's Gail Payne and Andrew Kishner of NuclearCrimes.org explain the complex issues while admitting that no one knows exactly how much radiation was vented. Oy. PLUS: NYTimes says TEPCO "just hanging on," hasn't a clue; Japan refuses its responsibility to evacuate kids from Fukushima radiation zone; More peaceful Koodankulam protesters arrested in India; radiation rises in Tokyo and no one knows -- or will admit to -- why; Entergy told to pay Red Cross over $700K for evacuation plan; and Leverett, Massachusetts, votes to abolish the NRC! (Would that it were so easy...)

In commemoration of the 27th anniversary of Chernobyl on April 26, three interviews: Dr. Alexei Yablokov, author of the groundbreaking book, CHERNOBYL: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment; Dr. Janette Sherman, who edited the English translation of Dr. Yablokov's book and speaks to her own expertise about the impact of radiation on fetuses, children and adults; and Chernobyl survivor Bonnie Kouneva, who as a teenager lived 800 miles away in Bulgaria... but it wasn't far enough. PLUS: Los Angeles tells NRC: Hold SCE's feet to the fire at an Adjudicated Evidentiary Hearing (a legally-binding trial) on San Onofre; Florida tells Progress Energy: No more taxpayer money for non-existent nuclear reactors! (Duh!); and then there's always Koodankulam, Fukushima, TEPCO - it's all numnutz!

You may have heard about the sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan suing TEPCO for their radiation exposure, but you haven't heard the whole story. "The devil's in the details," as they say, and the details in this story will change you. Presentation by and uncensored press interview with former quartermasters Jaime Plym and Maurice Enis, taken from the Dr. Caldicott/PSR Symposium on the Medical and Ecological Consequences of Fukushima. PLUS: EPA thinks it's just dandy for 1 in 23 of us to get cancer and they much prefer that to the silly old standard of no more than 1 in 10,000!; NRC ignores Sen. Boxer/Rep. Markey to rev up for what looks like The Battle of San Onofre; LA radiation shows spike of 419%; all 7 Fukushima underground pools leaking radioactive water into the Pacific; US committed secret Nazi-style radiation tests on helpless US citizens; Might they still be doing that today?