Friday, February 15, 2013

Green Party of CT - Rock The Reactors contact 50 miles radius editors



Dear editors,

It has become apparent from the most recent pump failure and emergency shutdown at the Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan NY that there is a pressing need to decommission the nuclear power plants closest to densely populated areas.

Rock The Reactors and the Green Party of Connecticut have identified 5 nuclear power plants in the United States top of the list for putting the public at greatest risk, not only in case of catastrophic accident, but also from long term exposure to chronic mishaps, leaks and daily venting of radioactivity.

The reactors with the most neighbors within a radius of 50 miles are:*

Indian Point, near Buchanan, N.Y., 41 miles upriver from the center of New York City, with 17.2 million people within 50 miles.
San Onofre, near San Clemente, Calif., and 45 miles from San Diego, 8.5 million.
Limerick, near Limerick, Pa., and 28 miles from Philadelphia, 8.0 million.
Dresden, near Morris, Ill., and 43 miles from Chicago, 7.3 million.
Peach Bottom, near Delta, Pa., and 36 miles from Baltimore, 5.5 million.
Hope Creek and Salem, both near Hancocks Bridge, N.J., and 43 miles from Philadelphia, 5.5 million.

*msnbc.com

The financial firm UBS has recommended to Entergy, owners of the Indian Point Energy Center, that they need to shut down their smaller nuclear power plant in Brattleboro VT to remain financially soluble. This is a Mark 1 reactor, the same design as built by General Electric in Fukushima, Japan. The state of Vermont has accused Entergy of not having sufficient funds in escrow, as required by law, to decommission Vermont Yankee. A similar situation may exist for Indian Point according to our sources.

Remy Chevalier, director of Rock The Reactors, founded in 2006 to enlist the participation of the arts and fashion community in the fight to shut down Indian Point, feels residents of Fairfield County, who live and work in the Indian Point 50-mile evacuation zone, should have a say in their future.

Riverkeeper and other local environmental organizations are in the courts fighting to prevent the NRC from awarding Indian Point a renewed operating license which would allow Indian Point to continue playing Russian Roulette with the lives of 20 million people for another 20 to 40 years, or until an accident permanently shuts down the plant.

Riverkeeper has demonstrated that Indian Point only provides a small portion of electricity to New York City and New York's 19th district, comprising Westchester, Orange, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties. Electricity today can easily be made up through conservation, improved technologies like LEDs, and alternative energy generation like solar or wind.

Rock The Reactors and the Green Party of Connecticut ask that our local representatives in Fairfield County raise their voices in opposition to the relicensing of the Indian Point nuclear power plant in solidarity with our neighbors in New York.

Contact:

Remy Chevalier
Green Party state senate candidate
Environmental Library Fund
25 Newtown Turnpike
Weston CT 06883
203-227-2065
remyc@prodigy.net

David Bedell
Green Party state representative candidate
Secretary, Fairfield County Green Party
116 New Norwalk Road
New Canaan, CT  06840
203-581-3193