Utne Reader Cover: The Nuclear Option

All-- does not seem to be available (for free) on-line -- By Jason Mark (the piece first appeared in Earth Island Journal and is available on-line for a fee)

My new copy of the Utne Reader came in the snail mail today -- The piece is an interesting survey of history and the current juxtaposition of climate crisis truth and rhetoric -- though unfortunately Jason missed the mark -- he himself makes the point that nuclear is impotent as a real climate crisis remedy -- but then throws the whole discussion into the need to remake society and THAT will make the "nuclear option moot."

I bring this out because I think it is exactly that we must go INTO the climate debate and agree that the climate crisis is immediate and top priority and claim our anti-nuclear activism as a form of fighting the climate crisis.

A young activist I work with recently said "yeah, but nuclear power is not a root cause of the climate crisis" -- I replied "YES IT IS! If the federal government had not squandered 70% of all energy R & D $$$ on nuclear power in the second half of the 20th century -- and had instead supported the growth and development of solar energy instead -- WE WOULD NOT BE IN THE CLIMATE CRISIS!"

This made sense...Anyway, nice that NIRS and many allies (Jim Riccio, Betsy Taylor, Geoff Fettus, Matt Reitman) are liberally quoted in the piece -- and VERY nice that Utne Reader adds a side-bar interview with Bill McKibben basically saying that nuclear is irrelevant to addressing the climate crisis.

Ok, if you read this far I have to add one more thought -- folks have been acting like a democratic Congress was going to go against nuclear energy all by itself. I do believe it is possible for us to get there-- but please look back at history to see that the first generation of reactors were built under the deft leadership of people like John Dingell and Bennett Johnston (good democrats!) ... ANY change is going to come because we build a movement strong enough to demand it... and that is another reason we have to make the climate crisis movement ours too!

Mary Olson

NIRS Southeast

Southeast Convergence for Climate Action ~ Aug 8 - 14

The Southeast Convergence for Climate Action, near Asheville, North Carolina, will bring together activists across the region who are fighting mountaintop removal mining and coal and nuclear power plants.

Mountaintop removal coal mining is currently devastating the ecologically diverse southern Appalachian Mountains. The coal companies have literally flattened hundreds of square miles of mountains, destroyed thousands of miles of our life giving streams, and terrorized countless communities in the process. Meanwhile southern utility companies are planning a blitzkrieg of new dirty coal plants, despite our regions already dismal air quality. To add insult to injury these same utility companies are using climate change as a justification for building a new fleet of dangerous nuclear reactors.

With extreme weather, massive species extinctions, and melting ice caps becoming a more urgent and dire reality each day, it is high time for us to come together to take direct action against the root causes of climate change. This summer, environmental and social justice groups throughout the Southeast will come together for the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action, a gathering to learn and take collective action against climate Change.

The convergence will consist of a week of information and skill-based workshops, strategy sessions, and direct action aimed at building a no-compromise climate justice movement. With some of the Big Green environmental groups selling out to the nuclear and "clean" coal industries, and large, corporate-led climate initiatives designed to preempt any meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions being pushed in DC, grassroots groups need to join forces with affected communities to fight the fossil fuel empire and create truly sustainable, community-based solutions outside of the capitalist system.

The Convergence for Climate Action will be a space to gain necessary skills for fighting climate change in your region; to network with a broad range of environmental and social justice activists; to engage in intensive strategy sessions aimed at mapping out effective approaches to fighting climate change on a regional level; to confront oppression in our organizing; and to take action.

The Convergence for Climate action aims to promote a just, rapid transition away from fossil fuels; promote environmental justice by supporting communities that are fighting dirty energy developments in their backyards; encourage direct action as a means for challenging dirty energy and empowering the movement to stop climate change, and to increase networking and strategizing amongst the diverse social justice and environmental movements fighting climate change and the energy industry.

Workshops will include Direct Action 101, Climbing Trainings, Strategic Action Planning, Anti-oppression, Sustainable living skills, Debunking False Solutions, Blockades, Media, and much more. The convergence will culminate in a coordinated day of direct action against fossil fuel infrastructure projects.

