Oyster Creek...Another Community Being Raped

It Will TAKE REVOLT To Shut Down Dangerous Reactors!

WAKE UP AMERICA...it's not just Indian Point sitting on the banks of the Hudson just up river from New York city that is a MAJOR ACCIDENT waiting to happen. Vermont Yankee is not the only plant with far too many problems. Let's not forget about Pilgrim, or Diablo out in California either, but it is more than just that...the NRC is playing with OUR LIVES. Perhaps for some of you, that is fine...problem is, it is NOT FINE for those of us living within the circle of death around 103 aging reactors, it is NOT FINE for the folks of Nevada where the DOE/NRC and nuclear industry dip chits want to dump high level wastes, less than and hour from a major tourist MECCA.

We in the host communities are being sold to SATAN, and it is time that we join together and speak a NATIONAL VOICE. Congressman John Hall and Senator Hillary Clinton need to introduce NATIONAL LEGISLATION that would force a Independent Safety and Security Assessment of every nuclear plant in America. Local governments need to use our police departments, use our National Guard troops to shut down these facilities, and if necessary, BY FORCE. When dealing with human lives, when dealing with PUBLIC SAFETY, the NRC has no business rubber stamping the unsafe license renewals of 103 again reactors...Ignore THIS WARNING, and you are setting your community up to be an American Holocaust. It is time to do what must be done locally to close these plants...if that means FORCE ON FORCE, then so be it...Let George Bush be remembered as the president that killed innocent civilians in the name of the failing American Nuclear Industry.

Westchester County is not OWNED BY ENTERGY, Lacey is not owned by Exelon, and our communities ARE NOT OWNED by the NRC, or by the federal government...NO MEANS NO, and if it takes local government employing FORCE to shut down these aging relics, then the time has come to order law enforcement to begin it's preparations.

NRC disregarding signs of trouble at Oyster Creek
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/18/07
BY JANET TAURO

Let's do some role-playing.

You are a federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission member. You are charged with overseeing safety at the country's nuclear reactors — the most costly, dirtiest and "most dangerous technology available for boiling water."

You must decide whether the nation's oldest reactor situated in the middle of a densely populated region can chug along until its 60th birthday without jeopardizing the lives of 630,000 people living nearby.

You have a list of problems that don't bode well for the plant, which is owned by a powerful company, Exelon:

A document written by an Exelon engineer surfaces cautioning that the support floor to the elevated pool, already packed with 450 tons of nuclear waste, was not built to design and not adequately attached to the walls.

State officials legally challenge your agency to assess the plant's vulnerability to terrorist attack — specifically that the radioactive waste is sitting in pools 70 feet above ground and protected only by a metal roof. That challenge is supported when the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to interfere with an appeals ruling mandating evaluation of terrorist risk before license renewal.

The commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection states her preference for installation of cooling towers to stop the killing of billions of marine life, including endangered species. Soon after, the federal Environmental Protection Agency rules that nuclear plants install cooling towers to limit environmental damage.

The drywell, the steel liner shielding the public from radiation, which even Exelon estimated to be just .06 inches away from failing safety code, has now rusted at least another .02 inches.

A national laboratory study shows there is a significant chance the drywell is already below safety code.

An internal memorandum from a plant employee shows that Exelon knows the way it analyzes the drywell's structural strength is fundamentally flawed.

A glass soda bottle is found embedded in the drywell floor, and a DEP official wonders what other "voids" might be exasperating corrosion in a letter posted on an NRC Web site.

An e-mail exchange between Exelon executives stating that the equipment used to take measurements of the drywell didn't perform worth "———" becomes public.

Now what do you do with this list? Cease operations until a plan of action can be drawn for safety and security? Order Exelon to empty the fuel pool and secure contents in concrete cask storage? Assess the effects of an aircraft attack? Enforce the EPA order to install cooling towers? Demand immediate state-of-the-art modeling to determine the actual thickness of the drywell? Find out what other garbage is embedded in the drywell floor? Find out more about the disturbing e-mail exchange?

If you chose any of the above answers, you're wrong.

In this very real scenario, the NRC has instead apparently put Exelon on the fast track to the relicensing finish line and given preliminary approval to the safety review for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Lacey.

Don't be surprised. A few months ago, the NRC disregarded the fact that Exelon had used 35-year-old data to assess the plant's environmental impact on Barnegat Bay. If the license is renewed, Ocean County will have the dubious distinction of being the nation's test case for whether a nuclear plant with an obsolete design can operate safely many years beyond its retirement date without hurting anyone. That's a Guinness record we could live without.

And that is why our coalition, Stop the Relicensing of Oyster Creek, with expert representation by our attorney, Richard Webster of the Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic, is by no means finished with our fight.

Our legal proceedings, which are ongoing, already have forced a more careful monitoring and analysis of the structural integrity of the drywell.

The DEP, with approval from Gov. Corzine, will reportedly hire an independent expert to analyze the drywell's structural integrity.

That expert should also take a close look at the spent fuel pool and its floor support, of which Exelon's own engineer wrote, "If the rebar (a metal fastener) is really corroding as projected, I suspect our design analysis of the floor support is not valid today, let alone for a 20-year life extension."

The governor has stated that if the plant is not safe to operate, it shouldn't operate. We respectfully draw the governor's attention to the list provided here. If the roles were reversed and he were an NRC commissioner charged with safeguarding the lives of hundreds of thousands, what would he do?

Janet Tauro, Brick, is a member of Stop the Relicensing of Oyster Creek, a coalition of six citizen and environmental groups.

Sunday February 18th, 2007-Green Nuclear Butterfly News Briefs

Contestant in Russian Nuclear Beauty Contest...I love those green teeth!

Greetings Readers:

Yes, the fearless leader...is that what they are calling radical dreamers these days?...as Remy shared with you, has been under the weather of late. The good news, is as of last night I have been cigarette free for THREE WEEKS! Now, to put this in perspective, I've been smoking since I was six, and at the time of my last puff was a two-three pack a day addict. How do I feel...AWFUL...trusting at some point, that this all gets EASIER? The long and short of it all, is that I have not been near as active on the blogs as I would like in the past ten days, and will work to improve that (hopefully this coming week).

Our poetry contest is starting to pick up speed. For those who have missed it, we have $1200 up for grabs, and our deadlines for entry are fast approaching. More on this later...need to find out from Remy if he has started posting any of the entries up on Rock The Reactors.

Next week is a busy week for the Green Nuclear Butterfly...first, our founder and EXSMOKER is going to be 51 on Wednesday, February 21st! For those not sure what to get me, a DONATION to the cause would be HELPFUL...between the new office, printing costs, and our poetry contest, Remy and I so far have about $4,000 into the creation of this movement (let's not forget the full page ad against Entergy in Vermont we helped fund!) with little in the way of outside contributions coming in...we need your help to grow this folks. Tomorrow night we record our first RADIO SHOW! More on that later! We'll be putting the word out on our poetry contest, and I'll more than likely get a plug in for my landscaping.

No word yet from Greenpeace and their Executive Director...oh well, we shall see what we shall see. Think I'll bring that issue up on the radio show tomorrow night as well. I have feelers out for another talk show as well, so for a start up, we are getting out there.

Upcoming Projects:

We are in the process of designing a MOVEMENT STENCIL that will be easy to replicate.
Much like a movememt years ago over in Germany, the idea will be to get our readers to help spread the word by REPLICATING our stencil in various areas where the public can view it.

We would like to take out a full page advertisement in a few of our local papers such as the advertizer...however, this will take some DONORS...so, if we have any readers out there that have been watching this unfold, we could really use your help in moving the ball down the field.

As we suspected, Congressman John Hall's bill was nothing but a rehash of Congressman Maurice Hinchey's FAILED BILL, and is NOT GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL in moving us close to shutting down Indian Point, or any of the other failing reactors, such as Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim to name two. We need a NATIONAL BILL, and the Green Nuclear Butterfly has been trying to make this point to the deaf ears of John Hall's staff...we are thinking our next step should be protesters out on the sidewalk in front of his various assorted offices. Let us know what you think on this...in the meantime, we'll see if Congressman John Hall has enough political savvy to schedule a meeting with us before it comes to that. God forbid he makes himself obsolete and ineffective by failing to address the concerns of those of us in the CLOSE INDIAN POINT DOWN camp. If he was not serious about shutting the plant down, then maybe he should have kept his mouth shut...OH, BUT THEN HE WOULD NOT HAVE WON now would he? Face it John Hall, we delivered for you, and the time has come to deliver for us....otherwise, we launch our RETAKE 19 blog...yes, it is already up and ready to go. We got rid of Sue Kelly, and if we have to, we can get rid of you as well.

