Thursday, February 1, 2007

America's Ten Worst Reactors-A Whistle Blowers Dream


This fall, the NRC issued two letters to the Entergy Corporation wherein they are accused of having a management style that is CHILLING...a management style that has employees afraid to come forward with their worries about both safety, and security. This got the Green Nuclear Butterfly thinking...what if we had a Top Ten Worst Reactors in America List? Further, what if we took all the information our readers sent us, and filed a GENERATE Verified Complaint against EVERY REACTOR IN AMERICA? After all, if the NRC can issue their own Generic Letters, why can't we in the STAKEHOLDER Communities issue our own Generic Complaint against the nuclear facility, and in the process compile our list of the TEN WORST REACTORS IN AMERICA!

This is simple folks, and EVERY ONE in AMERICA can be a part of it...especially those working at nuclear power plants who WANT TO COME FORWARD, but are afraid to do so. If you have complaints about a nuclear reactor, if your community is being forced to play host to one of these aging dinosaurs, drop us a note care of our editor at roycepenstinger@aol.com Give us as much detail and facts as you can about the violations, or company misdeeds. Now, knowing that some folks who worked for nuclear facilities are afraid of losing their jobs by being whistle blowers, NOT TO WORRY. Package up your allegations, any and all documents you have to back up your complaints, and mail them to us in a PLAIN BROWN WRAPPED PACKAGE, and we will take care of the rest. Send your HOT DOCUMENTS TO Sherwood Martinelli, Green Nuclear Butterfly, 351 Dyckman Street, Peekskill New York 10566. We know there are plant employees all around America that have THE GOODS on some of these reactors...now is your chance to DROP A DIME without any one ever knowing who you are!

Help the Green Nuclear Butterfly file the LARGEST and MOST COMPREHENSIVE VERIFIED COMPLAINT the NRC has ever seen. Bad weld joints, burst pipes, electrical problems, lost fuel rods...WE WANT IT ALL, and we will publish the list of the TEN WORST REACTORS IN AMERICA, our own HALL OF SHAME. Have pictures that the NRC and/or the nuclear industry would be embarrassed about? WE WILL PUBLISH THEM! Give us your dirt, as we are going after the sleaze, we want to take a slice out of the dirty underbelly of the nuclear industry. Are you and old timer that still has documents that Bush has now taken down off the WEb...we want them! As a stakeholder living three miles from Indian Point, I have a right to know the REAL RISKS of living by a nuclear power plant, Americans have a right to know, and with the help of our readers, the help of whistle blowers that see this article, we can BRING DOWN THE HOUSE, we can Rock The Reactors with a story like none ever told before!

Radioactive Farming? by Hattie Nestel

How are farmers to know if their fields are radioactive? Radioactivity is not discernible through our usual senses of taste, hearing, sight, smell, or touch. The Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor, five miles from Massachusetts and New Hampshire borders in southern Vermont, emits radiation that impacts the health and safety of all three states.

“Each day, a nuclear reactor releases more than 100 chemicals into the air,” states Joseph Mangano, national coordinator of the Radiation and Public Health Project. “These chemicals, which are created only in nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors, are radioactive and cause cancer by damaging cells. After entering the body through breathing and food, each chemical affects the body in a different way. Iodine 131 attacks the thyroid gland, strontium 90 seeks out bone and cesium 137 disperses throughout soft tissues. The fetus and infant with undeveloped immune systems and rapidly diving cells are most affected.”

Radioactive elements from a nuclear reactor enter water of adjoining rivers or lakes or are released into the air. Airborne releases can land in agricultural fields hundreds or even thousands of miles away from their source. Unwitting organic farmers or their customers have little knowledge that foods certified “organic” are actually grown on contaminated soil. Ingesting contaminated crops or animal products can cause leukemia, thyroid diseases, cancers, heart disease, infertility, Down Syndrome, spontaneous abortions, immune deficiency diseases, and congenital birth defects which will be passed on to succeeding generations.

Rosalie Bertell, a cancer research scientist, has spent much of her life studying low-level radiation including ten years writing a comprehensive book entitled, No Immediate Danger: Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth. She states that there is a general nuclear illiteracy in the U.S. and “. . . only scientists are fully aware of the subtle cumulative nature of damage from low-level radiation.”

In the 2005 Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation report, the National Academy of Sciences state that there is no safe level of exposure to radiation. However, the public is kept in the dark about ongoing radioactive emissions, the dangers they pose, and the health consequences suffered by exposed populations. Federal and local governing agencies tend to protect corporate interests rather than public health. There are little accountability and few avenues for public input.

At stake are another twenty to forty years of relicensing for every reactor in the country. Forty-seven have already applied and received this extension from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A broad-based coalition needs to unite and say a resounding NO to nuclear power and a hearty YES to sustainable, safe, locally controlled energy options that will allow farmers to have truly organic crops.

Resources: Nuclear Power is Not the Answer by Helen Caldicott, 2006 Insurmountable Risks: The Dangers of Using Nuclear Power to Combat Global Climate Change by Brice Smith, 2006 (publ. IEER)
Deadly Deceit: Low level Radiation, High Level Cover-up by Gould and Goldman, 1990.

Author Hattie Nestel lives in Athol, Ma. 25 miles from Vermont Yankee. She works with Citizens Awareness Network, CAN@NUKEBUSTERS.ORG to shut down Vermont Yankee.
Hattieshalom@verizon.net
978-249-6224

Protons and Poetry (Contest Announcement)

For immediate release

PR Contact:
Remy Chevalier
203-227-2065


READ ENTRIES


Protons and Poetry
Poets Against Indian Point




Calling all poets and creative souls. The Green Nuclear Butterfly, in a joint collaborative effort with Rock The Reactors, and Vara Art are now accepting poetry submissions for our "Protons and Poetry, Poets Against Indian Point" poetry contest. This exciting contest hopes to raise citizen awareness through the creative use of word play as we mount our campaign to close the aging and dangerous Entergy reactors known collectively as Indian Point.

