As Stated Before, Relicensing FIX is In...NRC Rubber Stamping...The DOE PROOF

Many have already LABELED me a conspiracy NUT...oh well, I can live with that, as well as the other negative aspersions a few pro nuclear fruit loops seem intent on tossing my way...the growth of our readership tells the tale. I bring this issue up, as once again, I am bringing up the claim that host communities ARE NOT being given a fair and just re licensing process. The NRC, DOE, the nuclear industry, and perhaps others have colluded to Rubber Stamp every application for renewal that crosses the desk of someone at the NRC. I've asked before, where is and attorney to file a RICO CASE on behalf of the citizens?

NERAC, DOE and others starting back in the late 90's decided that nuclear should be given a rebirth, so a two pronged attack was born. or is that hatched? (NERO and GNEP) To move the goals forward, the Nuclear Power 2010 Initiative was born to puta new plan for a new generation of reactors in front of the NRC for approval on or before the year 2010...problem was, they had a SERIOUS PROBLEM. America's fleet of 103 aging reactors were a desolate, motley group with more problems among them than Paris Hilton, Brittany Spears and Michael Jackson put together. Leaking spent fuel pools, tritium leaks, strongium 90 releases, and for good measure, radioactive water leaking from the bottoms of the reactor cores.

The problem was a simple one...they needed, and still need these ticking time bombs to make the road to their vision of tommorow possible. Some would like to deny this, jump in at this point in the article and accuse me of being a heretic, point their fingers in my face and chant to any one that would listen...LIAR, LIAR, LIAR. Problem is, I am not lying...DOE says as much in their own documents. I've only selected part of the article to share here, but you can read the entire article for yourself. Then ask yourself the REAL QUESTION. If George W. Bush, the DOE, Idaho National Lab, NEI, NRC and the nuclear industry decided they NEEDED these aging reactors to create a Renaissance for Nuclear Power here in America, do you really think they would give ANY COMMUNITY a fair and honest relicensing process? I have deliberately highlighted some key phrases in RED that you should pay close attention to.

Nuclear renaissance At What Cost?

In fact, nuclear power plants already provide 20 percent of the electricity consumed in the United States. There are currently 104 nuclear power plants in 31 states. However, the Department of Energy forecasts that by 2020, the United States will almost double its electrical power consumption to more than 800,000 megawatts. To supply that power will require 1,300 to 1,900 new U.S. power plants, many of which could be nuclear. [figure: U.S. nuclear power plants]

But to expand the use of nuclear power, we must ensure that existing nuclear power plants continue to operate safely beyond their original design lifetime of 40 years, simplify reactor regulations without compromising reactor safety, and build new nuclear power plants that are simpler, cheaper, safer, and less prone to terrorist attack. In addition, we must dispose of spent nuclear fuel both safely and securely and prevent the diversion of weapons-grade nuclear material from existing power plants. Several Los Alamos programs address these issues.

Reactor Safety, Security, and Economics (Anyone else find it odd that public safety is NOT mentioned here?)

Los Alamos scientists first began to work with reactor fuel--specifically, uranium and plutonium--during the Manhattan Project because these elements also fuel nuclear weapons. Since then, Los Alamos studies of uranium and plutonium have contributed to both weapon and reactor science. [figure: Omega West Reactor]

One of the more recent reactor-related programs at Los Alamos has improved the safety of existing power reactors. In 1998, at the request of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Los Alamos scientists began studying a problem with the emergency core-cooling systems of nuclear power plants.

Normally, a nuclear reactor's core is cooled in a bath of water under high pressure; the core and bath are contained in a large vessel. A break or leak in the pipes that circulate water to and from the vessel or in the vessel itself could lead to excessive core heating. The emergency system cools the core if the regular cooling system fails.

Entergy's FALSE Green Advertisement Blitz in Vermont

This IS What The After Effects Of A Nuclear Incident At A Reactor Looks Like...Once Vibrant Communities Abandoned and DEAD.