As everyone knows, I missed Green Drinks in Manhattan...maybe next month. On the good news side of the equation, if I can get my act together today, and my mind out of a fog, I do have the opportunity to have an article published on this whole nuclear issue as it relates to the EV issue, so wish me luck, as I'll be writing most of the day to meet the deadline.

Googlism for "Indian Point"

I never heard of Indian Point till I saw the 'one singular focus' on your website.

Googlism for "Indian Point" says:

indian point is a red flag for terrorists; shut it down
indian point is safe? that's hard to believe
indian point is safe regardless of the lack of being educated

indian point is now available on vhs

indian point is unsafe

indian point is unsurpassed in its offering of the largest variety of lengths

indian point is essential to our environment and economy

indian point is no safer closed than operating

indian point is robustly protected against terrorist attack
indian point is considerably more problematic now

indian point is intensifying

indian point is nothing new announces new plan with entergy to protect spent fuel pools

indian point is likely to drift toward the economic fallout from enron

indian point is not someone else's problem

indian point is simply in the wrong place

indian point is perfect for a honeymoon

indian point is widely considered a joke except there's nothing funny about it

indian point is a life and death issue

indian point is a time bomb slowly going off in the mouths of our children

indian point is a catastrophe waiting to happen

indian point is how much the region can reduce its energy demand through conservation

indian point is situated to the east of disney

Much more on www.googlism.com

Scott Blake
www.barcodeart.com

While the Earth Burns... a Night at Greendrinks

(From left to right: Model Persiana, RemyC, Model Fierce. Photo courtesy Margaret Lydecker.)

Sherwood's been at me to write up something about Greendrinks the other night... He was sick as a dog, so he didn't make the promised trek down to Manhattan. There's always next month... He quit smoking a few weeks ago, a two pack a day habit, for 20 years... and he picked NOW to do this? Went through withdrawal chills for a week, spewing out chunks of lung... nice. Hang in there my man, take in some fresh air, gobble some pro-biotics, amino acids, and zinc. You'll be better than new, in what, nine months?!? Hopefully by then, we'll have Indian Point mothballed, and John Hall cutting the green ribbon at his alternative energy center!

But I'm getting way ahead of myself... How are we going to do this? And how will expressing a strategy, sharing it openly with Entergy and our friends at the NRC, on these here public pages, going to work? May I have your attention please...

Greendrinks is the brainchild of Edwin Datschefski in the UK. Greendrinks is now an international phenomena, with chapters in nearly every major city in the world. Ed was the first contributor to my website The Environmentals dedicated to producing photos of models with nuclear power plants to draw renewed attention to the issue. Ed and I met online while blogging about green design. At the time I was helping Angela Lindvall gather information for her Collage Foundation, and conceptualized Lü magazine. Ed was one of the first to join the LuMag list in 2001.

I finally made the trek to my first Greendrinks in Manhattan when fashion model environmentalist Summer Rayne Oakes and I were working to launch PlanetTV with the Turner Media Group, and John Howell, once editor of Hemp Times and ELLE magazine. TMG owns and operates a string of home shopping cable networks. They envisioned transforming their Healthy Living TV into PlanetTV... it never materialized... but by then, Summer and I had built SpongeTV, a green mobile TV links portal, which TreehuggerTV put to good use to launch their own online TV channel.

Greendrinks NYC is hosted by Margaret Lydecker, a principal at NICHE, a modern design firm focused on creating beautiful contemporary interiors and furniture with an emphasis on sustainability. She has worked tirelessly to assemble the best and the brightest green wannabes in her salon every month, without fail, with the help of many friends. The holiday Christmas party found over 800 people there... the one last Tuesday in the Red Room at Park, the same space I held my Lü magazine party a couple months ago, saw the room packed to the brim... with people spilling out into the glassed in garden, with NBC television chronicling the proceedings.

I think Greendrinks NYC may also owe some of its steady, gradual rise, to the ICI-nyc party Summer Rayne Oakes, Josh Dorfman, Chuck Heckman and myself hosted at the nightclub Libation last year. I enlisted the participation of Brian Howard, the director of IT at E magazine. We were able to email 20.000 invitations to a who's who of the environmental and fashion community. ICI-nyc saw 1400 people walk through the doors. After my partners in this affair decided they did not want to make it a regular event, it seems as if Greendrinks inherited momentum the ICI-nyc party gave to the green fashion an design scene in Manhattan.

Josh wasn't there on Tuesday. There was in fact very few familiar faces. It seemed to be all new people who are discovering this amazing networking event, where everyone attends to save the planet. Josh is busy putting the finishing touches on a book, named after his radio show: The Lazy Environmentalist. Josh was raised in Westchester County. He's been conditioned by years of Entergy lies to beleive Indian Point is safe. He refuses to invite anti-nuclear activists on his show. To Josh, Indian Point is a non-issue, nuclear power is the solution to global warming. Josh calls himself an environmentalist. His mom and dad drive a Prius. He runs his factory space in a very environmentally friendly way... yet he cannot bring himself to understand, that a leaking fuel rod pool at Indian Point threatens all the good green works he and his friends are doing in New York. It's very frustrating.

Josh also won't pay any heed to so-called more radical environmental organizations, so there is no mention of E magazine in his book's resources... or Eco-Chick, or any of my work. We've become non-entities in this man's consciousness. Could it be because we're not lazy? We're passionate, we're desperate? These are not enviable qualities in Josh's green world, which seems to be more about crafting a commercially viable green branding image, rather than carving a new social movement that will remove corporate environmentals criminals from power.

I'm only using Josh as an example. I like the guy... I just think he's lazy, by his own admission! Many in the green design community sadly reflect the same inability to grasp the reality of the nuclear situation. They can't wrap their head around it. We have a war machine out of control, destroying the planet, a billion cars, going round and round, spewing toxic poisons, because MIT can't find it in its heart to commercialize state-of-the-art solid state li-ion batteries they own license to, because the military-industrial complex and the energy companies they answer to, do not want to see an end to the internal combustion engine.

Talk of such things relegates you to the far corners of conspiracy theory. It isolates you socially and politically. As a child, I was the subject of much attention, as the grandson of Gurdjieff, a Russian philosopher who was credited by Timothy Leary for introducing Quantum Theory to the West. By the time I was in my early twenties, I was prive to a myriad of classified energy projects my grandfather's work had seeded, which had been compartmentalized by intelligence factions within the Trilateral Commission.

In 1973, I was asked to join this top secret intelligence community. After a two hour interview at the Secretary of the Treasury, with Zbigniew Brzezinski quietly listening in the other room, it became clear to them I was too much of a wild card to allow into their world. Yet their dearest project had been a direct result of my efforts. I have kept their secrets for over 30 years. I can no longer remain silent, because this technology they harbor under the guise of national security, is the same technology we need to save the planet.

I know that to someone like Josh, this may seem like so much fantasy, because let's face it, he's lazy, and he's never really bothered to read about quantum mechanics, or pay much attention to the billions of dollars spent each year in this country on black budget and secret military programs... and how many of these programs ravage pristine wilderness, far away from public scrutiny. I doubt he has ever spoken to Jennifer Bogo, who paid her dues as a managing editor for E The Environmental magazine, and is now a senior editor at Popular Mechanics after a stint at Audubon. She's in great deal responsible for the greening going on at Popular Mechanics, a magazine, lets not forget, who has featured Area 51 on its cover more than once. A magazine which questions what is really going on behind the velvet curtain.

We now have hundreds of secret base workers, military men, aerospace engineers, who have publicly come out, through the Disclosure Project, many featured on the Fastwalkers DVD to tell the world, that yes, indeed, there are compartmentalized factions stemming from the Pentagon that have developed radically new energy systems... the instance of UFO sightings around the world, especially now that video is so readily available, has been constantly rising. Millions of people in Mexico and Brazil have seen machines defying gravity appear in their skies. This is no longer dismissible as mass hallucination or mental fabrication. This is the reality of the situation. We are not alone, and/or secret military programs have developed and are flying gravity defying machines.