Two chances to win:

1. Protons and Poetry Reading In New York (SoHo). One poet will walk away with a grand prize of $1,000.

A) Submissions can be emailed to roycepenstinger@aol.com or mailed via first class mail to Sherwood Martinelli, Green Nuclear Butterfly, 351 Dyckman Street, Peekskill, New York 10566.

B) Three judges will narrow these submissions down to 20 finalists.

C) The Green Nuclear Butterfly will announce the finalists, and the details (time, date and place) for public presentation of these works in Manhattan. Writers must be able to attend this event, and read their submission to be eligible for the grand prize.

D) Three judges will select one finalist as our Grand Prize winner.

2. The Green Nuclear Butterfly Blog has readers from 11 nations, and realizes that many creative souls would love to submit poetry, but would be unable to attend our public presentation of the 20 finalists, and so are ineligible for the above contest. We are therefore sponsoring a smaller online contest (unless we can find more prize money) for those unable to participate in the above contest. One online winner will be awarded a Grand Prize of $200.

A) Submissions can be emailed to roycepenstinger@aol.com or mailed via first class mail to Sherwood Martinelli, Green Nuclear Butterfly, 351 Dyckman Street, Peekskill, New York 10566.

B) Up to 25 finalists will be chosen from those entering contest number two.

C) The Green Nuclear Butterfly will announce the finalist for contest number two. Finalists will be asked to put their poem up on YouTube, and email the link and HTML coding. All YouTube video poems will be made available for our Green Nuclear Butterfly readers.

D. The Green Nuclear Butterfly will choose one finalist as our Online Grand Prize Winner of $200.00

All judges decisions are final.

Green Nuclear Butterfly reserves the right to increase prize amounts, or number of winners as finances allow.

Cost of entry is free, but submission of a poem gives the Green Nuclear Butterfly, and Rock The Reactors full shared unrestricted use of the work with the poets, including right to publication, and/or reuse without financial costs. All proceeds used to further the efforts of our two organizations.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Attorney General Cuomo Slams NRC

Department of Law
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
The State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
For More Information:
212-416-8060
For Immediate Release
January 30, 2007

ATTORNEY GENERAL ANDREW CUOMO SLAMS NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION’S RULING ON ATOMIC PLANT SECURITY

Highlights potential threat to millions of New Yorkers by a terrorist attack on Indian Point and condemns Indian Point’s flawed evacuation plan

BUFFALO, New York (January 30, 2007) — Yesterday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) refused to endorse a petition to require U.S. nuclear plants to erect a barrier to protect against a direct attack from an aircraft, and refused to publicly order other security measures as well. The New York Attorney General’s Office had backed the petition and submitted formal comments, along with 7 other state attorneys general.

In 2004 the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a Los Angeles nonprofit group, petitioned the NRC to significantly upgrade security at U.S. nuclear power plants. They urged that the NRC require nuclear plant owners to prepare to repel threats by air, water, or land by a group comparable in size to the 19 al Qaeda operatives who carried out the 9/11 attacks, employing more than one unit and using any suitable weapon, vehicle, and means of sabotage. In particular, the petition urged the NRC to require a defense against an attack with a fully-loaded jumbo jet.

Attorney General Cuomo said, “Yesterday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ignored the lessons of September 11 and abandoned its responsibility to protect millions of New Yorkers. They failed to heed the warnings of the 9/11 commission, which reported that al-Qaeda terrorists had specifically contemplated attacking nuclear power plants with aircraft. There are simple affordable measures nuclear plant operators can undertake to enhance security. It is outrageous that the Bush Administration caved in to the nuclear power interests over the security of Americans living near these plants.”

Cuomo continued, “This also highlights my ongoing concerns about security and safety at Indian Point. Indian Point is located in a region of 21 million people. No nuclear plant in the nation is located in as dense an area. Yet, even after 9/11 and Katrina, Indian Point’s operator, Entergy, still hasn’t submitted an adequate evacuation plan for New Yorkers who could be harmed by a radiation leak.”

2006 marked the fourth straight year that Westchester, Rockland, and Orange Counties refused to certify Entergy’s county-based evacuation plans as acceptable. In 2003 James Lee Whitt, FEMA director under President Clinton, concluded that Entergy’s plan was “inadequate to protect the people from an unacceptable dose of radiation.”

Indian Point’s original 40 year licenses will expire in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Entergy has announced that it will apply to the NRC to renew these licenses in March 2007.

Cuomo said, “All of these safety measures must be addressed by Entergy. In June 2006, the National Academy of Sciences issued a roadmap to our future without Indian Point. It confirmed that the obstacles to replacing the power generated by Indian point are merely political and not technological. We need to implement demand-reduction strategies, develop alternative energy, and build new power plants that are as safe and clean as possible to move toward a future without Indian Point.


Where are the Anti Nuclear Voices? Greenpeace Traitor Moore Speaks in Vermont!


I learned yesterday morning that J. Patrick Moore, an individual reported to have been a founder of GREENPEACE was in my town 1-30-07 being feted at a party at the Brattleboro Museum.

I have since learned that today, 1-31-07, he is to have an audience at the Brattleboro Reformer newspaper. I do not know if any opposing voices were present outside the Brattleboro Museum. All the known activists were informed. Of the dozen people who were called I saw not a trace of one when I drove by the museum at 6 pm. However I did see a hired police cruiser.

