GNB Accepting Nominations For Baboon Ass Awards (BAA)

Greetings Readers:

First, we here at Green Nuclear Butterfly hope that each and every one of you had a wondrous Thanksgiving at home with your families. My wife and I sat down to dinner at around seven last night with all the trimmings that a feast should include. Turkey, stuffing, olives, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, deviled eggs, pies and a host of other goodies. It was a great day, a fabulous meal, and we have a lot to be thankful for.

Meanwhile, Entergy tried to RUIN THE HOLIDAY with an NRC filing done very late in the day on Wednesday, wherein they moved to have all contentions filed by FUSE USA tossed out of the License Renewal process. Talk about scrapping the bottom of the barrel dirty tricks! Don't get me wrong, trying to get everything dismissed in the door is a standard nuclear industry trick...forget the fact that a contention brings up a serious public health and safety issue, if they can get it dismissed on a technicality, they are HAPPY CAMPERS. But to serve legal filings on the day before Thanksgiving! Talk about SCROOGE!

This low life timing on the part of Entergy and their attorney (Morgan, Lewis & Bockus, LLP) is simply Baboon Ass Ugly, the lowest of the low. Just goes to show you, that life in the nuclear industry is like a baboon's ass, colorful and full of shit. So, in the spirit of generosity, we here at Green Nuclear Butterfly are launching the Nuclear Industry Baboon Ass Awards (NIBAA or BAA). If you would like to nominate a company, or individual involved in the nuclear industry for a BAA (Baboon Ass Award) send us your nominee, along with a brief explanation of why they are deserving of such an honor to uraniumhotspot@aol.com no later than December 26th,2007 (our one year anniversary). We will announce our BAA Top 10 List on New Year's Day.

Now Hugo Chavez Wants a Nuclear Program

So, the thought of Iran having the nuclear bomb SCARES people...well, hold on to your seats, as now Hugo Chavez wants his own nuclear program, and rest assured, he will want more than just a few reactors.

Chavez Says Venezuela To Develop Nuclear Energy Programme

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has said his country will develop a domestic nuclear power programme to “enable us to deal with the future energy crisis”.

In an interview with the international television news channel ‘France 24’, Mr Chavez said Venezuela will follow its neighbours Brazil and Argentina in developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

The Two Faces of Lying Hillary "Nuclear" Clinton

I am for Nuclear, but after I am against it. I support an ISA for Indian Point in front of the newspaper reporters, but don't expect me to work to get it through the Senate. Nuclear will not be in my Presidential Energy portfolio unless those bastards at NEI come up with more money for my campaign.

Which is it Hillary? Are you a two faced liar, a lying bitch, or just a confused former First Lady trying to get by the best that you can? We damn sure know you are not truthful, and apparently cannot give us a straight answers if your Presidential Hopes depended on it. How about you stop spending so much time on the Campaign Trail, and a bit more time here in New York listening to OUR CONCERNS where Indian Point is concerned.

What We Could Do With The $50 Billion The Nuclear Industry Wants

Greetings Readers:

Yesterday, I put out the hypothetical question, how many homes could we equip with solar for the $50 Billion that the Nuclear Industry wants us to give them for New Build reactors...I had done some very conservative estimates, and wanted to paint a more accurate picture in building a case for true renewables, instead of throwing our tax dollars down a nuclear rat hole. Well, ask and you shall receive, and Green Nuclear Butterfly thanks Sally Shaw, one of the noble people trying to help close down Entergy's Vermont Yankee Yankee of collapsing water tower fame for getting us some REAL TIME FIGURES on this important question.

She reached out to an expert in the field (a senior engineer with a very reputable firm) who gave us some time costs, with no incentives...we all know there would be incentives and deals to be had. Anyway, here are some staggering statistics.

