Nuclear Safety

Nuke Plant Inspections Find Flaws in Disaster

Readiness

by John Sullivan, Special to ProPublica

The Fort Calhoun nuclear power station, in Fort Calhoun, Neb., is surrounded by flood waters from the Missouri River on June 14, 2011. (Nati Harnik/AP Photo)

A special inspection of U.S. nuclear plants after the Fukushima disaster in Japan revealed problems with emergency equipment and disaster procedures that are far more pervasive than publicly described by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a review of inspection reports by ProPublica shows.

THE FOURTH OF JULY (REDTREETIMES)

The Great American Fourth of July

July 4, 2011 by redtreetimes

I grew up reading the humor of Jean Shepherd, the man behind the movie, A Christmas Story, now a holiday staple around Christmas.  I remember seeing his books in the library when I was just a teen and being pulled in by the titles, like Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories and In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. 

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING

EPA Fracking Study to Focus on Five States—But Not

Wyoming

by Abrahm Lustgarten
ProPublica

An oil rig drilling into the Bakken Formation near Stanley, N.D. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

The Environmental Protection Agency will focus its national study of hydraulic fracturing on seven areas in five states but will exclude the two Wyoming gas fields where agency researchers have already collected some of the most in-depth data on drilling’s environmental impacts.

JOHN RASMUSSEN/JOHN UPDIKE (REDTREETIMES)

Beautiful Poorhouse

redtreetimes |  URL:http://wp.me/pkyRI-1Wi

Yesterday on the Folk Art at Cooperstown site, Paul D’Ambrosio wrote about this painting that is in their collection.  It is by a late 19th century painter by the name of John Rasmussen and is of the Almshouse inBerks County, Pennsylvania.  

NUKES CRISIS (PROPUBLICA)

U.S. Nuclear Regulator Faces Fresh Scrutiny for

Bending Safety Standards

by Marian Wang
ProPublica

In the wake of Fukushima, story after storyhas been published about the cozy relationship between Japan’s nuclear industry and its regulators: Japanese nuclear regulators extended the use of reactorsdespite concerns about equipment upkeep and left key safety measures to the initiative of plant operators, as many have reported in the months since.

PLENT OF INFORMATION FOR YOU ( http://www.collegedegree.com)

100 Extensive University Libraries from Around the

World that Anyone Can Access

Universities house an enormous amount of information and their libraries are often the center of it all. You don’t have to be affiliated with any universityto take advantage of some of what they have to offer. From digital archives, to religious studies, to national libraries, these university libraries from around the world have plenty of information for you.

Buried Secrets / Gas Drilling’s Environmental Threat

Critics Find Gaps in State Laws to Disclose

Hydrofracking Chemicals

In this April 23, 2010 photo, a Chesapeake Energy natural gas well site is seen near Burlington, Pa. (AP Photo/Ralph Wilson)

by Nicholas Kusnetz
ProPublica,

Over the past year, five states have begun requiring energy companies to disclose some of the chemicals they pump into the ground to extract oil and gas using the process of hydraulic fracturing.