In the morning of 1-30-07 Moore spoke to the Vermont legislature on behalf of his new found beliefs that nuclear is the answer to global warming and climate change. According to the Barre Montpelier Times Argus he does not change his tune up here in VT from his spiel in less green states. Wait – how can VT call itself green when 1/3 the electricity is from split atoms leaving radioactive waste for thousands of generations?

Dr. Helen Caldicott knows nuclear is not the answer to climate change, as does former Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Peter Bradford. Nuclear is not sustainable. No one knows how to dispose of the waste. If nuclear were to be a climate change solution a new reactor would need to be built so often and so frequently, it basically leads one to the same argument the nuclear industry uses to discourage renewables.

Resting on his fame as one of the founders of Greenpeace, Dr. Moore now lobbies on behalf of the nuclear industry, under the guise of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition.

1-31-07– the NRC is in Brattleboro on the issue of the Generic Environmental Impact Statement that paves the way for the extension of the operating license for the reactor past its 40 year lifespan. Meanwhile Drs Deutch and Moniz, professors at MIT behind the renowned 2003 Future of Nuclear Power study, state that reactors have a life span of approximately 50 years. Entergy is pushing Vermont Yankee towards a 60 year mark if they win the extension. Worse yet is the idea that once they are into the license extension the NRC fully expects the reactors to seek yet another 20 year extension.

The recent attempt at the nuclear relapse, renaissance, re-traumatizing depends on the now ignorant and scared public who haven’t the memory for Chernobyl or for Three Mile Island. Instead we have a public that likes its energy wasting abilities. We have generous Entergy corporations and clones creating new infrastructures for further energy wasting in the form of Christmas lights which surely will be used to needlessly brighten the town for shoppers throughout the year.

And to quote Green Nuclear Butterfly where are the people willing to show up to counter Entergy and the industry?

On 1-31- 07 the NRC will hold two environmental impact hearings in the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro. The room holds hundreds of people. I will be surprised if 60 residents show up opposing Entergy in both meetings combined. Is this the dragon eating its own tail ? Possibly.

Until people get concerned enough to show up and stop the nuclear relapse, the relapse will not be halted. Until there is a bad enough accident people will believe the tripe spoken by the likes of J Patrick Moore, that nuclear and its highly toxic residues can save us. It is a lie.

Even the real experts Deutch and Moniz of MIT, (also used to promote the nuclear agenda) have stated that nuclear has too many unresolved issues to be the solution to climate change.

Green Nuclear Butterfly Morning News Brief



Greetings Readers:
Some BIG NEWS events today here at Green Nuclear Butterfly, so want to give our readers a HEAD'S UP, so that you don't miss anything.

1. Green Nuclear Butterfly was created and launched on December 26th, 2006. We are very pleased to announce, that our next post will see us pass the important milestone of 100 articles.

2. Deadline for signing our open letter to Greenpeace is upon us...so, we'd like EVERYONE today to really push to bring us a few more signatures to that effort. Either tomorrow or Friday we'll print a hard copy of said letter and mail it off to Washington, DC.

3. Green Nuclear Butterfly later today will be posting the official rules for the Green Nuclear Butterfly's Photons and Poetry, Poets Against Relicensing Poetry Contest. Poets, get out your pens and start honing your ANTI NUKE poetry skills, as one lucky winner will be taking home a grand prize of ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS! We will have a second online entrants only award of $200.00. Read all about this exciting event later today.

All entries will become the property of Green Nuclear Butterfly, and Rock The Reactors, the officials sponsors of this event...if you, or your organization would like to be a part of this event, would like to donate towards our prize pool, or would be interested in hosting the public reading of the finalists submissions, please contact our publisher at roycepenstinger@aol.com. We are hoping for at least 100 entries in each of the two divisions of this contest.

Division 1-Any ANTI Nuke poem, or a green themed piece that does not embrace nuclear as alternative fuel choice. 20 finalists will be chosen from this group, and if chosen, you must be able to show up for the public reading where the winner will be chosen. This will be a winner take all event, with the Grand Prize Recipient recieving $1,000.

Division 2-Green Nuclear Butterfly realizes many of our readers are from all over the world with readers now in 11 foreign nations. Because of this, we are putting up $200 for a special online only division for those who cannot make our public reading. We are hoping we will have some additional patrons step forward so we can increase the amount of this award.

4. Green Nuclear Butterfly will also be finalizing comments in opposition of the Pilgrim plants continued operation as well today. We encourage all of our readers to make it a point to submit written comments opposing any and all efforts to relicense any and all of the aging fleet of reactors here in America. To this end, we will today be opening up a Yahoo Group for grassroots organizations to keep each other informed, a place where you can post your requests for help, or share important NRC documents.

Last, but certainly NOT LEAST...we really could use some financial sponsors and donors, as we have many more ideas just waiting to be launched. So, if Donald Trump is reading this, or Cher is looking for a new favorite Grassroots group to support, feel free to use our DONATION button to make a pay pal contribution to our efforts.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Off Target, But Thought I Would Bring It Up

Bill O Reilly Has Self Esteem and Anger Issues
Seems Bill O'Reilly has his panties in a knot, and is accusing the Brattleboro Vermont paper of being a left wing, anti-American newspaper run by a bunch of nuts...their crime according to Bill, is they have called for the IMPEACHMENT of George (I took us to war on lies) Bush. Of course, Billy Boy would like to have us believe he runs the NO SPIN zone...in reality, half the time he's so busy chewing on road apples that it's a miracle he does not choke on his lies. HEY BILL, tell us about your PEABODY AWARDS! How many did you NOT WIN? TWO?
I agree with whoever at the Brattleboro paper called for the President's impeachment...I'd try Bush and Cheney in a heart beat on treason, and cannot believe Nancy Pelosi has taken impeachment off the table. Sure Bill O Reilly is also fine with aging reactors, least ways, as long as they are not in his and Hannity's back yard. The axis of evil is Bush, Cheney and Condi Rice, and the keepers of the gate are Hannity and O'Reilly. Fox is almost as radioactive as Vermont Yankee or Indian Point...let's hope a Democratic President in 2008 will see some of these rabid right wing shows cancelled and taken off the air. Think of it as a clean air initiative.