For a 2000 square foot Home with 700 square foot of south-facing roof area using an annual load of 3000 KWH/yr load can be offset by a 2.5 KWdc solar array costing $21, 250 (real cost not w/ incentives) per house. Did I just hear a HOLLY MOLLY! When we take this information, we can quickly calculate that 2,352,941 would be solar powered for that same fifty billion dollars that the Nuclear Industry wants us to give them...and keep in mind, that $50 Billion IS ONLY A DOWN PAYMENT, just a start of the public money that the nuclear industry is expecting us to pay out.

For example, some experts are predicting, that GNEP will cost tax payers at least 500BILLION with no guarantee the technology will even work! It is clear, the pathway to a greener tomorrow is renewables, not nuclear.

Nuclear Asthmatic Hatchet Man Norris McDonald Writes Own Hollywood Gossip?

Everyone on both sides of the Nuclear arguement know self serving, inhaler toting Pro Nuclear Renaissance, anti coal, self professed Green Nuclear Pitch man Norris McDonald. Like a bad penny, he just keeps showing up everywhere, squirrling a picture of himself next to famous people and large nuclear reactors at various locations and events to feed his hunger for the limelight. Back in September, none of us were surprised to see his PHOTO OP picture with Condi Rice (of Birthing Pains fame) appear on one of his web sites. Posted below for your amusement, and to set the stage for, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story is the article from his web page dated Thursday September 27th, 2007 .

AAEA President & Condoleezza Rice At Climate Summit

AAEA President Norris McDonald attended the "Major Economies Meeting on Energy and Climate Change at the U.S. Department of State. He is pictured at left with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. McDonald expressed AAEA's support for President Bush's climate change programs. He mentioned that AAEA is working hard on climate change mitigation and offered our organization's assistance to the State Department to assure the success of the administration's current effort.

President Bush addressed the delegation at the State Department on the second day. McDonald attended the speech. He proposed a new International Clean Technology Fund that would help developing countries buy nuclear power plants, clean burning coal fired power plants and other technologies.

Now, Fast forward to another Norris McDonald blog dated some two and a half weeks later, and we have to wonder just how desparate for the limelight Mr. McDonald really is? Do we have a pro nuclear hack now trying to write his own celebrity GOSSIP to make himself seem bigger than life, far more important than he really is?

Posted below from the AAEA Hollywood blog is one of those JUICY GOSSIP stories people just love intimating a ROMANTIC CONNNECTION between Norris McDonald and Condi Rice that was supposedly posted by the blogs contributing writer Hollywood! One tiny little problem though for those of us who KNOW HOW BLOGGER WORKS...the poster of the blog entry is always POSTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THEIR POST...if you scroll down to the bottom of this particular post, it appears that Norris McDonald himself has written this JUICY GISSIP himself, is trying to spread the rumor himself, is credited by the blogger software as posting the story to the AAEA Hollywood blog all by himself. Talk about a NEW LOW! Does Norris McDonald have no shame? NEI and the Nuclear Industry claim him as their own?

Saturday, October 13, 2007

AAEA President Denies Relationship With Condi

By Holly Wood

A recent photo of AAEA President Norris McDonald with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, at an official Washington event has led to speculation that there is more than official business going on between the two. McDonald is denying any sort of relationship with Secretary Rice and states that such speculation is simply silly gossip. He added that he has nothing but respect for Dr. Rice.

When I contacted McDonald and mentioned the gossip to him, he acknowledged that "Ms. Rice is a very intelligent and beautiful woman and that any man would be lucky to have her as a wife or friend." He stated that he would love to work with Dr. Rice on climate change issues because AAEA is in the forefront of promoting technological solutions to this serious problem. AAEA also supports the Bush Administration's technology solution programs.

posted by Norris McDonald at 5:50 PM

Nuclear Muscle Gutting Renewable's Out of Energy Bill?

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Nuclear Uses Brute Lobbying Force of NEI to GUT Energy Bill

Free FALLOUT Room With Every Reactor License Renewal

The emails are literally flying around the Cosmos of the Internet as activists attempt to stop the Congress and Senate from forcing us down the road to a Nuclear Renaissance by gutting out key provisions in the law for a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and all tax provisions benefiting renewables so that they could pass an energy bill through Congress before the Thanksgiving break on Friday, November 16. Pardon the french, but WTF?

