When Environmental Quality’s hazmat facility burst into flames Oct. 5, Jimmy Sauls and his wife were two blocks away, watching TV in the Apex house they’ve called home for 22 years. Around 10 o’clock that Thursday night, Sauls was stepping outside for a cigarette when he heard a boom. At first he thought an electrical […]
Sue Sturgis
Bio: Sue Sturgis is the editorial director and co-editor of Facing South, the online magazine of the Institute of Southern Studies.Twitter: http://twitter.com/sue_sturgis
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Citizens declare Harris fire emergency
After years of sounding the alarm over fire safety problems at Progress Energy’s Shearon Harris nuclear plant, five watchdog groups have taken legal action: They filed an emergency petition with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission asking that the agency either shut down the plant until it comes into full, unqualified compliance with fire regulations, or […]
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Harris guards unionize
Last year, armed guards at the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant blew the whistle on security problems that hindered their ability to protect the facility, such as chronically broken doors to vital areas and forced cheating on state exams. The guards’ concerns led watchdog groups to file a formal complaint with federal and state authorities. […]
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9 ways YOU can achieve energy independence!
News on the climate and energy front continues to be bad–top scientists with impeccable credentials say human activity is causing a warming trend that will end 5,000 years of climatic stability, resulting in melting icecaps, rising oceans, and the deaths of millions of species and hundreds of thousands of people. Sheesh. What can anyone do? […]
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NRC blasted over Harris report card
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission came to the Triangle last week to discuss its glowing report card for Progress Energy’s Shearon Harris nuclear plant–and got an earful from area residents about the plant’s safety record and its own oversight process. In past years, performance review meetings for the Wake County plant were quiet affairs. Held weekdays […]
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Industry clout eases nuke rules
Concern over corporate profits appears to have trumped public safety in the crafting of a new rule regulating security at the nation’s commercial nuclear power plants. So warns the Government Accountability Office, an independent federal agency that conducts audits for Congress. In a report released last month, the GAO found that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission […]
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‘The report is bullshit’
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week released an interim report confirming some allegations of security problems at Progress Energy’s Shearon Harris nuclear power plant near Raleigh–including chronically malfunctioning doors to vital parts of the facility. Citing the company’s promise to take action to prevent future problems, the watchdogs whose complaint sparked the probe say the […]
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Nuke plant security questions remain
As the Nuclear Regulatory Commission wraps up its investigation of alleged security flaws at Progress Energy’s Shearon Harris nuclear power plant, new evidence has surfaced of ongoing failures to fix security problems at the Raleigh-area facility. Among other things, it suggests the plant’s chronic difficulties with malfunctioning security doors continued into late February–well after NRC […]
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Utility profits trump health
Evidence is mounting that mercury pollution from coal-burning power plants presents a serious threat to North Carolina’s public health, but you wouldn’t have guessed it from the latest meeting of the N.C. Environmental Management Commission subcommittee charged with drafting the state’s mercury emissions rule. The EMC’s Air Quality Committee met Feb. 9 in Raleigh to […]
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More nukes for Wake County power plant?
The debate over North Carolina’s energy future went critical last week with Progress Energy’s announcement that it’s chosen the Shearon Harris nuclear plant 20 miles southwest of Raleigh for possible reactor expansion. Noting the region’s growing demand for power, the company justified its choice by pointing to already-existing transmission lines, available cooling water from nearby […]
