Virginia Nuclear Reactors Remain Shut Down More Than Five Weeks After Earthquake
The two nuclear reactors at a Virginia plant remain shut down more than five weeks after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook the region. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the reactors can’t be restarted until it grants Dominion Virginia Power approval. According to the NRC preliminary data shows the earthquake caused peak ground movement about twice the level for which the plant was designed. It reportedly was the first time an operating U.S. nuclear plant experienced an earthquake that exceeded its design parameters.
Dairy cows systematically slaughtered to drive up price of milk
A Seattle law firm is taking on dairies, claiming that a price-fixing scheme has consumers paying too much for milk. The class-action lawsuit accuses companies of slaughtering thousands of cows just to decrease supply.
Animal rights group Compassion Over Killing was the first to uncover the alleged systematic slaughter of healthy dairy cows in California. The group turned to Seattle attorney Steve Berman, who filed the suit claiming more than half a million U.S. dairy cows were slaughtered over seven years to artificially reduce the supply of milk and drive up prices.
Ozone layer hole over Arctic in sudden expansion
A huge hole that appeared in the Earth’s protective ozone layer above the Arctic in 2011 was the largest recorded in the northern hemisphere, though the sudden appearance of the hole was not due to man-made causes, scientists said in a report on Monday.
The scientists say man-made chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) destroy ozone in the stratosphere, after sunlight breaks up the complex chemicals into simpler forms that react with ozone. While some of the chemicals are covered by a UN treaty that aims to stop their use, it will be decades before they are fully phased out of production.
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