We Are Told We Are Safe...It's a Matter Of Trust

Monday, January 29, 2007

Greendrinks, Feb 13th...Rockland County Needs To Be There!

(Inside the Red Room at Park: The Unstoppable Summer Rayne Oakes flanked from left to right by Frank Bianco & Chris Pesce of Earthtech Products who specialize in super-high efficiency LED bulbs for business and home, which could put Indian Point offline in a matter of months if everybody bought them.)
There's one thing the Riverkeeper, Clearwater, IPSEC country club triad need to comprehend, we're not going to get anywhere without BIG MEDIA and BIG GUNS from Manhattan.


When I attended the Riverkeeper auction fundraiser at Sotheby's a few weeks ago, other than the usual mention of Indian Point by Robert Kennedy Jr. in his well oiled, well rehearsed speech... no one else in the audience had Indian Point on their mind. Lisa Rainwater, the point person for Indian Point at Riverkeeper, was not even in attendance. I went around interviewing guests about the imminent danger up the river, my Vlog is hosted on the Rock The Reactors website. Who I did meet though, were quite a few Utility big wigs on the side of the room, who surely made serious donations to the proceedings, but who acted clueless when I brought up the fact WIND FARMS were now the more cost efficient option over new so-called green and clean nukes...

Our three blind mice suddenly have the amazing opportunity here to meet up at Greendrinks with the green glitterati under bright city lights... at Park, the nightclub Darryl Hannah's man built... green architects, designers, sustainable fashion mavens, and green super models... who all congregate the second Tuesday of every month down to Greendrinks, the local NYC chapter of this international social phenomena.
Problem is, these young green entrepreneurs, many of whom mentioned in a recent issue of INC. magazine, from Treehugger, Vivavi and Voltaic Systems, have little background about nuclear power, they didn't grow up in the trenches, all they know is what they've read or heard on the news, that nukes don't give off C02 emissions, so that must be a good thing for global warming, right? WRONG! Wake the hell up children... There's Strontium-90 in the fish in the Hudson and the groundwater around the plant is contaminated!!! We're talking major threat to human and wildlife... We're talking this is insane, shut this plant down NOW... what the hell are you waiting for?

So trust me, or don't, but once these very charming, yet somewhat naive, media savvy green giants get a little taste of the information and the sense of mission collected over the years by battle worn anti-nuclear activists like us, they'll be quickly brought up to speed, as to how the NRC has yet again bamboozled the masses to the tune of billions, lulled everyone to sleep by buying into green consumer companies like ETS Energy Store!
The good folks of Rockland County, and surrounding areas, if they really care about shutting down Indian Point, if that's really why they elected John Hall as their new Congressman, they need to back their man up, and descend on Greendrinks with information in hand, to teach the green design elite in Manhattan about the reality, and the urgency of the situation up the river.
For you see, if Indian Point gets any worse, and it's really bad already, all their green work, designing LEED buildings, riding Trixi rickshaws, eating organic vegan food and shopping at Wild Oats? All that will be for nothing as radiation creeps into our bones, our DNA... giving the most beautiful women in the world breast cancer! We have to stop the NRC dead in its tracks, because their brand of corruption washes away all our green dreams, our green ambitions, our solartopic future on this green earth.
Come to Greendrinks, Tuesday February 13th, 6 PM at Park, corner of 17th St. and 10th Avenue, same venue as the Lü magazine party a few weeks ago.
To learn more about the potential relationship between Greendrinks and our fight to shut down Indian Point, contact Stephen Filler Esq. at GreenCounsel. Get ready to rock the house, rock the reactors!

Open Letter To Greenpeace...Three DAYS TO SIGN ON.

Curious...Did you know with all the MONEY we send Greenpeace, they only have ONE PERSON in Washington to deal with Nuclear ISSUES for the ENTIRE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT? WHERE ARE YOU GREENPEACE?
To remind everyone, am posting our OPEN LETTER to Greenpeace below. Time to sign on is running out here. Make sure to get your organization of name on this important letter THIS WEEK before it is mailed off.
Below is an open letter to the Executive Director of Greenpeace. Support this just and noble cause by signing on to the positions in the letter by leaving a comment on this post. If you would like your own elected officials CCed a copy of this letter, please let us know, and they will be added to the CC list. You can also have a more formalized response from your own organization included with this letter by emailing roycepenstinger@aol.com The deadline for signing on to this open letter is January 31st, 2007.


John Passacantando
Executive Director
Greenpeace
702 H Street, NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20001

Dear John:
With all due respect to yourself, and to the work of Greenpeace, we are writing this open letter to you, to ask the question, "Where is Greenpeace in the fight to stop the wrongful relicensing of antiquated and aging nuclear facilities?" As longtime clean energy advocates, we ask this question because as a nation, America is but a handful of reactors away from the proverbial tipping point of pursuing the dangerous path being laid out by the DOE's Nuclear 2010/GNEP.