A far better idea would be to leave the RPS in, and gut out the $50 BILLION in loan guarantees for the nuclear industry's new reactor builds in the form of loan guarantees. Seriously, even for those on the Pro-Nuclear side of the equation, why should citizens pay to build nuclear reactors that WE DO NOT OWN? How many American homes could be taken off the grid for that same $50 Billion dollars? There is a question I would love to see someone in the renewal/sustainable energy camp step forward and answer for the audience.

In light of Global Warming, where is the ethical sense of gutting out all federal funding for renewable forms of electricity such as solar, wind and geothermal. Such a move on the part of both the House and the Senate is not sound policy speaking, but special interest lobbying dollars hard at work in their never ending battle to override the will of the people.

Let's just suppose, that it would cost $50,000 dollars to take the average American household off of the grid through the use of solar, wind and battery storage of energy. That's 20 homes for a million bucks. So, for $50 Billion dollars, we could take conservatively 100,000 homes off the grid. If we figure the average family of four, conservatively, we greatly reduce the carbon foot print of 400,000 Americans...my guess here, is that my numbers are very conservative. For instance, what kind of price breaks could be negotiated if someone went to the combined solar, wind industry and said we'd like to hook up 100,000 homes in the next 18 months.

Some might disagree with my belief that this gutting of the RPS from the energy bill is being spear headed by the Nuclear Industry...consider these facts. First, the nuclear industry is lying, cheating and breaking the law in their efforts to relicense 104 dangerous aging reactors so that they can maintain MARKET SHARE as they attempt to license and build new replacement reactors. Even if they are successful in this, for decades they are going to basically be at a hold steady point when it comes to their share of the market. It is simply not in their best interests to see the renewal energy sector reach a market share of parity, or even superiority over nuclear power.

Simply stated, the worse case scenario for the Nuclear Industry is to see the renewal energy sector reach that proverbial TIPPING POINT where they can make renewables available to the average America home owner at an affordable price...that would break the utility industry's monopoly, and BIG MONEY does not want that to occur, even if that is in the best interest of solving Global Warming.

The Renewable Portfolio Standard's goal would be to attain a national target of getting 20-25% of the nation's electricity from renewable resources by 2025. Accomplishing such a goal would place renewables on a par, or ahead of every electric source except for coal. Those pushing the Nuclear Renaissance Agenda are not going to let that happen.

Sadly, many of the wind industry companies have been bought out, or are controlled by companies deeply invested in Nuclear Energy, so their lobbyists to a great degree are fighting in the halls of Congress with one arm tied behind their back. Perhaps if their hands were untied, if they could or would come out to the public with the full truth, this important Renewable Portfolio Standard can be put back into the bill, but then that means people like Randall Swisher, Executive Director of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) need to stop tiptoeing around the nuclear issue, and face it head on...if you sleep with the devil, you are ruled by the devil and unfortunately, in the name of Green Washing, far to many wind companies and their projects are owned and controlled by companies who are placing their big bets on the nuclear renaissance.

Sherwood Martinelli of FUSE USA Files Formal Request for Extension of Time

Press Release

Sherwood Martinelli of FUSE USA has just filed a Formal Request for and Extension of Time to file Petitions to Intervene, and Requests for Hearing in Entergy's License Renewal Application Process. This is the second such request filed, with the first one successful in moving the deadline back until November 30th, 2007.

The Formal Request for and Extension became necessary when Sherwood Martinelli of FUSE USA ran into numerous difficulties in gaining access to necessary documents needed to review Entergy's License Renewal Application for Indian Point. Many of these difficulties are a result of the DOE and NRC review processes that greatly slows their ability to make documents public in a timely fashion.

