Mexico – Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant; Inspectors Go In To Survey For Damage After Earthquake on 18 April 2014

/ AGR Free Press

File:Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laguna_Verde_Nuclear_Power_Plant.jpg

The Laguna Verde nuclear plant was put into operation in 1987, but due to cost over runs and delays that increased the price from 500 million to 3.2 BILLION, the actual cost of electricity ended up costing residents DOUBLE that of a new oil fired power plant. “Government officials do not dispute that calculation, but they have argued that with the money already spent, it would be foolish to simply abandon the plant”….Experts cited “concerns about the area’s seismic stability after a 1985 earthquake whose epicenter was less than 20 miles away, and an active volcano only five miles away.”
(They also have not factored in the cost of decommissioning, nor of building and then storing the nuclear waste at a permanent repository for a million years, which does not even exist yet. If that were included in the cost of electricity, it would probably double the cost of electricity again, if not more than that, making electricity from this nuclear power plant 400% more than expensive than an equivalent oil fired plant.)

They also describe in the above news story how they blew out some steam tubes before the plant even started operating due to human error during the initial testing stage.

SAFETY HISTORY OF LAGUNA VERDE NUCLEAR PLANT

Since the bad start in 1987, in the book entitled; Homeland Security: Critical infrastructure edited by James J. F. Forest, the lack of a culture of safety of the Laguna Verde nuclear power is described as follows; “by the year 2000, there have been 60 incidents that led to emergency interruptions of service. The scale of the incidents varied in scope. Some have led to deaths, others have led to workers being exposed to radiation. Explosions inside the plant have generated seismic waves reaching intensities of 4.0 on the Riechter scales.”  pg 116

Nuclear Shutdown
“The storm also forced Mexico to suspend operations at its Laguna Verde nuclear power plant in eastern Veracruz State, according to the national electricity commission. The 1,360- megawatt Laguna Verde is Mexico’s only nuclear power plant”………..To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston atbsullivan10@bloomberg.net
El UniversalSubmitted by mexbiznews on Mon, 06/14/2010
“The Federal Electricity Commission has revealed that its Laguna Verde nuclear power plant has been operating for years with radiological equipment that is “obsolete, damaged or in poor condition.” According to the state-owned CFE in a report sent to the Finance Ministry, the equipment constitutes “a risk to radiation safety and, therefore, a precursor of errors that can lead to severe accidents that would harm our personnel and equipment.” The threat was identified in a request by CFE’s Nuclear Power Plant Management to the ministry for additional funds to repair or replace the equipment.
CFE warns that if it does not receive funds for Laguna Verde, the nuclear plant will pose a radiation risk and have to be shut down. The report said that 94 percent of the radiological equipment at the facility has been in operation for more than 14 years, increasing the risk of failure at the plant. Of that equipment, the report said, 22 are “damaged” and eight are “obsolete.”
http://www.mexbiznews.com/cfe-admits-its-laguna-verde-nuclear-power-plant-poses-risk-radiation-accident

ONLY WHISTEBLOWER FIRED

“Bernardo Salas was formerly a radiation safety engineer at Mexico’s Laguna Verde twin-reactor nuclear power plant, constructed on the Gulf of Mexico, north of the city of Veracruz. The reactor opened in 1990, after years of intense public opposition—tens of thousands of protestors had camped out and demonstrated at the isolated site. Salas pushed for rigorous safety procedures for reactor operations, especially following a March 1993 incident when the plant’s instruments indicated a possible reactor meltdown (fortunately, it did not). His recommendations were often ignored, he was labeled a whistleblower and troublemaker, and then fired in 1996. He received death threats both before and after his firing, especially after meetings with journalists. In March 2000, other plant engineers leaked a report to the Mexican press that supported many of Salas’s charges. In a July 2000 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Salas told Michael Flynn, “I believe in nuclear power…But incompetent and corrupt officials are destroying Mexico’s nuclear industry.” The prevailing winds at Laguna Verde blow from the Gulf over central Mexico. If a catastrophic nuclear accident should ever occur at Laguna Verde, Mexico City’s 20 million people could find themselves in the fallout path.”
http://weadartists.org/a-photo-essay-nuclear-history-nuclear-destiny

“Salas was sacked from the CFE for reporting anomalies at Laguna Verde. Between 2007 and 2009, while conducting radiological analysis of samples from the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and the southeastern state of Quintana Roo for a research project, he found traces of the radioactive elements Caesium-137 and Cobalt-60, indicating potential contamination, at three locations adjacent to the power station.

