Saturday, February 10, 2007

John Hall Announces Bill Requiring Indian Point Indy Safety Assessment

U. S. Representative John Hall
New York – 19th Congressional District

For Immediate Release
February 9, 2007

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12

Hall Announcing Bill Requiring Indian Point ISA or Face Shut Down in 2013

Strict Standards for IP Re-Licensing in Bill Co-Sponsored by Lowey, Engel, Hinchey and Shays

Congressman John Hall will announce on Monday morning his first piece of House legislation—a bill requiring a tough new Independent Safety Assessment for the Indian Point Nuclear Facility in Buchanan, NY.

Hall will make the announcement in the parking lot of the Annsville Creek Paddlesport Center just north of Peekskill, NY. He’ll be joined by members of the New York congressional delegation, other elected officials and environmental leaders.

When:
MONDAY, February 12 at 10:30 a.m.

Where:
Annsville Creek Paddlesport Center Bayview Road
(off Rte. 6 / 202 just west of Annsville Circle)
Town of Cortlandt, NY

Contact:
Arthur Harris / Communications Director
arthur.harris@mail.house.gov
202-225-0415
202-744-0707 cell

Tom Staudter / Press Secretary
staudter@verizon.net
914-762-0097
914-419-5221 cell

RemyC Commentary:

With all due respect, this is a losing strategy. All local bills around the country have been defeated 43-0, with rubber stamp relicensing across the board. We need a National Federal Bill to stop Entergy, the NRC and the rest of the nuclear industry from spreading their poisons to the land, the water and the skies.

On YouTube, we have Chris Shays clearly expressing himself as a staunch advocate of nuclear power to Nancy Burton, from the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone. Here I quote Congressman Shays: "We need MORE nuclear power, not less. Solar energy is not ready yet!"

So what, may I ask, is the Republican Congressman from Connecticut doing on this bill, other than perhaps suffering from a sudden case of Not In My Backyard, fending off Democratic challenger Diane Farrell and her green supporters next election round? Knowing full well the bill is doomed to fail.

What is meant by "or Face Shut Down in 2013"... what do you mean "or"? We at Green Nuclear Butterfly will not wait for 2013... We want Indian Point shut down NOW, immediately, without delay, without fail, before the damage being caused to our environment, and the threat to our lives, the Hudson Valley, Manhattan, finds itself suddenly beyond repair, if it's not too late already.

Congressman John Hall has been advocating the immediate shut down of Indian Point since the 1980 No Nukes concert in Battery Park. Every year he's shared the stage with musicians like Pete Seeger at the Clearwater Festival, Pete who all his life has dreamed of a nuclear free Hudson... and with Bonnie Raitt, one of the original founders of Musicians for Safe Energy, who helped John get elected by performing countless benefits for him along the campaign trail.

I too know some of these people, just like John does. I've worked with famous actors, musicians, performers all my life as a green advocate, founded the Eco-Saloon at Wetlands in New York, where Ani Di Franco, Dave Matthews, countless others shared a song and a beer, over a nuclear free future, with members of Greenpeace, Earth First!, Rainforest Action Network, Earth Island Institute... Where Clearwater members met every month in the Inner Sanctum. What has changed that we have suddenly become so complacent, playing it safe, by the numbers?

So what the hell happened I ask you? What happened to the fire, the passion, the sense of mission... To all boil down to this, another timid, castrated, dead-on-arrival local bill advocating an independent safety assessment the NRC will just brush off like a swarm of pesky flies, with a little toxic Raid maybe, for good measure?

At GNB, and Rock The Reactors, which spent nearly a year taking the issue of Indian Point all over the country to create what is now the largest anti-nuclear coalition since the Clamshell Alliance, we say this is not enough. This will not stop Entergy and their campaign of death. This is too little, too late. We need a new approach, we need Greenpeace! We need Green Nuclear Butterfly!