For a copy of the Formal Filing please email fuse_usa@yahoo.com

Apple Says NO to Nuclear Reactors

Just in from Nuclear Jesus, an interesting little story on Apple and the nuclear industry. It would appear that Apple is ahead of the Bill Gates and Microsoft when it comes to being a truly GREEN technology company. But then, we all know Bill Gates is anything but Mr. Green Jeans.

No Nuke Apple

This as they say, just in from the newswire...Apple forbids the use of its software for use in Nuclear Reactors on the grounds they don't want to be responsible for KILLING PEOPLE or damaging the environment. Thanks to Paul McDougall for giving the world another reason to consider owning an Apple.

Apple Bans Nuclear Plants From Running 'Leopard' OS

Leopard is "not intended for use in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication systems, air traffic control systems, life support machines or other equipment in which the failure of the Apple software could lead to death, personal injury or severe physical or environmental damage."

Ownership Change At Indian Point During License Renewal Process!

First, we here at Green Nuclear Butterfly saw this one coming...Entergy is going to spin off five of its Non-Regulated reactors into a brand new venture.

Now, this brings up a whole lot of questions for us as relates to License Renewal, both here, and in Vermont...any attorney's out in the audience care to give us a read on this fast breaking news story? Does this significantly change Entergy's pending License Renewal Application. Would they have to start all over at square one, or does the fact they are going to maintain 50 percent ownership keep things kosher with the NRC...what am I asking here, the NRC could care less what effects this action will ultimately have, they only care about rubber stamping the process.

Entergy to spin off five nuclear plants

http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSN0564678520071106

By Lisa Lee and Matt Daily

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Entergy Corp (ETR.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the second-largest U.S. nuclear power generator, said on Monday it would spin off five nuclear plants into a new company in a bid to capitalize on rising power prices for nuclear generation.

The new company, which will be spun off in a tax-free deal, would have nearly 5,000 megawatts of generating capacity, located largely in the U.S. Northeast, which has some of the highest power prices in the country.

Entergy also plans to form a 50-50 joint venture with the new company to run and operate the nuclear plants, whose prices are not regulated the way other utility plants' are.

After the spin-off of the nuclear plants, planned for the third quarter of 2008, Entergy would consist of five electric utility subsidiaries across four states and the stake in the new unit.

The U.S. nuclear industry foresees a resurgence driven largely by expectations that the federal government will create new rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions that are blamed for global warming. Nuclear generating plants do not emit the greenhouse gases that fossil-fuel plants do.

Chief Executive Wayne Leonard does not see the new stand-alone nuclear company building any new nuclear plants. "I can't imagine," he told Reuters at an industry conference on Monday in Orlando, Florida.

But the new company could be ripe to make purchases or be an acquisition target. If it were to pursue the acquisition path, Leonard could see the new company buying natural gas plants.

As for new nuclear building plans for the regulated Entergy, Leonard said the process has been "slow and frustrating," adding that "getting a firm price on what it will cost has been difficult."

Entergy had previously said it was considering a spin-off, joint venture or sale of the nuclear plants, and Leonard said he remained open to selling a stake in the new company.

"There is no shortage of interest," he said.

The new company spun off by Entergy would have debt totaling $4.5 billion, a director at Fitch Ratings said at the conference. That debt would be "not commensurate with investment grade," Fitch's Justin Bowersock said.

Leonard told Reuters he did not expect the new company to receive investment grade rating, adding that the nuclear company could have been configured to get one but that "it didn't make economic sense."

Entergy said the new company would target earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $2 billion by 2012 based on an average power price of about $95 per megawatt hour. That would leave the business $500 million to $1 billion annually for acquisitions or share repurchases.

Leonard said he expected the new company to have double-digit growth, and sooner or later become a business with $20 billion in market capitalization.

"In the not too distant future," he said.

The plants included in the new company would be the Pilgrim station in Plymouth, Massachusetts; the Fitzpatrick and Indian Point plants in Oswego and Buchanan, New York; the Palisade plant in Covert, Michigan; and the Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon, Vermont.

The remaining Entergy company expects to announce a new share buyback plan "right out of the box" after the spin-off is completed, Leonard said.