The power plant has not been free of controversy. An audit carried out in 1999 by the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) found there had been a high number of safe shutdowns of the reactor that weakened the operating systems, as well as inadequate personnel training, lack of proper management and organisation of the work, and obsolete equipment.

Hers is one of 98 cases compiled in a health survey undertaken by the mayor’s office of Vega de Alatorre, a rural municipality of 18,500 people in the state of Veracruz, 290 kilometres southeast of Mexico City and close to the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant. The survey, commissioned by Mayor Leticia Rodríguez, found different types of cancer, quadriplegia and paraplegia, Down’s syndrome and other disorders. The mayor, victims and activists blame the nuclear power plant, owned by the state Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and in operation since 1990, for many of the illnesses.”

http://www.globalissues.org/news/2011/03/30/9088

In addition to the above, other workers who were also reporting on safety deficiencies at the plant were threatened with being fired as well, so the news flow coming from the plant has been cut off. A book was written about the fight against the building and operation of this nuclear plant, available via this link….

The video above gives a tour of this nuclear plant, and provides lots of assurances about the safety of nuclear power in general and this plant in particular. Of course, they do not mention any of the above 60 incidents, radiation releases, explosions, deaths, or radiation leaks. It will be interesting to see if this plant makes it to the end of it’s life without melting down, and then how the government pays for the storage of the nuclear garbage left over.

What is wrong with this nuclear power plant? 

Nuclear Power Is EXPENSIVE, Dirty, Dangerous And Toxic, Even More So AFTER Decommissioning; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/10/nuclear-power-expensive-dirty-dangerous.html

Nuclear Plants Are Six Times More Expensive To Operate Than ANY Other Type Of Power Plants; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2013/09/nuclear-plants-are-six-times-more.html

MAJOR OVERHAUL

This nuclear plant got a face lift after it became obvious that it was running on fumes and it was getting very risky to keep operating it so; “among the main modifications made at the plant were the replacement of the main capacitor, steam separators and heaters, the turbo group, ventilation systems, heating and air-conditioning, auxiliary systems and the electrical systems.”

As of 10 / May / 2013; “Fissures, leaks, shutdowns, government secrecy, a failed upgrade, alleged bid-rigging and contract fraud at Mexico’s lone atomic power station, the state-run Laguna Verde Nuclear Plant, were vetted during the 9th Regional Congress on Radiation Protection and Safety held in Rio de Janeiro in April, …2013…. 
The irregularities at Laguna Verde came to light thanks to a courageous group of anonymous high-level employees inside the power plant and to the public information requests by their spokesperson, Mexico’s National Autonomous University Physics Professor Bernardo Salas Mar, a former plant employee and valiant whistleblower.”
http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/9498

The question is; can a nuclear plant almost double it’s expected lifetime and keep running at 120% of its engineered rating, without any problems? The equivalent of what they are trying to do, is like taking a worn out 30-40 year old car with 300,000 miles on it, dropping in a new engine and then putting the family’s kids in it and taking it out to the race track and racing it around at 200 miles per hour, when the rated top speed is 80 miles per hour when it was new.

Aging Reactors, Lies, Deceptions, Profits And Earthquakes; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/aging-reactors-lies-deceptions-profits.html

Public safety seems to be taking a back seat at all nuclear power plants, while short term profits seems to be in the drivers seat. Combine corruption, secrecy, bid rigging, and a profit only focus, and what does one expect to happen long term? 

EARTHQUAKE RATTLES NUCLEAR PLANT – March 2014

After the facelift and putting the nuclear plant back in operation recently, a 7.5 earthquake hit that shook the entire region.