Please join us for this exciting week of learning, networking, fun, and action. Due to requests of our hosts we ask that you please pre-register for the convergence. We'll see you in August.

www.climateconvergence.org
risingtide@mountainrebel.net
828-675-1792

Wang Chung Monkey Poop and Indian Point Noogies

Let's have LESS CUTE, and more serious BALL BUSTING talk about protests and civil disobedience...you are CUTE Manna, but cute rots the brain while accomplishing little of serious merit.

OH MY FREAKING GAWD...it's Monday night, and I am just now getting around to putting my pen to work on Friday's BIG EVENT that was not so BIG, but which Clearwater will swear was the proverbial TIPPING POINT in closing down Indian Point...yeah, for sure and a big whatever there Manna...curious here....were you ever a member of the Glee/Pep Club? OK, never mind and scratch that.

First big startling news...Andrew Spano made NO APPEARANCE at this monumental Round Table discussion. In short, the man with a plan, Mr. Robo Caller himself is pinning his hopes on jumping through the NRC's LEGAL HOOPS, and it is NOT GOING TO WORK. Andy, you really need to educate yourself on the NRC/DOE/GNEP Nuclear 2010 plan...call me, we'll do lunch at my house and I'll fill you in on what you are too important to bother learning.

Congressman John Hall was at Manna/Clearwater's Round Table discussion, and looking anything but Congressional...he even borrowed a line from the campaign trail used by another Congressman...get a new writer there John! Now supposed, John Hall had a private meeting in his Washington office with one Commissioner Kline from the NRC, and said commissioner let it be known that the NRC has no intention whatsoever of denying Indian Point a license for both their reactors on the Hudson...curious John Hall, have you heard of the word collusion, and are you by chance thinking RICO LAW SUIT? He trotted out Maurice Hinchey's tired legislation that he introduced in Congress as his own a few weeks ago, and told us it was going to pass...no, your bill will not pass Congressman John Hall, and it is sad to see you more concerned with getting re-elected than doing your job...so nice too to see you stayed around for the evening session when REAL CITIZENS would be there! (Only kidding folks, he bailed leaving behind a harried staffer as he headed into New York City for and evening fund raising party.)

The punching bag of the day award has to go to Barbara Youngberg with the New York DEC...but then, hardly a wonder since she freely admitted that DEC could take Entergy into court on the leaks, but instead felt they could get more accomplished working with/cooperating with the company...ARE YOU NUTS? The audience was/is not happy, and let her know it, as did more than a few voices on the panel including self important Mark Jacobs who loves to hear himself wax poetic, Lisa Rainwater who did a very good job of looking hot and sultry, but seemed lacking of substance when the time counted...I was though impressed with Susan Shapiro who a couple of times serious nailed the members of the regulatory up on stage.

BOTTOM LINE...the leaks, and thus this round table DO NOT MATTER...you see, if you bother following the NRC's game plan, the spent fuel pools, and thus the leaks are NOT UP FOR DISCUSSION in the license renewal application, amount to an issue we cannot even bring up.

SO...when can we expect, Clearwater, Riverkeeper, IPSEC and the various local governments to get a CLUE, and begin taking REAL STEPS to close down Indian Point? We have already learned that Governor Elliot Spitzer is so full of shit his eyes are brown, and that he intends to SELL US OUT...read the fine print.

1) He took money more than once from an ENTERGY PAC, and

2) has a caveat in his rhetoric that amounts to giving ENTERGY a green light to relicense...he expects that ANTI INDIAN POINT Folks to FIRST REPLACE the power from Indian Point...uhhhh....excuse me Mr. Elliot, if that was/is your plan, new alternatives should have been being introduced YEARS AGO...bottom line Governor...you are an asshole and a hypocrite, and Indian Point, the risk it poses to our community are simply too GREAT, and the reactors have to be closed, even if you have to order our National Guard to do so...GET IT THERE SPITZER BOY? DOE, NRC and ENTERGY are not going to let these reactors go without a fight, and it might take ARMED FORCES ordered onto the sight to bring about the closing of these two failing plants, so get your pen ready.

Some interesting factoids on Indian Point:

1. It sits atop FRACTURED Bedrock.

2. The various regulatory agencies in charge of Indian Point allow it to LEGALLY dump over 10 MILLION gallons of radioactively contaminated water into the Hudson each year...oh, and the air as well, lets not forget the air.