Entergy said it expected 2008 earnings to be between $6.50 and $6.90 per share. Analysts' average forecast is for earnings of $6.87 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Third-quarter earnings rose 19 percent, helped by higher wholesale power prices and recent rate increases.

Net income was $461.2 million, or $2.30 per share, up from $388.9 million, or $1.83 per share, a year earlier.

The earnings-per-share gain of nearly 26 percent lagged the 27 percent the company forecast on October 17.

Entergy shares rose $5.46, or 4.6 percent, to close at $124.15 on the New York Stock Exchange, outpacing the 0.5 percent gain in the broader Standard & Poor's Utilities index.

Uncovering The Ugly Truth ABout John Hall's New Nuclear Connections

As most of the Anti Nuclear community aimed at shutting down Indian Point is aware of, Green Nuclear Butterfly stirred up a nest of hornets this weekend when we were perceived as attacking one of the stalwarts of the Anti-Nuclear Movement, Congressman John Hall who was the driving force behind the No Nukes concerts almost 30 years ago. If one looks closely at the Defense Appropriations Bill passed by the Congress for 2008, there is a provision in the bill that would make it MANDATORY that all naval vessels of the future be Nuclear Powered. The Three Musketeers in Congress, Maurice Hinchey, Nita Lowey and John Hall all voted for this bill, and thus that provision.

Green Nuclear Butterfly's going public with this information, in attacking the integrity of Congressman John Hall was accused of sacrilege, even treason, and numerous groups and individuals started to instantly disavow and distance themselves from us, and from myself as the publisher of the blog. Somehow, no one seemed upset at the prospect of 300-400 floating nuclear reactors cruising the world's oceans, but instead were/are more concerned with not attacking someone/anyone that could be of help in shutting down Indian Point. Setting aside the hypocrisy of such beliefs, I decided to spend my day today doing a bit of digging to see if perhaps there was more to this vote than first meets the eye.

The logical direction of choice, was to start browsing through Congressman John Hall's PAC contributions. It did not take very much searching (noticed it as soon as the page was opened up) to find something very disturbing. Both Congressman John Hall and Congresswoman Nita Lowey were/are taking money from the "International Union of Operating Engineers (as in nuclear reactors) local 137 out of Briarcliff, NY.

Now, to understand the significance of this find, lets get a bit of a history lesson from easily found facts on the Internet. Most of us all know who CASEnergy is, but for those of you who not, CASEnergy was founded by Christine Todd Whitman and the no longer GREEN Patrick Moore, disgraced co-founder of Greenpeace. The primary funding source for CASEnergy is the entire nuclear industry, and NEI (Nuclear Energy Institute). Among its membership is Jebb Bush, brother of our disgraced Nuclear President, George W. Bush. The Singular purpose of CASEnergy is to push the Nuclear Renaissance agenda, to spread pro-nuclear propaganda out to the masses.

Included in the membership of CASEnergy is every single local chapter of the International Union of Operating Engineers, including our own Local 137. Now, if you believe that John Hall and Nita Lowey are the two most naive human beings to walk God's green earth, you'll see their taking PAC money from this group as nothing more than an oversight, a WHOOPSIE if you will. We see it as far more devious in nature and spirit, as a betrayal of who they claim to be, a betrayal of their promised agenda to SHUT DOWN INDIAN POINT.

International Union of Operating Engineers

To verify International Union of Operating Engineers Local 137 in CASEnergy, click here.

INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS-LOCAL 137 PAC
Candidate Contributions: 2007-2008 Campaign Cycle
Total 2007-2008 campaign contributions: $4500
Sort by: Total Name State Party

Candidate & Total
Oberstar, James (D-MN) $500
Hall, John (D-NY) $500
Lowey, Nita (D-NY) $3500

In Attempt to Hide Truth, NRC SCRUBBING ADAMS!