RemyC.
Rock The Reactors

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

LIVING IN A NUCLEAR REACTOR'S SHADOW

Living in the shadow of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Reactor.
(model Isabel Vinson)

To live within a few miles of a working nuclear reactor entails certain distinct factors worthy of notation to people who live further away. This paper intends to draw some attention to those differences.

Every reactor zone has evacuation plans and reception centers that are prepared in the event of a radiological release. The evacuation plans are not tested due to the level of alarm it would supposedly instill in people, in addition to the market disturbance that would occur during those times the evacuation plan was being tested. For ten, twenty thousand or more residents of an area to evacuate would upset business and create a liability for the town sponsoring the evacuation drill. The functioning of the reception centers including their ability to radiologically decontaminate individuals is tested by the state emergency management teams These state emergency management agencies answer to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on a yearly basis. Whether the plans actually work or not is irrelevant, as each year FEMA is informed that an effective plan is in place. The plans are, at best, minimally tested.

For example the plans in Brattleboro VT have been deemed successful when it only takes only 1 hour and 40 minutes to load the public school children on to buses, which is better than having the buses neglect to pick up children as in earlier tests. Brattleboro is 5 miles from the reactor If the buses arrive in longer than 45 minutes it is too long. Furthermore, the drills have not taken into account the private school students, hospital residents, emergency traffic conditions, nursing home residents, indigent population etc. To have called such a drill a success is stretching the truth.

The town government of Brattleboro, VT. has a mandate to approve the town evacuation plan as each year. To date it has not been approved since May of 2001. The former selectboard had received a “nuclear 101” course from a non local retired nuclear engineer and still the approval /disapproval of the evacuation plan has been avoided.

The general public in reactor zone towns are offered free weather alert radios here in VT. These are devices that warn of impending bad weather from the National Weather Service and also of any significant radiological releases. These radios are often available from either the local fire departments or from the city/town halls. The upside to these is the ability to know of an event when one may not be listening to the am/fm radio. The weather alert radio when set to the correct frequency comes on of its own accord. The downside is that these radios are tested, by either the national weather service or the local emergency management team at often inopportune moments. For one who works second shift to have ones’ sleep disturbed by the weather alert radio test at 0600 hours is frustrating yet also in a way comforting.

Once each month there are siren tests. These sirens are placed in the emergencyprotective zone ten within the ten mile radius of the reactor. These sirens are akin to the old air raid sirens to warn of blitzkrieg or to warn of missile attack. They are loud – last for a few minutes – and unfortunately many people take the sound of them for granted while they continue shopping.

The states in the epz- (emergency planning zone) receive for the towns in the epzfrom the federal government a supply of potassium iodide (KI) to distribute to its residents. Residents only receive the KI tablets when they apply through the state office of the department of public health. Potassium iodide is an after the fact (of a radiological release) option. In the event of a significant release of radionucleides, if one ingests the KI one can protect their thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is part of the endocrine system and the KI basically packs the thyroid gland with stable iodine so that it does not absorb the radioactive iodine. Radioactive iodine enters the environment anytime “spent fuel rods” are handled or when nuclear weapons are used. Iodine 129, one of the radioactive iodines, has a half-life of millions of years. KI is not effective if radioactive iodine is not one of the radioisotopes released.

Living in the shadow of a nuclear reactor could be written as a nightmare tale ending in either “I told you so” or “thank goodness we haven’t needed to use the evacuation plan yet”. Within a few days of the Three Mile Island partial meltdown, March 28, 1979, 2000 people were asked to evacuate. Thirty thousand plus people hit the roads. This phenomenon is called shadow evacuation.

Because the industry is so confident of its defense in depth, nuclear workers tend to think that an accident is near impossible. On the other hand, with older reactors now being asked to produce more power for longer than they were originally designed a nuclear accident is not just a likelihood but is inevitable. It isan eventuality. The longer the current generation of reactors is pushed the greater the likelihood of our not avoiding a catastrophic accident. May no one be harmed as a consequence. Unfortunately, if no one is harmed, the catastrophic qualities of the accident may be overlooked.