3. We have an invisible underground radioative Plumb at Indian Point...isn't that special?

4. Indian Points efforts to stop the leaks in the spent fuel pools are EXPERIMENTAL at best, and so far do not seem to be working.

5. All regulatory agencies involved at Indian Point admitted that none of the testing at these failing reactors is EXTENSIVE, nor adequate, but justified it by saying Entergy has assured them they CANNOT AFFORD more testing....uhhhh....last I looked, last year saw record profits for ENTERGY, so how can they not afford adequate testing?

I give Manna and Clearwater a passing grade for their effort. I give IPSEC, Riverkeeper and Clearwater FAILING GRADES for wasting a lot of effort and money hosting an even on LEAKS that are not even eligible for inclusion in NRC's review of the the relicense renewal application. Sorry guys, but the time has come to have REAL DISCUSSION about what it will take to CLOSE DOWN THE REACTORS, and you had best include protests, sit ins and civil disobedience on that discussion list when you are finally ready to have talks about CLOSURE, instead of LEAKS.

ROUTINE RADIOACTIVE RELEASES FROM NUCLEAR REACTORS - IT DOESN’T TAKE AN ACCIDENT

What you are not supposed to know:

1 ~ It doesn’t take an accident for a nuclear power plant to release radioactivity into our air, water and soil. All it takes is the plant’s everyday routine operation, and federal regulations permit these radioactive releases.

2 ~ Radioactivity is measured in "curies." A large medical center, with as many as 1000 laboratories in which radioactive materials are used, may have a combined inventory of only about two curies. In contrast, an average operating nuclear power reactor will have approximately 16 billion curies in its reactor core. This is the equivalent long-lived radioactivity of at least 1,000 Hiroshima bombs.

3 ~ A reactor’s fuel rods, pipes, tanks and valves can leak. Mechanical failure and human error can also cause leaks. As a nuclear plant ages, so does its equipment - and leaks generally increase.

4 ~ Some contaminated water is intentionally removed from the reactor vessel to reduce the amount of the radioactive and corrosive chemicals that damage valves and pipes. The water is filtered and then either recycled back into the cooling system or released into the environment.

5 ~ A typical 1000-megawatt pressurized-water reactor (with a cooling tower) takes in 20,000 gallons of river, lake or ocean water per minute for cooling, circulates it through a 50-mile maze of pipes, returns 5,000 gallons per minute to the same body of water, and releases the remainder to the atmosphere as vapor. A 1000-megawatt reactor without a cooling tower takes in even more water--as much as one-half million gallons per minute. The discharge water is contaminated with radioactive elements in amounts that are not precisely known or knowable, but are biologically active.

6 ~ Some radioactive fission gases, stripped from the reactor cooling water, are contained in decay tanks for days before being released into the atmosphere through filtered rooftop vents. Some gases leak into the power plant buildings’ interiors and are released during periodic "purges" and "ventings." These airborne gases contaminate not only the air, but also soil and water.

7 ~ Radioactive releases from a nuclear power reactor’s routine operation often are not fully detected or reported. Accidental releases may not be completely verified or documented.

8 ~ Accurate, economically-feasible filtering and monitoring technologies do not exist for some of the major reactor by-products, such as radioactive hydrogen (tritium) and noble gases, such as krypton and xenon. Some liquids and gases are retained in tanks so that the shorter-lived radioactive materials can break down before the batch is released to the environment.

9 ~ Government regulations allow radioactive water to be released to the environment containing "permissible" levels of contamination. Permissible does not mean safe. Detectors at reactors are set to allow contaminated water to be released, unfiltered, if below "permissible" legal levels.

10 ~ The Nuclear Regulatory Commission relies upon self-reporting and computer modeling from reactor operators to track radioactive releases and their projected dispersion. A significant portion of the environmental monitoring data is extrapolated – virtual, not real.

11 ~ Accurate accounting of all radioactive wastes released to the air, water and soil from the entire reactor fuel production system is simply not available. The system includes uranium mines and mills, chemical conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication plants, nuclear power reactors, and radioactive waste storage pools, casks, and trenches.