Our government, factions of our government, have been lying to the American people about what they consider to be a military ace in the hole they harbor at tax payer's expense, hiding energy technologies which today, could save our bacon from this Global Warming mess. So we can't be lazy so close to our goal. We must instead double our resolve, not take no for an answer, when the NRC, which is but an extension of DoE, which is but an extension of DoD... all departments set in place to enforce the National Security Act of 1947, which was passed for the sole purpose of classifying any and all innovative energy conversion technology of a sensitive nature to national security, making it solely the property of Defense.

We're now living in dangerous times, some say maybe even the end times, where the intelligence services of foreign nations know that America hides the solutions to Global Warming at Area 51 and other not so secret bases around the globe. There are organizations now dedicated to lifting the veil of secrecy, comprised of many insiders, like Arcos Cielos in Arizona. This is why the pressure is mounting... this is why we have a puppet in the White House and Darth Vader Cheney pulling his strings... This is why the situation has become so critical... and why I can no longer remain silent about what I know, despite my allegiance to the project, and the many childhood friends I have left behind who are still a part of it.

I naively thought that over time and good will, man would pull himself by his bootstraps and adopt the soft energy path, to restore the balance of ecological systems. I have worked diligently all my life trying to assist humanity in this effort. Yet since Earth Day 1970... we still have all nuclear power plants running full steam, bigger than ever automobiles, and lazy environmentalists afraid to tell it like it is, for fear of losing a cushy book deal, cutting out old friends from his text, for being too out there for comfort.

This probably isn't the kind of report Sherwood had in mind when he asked me to sit down and write... but I'm a trapped animal right now... between a rock and hard place... under the gun, under the microscope, who like Sherwood, has sworn to shut down Indian Point, albeit for slightly different reasons. We've each looked down the pants of Uncle Sam... we don't like the smell... that smell is all over us now, like a bad dream... yet we intend to set it right, with the power that the web affords us... there are thousands, there are perhaps millions in America today, who think like us, who are not affected by the green is the new black scene, or the green is the new red, white and blue scene... Green is green, it's the color of leaves on trees, radiating at the highest crest intensity of the electromagnetic spectrum, giving life to all things. This is what we need to restore, natural systems... we can't keep cutting down the lungs of the planet for burger meat, or making ethanol out of GMO corn when hemp could produce four times the yield. It's not enough buying organic cotton t-shirts, or sustainable wood furniture, we must all get our hands dirty to remove the bastards from power and restore Excalibur to its rightful owners.

Entergy/Indian Point-New Siren Tests Were A Partial FAILURE

Not sure what the Entergy Propaganda Machine is putting out about today's siren tests, but this author is going to state they were at least a partial failure.

You see, there are two sirens that I should be able to hear EASILY from my house here in Peekskill. I heard the one down by the park twice this morning. However, the one over on Washington NEVER made a peep. So, millions spent on more Entergy FAILURE...nothing new there though. The NRC has a record of rewarding failure in their licensees.

Poetry Contest, and Other Important News...We Need More Than A Dog and Pony Show John Hall!

Like a caterpillar tucked safely within a cocoon, society seems content to ignore the warnings of the Gods, their own selfish personal comforts far more important than a call to sacrifice for a greater societal good...let the NRC relicense the reactors, it's not our community that would pay the price if there were an accident, and what are the odds of that? WE need the electricity, besides, nuclear is safe except for that whole waste stream problem, and they'll eventually solve that problem?

Come In from the storm
the acid rain is falling
Glaziers are melting
Our shelter still has room

Indian Point is gone
2 blew up yesterday
3 the day before

They said it could not happen
They were wrong, we were right
Little comfort in that
No relief from our plight

So please come in from the storm
We could use some company

Sheltering in place
After two months
Is a lonely game at best
Better to be dead like the rest
Come in out of the storm

The isotopes are falling
It's dangerous out there
Come in from the storm
We can use some company

Children, we have a quest
Quick, get a chair,
Something to drink
We'll eat him soon
After a short rest

Just thought I would toss something up to the blog that would remind all of our readers that we are accepting submissions in our Poetry Contest, so LET'S GET CREATIVE! $1,000 is not something to sneeze at, and we want to see some really good ANTI NUCLEAR messages coming in.

On other news...I am finally FEELING BETTER after being down with a serious flu bug of some sort. Even missed Green Drinks last night, so hoping to get a report up from Remy who was able to attend. John Hall introduced his bill, and it is JUST WHAT WE FEARED...nothing more than a reworked version of Congressman Maurice Hinchey's failed bill of a year ago.

Andrew Spano and the rest of our Westchester County government seem content right now to follow a failed strategy of supporting Legislation that went NO WHERE in 2006. Congressman John Hall's office went so far as to tell Green Nuclear Butterfly that things WOULD BE DIFFERENT now that Democrats were in charge. Uhhh....if things are different, how come the Democratic Congress is STILL FUNDING GNEP? Stop lying to us. As to John Hall's contention that things are different...WANT TO MAKE A WAGER Mr. Music Man? Following suit, Hilliary again place her DEAD MARKER on the table by reintroducing her own failed legislation from 2006...how SERIOUS can she be when she got NOT ONE SPONSOR last year?

Riverkeeper...if you care counting on them to SAVE US, forget about it...they did not even have Indian Point on their TOP SIX priority list for 2007! Kennedy needs to take his head out of the sand...his and Riverkeeper's ostrich impression has grown old and stale.

The new office for Green Nuclear Butterfly was officially opened at 6:09 this evening with a nice bottle of Merlot...it's cozy, and if any of you would like to stop in for coffee and a chat, drop us an email: roycepenstinger@aol.com Lastly...can someone send us a copy of the March Penthouse? LOL

Ecologist Magazine Weighs In the Nuclear Debate

The Nuclear Dossier: The Ultimate Guide

Yes it's expensive and clearly there is a problem with nuclear waste, but if it is the answer to climate change then why not?

Part 1: Building a Nuclear Power Station

All you need is a suitable location...

Part 2: Operation and Maintenance

While the world worries about a terrorist attack on a nuclear power station, industry chiefs have an even greater threat - staff boredom

Part 3: Licenced Emmisions and Controlled Releases

Stop worrying about major accidents such as Chernobyl, nuclear reactors legally emit radioactive particles that are causing clusters to erupt around the country

Part 4: Nuclear Waste: A problem that won't go away

5000 years ago the English Channel didn't exist - so where are we going to bury our nuclear waste that will be safe for up to one million years...or more?

Part 5: Decommissioning

Decommissioning has a ring of finality to it. But don't be fooled. A nuclear reactor will be standing for another 150 years before it is finally razed to the ground

Rock The Reactors Green Beauty Graces March Penthouse

One of Green Nuclear Butterfly's writers, as well as a cohort in the efforts to shut down the aging Nuclear Reactors that are collectively known as Indian Point, is Remy Chevalier from the Rock The Reactors website...he's very involved in the Green Industry, and some might say the person who introduced Betcee to environmental activism, leading to her being featured on the November cover of E Magazine. Betcee is a LOT of things, but at the core of who she is, is a woman with a very GREEN HEART. Seems her latest move is a revealing one...literally.

The Rock The Reactors girl, part-Cherokee Betcee May, who recently changed her professional name to May Lindstrom, is now March's Penthouse magazine centerfold. Sure many of the men over at Indian Point will be buying that March issue, but what I found interesting, and notable was her answer to a very revealing question. Penthouse asked Betcee what she would do if she had a million dollars, and she replied: "invest in alternative energy." Good for BETCEE...now, if she'll just get folks to join us here at the Green Nuclear Butterfly in closing down Indian Point!

Remy Chevalier of Rock The Reactors met Betcee on Friendster two years ago where she invited him to join her on Model Mayhem, a site where models and photographers meet without the need for a modeling agency. They started to collaborate on green ideas together. Remy had worked with other models like Angela Lindvall and Summer Rayne Oakes (featured here on Green Nuclear Butterfly last month) as a green consultant. Betcee agreed to pose in front of the Indian Power nuclear power plant in April of 2006, attracting much needed renewed attention to the plight of the aging reactors. The dedicated web page Remy created quickly became a huge success on the Internet, including with many workers at Indian Point, who embraced Betcee as their own pin-up girl. As I said, sure many of the nuclear plant workers will be buying the March issue.