IPSEC...They Want Your Donations, But Are Asleep At Wheel

This Friday at eight AM, there is a meeting at the NRC headquarters...you can bet that IPSEC has not opposed the meeting, will not be in attendance at the meeting, but will be sending out their email BEGS for money, make the same tired claims that they are working to STOP INDIAN POINT. They will jump up and down, scream and yell about the pending application for renewal as a reason FOR YOU to GIVE THEM more money! Problem is, what is IPSEC really doing? One thing they CLAIM THEY ARE DOING, is keeping US INFORMED through their LIST SERV...OK, count me in.
I live within three miles of Indian Point, I want to be INFORMED! PICK ME, PICK ME! So, with happy tears in my eyes, I submitted a REQUEST to be put in the IPSEC list serve...I mean HELLO, I am the Green Nuclear Butterfly, I need to be informed. I went to Yahoo, found the IPSEC listserve group, applied for membership (yes, you have to be APPROVED!), and waited. Then I waited some more. Today, my wait is over!
I am NOT A MEMBER OF THE IPSEC list serve...why do you ask? Seems that the moderator of the IPSEC list was too busy to realize someone wanted to JOIN! I was AUTO REJECTED when the moderater FAILED TO ACT ON MY REQUEST FOR TWO WEEKS! If you ever wondered WHY OUR SIDE IS LOSING, there is your answer...IPSEC and Riverkeeper get all your money, but when it comes to REAL ACTION, they are ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL.

THE REJECTION LETTER FROM YAHOO:

Hello,

Your request to join the indianpointsec group was not approved. Your membership was automatically rejected because the moderator didn't approve it within 14 days. We do this to provide a high quality of service for our users.

If you want, you may attempt to join this group again.

You may find other groups to join by searching or browsing the Groups directory:
http://groups.yahoo.com

If you would like to create your own group, please visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/start

Thank you for choosing Yahoo! Groups.


Regards,

Yahoo! Groups Customer Care

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Rude NRC Employees Ignore Task Force Recommendations, Treat Stakeholders Poorly

Well, if the whiny MR. S Burns, Assistant Deputy General Counsel, and one John P. Boska are examples, it seems that Commissioner Diaz's task force on improving stakeholder out reach was a wasted effort. First, it should be noted, that the Commission itself admitted in 2003 that the NRC's communication with, and interactions with members of the public living around nuclear reactors is...well, PATHETIC. In fact, in the commission report from 2003, it seems that the NRC does not have any kind of viable program in existence to keep us informed...though, they did get accolades for their communications with the nuclear industry, and all those who SUPPORT IT.
The task force instructed NRC staff, and specifically the Office of Public Awareness to create a set of recommendations to improve the NRC's involvement with members of the stakeholder community, instructed the NRC to take steps to be more RESPONSIVE to stakeholder concerns. Well, if Mr. Burns and his Snidley Whiplash side kick Mr. Boska are any example, the NRC some four years later still does not give a flying crapola about members of the general public, has no problems telling us to go to hell, and stay out of the NRC's business.
Last week I became aware of a meeting between the NRC and Entergy North East regarding reactor issues for Indian Point. I had some problems with the meeting, least of which was the location of the meeting in Rockville, Maryland...it should be noted here, that the commission itself has noted citizen involvement at meetings held in Rockville is NON-EXISTENT, and encouraged NRC staff to find ways to correct this....uhhhh, such as holding said meetings in the STAKE HOLDER COMMUNITIES? I called up Mr. Boska who (putting it mildly) seemed irritated that a mere citizen who dare interfere with NRC business...in fact, in his exact words, I was told I would have OTHER OPPORTUNITIES to be involved with Indian Point! Ignoring the mindless babble, I formally requested that said meeting be postponed/rescheduled when said meeting could be held in the HOST COMMUNITY.
Boska, changed a few things around and sent me out an email this morning maintaining Friday's meeting...So, I called up the NRC office of General Counsel where Mr. Burns (who for some odd reason instantly reminded me of either Pee Wee Herman, or Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley) petulently got on the phone, obviously upset that a member of the general public was interfering with his day...in his whiny little voice he gleefully told me there was NOTHING I COULD DO TO STOP THE MEETING, that I was not entitled to redress, that the NRC COULD AND WOULD do what it wanted, when it wanted.
At that point, I elevated the matter to Mr. Talmidge in the Commissioners office...right now, waiting to hear back on that one. What disturbs me, is that the Commission admits there is a serious problem with the public's involvement in the process, the Commission has instructed NRC staff to come up with ways to correct this inadequacy, and yet staff seems hell bent to CHEAT US out of our rightful involvement at every chance they get. Maybe, just maybe Mr. Burns and Mr. Boska should take their lead from the Commission, and ENCOURAGE PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT in the process by abiding by a citizen's request to hold an important meeting about Indian Point in the host community? WHAT A RADICAL CONCEPT!