For some time now, the battle cry of the environmental movement, of Greenpeace, has been to think globally but act locally. Unfortunately, at this stage, this fight cannot be won locally. The fight to stop the relicensing of dangerous reactors such as Entergy's Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim, and reactors 2 and 3 at the Indian Point site will require national involvement in a big way from Greenpeace, from the National Wildlife Federation, even the Sierra Club. There is no more, cannot be any more backing up and waiting for a better time to make our stand...the time is now, the fight will be won or lost during this the 110th Congress...the nuclear industry knows it, and one would assume that Greenpeace knows it. Sadly, other than token efforts and position papers, Greenpeace as the marquee player and pace setter within the Green movement seems to be largely absent from the battle as one local host community after another is mowed down by the NRC. That, however, doesn’t have to be the case.

I, and members of my community, would like to work in concert with Greenpeace before it is too late. With this in mind, we would like to know what Greenpeace is doing to push Congress to pass a bill demanding a full and complete safety and security assessment of every reactor in the United States. Is Greenpeace openly and publicly opposing the nuclear industry's wrong sighted plan known as "Nuclear Power 2010" that would help create a renaissance of the nuclear industry, and the sighting of as many as 400 fuzzy science reactors world wide with as many as 50 of them sited and built here in America? Where is Greenpeace in confronting Congressmen/women and Senators who pretend to be on our side, yet refuse to introduce safety and security assessment laws for the entire nuclear industry?

The time of sitting on the sidelines because the win is not assured has to end, and the national and international organizations led by Greenpeace need to step forward, and lead the fight, as the line has been drawn in the sand, and we fight now, or fold up our tents and go home. Small grassroots organizations and individuals such as myself and my, "Green Nuclear Butterfly" cannot win this fight locally; we are but cannon fodder without your help in this fight.

We must work as one team and go to Congress to demand that a national bill be passed in this 110th Congress that accomplishes the following: a) order a security and safety assessment (identical to the one done for Maine Yankee) at every nuclear reactor in the United States; b) implement a moratorium on all NRC relicensing activities and efforts until such time as every assessment has been completed; c) establish a ‘Blue Ribbon Committee’ that includes a member of a grassroots organization from every reactor host community in America to review the information and data from said assessments, and d) submit for consideration to the Congress a ‘Nuclear Industry Blue Ribbon Commission Report’ complete with recommendations for said Congress to adopt into law.

The moratorium would remain in full effect until such time as every recommendation of this commission was enacted into law. In this fashion, we have the national debate on Nuclear Reactors with all the cards honestly laid out on the table. As a part of this process, there should be informational meetings, and at least one public hearing for the purpose of taking citizen testimony in every community hosting a nuclear reactor, and or other facility related to or producing source materials for these reactors.

I, and the undersigned organizations, respectfully request a response from Greenpeace on these matters as quickly as possible. We need leadership and commitment from Greenpeace while we still have a chance to win this war.


Respectfully,


Green Nuclear Butterfly

CO-Signers Of Note

Michel Lee, Esq.
Chairman
Council on Intelligent Energy
& Conservation Policy

White Plains, New York 10602

Mitzi Bowman, Coordinator
Don't Waste Connecticut
Member of Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone
www.mothballmillstone.org
(203)389-2067
upthesun@cshore.com
Sherwood Martinelli, Peekskill, NY
roycepenstinger@aol.com
Remy G. Chevalier
www.rockthereactors.com

Evan Mulholland, South Royalton, Vt.
evanmulholland@yahoo.com

Gary Sachs, Brattleboro, Vt.

Keith Harmon Snow
413-626-3800
www.allthingspass.com
Sally Shaw
Gill, Massachusetts

Claire Chang
Citizens Awareness Network
www.nukebusters.org

Bryan Shaw
Westminster West Vermont.

RJ Haskins
Brattleboro Vermont
Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes
P.O. Box 331
Monroe, MI 48161
Michael J. Keegan

Don't Waste Michigan
6677 Summerview
Holland, MI 49424
Alice Hirt

Citizens' Resistance at Fermi Two
P.O. Box 463
Monroe, MI 48161
Keith Gunter
Wendy Brawer
New York, NY
George Crocker
North American Water Office
Lake Elmo, MN
Bruce Meland
Electrifying Times
Bend, OR
Matthew Shapiro
Citizens Environmental Coalition
Albany, NY
John Schaeffer
Real Goods
Hopland, CA
Harvey Wasserman
Author of Solartopia
Patty de Llosa
Author of The Practice of Presence
David Bedell
Secretary
Fairfield County CT Green Party
Richard Duffee
CT Representative
US Green Party International Committee
Paul H. Gavin, PhD, retired
pgavin@adelphia.net

Eleanor I.Gavin, RN, Retired
elliegavin@adelphia.net

CC List

Congressman John Hall
Congressman Maurice Hinchey
Congresswoman Nita Lowey
Governor Eliot Spitzer

HOLD THE PHONE...NRC LIES To Keep Public From Panicking

REACTORS ARE DEATH CAMPS, and NRC KNOWS IT
OK, some might find this over the TOP, but holy F**KING S**T! If ever there was a day that rallied the citizens to hold the NRC accountable, to start closing down aging reactors, THIS IS THE DAY!

First, we have the NRC ruling that it is NOT the responsibility of the reactor owner (ENTERGY) to protect their own infrastructure (nuclear reactors) from a significant terrorist attack, or from attack by a large airplane, and/or jet fighter. Instead, the NRC cautions the plants to do their best AFTER THE ATTACK to mitigate the release. That's OVER THE DAMN TOP in any ones book, but this is a day for OVER THE TOP.
Seems there was a LEAK at Millstone over the weekend. there was radioactive contamination RAINING DOWN ON THE GENERAL PUBLIC! Were there evacuations, were people warned of the dangers? NO! It seems that the NRC F**KING LIED to the population as they were afraid said public WOULD PANIC! Think about this FOLKS...if the GOD DAMN evacuation plans are so GREAT, will were they not used? Why was the NRC afraid the public would PANIC! IF THEY HAVE LIED ABOUT THIS, WHAT ELSE ARE THEY LYING ABOUT? How much VALUABLE evacuation time was LOST while the NRC, while their licensee LIED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC?
WAKE UP AMERICA...I don't give a flying F**K if the NRC has relicensed certain reactors, done so against the will of the people...if that has happened, then the local governments, their police, their public works need to give the operators DAYS to shut down the reactors, and then LOCK THEM OUT OF THEIR FACILITIES. If the NRC will not shut down the facilities, then local government MUST. Let's not kid ourselves...how long do you think Indian Point will remain open if we start putting 200,000 people on their land EVERY DAMN WEEKEND OF THE YEAR? Sure, the State Police could stop 20, 30 even 100 protesters...they CANNOT STOP A MASS OF HUMANITY 200,000 members strong!