Video; A quake shakes Mexico City and Acapulco in March of 2014, and the reporters says that inspectors are being sent in to see if Laguna Verde nuclear plant near Mexico City sustained any damage; mentioned in last couple seconds.. offhand, like it was no big deal. Another news story link about this earthquake below..
http://consciouslifenews.com/raw-footage-75-quake-shakes-mexico-city-acapulco/1172636/

March 2014 Earthquake, Fault Lines News, Photos and Videos – ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/disasters/earthquake-fault-lines.htm

More information about the March 2014 earthquake from USGS…170 miles SW of Mexico City..http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000pq41#summary

EARTHQUAKE AND VOLCANO RISKS

Historically, this region looks like it can generate huge tsunami waves; (1838), and 7.0 or bigger type earthquakes. What is this nuclear plant designed to withstand? Is the risk really worth it? At Fukushima, the ‘experts’ there promised that a tsunami and huge earthquake ‘would never happen’. The nuclear experts also promised that even if a large earthquake did happen, that their ‘superior technology and redundant safety systems’ would handle anything Nature could throw at them, ‘we promise’. Just like at Fukushima, there is a VERY active fault line running along the coast of Mexico and close to where the Laguna Verde nuclear reactor is located. The reactor sits on top of what is called the ‘Ring Of Fire’. 

Catch 22 – Nuclear High Technology Plus Safety Assurance Offers Only A False Promise And An Empty Guarantee; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/03/nuclear-high-technology-plus-safety.html

Earthquake Resistance And Nuclear Power Plants; 100% Failure Rate So Far; via @AGreenRoad

Bottom line, Nature won at Fukushima, despite all of the promises that the nuclear experts made. The Fukushima nuclear power plant complex was brought down by a ‘natural’ 9.0 earthquake in Japan. The lesson is that humans cannot win when trying to fight and win against Nature.

Massive 9.0 Earthquake Caused Multiple Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Reactors To Meltdown And Out in 2011; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2013/09/massive-90-earthquake-caused-multiple.html

The Laguna Verde nuclear facility squeaked by an earthquake that hit several hundred kilometers away in 2011. There is an active volcano five miles away, and there are earthquakes and tidal waves in this region, according to the historical record. How many near misses can you have with a nuclear plant and get away with it? According to one report a power outage hit the plant at one point that would have meant a Fukushima like meltdown, but the Laguna plant was luckily in shutdown and refueling mode at this time with BOTH reactors, so the meltdown didn’t happen. Was this that earthquake, which knocked out the power going to the nuclear plant? How many times does a nuclear plant have to rely on luck to not melt down?
What Is The Statistical Probability Of A Major Nuclear Accident Like Fukushima In The USA, Or In Your Country? via @AGreenRoad
Nuclear power plant unharmed after 2011 Mexico earthquake
04/07/2011 Mexico’s state-owned power company Comision Federal de Electricidad, or CFE, said in a statement that a 6.5-magnitude earthquake on April 6 in the state of Veracruz didn’t damage any of its plants or cause a shutdown of any of its operations.The CFE owns the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant in Veracruz, several hundred kilometers northwest of the quake epicenter.
http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2011/04/power-plants-unharmed-after-mexico-earthquake.html

The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

“Volcanoes of Mexico are related to subduction of theCocos and Rivera plates to the east, subduction which has produced large explosive eruptions. Most active volcanoes in Mexico occur in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt which extends 900 kilometres (559 mi) from west to east across central-southern Mexico. A few other active volcanoes in northern Mexico are related to extensional tectonics of the Basin and Range Province.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Fire

Doesn’t it look like the active ring of fire volcano region goes right through where this reactor is located? And where there are volcanoes, there are also earthquakes. 
Arnie Gunderson; a nuclear expert, says that a nuclear plant can have 30 or 40 good years, but then everything is ruined and a whole country goes bankrupt because of ONE bad day. That is the downside of nuclear power plants. When things to bad, they go REALLY bad.

Will anyone hear about it or be warned if this nuclear plant melts down or has a massive radiation leak as a result of the this or future earthquakes, tsunami waves or other ‘natural’ or human caused events? The answer is; probably not. What happens when no one is watching and all the whistle blowers are fired? What happens when there are no public access radiation monitors available either at the nuclear plant or downwind? What happens to public safety when the regulators are captives of the nuclear industry and a corrupt or bought off government ‘owns’ the nuclear facility?
Odds are great that this or any other nuclear power plant would melt down and no one would ever hear about it, just like the other 30 nuclear plant meltdowns that no one heard about or was warned in time to save themselves and their families. Nuclear expert Chris Busby talks about the coverups that happened at TMI, Chernobyl and Fukushima..