In 1996 Chip Cameron was content to ignore stakeholder rights, and now a decade later, NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

Monday, February 5, 2007

We Knew About Fossil Fuels & Global Warming in the 30's!

Guestwriter
Mark Elliott
Paranoia Magazine

I picked up an old book a few months ago, entitled:

Landscapes of Alaska
Their Geographic Evolution Prepared by members of the United States Geological Survey
Published in Co-operation with the National Park Service,
United States Department of the Interior
Edited by Howell Williams
1958
Berkeley and Los Angeles
University of California Press

This book was published by our government as volume one, part four, of the Nat'l. Park Service's Recreation Survey of Alaska, making it about as official as any document can ever be expected to be.

This book makes numerous references to the fact that the Alaskan glaciers are retreating.

To quote from page 10 (for example): "a short drive by good highway from Juneau leads to the terminus of the magnificent Mendenhall Glacier, which once extended to the sea but now has retreated far enough to permit the Juneau airport to be built on its outwash plain."

Then, in the section containing the photographic plates, the description of Plate #4 states: "During the early part of this century there was a dramatic recession of the glacier [Mt. Crillon at Johns Hopkins Bay]."

Even more telling, Plate #5 gives a "before and after" shot of the glacier at Nunatak Fiord in Yakutat Bay. The "before" shot shows the bay in 1909, the "after" shot, from 1938, shows how, during the ensuing 29 years, the ice had receded "more than three miles below its present limit.

So you see, the government knew that certain glaciers were disappearing at a rate of a bit over 500 feet per year! Their response? A shrug of the shoulders along with an Alfred E. Newman "What . . me worry?"

So, you see that our government scientists knew that we had a global warming issue as early as 1938! They also knew that the glacial recession began "during the early part of this century", in a time frame simultaneous to our "Industrial Revolution".

Thus, I can make the assertion that we've known about this situation for 69 years at least, but the "Inconvenient Truth" that America has never wanted to face is the fact that this problem can be traced directly back to the fact that that hoary old political philosophy of capatalism, so beloved by the anti-socal bully, is the direct cause of Mother Earth's problems. Fixing the planet would require getting rid of the religious ideal of "subdue the earth and multiply" that drives us to over-produce useless crap. Will we accomplish this? The recent acceptance by many countries of the American way of economics doesn't bode well.

I have come to believe that humankind is bored enough to require the drama inherent in ecological disaster. Like naughty children looking for attention, we holy idiots are challenging the god-head to give us a good spanking. Note the titillating way that the news of environmental disaster is presented in the media. This "show" is designed to let you know that, A) "The realization of your darkest fantasies may be just around the corner, and, B) Doom appears inevitable, so don't fret too much.

We create the reality that we require for our souls (and by association, the god-head's) edification. Thus, the only way that we are ever going to stop the inevitable decline is to awaken from our hypnotic stupor and decide that we truly want to bring "heaven" down to this plane.

Unfortunately though, we've advanced our technology beyond the power of our spiritual maturity. We're children with hand grenades too busy blowing stuff up to realize that we have the power to create a heaven on earth right here, right now. But then, heaven sounds way too boring to children.