MILLSTONE 3 SHUT DOWN THIS WEEKEND WITH RADIOACTIVE LEAK

NRC ADMITS LYING TO THE PUBLIC
Millstone Unit 3 was shut down on Sunday January 28 and remained shut down on Monday with a radioactive leak allowing radiated coolant to escape from the reactor.
Workers assigned to investigate and repair the leaking valve were exposed to high levels of radiation. Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., Millstone's Virginia-based owner, denied that any radiation leaked into the environment.
On April 17, 2005, steam cascaded from Millstone for a 10-hour period during a Dominion-declared Class II emergency involving valve failures, operator error, defective instrumentation and a "tin whisker."
Throughout the incident, Dominion denied radiation leakage to the environment. Subsequently, officials of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, under questioning by the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone, admitted the steam contained unusual levels of radioactive krypton, which quickly decays to strontium-90, a deadly radioisotope which causes bone cancer and leukemia.

The NRC ADMITTED IT LIED to the public about radiation releases which occurred during the emergency to avoid a public panic.
The Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone will investigate this incident.
(Text courtesy Nancy Burton)

CAN Calls For Governor Spitzer to Suspend IP Discharge Permit

Westchester Citizens Awareness Network
Contacts:
Susan Shapiro
Marilyn Elie

914-954-6739
Strontium 90 Found in Hudson River Fish
Call for Governor Spitzer to Suspend Discharge Permit of Indian Point Reactors Test results showing Strontium 90 in fish taken from around IndianPoint opens the possibility that recreational users of the river suchas fishermen, boaters and swimmers may also be absorbing radioactive isotopes. The findings are especially troubling since current studies by the National Academy of Science revel that standards for exposure to radiation are set far too high for the most vulnerable members of the community; children and women of child bearing age. Strontium 90 is a bone seeking radioactive isotope which actually replaces calcium in bones. It can be ingested from contaminated water and passed through breast milk which makes it particularly dangerous for babies.
Entergy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have insisted for yearsthat radioactive particles routinely or accidentally discharged intothe river are not harmful to the public since the sheer volume of water in the Hudson River dilutes radioactive waste to a standard below regulatory concern. As a result the NRC allows each reactor to dump 12 million gallons of water contaminated with radioactive isotopes into the river annually. Since there are two reactors, this is a 24 million gallon permitted discharge. These standards were set over 40 years ago and are urgently in need of revision in light of current research.
There has been much talk of SR 90 as background radiation found in contaminated fish. However, the Department of Health's 1994 Environment Radiation Report in New York State clearly states that background radiation from atmospheric testing continues to show a slow decline. Neither does it find Strontium 90 in fish samples taken from the Hudson River at that time. The raw data from 2005 is consistent with this finding.
The new findings about radioactive contamination of fish captured near the plant makes it imperative that the Governor suspend the state discharge license granted to Entergy by the Department of Environmental Conservation. The River is a public resource and public health policy requires erring on the side of safety when there is any possibility of danger to people.
The Department of Environmental Conservation has already ruled that Indian Point is a threat to the ecosystem of the Hudson River because of the thermal pollution it generates on a daily basis. The current radiological threat, which potentially poses a grave danger of cancer and birth defects to humans, makes it clear that it is not prudent to allow any discharge from the plant into the river until it can be ascertained with certainty that there is no threat to public health.
In light of this new finding and the imminent threat to public healthwhich it poses, we call upon Governor Spitzer to order the immediatesuspension of the state discharge permit granted to Entergy pending a thorough examination of the Hudson River shoreline and sediment to determine the extent of radioactive contamination and its long term effect on human health.