OK, so I am a conspiracy nut, or perhaps I just have a NOSE for truth, but when ADAMS does finally come back up...it has been inaccessible now for over a week...you are going to find a whole bunch of documents have DISAPPEARED in preparation for the NRC taking serious steps, through proposed rule changes, to lower SAFETY MARGINS at America's 104 aging reactor sites.

It is no accident, no glitch in the system that has ADAMS out out of commission right now. Instead, what we are witnessing (or not witnessing)is a deliberate scrubbing of ALL DOCUMENTS that the NRC and NEI have decided they do not want the America public to have continued access to.

Within hours of NRC's press release announcing their intention to IMPROVE the reactor thermal shock rule by lowering the SAFETY MARGINS, nuclear watch dog groups were quick to point out the truth. The rule is going to be rewritten, the safety margins greatly reduced because none of America's currently operating PWR's can meet the existing rule during the 20 year period of license renewal. The NRC tried to pass off a lie by claiming the new rule would improve a current regulation that was written far to conservatively.

It was shortly after this that ADAMS suddenly was totally and completely NOT AVAILABLE to anyone. Why? It is the belief of GNB that the NRC is trying to make the evidence of this, and other issues VANISH. For instance, will the Environmental Reports from eight different License Renewals that all had the same language in them still be found on ADAMS? Wait and see, but you can bet the new ADAMS when it comes back online is NOT the old ADAMS when you do a document by document comparison of the site. So, the question is, "What is the NRC trying hide?"

Get Answers On Indian Point-Join State Attorney General On Nov 15th in White Plains

As the old expression goes, be there, or be square. Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo
will be in White Plains to meet with members of the public, and answer questions about the aging, dangerous and unsafe Indian Point Nuclear Reactors. Come prepared to demand answer, it is time we know just what the state's plans are for closing down Indian Point.

Please join
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo for a Community Forum

Learn how the Attorney General’s Office can help the Westchester
Community

Come hear a discussion of issues that affect you every day: Environmental Protection and how the office is protecting natural resources, Health Care, Consumer Protection, Civil Rights, Workers Rights and information for students and parents about student loans.

Westchester County Center
198 Central Avenue
White Plains, NY

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

7:00 PM

*OPEN TO THE PUBLIC*

FREE PARKING

Attorney General Cuomo and senior representatives from the New York State Attorney
General’s Office will discuss their work in your community and answer your questions.

Please RSVP:

Call: 914-422-8755 or email: communityaffairs@oag.state.ny.us

Office of the Attorney General Information and Complaint Help line:

1-800-771-7755 For the hearing impaired: 1-800-788-9898

Food & refreshments will be served.

Huge WIN For Mothball Millstone

CONNECTICUT COALITION AGAINST MILLSTONE
www.MothballMillstone.org

CONNECTICUT SUPREME COURT
TAKES ON MILLSTONE NUKE WASTE APPEAL

For Immediate Release October 16, 2007

Contact:
Nancy Burton
203-938-3952

Whether the Siting Council acted illegally in allowing Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc. to build an above-ground onsite storage facility for Millstone high-level nuclear waste will be decided by the Connecticut Supreme Court, the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone announced today.

An appeal of the decision, taken by Coalition director Nancy Burton and her husband, William H. Honan, who owns property in Mystic 10 miles downwind of Millstone, was filed with the Appellate Court earlier this year.

However, in a notice issued on October 10, 2007, the Supreme Court announced it had transferred the appeal to itself for argument later this fall, Burton said.

“The Supreme Court acted on its own motion,” said Burton.

“We are pleased that the Supreme Court has apparently determined that the issues raised in this appeal are important and are of statewide significance,” Burton said.

Among the issues on appeal are whether the Siting Council acted properly in refusing to consider the environmental consequences of a terrorist attack on the facility, which is designed to contain millions of curies of radiation.

Other issues are whether Superior Court Judge George Levine correctly excluded evidence that Dominion deliberately disabled its perimeter security system as a cost-saving measure, while it represented to the Siting Council that the site was protected by a state-of-the-art security system.