So, now the Earth Spirit is being forced into defending its integrity, and just as our bodies react to danger by killing off invading germs through fever, so is the Great Mother about to raise the heat until enough of we harmful parasites are killed off.

(Thanks to Linton on Hugg for finding the video.)

NRC, Entergy-Roll Your Life Dice Some Place Else

Nuclear Power, Rolling The Dice

So far, the score is 48-0 with every reactor application for license renewal approved through the process. It is apparent to anyone and everyone, that the process is fixed, that the wishes of the host communities, our safety, our environments of little or no importance in the large scheme of a National Energy Policy. Our local politicians will play games with us, dance as if they are on our side, but in the final analogy, they do a Texas Two Step and sell us out to Corporate Interests and a drive to give Nuclear Power an American Rebirth in the name of saving the world from Global Warming. A perfect example of this is Governor Eliot Spitzer who has promised to shut down the plant, while taking money from Entergy's Political Action Committee...any one find that more than a bit strange? Senator Hillary Clinton is no better, claiming she wants the facility shut down, but taking money from various executives working for Entergy. WHORE SLUT comes quickly to mind. Everyone outside of the communities being forced to play host to aging reactors are fine with the status quo, especially IF nuclear power is the great placebo ever to come down the pike, one that will keep them, keep the world from having to make any personal sacrifice in stopping the warming of the world, stop the melting of our ice packs.

The problem is, the question is, what if the nuclear industry's BEST GUESS ESTIMATES when it comes to these aging nuclear reactors are wrong? More importantly, does any one really care, or instead is it about personal convenience? Since this writer lives within three miles of Indian Point, this article looks at the issue of relicensing using our two reactors as the example. Green Nuclear Butterfly offers up to the reader a what if set of scenarios. Poses the question to America, are you willing to sacrifice an entire city such as New York in your quest for nuclear energy? More importantly, what if WE AS A COMMUNITY are not willing to let you do that to us? What if we as a community are willing to lay our lives on the line to SHUT DOWN INDIAN POINT, to force its closure...will you MOW US DOWN with armed Guardsmen, making Indian Point another KENT STATE?

In the first scenario , we have Entergy's position, the position of a nuclear industry that DESPARATELY needs, wants to keep these reactors up and running far beyond their 40 year life spans. They will have us believe that their best guess estimates could see these facilities nursed along for a total of 80 years...in short, a second round of relicensing shortly after this round is complete with the NRC doing everything they can to remove every safeguard in the way of such a reality happening. They will justify all of this under the guise that the GREATER SOCIETY needs the energy, cannot live without the energy from this aging fleet of reactors, tell us that said need justifies the risks. Tell us, that our lives, our losses mean nothing when compared to the BIGGER PICTURE.

There is no intention of selling this pack of lies and half truths on host communities, as we do not count. The nuclear industry instead will sell the PUBLIC AT LARGE, convince them that nuclear is safe, clean, vital, green and NECESSARY...the real truth, is the only real truth in that scam, is that nuclear might be necessary, but will come with a horrid Holocaust cost, as some of these reactors are going to blow. The DOE, NRC, NEI and the nuclear industry as a whole will attempt to sell the public on a new CONCEPT for radioactive waste streams...recycling! In doing so, they will teach us that spent fuel now sitting onsite at every reactor is NOT WASTE, but instead future use resource that has a GREAT VALUE attached to it....after all, waste is BAD, but anything that has GREAT VALUE to it is GOOD...think of diamonds, or caviar. If the nuclear industry can change PUBLIC PERCEPTION about the waste, then they can make the complaints about waste streams seem UNREASONABLE, even SELFISH. In short, any community resisting the relicensing of a nuclear reactor, any community not willing to host a new reactor is SELFISH...make us the host communities the VILLAIN. As they say on South Park, "YOU BASTARDS, you KILLED Kenny!"