So, It's OFFICIAL...IF There Is Incident, WE ARE ALL DEAD

Let's stop the games, lets spell out REALITY...Indian Point's two reactors have some serious issues. They are brittling with age, the fuel pools are leaking, they are out of space, and the only way to continue operations at the site is DRY CASK STORAGE. The reactors themselves are cobbled together old relics held together with tons of welds and patches, and the NRC just does not care...they are intent on relicensing the facility.
Today, all over America reactor host communities found out that we are being SET UP TO PLAY THE PART OF VICTIMS...The NRC has voted 5-0 that reactors do not need to be set up to defend against a LARGE ATTACKING FORCE OF TERRORISTS, or against a LARGE AIRPLANE. The NRC merely instructs them to do the best they can to mitigate radiation releases AFTER THE INCIDENT.
You see, it would be UNREASONABLE to expect reactors to actually PROTECT US from a major incident at the facility...in this case, Indian Point. We all know that the evacuation plan is USELESS, it's a piece of SHIT...yes, a piece of shit...let's stop being nice about this, when are the 20 million people around Indian Point GOING TO WAKE UP. Entergy is all but guaranteed not to pick up the tab for a major incident. In short, if we do live through the incident, if we do not die shortly there after, we will be financially RUINED.
So, where is the ANGER, were is the citizenship WAKING UP? We have 20 million people within 50 miles of Indian Point...if every one of those people tossed in ONE FREAKING DOLLAR, we can start a MOVEMENT, and that is what we need here. We needed hundreds of protectors all over that site, and if possible, on a daily basis...we need protest signs, we need IN YOUR FACE FULL PAGE ADS. We need human chains around the entire plant...question is, WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? It's real simple...do we want to shut down Indian Point, or do we NOT want to shut down Indian Point.
If you want the facility SHUT DOWN, you are going to have to work for it. First, it takes money...right now, Green Nuclear Butterfly has NO BUDGET, no money for full page ads, no money to print up protest signs, no money to do mailings to every house in one of the five counties around the plant. Ask yourselves...Are Riverkeeper's tactics showing any real chance of VICTORY, victory meaning no relicense, and if we are lucky, an immediate order to shut the site down, not even giving Entergy another six-eight years of operation? IPSEC, is there plan going to work? SIMPLY PUT...NO! They want to be nice, they want to bake cookies and send out nice little notes to their list serves! IT WILL NOT SUCCEED.
Ask some Union Workers about being nice in negotiations, ask them where it gets them. We need to do some serious ball crushing, we need in your face, whatever it takes, we are shutting you down Entergy activism here! So, what's it going to be? Green Nuclear Butterfly is calling the citizens to action. We are calling for donations, we are calling for volunteers, we are calling for a ARMY OF PROTESTORS. Leave no doubt about it, we can shut down the reactors, we can start a movement that will close down a lot of these unsafe reactors...but not through apathy, not by expecting someone else to do it.
If you have read the writing on the wall, if you realize that it will take serious citizens involvement to shut Indian Point down, then we at the Green Nuclear Butterfly are challenging you to PLUG INTO THE MOVEMENT in the following ways.
1. Make a donation. Let's not be naive...it takes money to build a movement, it takes money to run ads, it takes money to get everyone together and working towards a common cause.
2. Sign up to volunteer. Email us at roycepenstinger@aol.com with your name, address, email and phone number.
3. Work the power of ten...if you are on board to SHUT DOWN INDIAN POINT, speak with ten of your friends and bring them on board. Talk to ten of your co-workers, ten people you go to church with.
Yes, it will take a movement, and the question is...are you going to be a part of that movement, or instead are you content to see Indian Point operating on the banks of the Hudson through 2055? Entergy is prepared to spend WHATEVER IT TAKES to relicense those two facilities, so yes we are asking for donations, and will need every penny we can get our hands on to WAGE THIS WAR, and a war it will be. Ask the people around Vermont Yankee who have watched Entergy run full page advertisements in every newspaper in Vermont, each ad filled with lies and half truths. Where do you stand? Our readership is growing, through the power of tens we can drive this movement where it needs to go, but the time has come where we need the public's help, need the public's involvement in the process.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Defending nuke plants from jet attack 'impractical,' US sez

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON ­ The Nuclear Regulatory Commission concluded Monday that it is impractical for nuclear power plant operators to try to stop terrorists from crashing an airliner into a reactor.

Plant operators instead should focus on limiting radioactive release from any such airborne attack, the agency said in a revised defense plan for America's nuclear plants.

The agency approved the new defense plan, most of which is secret, by a 5-0 vote at a brief hearing in which it was not discussed in any detail.

The new plan spells out what the operators of the nation's commercial nuclear power plants must be capable of defending against. It assumes that a terrorist attack force would be relatively small­ and that its weapons would be limited.

Critics of the NRC have said the revisions, which have been in the works for more than a year, do not fully take into account the threats to nuclear reactors in light of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"Rather than requiring measures to prevent a plane crash from damaging vulnerable parts of a nuclear plant ... the government is relying on post-crash measures and evacuation plans," said Michele Boyd of Public Citizen's Energy Program, a nuclear industry watchdog group.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., in a letter to the NRC last Friday, said the agency's defense requirements should "ensure that ... the plants are prepared to defend against large attacking forces and commercial aircraft." Boxer is chair of the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the NRC.

While NRC officials have all along declined to discuss specifics of the defense plan for nuclear power plants, formally known as the Design Basis Threat, it is known to assume a relatively small attack force of no more than a half dozen attackers.

Also, the plan does not assume that any such attacking force would be armed with certain weapons like rocket-propelled grenades or other weapons frequently used by terrorists in the Middle East.

NRC officials have emphasized that the defense plan should require what is "reasonable" to be expected of a civilian security force at the 103 commercial nuclear power reactors.

The nuclear power industry has argued that it would be unreasonable to expect them to guard against any attack that employed a large, hijacked aircraft. They contend that protection againstthat sort of attack ­ or one using a large ground attack force ­ should instead be a responsibility of the government.

Radiation Alert: Beware You Who Live and Breathe Near Millstone!

Judi Friedman, who is well known and highly respected as the founder and director of PACE (People's Action for Clean Energy), carried out a science experiment on Thursday, January 18, 2007, with her RadAlert50, which measure alpha, gamma, beta and X-ray radiation. First she stood near Liberty Park and Main Street in Niantic (across Niantic Bay from Millstone) and turned on two RadAlerts simultaneously for 10 minutes. They gave readings of 12 and 13. These numbers are not unusual.
Judi then went over to Pleasure Beach in Waterford. This public beach is directly across Jordan Cove and directly downwind from Millstone. Judi held the two radiation monitors for 10 minutes simultaneously on the sandy beach. The readings? 20 and 23. These numbers equate with what Judi has recorded at the Nevada test Site, Kiev, Ukraine south of Chernobyl, and Kazakhistan, notorious for rogue nuclear activities.
What conclusion did Judi draw from her experiment? "Radiation levels were measurably higher downwind of Millstone at Pleasure Beach as compared with Niantic at the time the levels were measured," Judi said. The radiation routinely released by Millstone is deadly. It correlates with cancer clusters near Pleasure Beach and many other locations in Millstone's shadow.
Register your outrage with key committees of the state legislature that can do something about Millstone's routine poisoning of the community:
Energy & Technology: Steve.Fontana@cga.ct.gov
Environment: Finch@senatedems.ct.gov
Public Health: mailto:mHandley@senatedems.ct.gov

(Post text contribute by Nancy Burton.)

