The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "nuclear reactor" ...
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Aging Nukes
The series examines the condition of aging nuclear power plants in the United States. It's opening installment proclaims: Federal regulators have been working closely with the nuclear power industry to keep the nation's aging reactors operating within safety standards by repeatedly weakening those standards, or simply failing to enforce them.
Tags: Nuclear Power; United States; Power Industry; Reactors;
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60 Minutes: Catastrophe
A story discovering that the preparations for a major earthquake in the Fukushima area were at odds with the consequences of a tsunami and that the nuclear facilities were underprepared.
Tags: fukushima; tsunami; earthquake; japan; nuclear reactor; meltdown; radioactive
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Power in Play
The series is an ongoing investigation into a proposed nuclear power expansion, which “doubles the size of the nuclear power supply”. The project became the “biggest investment the city ever made”. But what the public didn’t know was it was likely to “cost $4 billion more than what the utility company had been telling” them.
Tags: nuclear energy; utilities; CPS Energy; reactors; financing; costs; South Texas Project
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CPS Must DIe
City-owned utility CPS Energy plans to double the size of its South Texas Nuclear Project bye adding two nuclear reactors without knowing how much the new plants will cost. A reports by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy shows that the state's future energy needs don't include the need for new power plants to be constructed.
Tags: natural gas; resource; electricity; solar; coal; Mike Kotera
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Relicensing Oyster Creek
"An investigation into the weakness of the Oyster Creek nuclear generating station, the oldest commercial nuclear plant in the nation, as it seeks to run for another 20 years. The series found that the reactor's radiation containment system was so weak that it could not with stand core damage, and that this design flaw is common in the nuclear industry. The plant is also showing signs of poor aging, such as weakened reactor metal, failing control cables, and lack of proper training for employees. Employee errors have caused several safety issues at the plant which was rated one of the worst in the nation. "State officials also have failed to adequately design evacuation plans for the seaside tourist areas."
Tags: nuclear; reactor; radiation; evacuation; safety
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Radioactive Roadtrip
A Primetime investigative team examined security at nuclear research reactors at universities across the country and discovered shockingly lax security at numerous locations. Their findings contradicted assurances of a "heightened state of security awareness" from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. After the report aired several members of Congress called for investigations of the state of security at nuclear reactors.
Tags: nuclear energy; nuclear regulatory commission; uranium; dirty bomb; security; terrorism; Departmeng of Homeland Security
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Nuclear Power May Rise Again: Optimism permeates the once-moribund industry that generates electricity from reactors. As atomic power grows more efficient and fossil fuels more costly, there is even talk of building more plants.
According to the article, "Against all expectations, the power people said, the nuclear industry in the United States is in the midst of a renaissance. It has been rescued from the brink of extinction and made into a desirable business, so prosperous, in fact, that there has developed a vigorous market for used nuclear power plants. The price of these plants has increased a hundredfold in just three years."
Tags: Nuclear power; nuclear energy; power; power plants; money; industry
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New Nightmare Scenarios
National Journal examines the nuclear industry's vulnerability to terrorism. The report quotes nuclear power's critics who say that "a terrorist attack on the one of the nation's 103 commercial reactors might trigger a meltdown within minutes." However, industry officials call such fears exaggerated. The story predicts that the increasing demand for electricity and the good safety record of the nuclear industry will bring need for new nuclear plants after the immediate threat of terrorist strikes has eased.
Tags: Nuclear Regulatory Commission; FBI; Three Mile Island; Chernobyl; radiation; radioactive contamination; Ukraine; Nuclear Control Institute; terrorism; security; safety; environment; Federal Emergency Management Agency; global warming
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While No One Was Looking
Energy Department secretary Bill Richardson has decided to allow commercial nuclear reactors to start producing tritrium, an isotope used to turn A-bombs into H-bombs, multiplying their potential power. While this "dual use" of facilities is not illegal, it flies in the face of 50 years of policy concerning civil/military separation in the nuclear arena. Is this a step backwards in the fight against nuclear proliferation? the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists asks.
Tags: Energy Department; nuclear energy; nuclear weapons; tritrium; Bill Richardson; Tenessee Valley Authority; Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
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Risky Business: The last unit at Chernobyl was shut down in December 2000. But Russia has opened three more reactors just like it.
The Bulletin reports that a Western-backed development bank has agreed to help fund the completion of two Soviet-designed reactors in Ukraine that are similar to the reactor at Chernobyl that "spewed radioactive contaminants over a significant portion of Europe" in 1986. Wesolowsky writes that the West has a "Jekyl-and-Hyde nature" when it comes to nuclear safety in former communist states. "At times, the West works to shut down the most dangerous of Soviet-designed reactors." At other times, it helps fund the construction of reactors like those being built in Ukraine, he writes. "In fact, little has changed on the nuclear power landscape over the past decade. Apart from Chernobyl, not a single reactor of any type has been taken out of service in Eastern Europe. Four new reactors have gone on-line there since 1992. Russia has added three more 'RBMK' reactors - the same model found in Chernobyl - to its nuclear stable. Even today, 50 percent of Russia's nuclear power is generated by RBMK reactors."
Tags: nuclear energy; Chernobyl; Russia; power plant