Let's be honest...the hundreds of millions that the nuclear industry has spent on propaganda is WORKING. Nuclear for the most part is off the radar. Most people are either A) ambivalent about it, or B) actually believe it is a SAFE, GREEN, RENEWABLE energy source. The basic embrace of the industry lies seems to follow the following strategy.

1. Yes, the current reactors are getting older, but the industry would shut them down before there was ever a SERIOUS accident. Besides, even if there was an accident, it wouldn't be THAT BAD, and we need the energy.

2. The new reactors are safer than the old ones, and eventually the old ones will all be shut down after the new ones are up and running.

3. Yes, it's true that the industry has not dealt with its waste streams, but right now, that waste is not bothering anyone sitting where its at, and maybe the new technology will eventually solve the waste problems.

4. We need the energy, and nuclear is CO2 FREE, and RENEWABLE.

Just goes to show you, if you repeat a lie long enough, and often enough the public will begin to embrace it, and own it as their own. A whole lot of people are putting a whole lot of faith in an industry that has been WRONG a whole lot of the time, putting a whole lot of faith in an industry with a history of protecting its own, instead of protecting human health and/or the environment. In a perfect world, based on the nuclear industry's best guesses, they will be able to keep these aging reactors up and running for another 40 years, and in that time manage to avoid any and all serious accidents and/or terrorists attacks. In short, they have asked the nation to trust them, and since most of the nation does not have a reactor in their own back yard, the nation has agreed to do JUST THAT. FUCK THE NATION, you have no right to play with our lives in such a fashion. Problem is, most host communities DO NOT TRUST the NRC, do not trust the reactors, and do not trust the nuclear industry. It is the host communities that are being forced to take the risks, it is the host community that will lose if the nuclear industry's gamble is an incorrect one. The NRC must not be allowed to ignore our wishes, even if it takes civil disobedience like none ever seen before to forcibly shut down these reactors.

So, the question is, what if the nuclear industry is wrong...WRONG ONLY ONCE? We have 103 aging reactors here in America, and many of these facilities are beginning to show the signs of aging one would expect...parts breaking, systems ceasing to work, and the main components constantly being patched and welded back together again as the nuclear industry tries to keep the cash flow from these behemoths rolling into the corporate cash registers...in Indian Point's case for instance, the two reactors daily bring in over one million dollars. That amount pales in comparison to the societal loses with just one SERIOUS ACCIDENT AT THE SITE.

Spent fuel pools are dense packed far beyond their original storage capacity, and no reactor in America can continue to operate without approving of dry cask storage for additional spent fuel streams. Many of these spent fuel pools are developing cracks in their foundation walls, radioactive wastes leaking out through them into the ground water, winter weather freezing said waste leaks, and in doing so expanding the size of the cracks, greatly increasing the possibility of a significant structural break down and collapse of a wall. The NRC will not deny this could happen, but instead says the odds are slim...problem is, a spent fuel fire would devastate an area of over 100 miles around Indian Point, and make the area within a 30 mile radius non in habitable for hundreds of years. The NRC finds the risk acceptable, as neither they, nor Entergy would be forced to absorb the financial costs of such a catastrophic incident. They would not have to make us as human beings WHOLE AGAIN. Further, I have spoken with a pilot...flying a Boeing 747 into a spent fuel pool is more than possible, contrary to the NRC's FALSE CLAIMS...what, they think we as citizens are so stupid that we are incapable of questioning their lies, finding out our own truths?

What about a core meltdown...the industry will tell us that TMI (Three Mile Island) shows that even a core meltdown is manageable...problem is, TMI was not even close to a worse case scenario incident. All these years later, as reactors reach their outer boundaries of usefulness, a worse case scenario would be a reactor core SHATTERING from the stresses of old age when said reactor was/is operating at full capacity. Various situational breakdowns could see this happen...even worse, in some modeling, such a reality becomes probable. Such a shattering of the brittle and fragile core would instantly see the hydrogen in the reactor explode into the atmosphere, the heat almost instantly also vaporizing any water in the reactor core itself, eliminating ALL CHANCES of cooling down the core. Ask the NRC...they refuse to RULE OUT a core steam and/or Hydrogen EXPLOSION that would SHATTER THE CONTAINMENT COMPLETELY...VAPORIZE IT LIKE THE WORLD TRADE CENTER.