12 ~ Increasing economic pressures to reduce costs, due to the deregulation of the electric power industry, could further reduce the already unreliable monitoring and reporting of radioactive releases. Deferred maintenance can increase the radioactivity released - and the risks.

13 ~ Many of the reactor’s radioactive by-products continue giving off radioactive particles and rays for enormously long periods – described in terms of "half-lives." A radioactive material gives off hazardous radiation for at least ten half-lives. One of the radioactive isotopes of iodine (iodine- 129) has a half-life of 16 million years; technetium-99 = 211,000 years; and plutonium-239 = 24,000 years. Xenon-135, a noble gas, decays into cesium-135, an isotope with a 2.3 million-year half-life.

14 ~ It is scientifically established that low-level radiation damages tissues, cells, DNA and other vital molecules – causing programmed cell death (apoptosis), genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects, and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders.

THIS INFORMATION SHEET IS INTENDED FOR REPRINTING AND, THEREFORE, IS NOT COPYRIGHTED

Nuclear Information and Resource Service
6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 340
Takoma Park, MD 20912
301 270 6477; 301 270 4291
nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org

What The Nuclear Industry Does Not Want You To Know

ROUTINE RADIOACTIVE RELEASES FROM NUCLEAR REACTORS - IT DOESN’T TAKE AN ACCIDENT

What you are not supposed to know:

1. It doesn’t take an accident for a nuclear power plant to release radioactivity into our air, water and soil. All it takes is the plant’s everyday routine operation, and federal regulations permit these radioactive releases.

2. Radioactivity is measured in "curies." A large medical center, with as many as 1000 laboratories in which radioactive materials are used, may have a combined inventory of only about two curies. In contrast, an average operating nuclear power reactor will have approximately 16 billion curies in its reactor core. This is the equivalent long-lived radioactivity of at least 1,000 Hiroshima bombs.

3. A reactor’s fuel rods, pipes, tanks and valves can leak. Mechanical failure and human error can also cause leaks. As a nuclear plant ages, so does its equipment - and leaks generally increase.

4. Some contaminated water is intentionally removed from the reactor vessel to reduce the amount of the radioactive and corrosive chemicals that damage valves and pipes. The water is filtered and then either recycled back into the cooling system or released into the environment

5. A typical 1000-megawatt pressurized-water reactor (with a cooling tower) takes in 20,000 gallons of river, lake or ocean water per minute for cooling, circulates it through a 50-mile maze of pipes, returns 5,000 gallons per minute to the same body of water, and releases the remainder to the atmosphere as vapor. A 1000-megawatt reactor without a cooling tower takes in even more water--as much as one-half million gallons per minute. The discharge water is contaminated with radioactive elements in amounts that are not precisely known or knowable, but are biologically active.

6. Some radioactive fission gases, stripped from the reactor cooling water, are contained in decay tanks for days before being released into the atmosphere through filtered rooftop vents. Some gases leak into the power plant buildings’ interiors and are released during periodic "purges" and "ventings." These airborne gases contaminate not only the air, but also soil and water.

7. Radioactive releases from a nuclear power reactor’s routine operation often are not fully detected or reported. Accidental releases may not be completely verified or documented.

8. Accurate, economically-feasible filtering and monitoring technologies do not exist for some of the major reactor by-products, such as radioactive hydrogen (tritium) and noble gases, such as krypton and xenon. Some liquids and gases are retained in tanks so that the shorter-lived radioactive materials can break down before the batch is released to the environment.

9. Government regulations allow radioactive water to be released to the environment containing "permissible" levels of contamination. Permissible does not mean safe. Detectors at reactors are set to allow contaminated water to be released, unfiltered, if below "permissible" legal levels.

10. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission relies upon self-reporting and computer modeling from reactor operators to track radioactive releases and their projected dispersion. A significant portion of the environmental monitoring data is extrapolated – virtual, not real.

11. Accurate accounting of all radioactive wastes released to the air, water and soil from the entire reactor fuel production system is simply not available. The system includes uranium mines and mills, chemical conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication plants, nuclear power reactors, and radioactive waste storage pools, casks, and trenches.

