"Conn. OK’s more waste storage at nuclear plant" Associated Press, May 03, 2013
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — State officials authorized the Millstone nuclear plant on Thursday to significantly expand nuclear waste storage capacity over the next 30 years.
Without a national site to take spent nuclear fuel, Millstone Power Station’s owner, Dominion Resources Inc., turned to Connecticut for permission to increase storage at the Waterford site.
The nine-member council voted unanimously without discussion to allow Millstone to build concrete pads necessary for an expansion of its waste storage. Millstone is seeking to expand storage from 19 cask storage units now to 135 by 2045. However, Millstone’s application does not include a request to install the 135 casks, the Siting Council said.
Melanie Bachman, staff attorney for the council, said Millstone has authorization to install 49 casks and must seek permission for the remaining 86.
Ken Holt, Millstone’s spokesman, said the state’s permission to build the pads gives Dominion flexibility in planning long-term storage requirements.
The key problem facing nuclear plant operators and public officials is the inability in Washington to decide what to do with radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants.
See: The Winds of Washington State
Congress designated Yucca Mountain in Nevada for a nuclear waste dump, but the plan has been opposed by the state’s elected officials, including Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.
In the meantime, spent nuclear fuel is stored on site at the nation’s 104 nuclear reactors in pools or in dry casks.
Local storage is Millstone’s only option, Holt said.
‘‘It’s not our first choice,’’ he said. ‘‘But unfortunately, the federal government has not lived up to its obligation to take the fuel like they were supposed to.’’
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Policy criticized federal inaction on nuclear waste.
‘‘Nuclear waste is a federal problem and needs an immediate federal solution,’’ the agency said in comments to the Siting Council.
Waterford First Selectman Dan Steward said he, too, has no choice but to accept local storage of nuclear waste. ‘‘It would be nice to tell the federal government we can’t do this,’’ he said.
The Black Point Beach Club Association, a homeowners group in Niantic across Niantic Bay from Millstone, asked the Siting Council to reject the nuclear plant’s request. State officials are not accounting for possible problems at Millstone if sea level rises as projected because of climate change, the association said. It also urged the state to wait for guidance from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Good thing the seas levels have remained stable the last 50 years, and global warming stopped about 10 years ago.
‘‘All of the association’s members and all residents of Black Point are subject to potential mandatory evacuation orders and martial law and personal harm in the event of a serious accident at Millstone, including the proposed storage facility,’’ the group told the Siting Council.
Dominion is spending $11 million for preparation and other work, Holt said. The plant will move fuel from pools and move them into dry casks, which will be welded shut and moved to a concrete bunker. Fuel will be moved within two years, Holt said.
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Related: EPA $ettles With Somerset's Dominion
Let's hope they don't have to $ettle in Connecticut.
"Family of missing Conn. student makes appeal to public" Associated Press, May 03, 2013
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. — The parents of a missing Eastern Connecticut State University student made a tearful plea to the public Thursday for any information that might help find her.
Corrinna Martin and Christopher Wiley joined State Police and a state prosecutor at a news conference at the Willimantic school. Their daughter, 20-year-old West Haven native Alyssiah Wiley, was last seen April 20 near the Dairy Queen on Main Street en route to campus, police said.
‘‘I am asking, I am pleading with the public as a mother who wants her child home,’’ Martin said. ‘‘She has her family who wants her home. She has friends who want her home. We need your help.’’
Christopher Wiley added, ‘‘Please, please, help us.’’
Alyssiah Wiley is a sophomore psychology major at Eastern who was preparing to go to medical school, her mother said.
‘‘This is not a young lady who would walk away from such a life,’’ Martin said. ‘‘This is not a young lady who would put her family through this much grief. This is, however, a young lady who is full of life, full of energy, and full of the hope that her future is bright. . . . We’re just asking, please, please, please find it in your heart to open up your mouth and speak.’’
Alyssiah is described as a black woman who is 5-feet-6 and weighs about 150 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
Campus and State Police have searched the area and other parts of the state. Troopers have used search dogs and aircraft and interviewed numerous people who know Alyssiah.
Police also found a black Nissan Altima last week near the Bridgeport-Fairfield line that they said was connected to the case, but officials wouldn’t say how it was related.
Authorities said they’ve developed many leads but need more information.
‘‘Any bit of information that anyone can share with us, even if you think it’s insignificant, might be helpful to us in our investigation,’’ Windham State’s Attorney Patricia Froehlich said.
State Police said they and the university’s campus police are planning spot checks in Willimantic on Saturday night in order to ask people for information.
Froehlich set up a Facebook page Wednesday where people can obtain and share information about the case....
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Another Tripathi, and I don't mean to bluster?
Also see: Connecticut governor repays People $1,234.62 for trip
Related: Malloy's Hikes
"Bomb threats prompt Conn. courthouse evacuations
Bomb threats prompted evacuations and police searches of three Connecticut courthouses on Friday morning. Authorities said a local TV station and a State Police dispatcher received similar calls warning of bombs at state superior courts in Hartford, New Haven, and Waterbury. The threats were made at about 8 a.m., before the courthouses opened. Police bomb squads searched the three buildings and did not find anything. State Police Lieutenant J. Paul Vance said detectives have begun a criminal investigation."
Totalitarian tyranny is a millstone around are our necks.