Such a scenario leaves no time for EVACUATION PLANS...at least half of those within three miles of the site could be KILLED instantly. Sheltering in place for most would be THE ONLY OPTION, and for far too many, this option would only postpone their death, not deter nor stop it. Let's be generous here, let's mitigate the scope and magnitude of this NUCLEAR INCIDENT. Within the first five days, 80,000 are dead. Let's say for sake of argument that 500,000 will die of various cancers within ten years of the incident. NRC scientists, the nuclear industry assure us, that at most, we'll see maybe one million children born over a period of 50 years with significant birth defects. Mind you, we are mitigating the effects.

Now, what about the financial costs of such a nuclear incident? Energy as a company would not be affected, as Indian Point is held in a LLC owned by Entergy North East. Further, the Price Anderson Act limits their maximum liability to 9 Billion dollars. Now, to put that in perspective, the nuclear industry's own numbers estimate that a MAJOR incident at Indian Point would do somewhere between 139 and 500 Billion dollars in damage to the infrastructure. If you look at your insurance policy, you'll find you are NOT COVERED for any damage from a nuclear incident and its aftermath. So, here you are, you managed to live through the nuclear incident, somehow no one in your immediate family has died yet. Problem is, the area you call home is now a WASTELAND, radioactive contamination seeing the government ordering every one within a 30 square mile area permanently evacuated. You can take with you NOTHING, even the clothes on your backs exchanged for temporary uniforms at a evacuation station before you are taken by cattle cars to internment facilities built for those suffering from radioactive contamination...after all, they don't want your DAMAGED DNA contaminating the remaining healthy GENE POOL . You have no job, your home and belongings are gone, and you still owe a $400,000 mortgage, as that is not forgiven. Ingested radioactive particulates see you unable to work. Multiply this reality for say FIVE MILLION PEOPLE, which is only 1/4 of the population in and around the New York area. This is the GAMBLE the NRC and Entergy want to take with OUR LIVES...again, the Green Nuclear Butterfly says FUCK THAT SHIT. My apologies to those who find my use of swear words distasteful...I find the mentality of these FUCK TURDS unacceptable!

With all due respect to the NRC, to our government, to the Nuclear Industry, who do you think you are to ask us to take such a risk? To the rest of America, who do you think you are to ask us to take such a risk for your convenience? Who are any of you to ask 103 reactor communities to take such a risk just so that you and your family do not have to make a sacrifice in your own lives? The re licensing process is fixed, our government has decided they can throw us to the wolves in the name of a National Energy Policy, they believe the rest of America will guilt us as host communities into accepting our fate, that we will spend our time PRAYING that the NRC is right, and a major incident can be avoided. Problem is, some of us are no longer willing to have the NRC, George Bush gamble WITH OUR LIVES.

The Green Nuclear Butterfly believes this is FOLLY, and calls on the 20 Million people of New York to set a better path for ourselves. If the NRC refuses to order the shut down and decommissioning of the Indian Point Reactors, then we need to take the matter into our own hands. Five county governments have expressed their opposition to the plant...millions of citizens have voiced their opposition to the continued operation of the plant. Together, we have the power to take these plants, by force if necessary. It is doubtful that the NRC and the Entergy corporation are willing to go to war against citizens of the United States to keep these reactors running. Is president Bush prepared to declare Marshall Law, and begin mowing down innocent citizens to keep these aging relics operating? DOUBTFUL. How large of a police force do these counties have? Surely enough of a force to EVICT (if necessary) the entire staff at the reactors? How many citizens would march with local law enforcement to shut down these facilities? Does the NRC's force on force equations include dealing with a civil disobedience force of say half a million marchers? A protest march that DOES NOT STOP AT THE FENCE LINE?