Remy built the Rock The Reactors campaign around Betcee's image, promoting the website nationally up and down Route 66, and elsewhere around the country to bring increased focus to Indian Point and the need to shut down the plant. Betcee was a guest of honor at the Pömed party in New York, co-sponsored by Verte, Lü (another of Remy's many projects) and ELLE magazine, where Betcee met leaders in the green fashion and design community. A Green Industry that is sadly far too QUIET in the battle to close down Indian Point. Contrary to Entergy's full page ads, nuclear is not GREEN, and I would be happy to discuss this with the editors and leaders of the Green Fashion & Design Industry at a time and place of their choosing. I'll be attending Greendrinks regularly to meet some of you.

Rock The Reactors, Betcee and Remy were the topic of a full page article in Connecticut's Fairfield Weekly written by Starre Vartan, editor of the popular green fashion blog Eco-Chick. This paved the way for Betcee's cover on E The Environmental magazine and her posing in a field of windmills in Wyoming for Summit Studios in Colorado. One of the photographs from the windmill series has also been featured here on Green Nuclear Butterfly for those wanting to search through our archives.

Betcee grew up in Minnesota. She now lives in Los Angeles where she is pursuing her modeling and acting career. She has drawn considerable attention to the issue of Indian Point. Green Nuclear Butterfly thanks Betcee for bringing attention to the serious problems at Indian Point, and hopes sincerely that she will be more visible on this important issue as the days and months unfold...who knows, perhaps she can do a photo shoot with Congressman John Hall who claims he is ready to do whatever it takes to close those reactors down...trust us, that story would make CNN.

For those in the know, it's no great secret that in the last few months, there has been some tension between Betcee and Remy, and we at Green Nuclear Butterfly certainly hope that these two get back on track. Their collaboration has done an immeasurable service to our fight to shut down Indian Point, putting the issue in people's consciousness. We couldn't wish for a more solid media assault team... So bury the hatchet guys, please, we need you. Together, we ALL can expose the lies, deceit and trickery that is keeping these dangerous reactors up and running...we can start with John Hall's dog and pony legislation introduced with great false fanfare.

We know Betcee wants to see Indian Point shut down as much as we do. Her father installs solar electricity for a living in her home state of Minnesota. The role Betcee has played in this campaign has been invaluable and amazing... We're all heartbroken that these two friends, who both believe so much in the same things, can't patch things up for the sake of the campaign.

Till then, the work they did together remains. Betcee the Rock The Reactors girl, the girl serving you organic wine on the cover of E magazine. Now Betcee is this month's Penthouse centerfold, another world, yet perhaps her way to becoming the first green anti-nuclear Pet of the Year. Betcee, if you read this, if you get on Howard Stern, please put in a good word for what we are doing... never mind Remy... OK? Don't let us down! Finish what you started.

Riverkeeper Mounts Pressure for ISA at IP

FROM: RIVERKEEPER

Contact:
Alex Matthiessen, Riverkeeper
917-617-0013
Laura Sedlak, Riverkeeper
914-478-4501 x 226

For Immediate Release
2-12-2007

Pressure Mounts to Bring Independent Safety Assessment to Indian Point
***
Bi-Partisan Legislation Calls for In-Depth Investigation Into
Ongoing Safety and Emergency Planning Concerns

(Tarrytown, NY) Today, Riverkeeper applauded Congressman John Hall (D-NY), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Christopher Shays (R-CT), and Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) for reintroducing legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require an Independent Safety Assessment (ISA) at the Indian Point nuclear power plant. The legislation requires an in-depth review of Indian Point’s vital safety and mechanical systems, the spent fuel pools, and radiological emergency evacuation plans. Riverkeeper has been advocating for an Independent Safety Assessment in light of ongoing and increasing safety problems at the plant.

“Riverkeeper commends our Congressional delegation for introducing legislation that will force the NRC to take a hard and honest look at Indian Point – something the agency is clearly not willing to do on its own,” said Riverkeeper’s president Alex Matthiessen. “Given the plant’s proximity to 20 million people and chronic safety problems, our ‘good neighbors’ at Entergy should join us in supporting this important legislation.”

The legislation calls for an Independent Safety Assessment like the one conducted at Maine Yankee after a series of problems raised serious safety questions about that nuclear plant in the mid 1990s. Indian Point, which unlike Maine Yankee is located in a densely populated metropolitan area, has had a similar rash of safety and mechanical problems during its thirty-plus years of operation. Moreover, plant employees have alleged that the plant’s owner and operator, Entergy, has created a “chilled environment” that hinders workers from raising safety concerns. And several recent reports have concluded that the NRC is failing its mandate to thoroughly protect public health and safety.

“The Congressional delegation, local government bodies, and the public-at-large are demanding this thorough review,” comments Lisa Rainwater, Riverkeeper’s Indian Point campaign director. “With the reactors up for twenty-year license extensions, it is critical that this legislation is passed into law quickly, so the findings of the Independent Safety Assessment can be considered in the relicensing review process,” added Rainwater.

Recently, under public and political pressure for a Maine Yankee-style Independent Safety Assessment at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, the NRC revised the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) in order to include a biennial engineering assessment inspection known as the Component Design Bases Inspection (CDBI). While this new inspection did uncover a series of safety problems at Vermont Yankee, it is not considered a replacement for the Independent Safety Assessment. The differences between the two review protocols are stark. The Maine Yankee assessment incorporated over 17,000 hours of inspection by a team of twenty-five experts with no prior affiliation with Maine Yankee. In comparison, the NRC’s current CDBI incorporates approximately 700 inspection hours with NRC inspectors and contracted engineers. The State of Maine played an active role in the inspection process, while the CDBI only allows State officials to observe the review process.

# # #
About Riverkeeper
Riverkeeper is a member-supported, not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to safeguarding the ecological integrity of the Hudson River and the watershed areas that provide drinking water to New York City and parts of four upstate counties by tracking down and stopping polluters. Since 1983, Riverkeeper has investigated and brought to justice hundreds of environmental lawbreakers.

For more information, please visit www.riverkeeper.org.

Phillip Musegaas
Staff Attorney/Policy Analyst
Riverkeeper, Inc.
828 South Broadway
Tarrytown, NY 10591
914-478-4501 x224

John Hall Trotting Tripe Out Monday-Claims Maurice Hinchey Rewrite of Failed Indian Point Bill as His Own

First, to all those who sent me email wondering where I HAVE BEEN...doing some major work here at the house to set up a permanent office for our Close Indian Point Efforts...hope to have pictures up tomorrow or Tuesday of the new space (Set up costs were $2200, so anyone wanting to donate to the cause is MORE THAN WELCOME TO HELP OUT). Have taken over what use to be a front bedroom on the second floor of our home...location was chosen for it's view of the Hudson River, and Indian Point. We are two computers strong, with a new all in one printer/fax/scanner, and have a drawing table for (hopefully) designing some posters/protest signs and two phone lines...hoping for a third. I still have things to put away, but all in all the space is coming along nicely...should finish it up tomorrow but wanted to get something on on the blogs.

In news that is timely...John Hall will be announcing tomorrow NEW LEGISLATION (basically stolen from Maurice Hinchey and doctored up) to demand an Independent Safety and Security Assessment for Indian Point (just up the road from Peekskill)...problem is, it is nothing more than a BULL CHIT dog and pony show. It is the same tired legislation run out to dry in 2006 by Congressman Maurice Hinchey (as noted above), and it is ONLY FOR INDIAN POINT...they'll get the standard less than ten cosigners, the bill will die on the vine, and John Hall will FALSELY CLAIM that he did everything that he could to stop the relicensing. He is following the SAME FAILED STRATEGY that sees the score Nuclear Industry 48, Citizens 0 when it comes to relicensing of aging reactors.

They say timing is EVERYTHING...Green Nuclear Butterfly timed its mailing of our Open Letter To Greenpeace so that it should arrive in Washington, DC on Monday. In that open letter, we are calling on Greenpeace to work with Congress for a law that would make it mandatory to have an Independent Safety and Security Asseessment for EVERY REACTOR in America...apparently, John Hall does not believe in fairness and equality for all...if he did, his bill would call for an Independent Security and Safety Assessment of EVERY REACTOR in America...instead, he's interested in trying to create SUPER RIGHTS for just his district, and that is a recipe for FAILURE. Several of us have tried to get this message through to John Hall, but his handlers are MORE CONCERNED about his looking GOOD TO THE LOBBYIST and DEEP POCKET DONORS than doing what is right for America. In short, sort of a Sue Kelly moment of truth is about to occur on Monday.

