75% US Nuclear Plants Leaking Toxic Tritium Radiation Into Drinking Water Supply

Helen Caldicott & Beyond Nuclear Join Forces!

NEWS FROM BEYOND NUCLEAR

Contact:
Linda Gunter, Beyond Nuclear
301.455.5655

Beyond Nuclear and Nuclear Policy Research Institute Combine to Challenge Nuclear Power and Weapons

TAKOMA PARK, MD - The incoming board and staff of Beyond Nuclear are extremely pleased to announce that Beyond Nuclear will now pursue its mission under the auspices of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute (NPRI).

NPRI was established by Dr. Helen Caldicott, a renowned physician who has devoted the last 35 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. NPRI is a tax-exempt and tax-deductible organization.

Beyond Nuclear is a new initiative that aims to educate wider audiences about the connection between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear works to promote positive, solutions-focused messages and to provide guides to safer alternatives to these dangerous technologies. Beyond Nuclear was previously undertaken through Nuclear Information and Resource Service.

Beyond Nuclear and NPRI share a synergistic vision: to communicate the grave threats to health, environment and safety implicit in the complexities of the nuclear industry. To that end, Beyond Nuclear will focus its work on the public and the media using dynamic campaigns and its cadre of expert spokespeople to create a consistent high-profile presence for these issues. It will also serve as a resource with which to build and expand the movement for a world beyond nuclear.

Our staff - Paul Gunter, Kevin Kamps, Cindy Folkers and Linda Gunter - has comprehensive expertise in all aspects of nuclear power. In addition, Beyond Nuclear will partner with national and international specialists who can offer information and insight on nuclear weapons and sustainable energy. These specialists will be listed on our Web site (www.beyondnuclear.org).

In announcing the incorporation of Beyond Nuclear into NPRI, Dr. Caldicott said: "I am confident that the distinguished new staff and new board of the Institute will be effective stewards of NPRI. I will continue to be a keen supporter of NPRI for long into the future. Above all, I look forward to the day when we can all celebrate the termination of both the nuclear power and nuclear weapons industries." Dr. Caldicott will not be involved in the daily operation of NPRI although she will remain its founding president.

Collectively, the Beyond Nuclear Board and Staff have all been actively involved in the anti-nuclear movement for many decades.

The founding Board of Beyond Nuclear at NPRI Robert Backus, Esq: Manchester, NH Kay Drey: St. Louis, MO; anti-nuclear activist Lou Friedman: Canton, CT; international consultant; environment and peace Karl Grossman: Sag Harbor, NY; professor and journalist Judith Johnsrud, Ph.D.: State College, PA; radiation and nuclear power specialist

The staff of Beyond Nuclear at NPRI Cindy Folkers; Linda Gunter; Paul Gunter; Kevin Kamps.

The Beyond Nuclear Launch Partners Ed Asner (Honorary Chairman), Ed Begley, Christie Brinkley, Helen Caldicott, Susan Clark, David Cortright, James Cromwell and Joan MacIntosh, Julie Enszer, Judi and Lou Friedman, Keith Gunter, Friedrike Merck, John McEnroe, Susan Sarandon, Marilyn and Steven Strong, Jessica Wilbanks, Gretchen Wyler (1932-2007).

Beyond Nuclear is in transition and will shortly have new offices. In the meantime, if you wish to reach us please call: 301.455.5655 or email: beyondnuclear@gmail.com. We will forward our permanent contact information shortly. The temporary Beyond Nuclear Web site can be found at www.beyondnuclear.org, soon to be replaced by a comprehensive permanent Web site. Please check back often.

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.