Another issue is whether Edward C. Wilds, radiation director for the Department of Environmental Protection, who served as a designee on the Siting Council, should have disclosed that he was taken on a Dominion junket to a Virginia nuclear installation where above-ground nuclear waste storage had already occurred.

“The Siting Council rubber-stamped Dominion’s application,” Burton said. “The public interest was not served.”

Green Nuclear Butterfly, Spanning the Globe

In four short days, Green Nuclear Butterfly will have been open for business for ten full months. In that time, we have seen a lot happen. It's been a wild ride and we are just getting started. As we race towards our one year anniversary on December 26th of this year, thought we'd share the fact that this little Anti Nuclear Blog is literally spanning the globe! In ten months, we have had visitors from some very exotic places. Below is a partial list of country visits.

United States-all 50 states.

United Kingdom

Canada

Germany

Australia

India

France

Japan

Italy

Netherlands

Spain

Turkey

Sweden

Brazil

Switzerland

Poland

Belgium

South Korea

Mexico

Austria

Portugal

Indonesia

South Africa

Finland

Romania

Malyasia

Russian Federation

NRC Names Three Judge Panel For Indian Point Application

Seems that the NRC is trying to get a jump on the judicial process related to Entergy's fatally flawed application for license renewal of the Indian Point reactors. In short, those of us seeking to intervene in the process should be prepared for some dirty tricks including a massive number of Entergy Christmas season attempts to get our contentions tossed out. We need a picture of the Grinch holding and Entergy sign.

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board established Indian Point license renewal

Washington -- A three-judge board has been established to review requests for a hearing on the license renewal application for the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan. Should a hearing regarding the application take place, the board would also conduct that proceeding.

The board is drawn from the Atomic Safety & Licensing Board Panel, which is a judicial component of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission tasked with conducting all licensing and other hearings as directed by the presidentially appointed commission that oversees the NRC.

The ASLBP operates independently of the NRC technical staff. The judges named by ASLBP Chief Administrative Judge E. Roy Hawkens to preside over the Indian Point proceeding are Lawrence McDade, who will serve as chairman; Dr. Richard Wardwell; and Dr. Kaye Lathrop.

Most boards are composed of one judge who is qualified in conducting administrative proceedings, who is a lawyer, and two judges who have technical qualifications appropriate to the issues in the proceedings, who are scientists or engineers.

Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant has a term of 40 years. The license may be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. The current operating licenses for Indian Point Units 2 and 3 expire, respectively, on Sept. 28, 2013, and Dec. 12, 2015.

Entergy’s license renewal application for Indian Point was received by the NRC on April 30, 2007.The deadline for the receipt of requests for a hearing on the application is Nov. 30, 2007.

From The Little Bird Department...Is Entergy About To LOSE Bid To Relicense Vermont Yankee?

We all love rumors, and even hints of rumors. Well, there are some serious rumors being whispered throughout the Northeast that Entergy may be about to LOSE its bid to relicense their trouble plagued Vermont Yankee Nuclear Reactor.

First, lets face facts here...the people of Brattleboro and the surrounding area do not want the plant in their community. With the recent serious SAFETY problems at the plant, including the now infamous collapsing cooling tower incident, can any one blame them? Are we about to see the beginning of an Enron like COLLAPSE of this supposed NUCLEAR GIANT? Has Vermont's PSB finally had enough of Entergy's decreased Safety Margins and lies...let's not forget Entergy's experts doing everything in their power to have the cooling tower contention TOSSED in the License Renewal Process, and the NRC was more than happy to obliege at the time.

Indian Point is far from a shoe in for Entergy what with their failing reactor vessel heads, and so many leaks that some citizens of Westchester County refer to the Indian Point Entergy Center as the Titanic on the Hudson. If Vermont Yankee is closed, which it should be, and Entergy loses the twin monsters at Indian Point, their fleet strength will have been decimated...it may just be wishful thinking, but word on the street says to be expecting some fireworks up in Vermont in the coming days and weeks. Might be a good time to hedge your bets where Entergy stock is concerned...they lose three reactors here in America, and you will see a SERIOUS TUMBLE.