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Major Local Groups NEED TO WAKE UP

Yesterday I, as publisher of the Green Nuclear Butterfly got two emails from folks suggesting that I am being too hard on local groups like IPSEC and Riverkeeper. With all due respect, would tend to disagree. For instance, IPSEC has posted on their website a notice to their people encouraging them to contact Hillary Clinton to urge passing of her bill introduced LAST YEAR.
Now, let's be honest here...that bill was WINDOW DRESSING, and had NO CO-SIGNERS. In short, it was Hillary playing to the local crowd while intending to do NOTHING OF MERIT to stop the relicensing of Indian Point...this author would strongly encourage our readers to take a look over at the FEC...you'll find that Hillary has taken quite a bit of money from people tied to Entergy, had DIRTY HANDS.
The next BIG ACTION, one that has HAD NO EFFECT FOR YEARS is IPSEC/Riverkeepers efforts to pass more meaningless proclamations/resolutions against Indian Point...the NRC has shown over and over again that they pay those resolutions NO HEED.
The reapplication process officially begins on March 7th, 2007...surely our two main groups for fighting relicensing should have more of an ACTION PLAN at this stage? 20 MILLION PEOPLE...surely we can organize putting say 200,000 of them in front of the facility? Surely Riverkeeper on any given Saturday could organize say 2-300 boaters to park in front of the facility boat ramp....what, do you really think the National Guard is going to fire on innocent Americans trying to exercise their citizens rights to peaceful protest? It's OUR HUDSON, lets take it back...OH WAIT, that's too RADICAL for Riverkeeper.
Imagine say 600 hot air balloons over Indian Point? 2-300 boats on the river, and 200,000 citizens out front all ON THE SAME DAY, or on the same weekend. Imagine NRC wanting to hold public hearings, and finding themselves facing 20,000 angry citizens demanding closure. We have IPSEC with all their member organizations bragging about their 2005 KICK OFF CAMPAIGN to shut down Indian Point, and the over 200 people said event drew! HELLO, does any one think that kind of pathetic public participation is going to shut down ANYTHING? 20 million people living within 50 miles of Indian Point, and a kick off event draws 200 people! Give us a break! WE NEED BIG, WE NEED HUGE, we need RADICAL.
Meanwhile, we have IPSEC denying access to members of the Grassroots anti nuclear movement...WHY IS THAT, perhaps Mark Jacobs could explain that to us here at the Green Nuclear Butterfly, explain why people are kept from posting anything on the IPSEC list serves that are the least bit controversial. In short, perhaps if IPSEC is too afraid to get its hands dirty, maybe it needs to STEP ASIDE, get out of this fight, and go hold bake sales at the local Walmart. If instead, they are ready to be serious leaders in this fight, then they need to end their exclusionary membership practices, stop the BIG BROTHER censorship on their list servs.

CONTACT HILLARY, REQUEST THAT SENATE PASS HER S. 2488 BILL

Mirrored from this page on the IPSEC website.
ACTION ALERT! ANTI-RELICENSING CAMPAIGN NEEDS YOU!
ENTERGY HAS ANNOUNCED IT WILL APPLY FOR LICENSE RENEWALS OF BOTH INDIAN POINT 2 UNTIL 2033 AND INDIAN POINT 3 UNTIL 2035.

CONTACT SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON AND REQUEST THAT THE SENATE PASS HER BILL (S. 2488) IN JANUARY REQUIRING AN INDEPENDENT SAFETY INSPECTION OF INDIAN POINT.
"If nuclear energy is so safe, why won't insurance companies, experts at estimating odds, cover damages from nuclear accidents?" Read Darcy Casteliero's Op-Ed piece in the Journal News, May 8, 2005 on our 2005 Articles page.
Our anti-relicensing campaign was launched at an exciting meeting attended by almost 200 people at the Greenburgh Town Hall on Tuesday, March 29, 2005. If you were there, thank you for coming!
See the Mid-Hudson News, the Journal News and the Times Herald-Record's accounts. This campaign is the next essential step in the effort to close Indian Point and we need your help! (all links on page were broken, have not been updated)
The purpose of this campaign is to stop Entergy’s anticipated bid to re-license Indian Point for an additional 20 years. We believe Entergy may submit a relicensing application to the NRC as early as January, 2007. We are counting on your help to circulate a new resolution opposing Indian Point’s relicensing throughout the 50-mile radius.

As you work to get anti-relicensing resolutions passed by your municipality, you will have the support of a point person who has agreed to help people in your region. Contact one of the following people based upon where you live:
Lower Westchester or Connecticut
Michel Lee
(914) 393-2930
ciecplee@optonline.net
Upper Westchester (north of White Plains)
Mark Jacobs
(914) 739-3402
mark@longviewschool.org
Putnam and Dutchess
Judy Allen
(845) 528-6643
judyallen@suscom.net

Rockland and Orange
Darcy Casteleiro
(845) 358-8914
darcy@riverkeeper.org
New York City & New Jersey
Lisa Rainwater
(914) 478-4501 X221
lisa@riverkeeper.org
This is a pivotal moment in our campaign to close the plant. The time to stop re-licensing is NOW. Only with YOUR help will we be able to close Indian Point!