List Of All 30+ Global Nuclear Reactor Melt Downs; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/04/list-of-all-27-global-nuclear-reactor.html

Global Corporations And The 1%; Art And Science Of Deception
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/p/corporations-art-and-science-of.html

Nuclear Accidents, Recycling Nuclear Weapons/Fuel
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/p/nuclear-accidents-around-world.html

There are NO publicly accessible radiation monitoring networks in Mexico as there are in many other countries, which serve to give some warning about high radiation levels. In Mexico, there is nothing, and no one, at least so far. One would think that a huge city like Mexico City would think about protecting their citizens, but so far, there are no protective public access radiation monitoring networks there. Maybe they have to experience a major nuclear disaster before they wake up and realize the danger.
List And Links To 68 Citizen And Government Radiation Monitoring Geiger Counter Networks Around The World; via @AGreenRoad
More than likely the only way a huge radiation release would be discovered in water or air is by a foreign country like the US, Spain or Europe. The Laguna plant is located in the extreme upper right hand corner of the following picture, in the form of a tiny red dot.
Bottom line, good luck if you live downwind of a nuclear reactor like this one. Mexico City is directly in the path of any radiation plume that would follow the prevailing winds. Mexico City would be directly downwind of Laguna Verde after any major catastrophe or melt through at this nuclear plant. A major accident at this plant would be very similar to Fukushima, but instead of the radiation going out over the ocean, it would go inland across the country and literally cut the country in two, due to the extremely high radiation in the plume.
The Laguna Verde nuclear plant was built in the WORST possible place in the entire country of Mexico. Not only is it located close to or on top of an earthquake fault line, and close to an active volcano, in case of a meltdown at Lugana, Mexico City would have to be evacuated, assuming there is a place to put these millions of people. As of 2009, over 21,163,226 persons live in this urban agglomeration, of which 8,841,916 live in Mexico City proper. Of course, it would also bankrupt the country, as it did the then Soviet Union. But because the radiation would cut the country into pieces, it would have more severe consequences for many generations into the future.
Gorbachev; Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Was Real Cause Of The Collapse of Soviet Union; via A Green Road
Japan Planned To Evacuate 40 Million Citizens; Russia Was Shocked; via @AGreenRoad
Advice? Of course the best solution is to shut down this nuclear plant and all others as well, in order to prevent the certain global disaster that is coming as soon as the next Carrington Event occurs. The lesson we all should have learned from Fukushima, is that humans cannot fight Nature and win. Nature always wins in the end. Humanity has a chance if we shut down all nuclear reactors globally and put all spent fuel into passively cooled pools. The ancient Greek story about the boy who flew too close to the sun with wax wings is a story about humanity and nuclear power. 
Super Solar Storm To Hit Earth – ‘Carrington Effect’; 400 Nuke Plants Will Melt Down/Explode; via @AGreenRoad
Short term, if you live downwind of Laguna Verde nuclear plant, or within 200 km of it North or South, it would be a good idea to buy a pancake style radiation detector, because it is probably going to be the ONLY thing that will tell you if and when a nuclear accident happens at Lugana Verde. Trust the radiation detector to warn you about when to leave the region and get out of the radiation plume and keep it turned on 24/7.
To get more information about Geiger Counters, click on the following links;
Radiation And Geiger Counter Readings Simplified; via @AGreenRoad

http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2013/01/radiation-and-geiger-counter-readings.html

Geiger Counter, Principles, Readout, Limitations And Types; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2013/01/geiger-counter-principles-readout.html

A Safecast type of detector is highly recommended, because it monitors radiation even when traveling around, and the radiation readings from these radiation detectors can be uploaded and shown on the web, and result in radiation maps that the public can then access. http://blog.safecast.org/bgeigie-nano/

If you know someone in Mexico city or within 200 miles of Laguna Verde, email them this link, or post it on Facebook, Twitter, etc.. Spread the news; we need to shut down all nuclear power plants. 

End

Mexico – Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant; Inspectors Go In To Survey For Damage After Earthquake on 18 April 2014; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/04/mexico-laguna-verde-nuclear-power-plant.html

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