Entergy is trying to flex it's corporate muscle in Vermont as they try to thrust re licensing down the throats of the citizens in and around Brattleboro. Using their financial might, they are trying to paint ugly, aging, antiquated and dangerous reactors such as Pilgrim, Vermont Yankee and Indian Point green.

Green companies, greed industries do not leak strontium-90 into our rivers and streams, do not continue to operate when they cannot locate leaks in their spent fuel rod storage pools. However, that has not stopped Entergy, NEI, NRC, DOE, Idaho National Labs and others in the nuclear industry from trying to steal the GREEN label for themselves. Below is a well written letter to the editor from Russell Weis, a stakeholder up in Vermont Yankee territory, and I post it, as our community is next, our community will begin seeing this same FALSE ADVERTISING as we move through our own re licensing nightmare with Entergy.

Letter to the Editors

I turned green from the ad on the back of Section A of your January 10 issue. It made me sick to see how Lousiana-based Entergy Corporation is trying to bamboozle Vermonters into supporting a twenty-year license extension for its aging Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

Don't believe the misinformation being spewed from Entergy headquarters like radiation from a nuclear waste site. Nuclear energy is NOT green and nuke plants are still not safe, clean or reliable. Nor is nuclear power cheap, when you figure in the billions in subsidies the industry has required.

And as for claims that it'll help solve our global warming crisis, the truth is that nuclear power is fossil-fuel intensive, from the mining of the uranium to the storage of the waste. Contact VPIRG (http://www.vpirg.org) and CAN (http://www.nukebusters.org) and find the facts out for yourself.

The best way to secure Vermont's energy future is by supporting truly renewable sources like wind, solar and biomass - viable, local technologies that don't harm people or the environment and that require no evacuation plans and no hazardous waste dumps.

Now is the time to contact your legislator. Don't allow a relicensure vote to occur before an independent safety assessment and a thorough citizen input process are conducted.

Let's not saddle our children and succeeding generations with a radioactive legacy. And let's not let biased corporations tell us what "green" is. Our Green Mountain State must make its motto: "True Green Energy, not Green with ENVY (Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee)."

Open Letter-Greenpeace, Where Are You in This Fight For Our Communities?

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

Connie Hogarth
Center for Social Action

Doug Moss
Publisher
E The Environmental Magazine

Scott Sklar
The Stella Group, Ltd.

David Bedell
Secretary
Fairfield County CT Green Party

Richard Duffee
CT Representative
US Green Party International Committee

Bruce K. Gagnon
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power

Paul H. Gavin, PhD, retired
pgavin@adelphia.net

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

Marilyn Elie
Westchester Citizens Awareness Network

Priscilla Feral
President
Friends of Animals
777 Post Road
Darien, CT 06820

CC List

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

Strontium-90 Fish Fry Anyone? Entergy's Indian Point Reactors will Kill Us Yet!

Please Don't Put Us In The HUDSON RIVER...We Don't Want to Be NUCLEAR GREEN!

First, we get the report from the NRC on the Tooth fairy connection to Strontium-90...for those of you that are not familiar with this, it seems that children around Nuclear Power Plants are being found with strontium-90 in their teeth. NRC's response as usual, was to claim it was NOT their licensees, that any such cases could ONLY BE BLAMED on fallout from Nuclear Bomb testing, or Chernobyl. 29 year half life, it's a STRETCH, but then that is what the NRC always counts on...OH, that and using 9/11 as excuse for denying stakeholders the right to know just what our real risk, is living in the shadow of a failing nuclear reactor, LET ALONE TWO as we have here at Indian Point.

Then The Journal News informed us that Strontium-90 had in fact been found at and around Indian Point, but we had NOTHING to fear from this cancer causing agent, as the levels were VERY LOW. You can put that assurance in your money box right next to the one that reasons any elevated levels of radioactivity leeching into the Hudson are SAFE because of the river is diluting the materials...EXCUSE ME?