Arthur Harris, communications director for John Hall, in a tersely worded and hostile conversation with this reporter refused to explain why John Hall has decided to trot out a poorly redone version of Maurice Hinchey's FAILED BILL of a year ago...stating, that maybe in a Democratically controlled House the Bill would have a better chance...when he was asked about the citizens in other reactor communities, Author Harris jadely stated that John Hall only works for his own constituents...apparently, only ones he LIKES...which would explain why Tom Staudter and Arthur Harris have done their best to black list The Green Nuclear Butterfly from receiving John Hall's press materials. Guess they only wish to speak to reporters that AGREE with everything John says and does. Guess they would prefer blogs that don't sing John Hall's praises not know about his appearences in the district...again, something we would expect from Sue Kelly.

Green Nuclear Butterfly and the Congressman John Hall Blog predicted this tired play on John Hall's part a month ago...he'll trot out this bill, less than ten Congress people around the Indian Point Reactors will sign onto it, it'll get read twice at committee and be sent to sub committee to die while John Hall SWEARS he did what he could on Indian Point...I got a better idea. When Arthur Harris was asked about John Hall's willingness to introduce a National Bill for all reactors communities if this one dies on the vine, he said he would not speculate on the future...odd, if John Hall really wants to shut down Indian Point, and his bill dies on the vine, one would think the answer would be and easy one...OF COURSE John Hall would introduce a NATIONAL BILL if HIS LOCAL ONE DIES (which it will).

For my readers around Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim, Diablo and other reactor communities.

Contact your elected officials in Washington, have them sign on as Co-Sponsors to Congressman John Hall's bill, and when it comes to the floor, turn it into the NATIONAL BILL reactor communities deserve. Fair and equal treatment under the law should be John Hall introducing a bill that TREATS ALL REACTOR COMMUNITIES the same...instead, he wants to introduce a SPECIAL RIGHTS BILL, and it will fail...so, let's take it out of his hands by doing the work needed to get enough co-signers to bring his half baked bill to the floor, and change it. Enough of these tricks, enough of PRETEND CONCERN on the part of liars an cheats...of which it seems , John Hall with the introduction of this bill is officially one. He does not want to close down Indian Point...he just wants everyone to think he does...you see, his RE-ELECTION in 2008 means more to him than his principles. SAD DAY, but his press release announcing this bill shows he has sold out, and is just as corrupt as Sue Kelly EVER WAS. In closing...Governor Eliot Spitzer who has also played the Close Indian Point violin has QUIETLY been taking money from one of Entergy's PAC's.

John Hall Announces Bill Requiring Indian Point Indy Safety Assessment

U. S. Representative John Hall
New York – 19th Congressional District

For Immediate Release
February 9, 2007

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12

Hall Announcing Bill Requiring Indian Point ISA or Face Shut Down in 2013

Strict Standards for IP Re-Licensing in Bill Co-Sponsored by Lowey, Engel, Hinchey and Shays

Congressman John Hall will announce on Monday morning his first piece of House legislation—a bill requiring a tough new Independent Safety Assessment for the Indian Point Nuclear Facility in Buchanan, NY.

Hall will make the announcement in the parking lot of the Annsville Creek Paddlesport Center just north of Peekskill, NY. He’ll be joined by members of the New York congressional delegation, other elected officials and environmental leaders.

When:
MONDAY, February 12 at 10:30 a.m.

Where:
Annsville Creek Paddlesport Center Bayview Road
(off Rte. 6 / 202 just west of Annsville Circle)
Town of Cortlandt, NY

Contact:
Arthur Harris / Communications Director
arthur.harris@mail.house.gov
202-225-0415
202-744-0707 cell

Tom Staudter / Press Secretary
staudter@verizon.net
914-762-0097
914-419-5221 cell

RemyC Commentary:

With all due respect, this is a losing strategy. All local bills around the country have been defeated 43-0, with rubber stamp relicensing across the board. We need a National Federal Bill to stop Entergy, the NRC and the rest of the nuclear industry from spreading their poisons to the land, the water and the skies.

On YouTube, we have Chris Shays clearly expressing himself as a staunch advocate of nuclear power to Nancy Burton, from the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone. Here I quote Congressman Shays: "We need MORE nuclear power, not less. Solar energy is not ready yet!"

So what, may I ask, is the Republican Congressman from Connecticut doing on this bill, other than perhaps suffering from a sudden case of Not In My Backyard, fending off Democratic challenger Diane Farrell and her green supporters next election round? Knowing full well the bill is doomed to fail.

What is meant by "or Face Shut Down in 2013"... what do you mean "or"? We at Green Nuclear Butterfly will not wait for 2013... We want Indian Point shut down NOW, immediately, without delay, without fail, before the damage being caused to our environment, and the threat to our lives, the Hudson Valley, Manhattan, finds itself suddenly beyond repair, if it's not too late already.

Congressman John Hall has been advocating the immediate shut down of Indian Point since the 1980 No Nukes concert in Battery Park. Every year he's shared the stage with musicians like Pete Seeger at the Clearwater Festival, Pete who all his life has dreamed of a nuclear free Hudson... and with Bonnie Raitt, one of the original founders of Musicians for Safe Energy, who helped John get elected by performing countless benefits for him along the campaign trail.

I too know some of these people, just like John does. I've worked with famous actors, musicians, performers all my life as a green advocate, founded the Eco-Saloon at Wetlands in New York, where Ani Di Franco, Dave Matthews, countless others shared a song and a beer, over a nuclear free future, with members of Greenpeace, Earth First!, Rainforest Action Network, Earth Island Institute... Where Clearwater members met every month in the Inner Sanctum. What has changed that we have suddenly become so complacent, playing it safe, by the numbers?

So what the hell happened I ask you? What happened to the fire, the passion, the sense of mission... To all boil down to this, another timid, castrated, dead-on-arrival local bill advocating an independent safety assessment the NRC will just brush off like a swarm of pesky flies, with a little toxic Raid maybe, for good measure?

At GNB, and Rock The Reactors, which spent nearly a year taking the issue of Indian Point all over the country to create what is now the largest anti-nuclear coalition since the Clamshell Alliance, we say this is not enough. This will not stop Entergy and their campaign of death. This is too little, too late. We need a new approach, we need Greenpeace! We need Green Nuclear Butterfly!

RemyC.
Rock The Reactors

LIVING IN A NUCLEAR REACTOR'S SHADOW

Living in the shadow of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Reactor.
(model Isabel Vinson)

To live within a few miles of a working nuclear reactor entails certain distinct factors worthy of notation to people who live further away. This paper intends to draw some attention to those differences.

Every reactor zone has evacuation plans and reception centers that are prepared in the event of a radiological release. The evacuation plans are not tested due to the level of alarm it would supposedly instill in people, in addition to the market disturbance that would occur during those times the evacuation plan was being tested. For ten, twenty thousand or more residents of an area to evacuate would upset business and create a liability for the town sponsoring the evacuation drill. The functioning of the reception centers including their ability to radiologically decontaminate individuals is tested by the state emergency management teams These state emergency management agencies answer to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on a yearly basis. Whether the plans actually work or not is irrelevant, as each year FEMA is informed that an effective plan is in place. The plans are, at best, minimally tested.

For example the plans in Brattleboro VT have been deemed successful when it only takes only 1 hour and 40 minutes to load the public school children on to buses, which is better than having the buses neglect to pick up children as in earlier tests. Brattleboro is 5 miles from the reactor If the buses arrive in longer than 45 minutes it is too long. Furthermore, the drills have not taken into account the private school students, hospital residents, emergency traffic conditions, nursing home residents, indigent population etc. To have called such a drill a success is stretching the truth.

The town government of Brattleboro, VT. has a mandate to approve the town evacuation plan as each year. To date it has not been approved since May of 2001. The former selectboard had received a “nuclear 101” course from a non local retired nuclear engineer and still the approval /disapproval of the evacuation plan has been avoided.

The general public in reactor zone towns are offered free weather alert radios here in VT. These are devices that warn of impending bad weather from the National Weather Service and also of any significant radiological releases. These radios are often available from either the local fire departments or from the city/town halls. The upside to these is the ability to know of an event when one may not be listening to the am/fm radio. The weather alert radio when set to the correct frequency comes on of its own accord. The downside is that these radios are tested, by either the national weather service or the local emergency management team at often inopportune moments. For one who works second shift to have ones’ sleep disturbed by the weather alert radio test at 0600 hours is frustrating yet also in a way comforting.