NRC Commissioner Dies of CANCER

The NRC's front page has posted a eulogy for long time Commissioner Edward McGaffigan Junior...in reading it, seems they like to avoid the use of the word CANCER...perhaps because so many cancers are caused by NUCLEAR POWER. Seems almost fitting for their longest serving Commissioner to have died, only 58 years old, succumbed to a cancer that was quite possibly caused by his involvements with the nuclear industry.

J. Patrick Moore Debunked-World's Biggest Sell Out?

Corporate Whore? Nuclear Shill? You Decide.

Dr. J. Patrick Moore, supposed co-founder of Greenpeace in 1976 said,

“It should be remembered that there are employed in the nuclear industry some very high-powered public relations organizations. One can no more trust them to tell the truth about nuclear power than about which brand of toothpaste will result in this apparently insoluble problem.” And,

“Nuclear power plants are, next to nuclear warheads themselves, the most dangerous devices that man has ever created. Their construction and proliferation is the most irresponsible, in fact the most criminal, act ever to have taken place on the planet.”

Now he has changed his mind and is considered a supposed “expert”.

His new CASEnergy coalition is exactly one of those high-powered pubic relations organizations.

Even more shocking is that as he wrongly pedals nuclear power as the solution to global warming, he espouses ideas that potentially prevent us from investing in renewable and sustainable electrical generating means.

In a Washington Post Commentary (April 2006). Dr. Moore wrote,

“And even if a jumbo jet did crash into a reactor and breach the containment, the reactor would not explode...”

5 years earlier (10 days after 9-11) Edward Lyman Ph.D of the Nuclear Control Institute wrote,

“However, a straightforward calculation shows that a large passenger jet like a Boeing 767, colliding into the reinforced concrete containment structure of a typical U.S. nuclear reactor, would in fact have a high likelihood of penetrating the containment.

While certain U.S. reactor designs are more vulnerable than others, all are potentially at risk. Gross structural failure of the containment building is also a possibility, especially for older plants which have experienced age-related degradation of containment materials ( VY is one such older reactor: ed)

The shock of such an impact would probably cause substantial damage to plant systems inside the containment, and the effect of a subsequent jet fuel fire or explosion would cause further mechanical and thermal damage to the containment, metal reactor components and the reactor vessel itself. Following such an assault, the possibility of an unmitigated loss-of-coolant accident and significant release of radiation into the environment is a very real one.”

In a Brattleboro Reformer article 1/11/07,
“ Moore believes, ‘dry cask is a perfectly safe and secure way to store spent fuel.”’

Meanwhile the issue of what to do with the waste after the “temporary” solution that may be dry cask storage, still lingers. In determining a solution to the long-term storage of radioactive waste, scientists found …

“Minerals intended to entrap nuclear waste for hundreds of thousands of years may be susceptible to structural breakdown within 1,400 years, a team from the University of Cambridge and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory reported Jan. 11, 2007 in the journal Nature.

The new study used nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, to show that the effects of radiation from plutonium incorporated into the mineral zircon rapidly degrades the mineral's crystal structure.

This could lead to swelling, loss of physical strength and possible cracking of the mineral as soon as 210 years, well before the radioactivity had decayed to safe levels, said lead author and Cambridge earth scientist Ian Farnan.”

Dr. Moore was wrong about the strength of the containment to withstand a modern airplane. Dr. Moore claims to know his science yet he apparently supports the current fad of temporary waste solutions. Still no one knows what to do with the waste long term. Scientists admitted to falsifying data to win pre-approval for Yucca Mountain. Because of this Yucca Mountain is likely not going to open. Now our VT legislators are hearing from an activist turned capitalist scientist and he is given the title of “expert”.

If he was an “expert” when he co-founded Greenpeace, and now as a turncoat he is considered an “expert” on the global warming issue, I just wonder what he will believe next week, month, decade and why we as laypeople or legislators should trust his supposed expertise.