WHOOPS....hold the phone folks. Breaking news was yet to come when we found out that the Strontium-90 levels were 7 times higher than Entergy originally stated. Not twice as high, not three times as high, but SEVEN. Now, this is or should be alarming news, but GOD FORBID NRC ORDER AN EMERGENCY SHUT DOWN OF THE FACILITY until they (Entergy) can come into compliance and stop the leak in the fuel pools...No, that would not be practical now would it? Have to keep that cash cow running, screw public health and the host community, this is ABOUT MONEY. Instead, we were told it was the labs fault, and that there could be a problem with the elevated tests! BUT OF COURSE. NRC is letting Entergy wait till the spring rains for the next tests...after all, we want those wells properly WASHED OUT NOW, don't we?

Fear not folks, Congressman John Hall, Governor Eliot Spitzer and Maurice Hinchey are just waiting to get all their ducks in a row on Indian Point, want to make sure the timing is right before they submit another bill to be killed in Sub Committee. Meanwhile, let's have a Strontium 90 Fish Fry with the latest fish caught and tested down river from Indian Point. YES, they found Strontium 90 in 25 percent of the samples caught DOWN RIVER from the decrepit leaking, ready to blow nuclear reactors at the Indian Point site...One would think such news would have seen our fearless government officials calling a hastily organized PRESS CONFERENCE, BUT NO! They must have contacted the NRC and felt safe in the assurances that the test results were probably WHACKED...the solution...let's CATCH MORE FISH. BRILLIANT, absolutely brilliant.

Maybe if a few of us start crapping out green glowing radioactive poop someone will take this whole thing seriously? Thank God we have Greg Clary trying to keep Entergy Honest...more than we can say for ANDY SPANO.

Hudson River fish found to contain radioactive isotope
By GREG CLARY

BUCHANAN - In what could be the region's next environmental controversy or simply just a laboratory mistake, fish in the Hudson River have been found to contain traces of strontium 90.

The radioactive isotope was discovered leaking almost a year ago at the Indian Point nuclear plants, and tests on 12 fish show four with detectible amounts, according to a memo obtained by The Journal News.

The tests were conducted for Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns the plants, after researchers pulled the fish from the river during the summer - six from the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge area, and the rest from around Indian Point.

"Certainly it's of concern that the strontium was found in 25 percent of the sampling," said C.J. Miller, spokeswoman for Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef. "The origin of that is something that we need to determine. If indeed it is coming from the plant itself, then that needs to be remedied immediately."

The company has spent millions to find and stop the leaks, but so far have only been able to capture much of the radiated water without successfully plugging the sources.

No other radioactive isotopes were found in the fish, federal regulators said.

Three of the upriver fish had strontium levels ranging as high as 24.5 picocuries per kilogram, while one taken from near the plant showed 18.8 picocuries per kilogram, according to results first released late last week.

Picocuries measure radioactivity level in the tiniest amounts, and though the Nuclear Regulatory Commission doesn't set safe minimums for fish, Westchester County officials said the mean detectable level is 10 picocuries per kilogram.

Strontium has a half-life of nearly 29 years and was banned in the United States after weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s left large amounts in the atmosphere.

Health officials warned at the time that it competed with calcium in human bodies, especially in growing children, and could affect bone development.

Rod Adams, Nuclear Entrepreneur Contests Green Nuclear Butterfly Views

This NEW GENERATION Nuclear Reactor KILLED FOUR PEOPLE.

Nuclear Entrepreneur Rod Adams weighs in...now, I at least give Rod Adams credit for identifying himself. I did not post his comment in the comments section for two reasons.

1. I was not interested in his remarks at end of comments that became a drum beating commercial for the pro-nuke forces, and the industry over seeing them. You can read enough of that on his blog. But then, it only makes sense that a man, and his company, Adams Atomic Engines, Inc hoping to make millions in nuclear power is going to tout the supposed benefits of an industry he is involved in, and wants to do business with. This is especially true when said gentleman and his cohorts stand to lose $100's of thousands in their own investment seed money if the Nuclear Power 2010 juggernaut gets side tracked or derailed...interesting that this former Navy man had the intuitive sense to JUMP IN when he did...especially considering the fact that the NEI's top gun is a former Navy Admiral himself.