Once each month there are siren tests. These sirens are placed in the emergencyprotective zone ten within the ten mile radius of the reactor. These sirens are akin to the old air raid sirens to warn of blitzkrieg or to warn of missile attack. They are loud – last for a few minutes – and unfortunately many people take the sound of them for granted while they continue shopping.

The states in the epz- (emergency planning zone) receive for the towns in the epzfrom the federal government a supply of potassium iodide (KI) to distribute to its residents. Residents only receive the KI tablets when they apply through the state office of the department of public health. Potassium iodide is an after the fact (of a radiological release) option. In the event of a significant release of radionucleides, if one ingests the KI one can protect their thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is part of the endocrine system and the KI basically packs the thyroid gland with stable iodine so that it does not absorb the radioactive iodine. Radioactive iodine enters the environment anytime “spent fuel rods” are handled or when nuclear weapons are used. Iodine 129, one of the radioactive iodines, has a half-life of millions of years. KI is not effective if radioactive iodine is not one of the radioisotopes released.

Living in the shadow of a nuclear reactor could be written as a nightmare tale ending in either “I told you so” or “thank goodness we haven’t needed to use the evacuation plan yet”. Within a few days of the Three Mile Island partial meltdown, March 28, 1979, 2000 people were asked to evacuate. Thirty thousand plus people hit the roads. This phenomenon is called shadow evacuation.

Because the industry is so confident of its defense in depth, nuclear workers tend to think that an accident is near impossible. On the other hand, with older reactors now being asked to produce more power for longer than they were originally designed a nuclear accident is not just a likelihood but is inevitable. It isan eventuality. The longer the current generation of reactors is pushed the greater the likelihood of our not avoiding a catastrophic accident. May no one be harmed as a consequence. Unfortunately, if no one is harmed, the catastrophic qualities of the accident may be overlooked.

IPSEC...They Want Your Donations, But Are Asleep At Wheel

This Friday at eight AM, there is a meeting at the NRC headquarters...you can bet that IPSEC has not opposed the meeting, will not be in attendance at the meeting, but will be sending out their email BEGS for money, make the same tired claims that they are working to STOP INDIAN POINT. They will jump up and down, scream and yell about the pending application for renewal as a reason FOR YOU to GIVE THEM more money! Problem is, what is IPSEC really doing? One thing they CLAIM THEY ARE DOING, is keeping US INFORMED through their LIST SERV...OK, count me in.

I live within three miles of Indian Point, I want to be INFORMED! PICK ME, PICK ME! So, with happy tears in my eyes, I submitted a REQUEST to be put in the IPSEC list serve...I mean HELLO, I am the Green Nuclear Butterfly, I need to be informed. I went to Yahoo, found the IPSEC listserve group, applied for membership (yes, you have to be APPROVED!), and waited. Then I waited some more. Today, my wait is over!

I am NOT A MEMBER OF THE IPSEC list serve...why do you ask? Seems that the moderator of the IPSEC list was too busy to realize someone wanted to JOIN! I was AUTO REJECTED when the moderater FAILED TO ACT ON MY REQUEST FOR TWO WEEKS! If you ever wondered WHY OUR SIDE IS LOSING, there is your answer...IPSEC and Riverkeeper get all your money, but when it comes to REAL ACTION, they are ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL.

THE REJECTION LETTER FROM YAHOO:

Hello,

Your request to join the indianpointsec group was not approved. Your membership was automatically rejected because the moderator didn't approve it within 14 days. We do this to provide a high quality of service for our users.

If you want, you may attempt to join this group again.

You may find other groups to join by searching or browsing the Groups directory:
http://groups.yahoo.com

If you would like to create your own group, please visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/start

Thank you for choosing Yahoo! Groups.


Regards,

Yahoo! Groups Customer Care

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms

Rude NRC Employees Ignore Task Force Recommendations, Treat Stakeholders Poorly

Well, if the whiny MR. S Burns, Assistant Deputy General Counsel, and one John P. Boska are examples, it seems that Commissioner Diaz's task force on improving stakeholder out reach was a wasted effort. First, it should be noted, that the Commission itself admitted in 2003 that the NRC's communication with, and interactions with members of the public living around nuclear reactors is...well, PATHETIC. In fact, in the commission report from 2003, it seems that the NRC does not have any kind of viable program in existence to keep us informed...though, they did get accolades for their communications with the nuclear industry, and all those who SUPPORT IT.

The task force instructed NRC staff, and specifically the Office of Public Awareness to create a set of recommendations to improve the NRC's involvement with members of the stakeholder community, instructed the NRC to take steps to be more RESPONSIVE to stakeholder concerns. Well, if Mr. Burns and his Snidley Whiplash side kick Mr. Boska are any example, the NRC some four years later still does not give a flying crapola about members of the general public, has no problems telling us to go to hell, and stay out of the NRC's business.

Last week I became aware of a meeting between the NRC and Entergy North East regarding reactor issues for Indian Point. I had some problems with the meeting, least of which was the location of the meeting in Rockville, Maryland...it should be noted here, that the commission itself has noted citizen involvement at meetings held in Rockville is NON-EXISTENT, and encouraged NRC staff to find ways to correct this....uhhhh, such as holding said meetings in the STAKE HOLDER COMMUNITIES? I called up Mr. Boska who (putting it mildly) seemed irritated that a mere citizen who dare interfere with NRC business...in fact, in his exact words, I was told I would have OTHER OPPORTUNITIES to be involved with Indian Point! Ignoring the mindless babble, I formally requested that said meeting be postponed/rescheduled when said meeting could be held in the HOST COMMUNITY.

Boska, changed a few things around and sent me out an email this morning maintaining Friday's meeting...So, I called up the NRC office of General Counsel where Mr. Burns (who for some odd reason instantly reminded me of either Pee Wee Herman, or Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley) petulently got on the phone, obviously upset that a member of the general public was interfering with his day...in his whiny little voice he gleefully told me there was NOTHING I COULD DO TO STOP THE MEETING, that I was not entitled to redress, that the NRC COULD AND WOULD do what it wanted, when it wanted.

At that point, I elevated the matter to Mr. Talmidge in the Commissioners office...right now, waiting to hear back on that one. What disturbs me, is that the Commission admits there is a serious problem with the public's involvement in the process, the Commission has instructed NRC staff to come up with ways to correct this inadequacy, and yet staff seems hell bent to CHEAT US out of our rightful involvement at every chance they get. Maybe, just maybe Mr. Burns and Mr. Boska should take their lead from the Commission, and ENCOURAGE PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT in the process by abiding by a citizen's request to hold an important meeting about Indian Point in the host community? WHAT A RADICAL CONCEPT!

In 1996 Chip Cameron was content to ignore stakeholder rights, and now a decade later, NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

We Knew About Fossil Fuels & Global Warming in the 30's!

Guestwriter
Mark Elliott
Paranoia Magazine

I picked up an old book a few months ago, entitled:

Landscapes of Alaska
Their Geographic Evolution Prepared by members of the United States Geological Survey
Published in Co-operation with the National Park Service,
United States Department of the Interior
Edited by Howell Williams
1958
Berkeley and Los Angeles
University of California Press

This book was published by our government as volume one, part four, of the Nat'l. Park Service's Recreation Survey of Alaska, making it about as official as any document can ever be expected to be.

This book makes numerous references to the fact that the Alaskan glaciers are retreating.

To quote from page 10 (for example): "a short drive by good highway from Juneau leads to the terminus of the magnificent Mendenhall Glacier, which once extended to the sea but now has retreated far enough to permit the Juneau airport to be built on its outwash plain."

Then, in the section containing the photographic plates, the description of Plate #4 states: "During the early part of this century there was a dramatic recession of the glacier [Mt. Crillon at Johns Hopkins Bay]."

Even more telling, Plate #5 gives a "before and after" shot of the glacier at Nunatak Fiord in Yakutat Bay. The "before" shot shows the bay in 1909, the "after" shot, from 1938, shows how, during the ensuing 29 years, the ice had receded "more than three miles below its present limit.

So you see, the government knew that certain glaciers were disappearing at a rate of a bit over 500 feet per year! Their response? A shrug of the shoulders along with an Alfred E. Newman "What . . me worry?"

So, you see that our government scientists knew that we had a global warming issue as early as 1938! They also knew that the glacial recession began "during the early part of this century", in a time frame simultaneous to our "Industrial Revolution".