Let's not kid ourselves...Governor Eliot Spitzer is a double faced liar...he says he wants the site shut down, yet check out his campaign contributions...he TOOK MONEY FROM ENTERGY, just as Sue Kelly did, just as Hillary Clinton did. These politicians may talk a good game, but in the final analogy, they CANNOT BE TRUSTED. Congressman John Hall...with his musician friends, he can call forth an army of millions to protest Indian Point, to MARCH ON INDIAN POINT....yet, WHERE IS HE? His wife is the real anti nuker in the family if truth is known...take a walk around Woodstock, speak to some of the store owners and verify this for yourselves. If we want Indian Point closed down, it will take DRASTIC CITIZEN ACTION, and not on the part of just a few, but on the part of the masses. We need a movement, we need a local government that is willing to ORDER OUR FORCES to take back the plant, to CLOSE IT DOWN. We need 200,000 people willing to CAMP OUT ON INDIAN POINT, we need 500 boats on the Hudson River.

Riverkeeper, IPSEC, and the rest of them...they want to play nice, want to protect their membership at the country club...yes, they want Indian Point closed down, but only if it can be done with Bake Sales and hand shakes...IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Green Nuclear Butterfly will work with anyone that has a true desire to SHUT DOWN INDIAN POINT, has a true desire to do whatever it takes to effect that reality. We call on John Hall to put his ACTIONS where his words are...he said he would do anything in his power to shut down the plant...fine, call up Pete, call up Bonnie Raitt, call up Jackson Browne, and ENERGIZE THE PEOPLE to march on Indian Point..you've known all along this is what it would take. 9/11 has proven that Indian Point is too grave of a risk to be tolerated, you know it MUST BE CLOSED. Come on Andrew Spano, use your executive power to mobilize a force of 1,000 uniformed police officers to close the plant down...give Entergy 24-48 hours to mothball the reactors and VACATE the facility.

I am sure that every employee currently not a part of management can be rehired as a part of the decommissioning team. Spent Fuel...it's the Federal Government WASTE...since they keep telling us it is so safe, lets give it back to them...we'll put said waste in dry cask units, load them on to trucks, and have them driven to the nearest Federal Laboratory where DOE can figure out what to do with it. That one decommissioning task alone will take ten years to accomplish. We are sure DOE will be amenable to such a plan...after all, they have been telling us for years that these waste streams ARE SAFE...well, if they are so safe, THEY CAN STORE THEM ON THEIR SITE, not at Indian Point.

In short, it is time for NEW YORKERS to TAKE CONTROL OF OUR OWN FUTURE, rather than let the NRC gamble with it through a wrong sighted relicensing process.

Where is American Idol In Taking A Stand?


Movements have begun, been supported and nurtured through music and the musicians that create it. American Idol has a weekly audience that routinely exceeds 20 million people. The show is aired in every single community being forced to host the 103 aging reactors that are the nuclear industry's fleet. Over 50 percent of America's population lives within 50 miles of a nuclear reactor...in short, if there is a major event at one of these decrepit, brittling, failing reactors, up to fifty percent of American Idol's audience base could be affected, could FACE DEATH.

So, with that reality, where is Simon speaking up against relicensing of these reactors, where is Paula calling citizens to action? American Idol has the ability to reach through the apathy and plug middle America back into this fight for our communities. There is such a thing as Social Responsibility, and American Idol needs to weigh in on this important issue...it is WRONG to force communities to play host to these relics from a error plagued industry, it is wrong to keep these reactors up and running, in effect playing Russian Roulette with the lives of fifty percent of America, fifty percent of American Idol's audience base. One free commercial spot on their show speaking up against the nuclear industry would force our government to wake up...question is, does Simon care about anything beyond his wallet where America is concerned? American Idol could invite Congressman John Hall onto the show for a cameo appearence to briefly speak on the issue...there is in short a natural tie in for such political activism.