2. Most people don't see/read the comments, so thought I would post the meat of Rod Adams remarks right out on the front page...my commentary on his words will be in red. First John Wheeler, now Rod Adams...both of whom publish pro-nuke news podcasts...tell you, someone is watching us here on the Green Nuclear Butterfly, so suppose in that we should feel honored!

Rod Adams has left a new comment on your post.

Your analogy between a nuclear reactor and a steam boiler has a few missing pieces. I am guessing here that Rod Adams missed the part of my post that said a nuclear reactor was a very large boiler on steroids. Obviously, not every internal part of the beast was detailed, as I was making an analogy.

1. The portion of most nuclear power plants that most resembles the "boiler" component of a fossil fuel plant is a steam generator. That is the place where the actual stresses of steam formation take place in a pressurized water reactor. The industry recognizes that these components have a limited lifetime, that is why almost all of the older plants have replaced their steam generators with new ones in order to extend the plant life. These are not patched up, rusty monoliths like you describe, they are completely new (and improved) components that have been subjected to rigorous testing and inspection. Adam doth protest too much. Perhaps he would like to refute the fact that many nuclear reactors, if not all of them have had significant weld repairs inside the reactors themselves? Perhaps he would like to refute the fact that some of this welding is so dangerous that they cannot even send humans in to do said welding...they instead send in fuzzy science robotic welders, and hope for the best.

2. Inspection, welding and repair work are certainly necessary in order to keep nuclear powered steam plants operating - the "balance of plant" portion of a nuclear power plant is just a steam plant and needs the same care and attention as any other steam plant. That is the nature of power generation - it takes large systems full of energetic fluid that works to weaken the system boundaries. Just a STEAM PLANT...Rod Adams own words folks...tell me here Mr. Adams, just a steam plant like the one in Japan's nuclear reactor that KILLED FOUR WORKERS in 2004? That one, in the supposedly safe, secure and vital energy industry you love?

Four dead in Japanese nuclear plant accident

A non-radioactive steam leak killed four people and injured seven in the worst accident at a Japanese nuclear power plant ever. Another worker was reportedly in a critical condition.

No radiation was involved in yesterday's leak and there was no need to evacuate the area around the plant in Mihama, a city 320 kilometres west of Tokyo, officials said.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed to launch a thorough investigation into the accident, which follows a string of safety problems and attempted cover-ups at nuclear power plants in Japan.

Yesterday's accident was caused by a lack of cooling water in the reactor's turbine, said Kimihito Kawabata, a spokesman for plant operator Kansai Electric Power. The steam was believed to be about 270 degrees.

Four workers died after suffering severe burns, said Takanori Amimoto, at the nearby Fukui prefecture government office. He did not know how serious were the conditions of those who were injured.

Please Sign Our Petition To Shut Down Indian Point

A Chernobyl Reality...Don't Believe Industry Lies.

Just a reminder, we need you to sign our petition to CLOSE INDIAN POINT, and we need you to have your friends and family sign it as well. We want to present the signatures of 50,000 Americans to Congressman John Hall demanding that he open congressional investigations into the SCAM being run on host communities who are being forced to play host to Entergy's aging and unsafe nuclear reactors (Pilgrim, Indian Point, Vermont Yankee). You can sign our petition here.

The Power of A Butterfly In Shutting Down Indian Point

Cannot begin to tell you how many times so far people have asked...why the Green Butterfly as the symbol for your Green Nuclear Butterfly. Well, the flap of butterfly wings in Brazil could actually trigger/set off a storm in Texas. The "Butterfly theory" postulates that over time that the power released from the flapping of butterfly wings will become amplified, and that power will eventually affect weather patterns thousands of miles away.

The Green Nuclear Butterfly is here flapping our wings, and as time grows imagine the movement that shall rise from first one, then a handful, and eventually millions of ANTI NUKES joining forces as one both here in America, and around the Globe...a movement to affect the status quo. We have writers on board from four states where there used to be only one. We have readers from all over the the United States, as far west as California, and we have readers in Australia. Let our wings continue to beat.