12. Increasing economic pressures to reduce costs, due to the deregulation of the electric power industry, could further reduce the already unreliable monitoring and reporting of radioactive releases. Deferred maintenance can increase the radioactivity released - and the risks.

13. Many of the reactor’s radioactive by-products continue giving off radioactive particles and rays for enormously long periods – described in terms of "half-lives." A radioactive material gives off hazardous radiation for at least ten half-lives. One of the radioactive isotopes of iodine (iodine- 129) has a half-life of 16 million years; technetium-99 = 211,000 years; and plutonium-239 = 24,000 years. Xenon-135, a noble gas, decays into cesium-135, an isotope with a 2.3 million-year half-life.

14. It is scientifically established that low-level radiation damages tissues, cells, DNA and other vital molecules – causing programmed cell death (apoptosis), genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects, and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders.

THIS INFORMATION SHEET IS INTENDED FOR REPRINTING AND, THEREFORE, IS NOT COPYRIGHTED

Nuclear Information and Resource Service
6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 340, Takoma Park, MD 20912
301 270 6477; 301 270 4291
nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org

Weld Concerns See NRC Issuing RED ALERT WARNING to Four Reactors

Could Your Community Be The Next Hiroshima?

Entergy, the Nuclear Industry and NRC don't really want us to know the reality...all of the old, aging fleet of reactors are held together with a never ending patchwork of welds and patches. Green Nuclear Butterfly raised this issue in a previous article. Our attempts to raise the alarm were, for the most part met with deaf ears, and denials from the long ball hitters in the Nuclear Industry who will use any trick in the book to save their dilapidated fleet of reactors.

Well, the cat is OUT OF THE BAG, though the industry is already attempting to mitigate the news. Four North Eastern Reactors have received ALERTS after a nuclear reactor in Monticello, Minn. shut itself down. The CULPRIT...WELDS. Yes, the very welds that we have raised serious concerns about, the welds that have been used to make repairs deep in the bowels of the reactor itself.

"The Monticello plant has been shut down since Jan. 10 when welds failed that held in place a 35,000-pound box containing valves that control steam pressure. No radiation was released, officials said."

As communities are raped and plundered through a re licensing process that can only be called RUBBER STAMPING, these relics of an era long gone are plunging towards the cataclysmic MELTDOWN that we are told can never happen. How big was this "incident" in Monticello you ask? We are talking a 17 TON TOOL BOX CRASHING DOWN on the very pipe that carries radioactive STEAM! In short, only the God's above allowed us once again to dodge the bullet of another Chernobyl, though company officials are trying DESPERATELY to mitigate the scare...but of course. Of IMPORTANT NOTE HERE, Monticello just two months ago received their NRC RUBBER STAMP to continue operations for another 20 years. Even the spokesperson for the plant admitted, "I don't want to sugarcoat it; this was a significant problem," What this writer finds MOST DISTURBING though was the next quote shared here, "I think we have our arms around what caused it." HE THINKS? These reactors are now being operated on guesses? The rubber stamping of license renewals needs to stop, the WEAKENING of the rules has to stop...you can only cut corners so much, and for so long before one or more communities here in America become a radioactive WASTELAND.

This disturbing and stressing news is of immense importance to those of us who live in the epicenter of death that is Indian Point...you see, Entergy's entire fleet of reactors are old, antiquated and breaking down...more IMPORTANTLY, three of the reactors who have received the ALERT belong to Entergy's fleet! The reactors that are involved in this RED ALERT are Pilgrim, Vermont Yankee, Oyster Creek, and Nine Mile Point, another dangerous facility RIGHT HERE IN NEW YORK. Perhaps because Entergy plans to submit its application for license Renewal in just over one month, NRC threw them a bone in leaving Indian Point off the Red Alert list?

The only person who seems to have a real clue is George Crocker, executive director of the North American Water Office who was quoted, "Market forces that push nuclear plants to the limit, coupled with aging issues, coupled with the lack of understanding about how these components and materials perform over time as they're subjected thermally and radiologically-- all of these factors are increasing the likelihood that a really unforgiving event will occur..."

This event makes Green Nuclear Butterfly's question all the more important,"Where is Green Peace?" For that matter, where is NIRS, where is the Sierra Club, where are the national and international groups in this, our hour of need?