Thus, I can make the assertion that we've known about this situation for 69 years at least, but the "Inconvenient Truth" that America has never wanted to face is the fact that this problem can be traced directly back to the fact that that hoary old political philosophy of capatalism, so beloved by the anti-socal bully, is the direct cause of Mother Earth's problems. Fixing the planet would require getting rid of the religious ideal of "subdue the earth and multiply" that drives us to over-produce useless crap. Will we accomplish this? The recent acceptance by many countries of the American way of economics doesn't bode well.

I have come to believe that humankind is bored enough to require the drama inherent in ecological disaster. Like naughty children looking for attention, we holy idiots are challenging the god-head to give us a good spanking. Note the titillating way that the news of environmental disaster is presented in the media. This "show" is designed to let you know that, A) "The realization of your darkest fantasies may be just around the corner, and, B) Doom appears inevitable, so don't fret too much.

We create the reality that we require for our souls (and by association, the god-head's) edification. Thus, the only way that we are ever going to stop the inevitable decline is to awaken from our hypnotic stupor and decide that we truly want to bring "heaven" down to this plane.

Unfortunately though, we've advanced our technology beyond the power of our spiritual maturity. We're children with hand grenades too busy blowing stuff up to realize that we have the power to create a heaven on earth right here, right now. But then, heaven sounds way too boring to children.

So, now the Earth Spirit is being forced into defending its integrity, and just as our bodies react to danger by killing off invading germs through fever, so is the Great Mother about to raise the heat until enough of we harmful parasites are killed off.

(Thanks to Linton on Hugg for finding the video.)

NRC, Entergy-Roll Your Life Dice Some Place Else

Nuclear Power, Rolling The Dice

So far, the score is 48-0 with every reactor application for license renewal approved through the process. It is apparent to anyone and everyone, that the process is fixed, that the wishes of the host communities, our safety, our environments of little or no importance in the large scheme of a National Energy Policy. Our local politicians will play games with us, dance as if they are on our side, but in the final analogy, they do a Texas Two Step and sell us out to Corporate Interests and a drive to give Nuclear Power an American Rebirth in the name of saving the world from Global Warming. A perfect example of this is Governor Eliot Spitzer who has promised to shut down the plant, while taking money from Entergy's Political Action Committee...any one find that more than a bit strange? Senator Hillary Clinton is no better, claiming she wants the facility shut down, but taking money from various executives working for Entergy. WHORE SLUT comes quickly to mind. Everyone outside of the communities being forced to play host to aging reactors are fine with the status quo, especially IF nuclear power is the great placebo ever to come down the pike, one that will keep them, keep the world from having to make any personal sacrifice in stopping the warming of the world, stop the melting of our ice packs.

The problem is, the question is, what if the nuclear industry's BEST GUESS ESTIMATES when it comes to these aging nuclear reactors are wrong? More importantly, does any one really care, or instead is it about personal convenience? Since this writer lives within three miles of Indian Point, this article looks at the issue of relicensing using our two reactors as the example. Green Nuclear Butterfly offers up to the reader a what if set of scenarios. Poses the question to America, are you willing to sacrifice an entire city such as New York in your quest for nuclear energy? More importantly, what if WE AS A COMMUNITY are not willing to let you do that to us? What if we as a community are willing to lay our lives on the line to SHUT DOWN INDIAN POINT, to force its closure...will you MOW US DOWN with armed Guardsmen, making Indian Point another KENT STATE?

In the first scenario , we have Entergy's position, the position of a nuclear industry that DESPARATELY needs, wants to keep these reactors up and running far beyond their 40 year life spans. They will have us believe that their best guess estimates could see these facilities nursed along for a total of 80 years...in short, a second round of relicensing shortly after this round is complete with the NRC doing everything they can to remove every safeguard in the way of such a reality happening. They will justify all of this under the guise that the GREATER SOCIETY needs the energy, cannot live without the energy from this aging fleet of reactors, tell us that said need justifies the risks. Tell us, that our lives, our losses mean nothing when compared to the BIGGER PICTURE.

There is no intention of selling this pack of lies and half truths on host communities, as we do not count. The nuclear industry instead will sell the PUBLIC AT LARGE, convince them that nuclear is safe, clean, vital, green and NECESSARY...the real truth, is the only real truth in that scam, is that nuclear might be necessary, but will come with a horrid Holocaust cost, as some of these reactors are going to blow. The DOE, NRC, NEI and the nuclear industry as a whole will attempt to sell the public on a new CONCEPT for radioactive waste streams...recycling! In doing so, they will teach us that spent fuel now sitting onsite at every reactor is NOT WASTE, but instead future use resource that has a GREAT VALUE attached to it....after all, waste is BAD, but anything that has GREAT VALUE to it is GOOD...think of diamonds, or caviar. If the nuclear industry can change PUBLIC PERCEPTION about the waste, then they can make the complaints about waste streams seem UNREASONABLE, even SELFISH. In short, any community resisting the relicensing of a nuclear reactor, any community not willing to host a new reactor is SELFISH...make us the host communities the VILLAIN. As they say on South Park, "YOU BASTARDS, you KILLED Kenny!"

Let's be honest...the hundreds of millions that the nuclear industry has spent on propaganda is WORKING. Nuclear for the most part is off the radar. Most people are either A) ambivalent about it, or B) actually believe it is a SAFE, GREEN, RENEWABLE energy source. The basic embrace of the industry lies seems to follow the following strategy.

1. Yes, the current reactors are getting older, but the industry would shut them down before there was ever a SERIOUS accident. Besides, even if there was an accident, it wouldn't be THAT BAD, and we need the energy.

2. The new reactors are safer than the old ones, and eventually the old ones will all be shut down after the new ones are up and running.

3. Yes, it's true that the industry has not dealt with its waste streams, but right now, that waste is not bothering anyone sitting where its at, and maybe the new technology will eventually solve the waste problems.

4. We need the energy, and nuclear is CO2 FREE, and RENEWABLE.

Just goes to show you, if you repeat a lie long enough, and often enough the public will begin to embrace it, and own it as their own. A whole lot of people are putting a whole lot of faith in an industry that has been WRONG a whole lot of the time, putting a whole lot of faith in an industry with a history of protecting its own, instead of protecting human health and/or the environment. In a perfect world, based on the nuclear industry's best guesses, they will be able to keep these aging reactors up and running for another 40 years, and in that time manage to avoid any and all serious accidents and/or terrorists attacks. In short, they have asked the nation to trust them, and since most of the nation does not have a reactor in their own back yard, the nation has agreed to do JUST THAT. FUCK THE NATION, you have no right to play with our lives in such a fashion. Problem is, most host communities DO NOT TRUST the NRC, do not trust the reactors, and do not trust the nuclear industry. It is the host communities that are being forced to take the risks, it is the host community that will lose if the nuclear industry's gamble is an incorrect one. The NRC must not be allowed to ignore our wishes, even if it takes civil disobedience like none ever seen before to forcibly shut down these reactors.

So, the question is, what if the nuclear industry is wrong...WRONG ONLY ONCE? We have 103 aging reactors here in America, and many of these facilities are beginning to show the signs of aging one would expect...parts breaking, systems ceasing to work, and the main components constantly being patched and welded back together again as the nuclear industry tries to keep the cash flow from these behemoths rolling into the corporate cash registers...in Indian Point's case for instance, the two reactors daily bring in over one million dollars. That amount pales in comparison to the societal loses with just one SERIOUS ACCIDENT AT THE SITE.

Spent fuel pools are dense packed far beyond their original storage capacity, and no reactor in America can continue to operate without approving of dry cask storage for additional spent fuel streams. Many of these spent fuel pools are developing cracks in their foundation walls, radioactive wastes leaking out through them into the ground water, winter weather freezing said waste leaks, and in doing so expanding the size of the cracks, greatly increasing the possibility of a significant structural break down and collapse of a wall. The NRC will not deny this could happen, but instead says the odds are slim...problem is, a spent fuel fire would devastate an area of over 100 miles around Indian Point, and make the area within a 30 mile radius non in habitable for hundreds of years. The NRC finds the risk acceptable, as neither they, nor Entergy would be forced to absorb the financial costs of such a catastrophic incident. They would not have to make us as human beings WHOLE AGAIN. Further, I have spoken with a pilot...flying a Boeing 747 into a spent fuel pool is more than possible, contrary to the NRC's FALSE CLAIMS...what, they think we as citizens are so stupid that we are incapable of questioning their lies, finding out our own truths?

What about a core meltdown...the industry will tell us that TMI (Three Mile Island) shows that even a core meltdown is manageable...problem is, TMI was not even close to a worse case scenario incident. All these years later, as reactors reach their outer boundaries of usefulness, a worse case scenario would be a reactor core SHATTERING from the stresses of old age when said reactor was/is operating at full capacity. Various situational breakdowns could see this happen...even worse, in some modeling, such a reality becomes probable. Such a shattering of the brittle and fragile core would instantly see the hydrogen in the reactor explode into the atmosphere, the heat almost instantly also vaporizing any water in the reactor core itself, eliminating ALL CHANCES of cooling down the core. Ask the NRC...they refuse to RULE OUT a core steam and/or Hydrogen EXPLOSION that would SHATTER THE CONTAINMENT COMPLETELY...VAPORIZE IT LIKE THE WORLD TRADE CENTER.

Such a scenario leaves no time for EVACUATION PLANS...at least half of those within three miles of the site could be KILLED instantly. Sheltering in place for most would be THE ONLY OPTION, and for far too many, this option would only postpone their death, not deter nor stop it. Let's be generous here, let's mitigate the scope and magnitude of this NUCLEAR INCIDENT. Within the first five days, 80,000 are dead. Let's say for sake of argument that 500,000 will die of various cancers within ten years of the incident. NRC scientists, the nuclear industry assure us, that at most, we'll see maybe one million children born over a period of 50 years with significant birth defects. Mind you, we are mitigating the effects.

Now, what about the financial costs of such a nuclear incident? Energy as a company would not be affected, as Indian Point is held in a LLC owned by Entergy North East. Further, the Price Anderson Act limits their maximum liability to 9 Billion dollars. Now, to put that in perspective, the nuclear industry's own numbers estimate that a MAJOR incident at Indian Point would do somewhere between 139 and 500 Billion dollars in damage to the infrastructure. If you look at your insurance policy, you'll find you are NOT COVERED for any damage from a nuclear incident and its aftermath. So, here you are, you managed to live through the nuclear incident, somehow no one in your immediate family has died yet. Problem is, the area you call home is now a WASTELAND, radioactive contamination seeing the government ordering every one within a 30 square mile area permanently evacuated. You can take with you NOTHING, even the clothes on your backs exchanged for temporary uniforms at a evacuation station before you are taken by cattle cars to internment facilities built for those suffering from radioactive contamination...after all, they don't want your DAMAGED DNA contaminating the remaining healthy GENE POOL . You have no job, your home and belongings are gone, and you still owe a $400,000 mortgage, as that is not forgiven. Ingested radioactive particulates see you unable to work. Multiply this reality for say FIVE MILLION PEOPLE, which is only 1/4 of the population in and around the New York area. This is the GAMBLE the NRC and Entergy want to take with OUR LIVES...again, the Green Nuclear Butterfly says FUCK THAT SHIT. My apologies to those who find my use of swear words distasteful...I find the mentality of these FUCK TURDS unacceptable!

With all due respect to the NRC, to our government, to the Nuclear Industry, who do you think you are to ask us to take such a risk? To the rest of America, who do you think you are to ask us to take such a risk for your convenience? Who are any of you to ask 103 reactor communities to take such a risk just so that you and your family do not have to make a sacrifice in your own lives? The re licensing process is fixed, our government has decided they can throw us to the wolves in the name of a National Energy Policy, they believe the rest of America will guilt us as host communities into accepting our fate, that we will spend our time PRAYING that the NRC is right, and a major incident can be avoided. Problem is, some of us are no longer willing to have the NRC, George Bush gamble WITH OUR LIVES.

The Green Nuclear Butterfly believes this is FOLLY, and calls on the 20 Million people of New York to set a better path for ourselves. If the NRC refuses to order the shut down and decommissioning of the Indian Point Reactors, then we need to take the matter into our own hands. Five county governments have expressed their opposition to the plant...millions of citizens have voiced their opposition to the continued operation of the plant. Together, we have the power to take these plants, by force if necessary. It is doubtful that the NRC and the Entergy corporation are willing to go to war against citizens of the United States to keep these reactors running. Is president Bush prepared to declare Marshall Law, and begin mowing down innocent citizens to keep these aging relics operating? DOUBTFUL. How large of a police force do these counties have? Surely enough of a force to EVICT (if necessary) the entire staff at the reactors? How many citizens would march with local law enforcement to shut down these facilities? Does the NRC's force on force equations include dealing with a civil disobedience force of say half a million marchers? A protest march that DOES NOT STOP AT THE FENCE LINE?

Let's not kid ourselves...Governor Eliot Spitzer is a double faced liar...he says he wants the site shut down, yet check out his campaign contributions...he TOOK MONEY FROM ENTERGY, just as Sue Kelly did, just as Hillary Clinton did. These politicians may talk a good game, but in the final analogy, they CANNOT BE TRUSTED. Congressman John Hall...with his musician friends, he can call forth an army of millions to protest Indian Point, to MARCH ON INDIAN POINT....yet, WHERE IS HE? His wife is the real anti nuker in the family if truth is known...take a walk around Woodstock, speak to some of the store owners and verify this for yourselves. If we want Indian Point closed down, it will take DRASTIC CITIZEN ACTION, and not on the part of just a few, but on the part of the masses. We need a movement, we need a local government that is willing to ORDER OUR FORCES to take back the plant, to CLOSE IT DOWN. We need 200,000 people willing to CAMP OUT ON INDIAN POINT, we need 500 boats on the Hudson River.

Riverkeeper, IPSEC, and the rest of them...they want to play nice, want to protect their membership at the country club...yes, they want Indian Point closed down, but only if it can be done with Bake Sales and hand shakes...IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Green Nuclear Butterfly will work with anyone that has a true desire to SHUT DOWN INDIAN POINT, has a true desire to do whatever it takes to effect that reality. We call on John Hall to put his ACTIONS where his words are...he said he would do anything in his power to shut down the plant...fine, call up Pete, call up Bonnie Raitt, call up Jackson Browne, and ENERGIZE THE PEOPLE to march on Indian Point..you've known all along this is what it would take. 9/11 has proven that Indian Point is too grave of a risk to be tolerated, you know it MUST BE CLOSED. Come on Andrew Spano, use your executive power to mobilize a force of 1,000 uniformed police officers to close the plant down...give Entergy 24-48 hours to mothball the reactors and VACATE the facility.

I am sure that every employee currently not a part of management can be rehired as a part of the decommissioning team. Spent Fuel...it's the Federal Government WASTE...since they keep telling us it is so safe, lets give it back to them...we'll put said waste in dry cask units, load them on to trucks, and have them driven to the nearest Federal Laboratory where DOE can figure out what to do with it. That one decommissioning task alone will take ten years to accomplish. We are sure DOE will be amenable to such a plan...after all, they have been telling us for years that these waste streams ARE SAFE...well, if they are so safe, THEY CAN STORE THEM ON THEIR SITE, not at Indian Point.

In short, it is time for NEW YORKERS to TAKE CONTROL OF OUR OWN FUTURE, rather than let the NRC gamble with it through a wrong sighted relicensing process.

Where is American Idol In Taking A Stand?

Movements have begun, been supported and nurtured through music and the musicians that create it. American Idol has a weekly audience that routinely exceeds 20 million people. The show is aired in every single community being forced to host the 103 aging reactors that are the nuclear industry's fleet. Over 50 percent of America's population lives within 50 miles of a nuclear reactor...in short, if there is a major event at one of these decrepit, brittling, failing reactors, up to fifty percent of American Idol's audience base could be affected, could FACE DEATH.

So, with that reality, where is Simon speaking up against relicensing of these reactors, where is Paula calling citizens to action? American Idol has the ability to reach through the apathy and plug middle America back into this fight for our communities. There is such a thing as Social Responsibility, and American Idol needs to weigh in on this important issue...it is WRONG to force communities to play host to these relics from a error plagued industry, it is wrong to keep these reactors up and running, in effect playing Russian Roulette with the lives of fifty percent of America, fifty percent of American Idol's audience base. One free commercial spot on their show speaking up against the nuclear industry would force our government to wake up...question is, does Simon care about anything beyond his wallet where America is concerned? American Idol could invite Congressman John Hall onto the show for a cameo appearence to briefly speak on the issue...there is in short a natural tie in for such political activism.