NRC too Busy Surfing Porn To Worry About Public Health and Safety?

Official Indian Point Pin Up Girl?

For months now, rumors have been flying around the internet that Entergy's Indian Point workers had adopted Penthouse's "March Pet of The Month" (Betcee May) as their official pin up girl with her image making appearances in various lockers, and even the employee break room. It made for a titillating, even juicy bit of gossip, but seems there may be some truth to it after all.

Cruising the internet today looking for nuclear industry dirt, I came across the NRC Office Of Inspector General's Report to Congress. Seems the NRC's computers were being used by staff, contractor employees, and GUARDS to cruise internet porn sites! Read for yourselves, and then wonder when something critical will be missed in mid drool by NRC, reactor staff, or a guard who is bored in the middle of the night. Perhaps the time has come to rename the NRC, "Pervs R Us"?

Office of the Inspector General Semiannual Report to Congress (NUREG-1415, Vol. 16, No. 1)

Misuse of NRC Computers To Access Pornographic Material

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/nuregs/staff/sr1415/v16n1/#case_summaries

OIG completed a proactive review for fiscal years 2001 through 2003 to identify the potential misuse of information technology resources by NRC employees and contractors. This review centered on the network activity passing through the NRC’s primary conduit to the Internet and identified NRC computers requesting and receiving materials from Web sites containing sexually explicit materials. The preliminary information was confirmed using computer forensic methods and resulted in 30 investigations of NRC employees and contractors.

As a result of the investigations, OIG found that 22 NRC employees and 7 contractor employees were routinely accessing sexually explicit Internet sites from their assigned NRC computers. Each of the subjects of these investigations confessed to their activities and, furthermore, each indicated they were aware of the NRC’s policies against accessing such materials. Responsive action taken by NRC toward its employees ranged from a 21-day suspension to job termination.

Additionally, OIG discovered that the NRC contract guard force was misusing their Internet access on computers provided by the NRC in violation of specific provisions within their contract with the NRC. The NRC is currently negotiating with the contract guard force and a contractor providing computer services to deduct the value of the hours lost to these unapproved and non-contract related activities which has been estimated at over $17,000. (Addresses Management Challenge #3)

Did Penthouse Go Green for Earth Day?

In the "The Wife Aquatic" episode of the Simpsons, the family goes back to Barnacle Bay, a vacation destination that has declined because of overfishing of the Yum Yum fish.

At the end of the episode, Lisa (the vegetarian, environmentalist, and moral compass of the show) gets the Barnacle Bay people to stop overfishing by coming up with a new industry for the island... which ends up being clearcutting the island's forests (much to Lisa's chagrin).

A logger then tells Lisa that all these big trees are being cut to make paper for Penthouse magazine! Which bums Lisa out even more.

Which is perhaps why, this month, their April issue, short of printing the magazine on recycled stock, Penthouse decided to go with the color "green" for their cover, with a radiant Dita Von Teese posing in a green corset!

Join Dita at the Museum of Sex Gala for
THE FIRST ANNUAL MUSEUM OF SEX GALA
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
7pm – 10pm

233 Fifth Avenue @ 27th Street
New York, NY 10016
General Information:
(212) 689-6337

Help raise funds for the Museum of Sex while enjoying an evening of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres with a special performance by Dita Von Teese!

GNB knows that the Museum of Sex is planning a future exhibit dedicated to the Environment and the Sex Industry. So this will make for quite an interesting mix of agendas and philosophies.

Alan Cumming
Honorary Chair

Event Chairs:
Fred Davis
June Reinisch
Candida Royalle

Benefit Committee:
Barbara Carrellas
Brian Christopher Cummings
Vanessa del Rio
Betty Dodson
Brent Nicholson Earle
Robert W. Richards
Seymour Stein
Iké Udé
Veronica Vera

For more information on sponsorship or to purchase tickets,
please call (646) 519-7904 or email
mosex@stampeventco.com

Tickets start at $150.

Thanks to
pressmailings@museumofsex.com
& www.eco-chick.com
for this item.

Fuel Rods CRACKING UP, Reactor Core NEXT?

I know I cannot pronounce the word, but show me where the RED LAUNCH BUTTON IS!

First it was an employee cracking up in a stranger than life murder/suicide plot unfolded over the weekend with a HIGH RANKING employee at Entergy's Indian Point Nuclear Reactors. Now it seems that Indian Point's leaking spent fuel pools have even BIGGER PROBLEMS as employees located a brittling, aging fuel rod that had splintered apart. Calls to Indian Point's public relations chimp, Larry Gottlieb went unanswered, and our dear Mr Sheets was/is on vacation, so we elevated our inquiry to NRC's Region 1.

We spoke with Diane in the Public Affairs office at (610 337 5330), and it was clear from the very start that she was UNCOMFORTABLE discussing fractured, breaking spent fuel rods, and the incident at Indian Point. We got an elaborate, round about no comment that provided some insights. First, Entergy/Indian Point has 45 days to submit an event report! Such a long period of time is allowed in the hopes the public will have forgotten about the event by the time they divulge WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, and they can sweep it under the carpet.

As Diane and I did our dance, me trying to nail her down, her trying to give up nothing, some things became clear, most important of them, that the incident today at Indian Point is not one of and isolated nature. Seems that spent fuel rods have been BREAKING APART at other nuclear reactor storage pools around America. Seems that the NRC has a committee studying this very issue, which led me to ask what I thought a fair question..."if there is a committee studying this very issue Diane, could I get a list of the incidents that have occurred?" I got a TOO QUICK..."There is NO LIST, WE DO NOT KEEP LISTS" answer. I quipped back to her, "Then how is a committee studying this very issue if you do not keep lists?" She was NOT HAPPY.

I fenced with Diane a bit longer, pointing out that old brittle spent fuel rods breaking apart could bring into serious questions the structural stability and safety of the entire dense packed racking system, but she of course WAS NOT WANTING TO HEAR IT, so I got off the phone with her and called up the NRC Chairman's office to see if they would be more forthcoming...seems they are not overly concerned with press deadlines....especially those of a blogger they are not overly fond of. The Chairman's assistant has promised to have someone GET BACK TO ME early next week...early being before next Wednesday.

On a sidebar issue...seems that Congressman John Hall will make an appearance at next Friday's Indian Point summit, but needs to head out by 3:15 PM to be in New York City for an evening party...in short, he'll be there for the industry leaders, but is skipping out on the all important CITIZENS portion of the event to be held at 6:30 PM. The Green Nuclear Butterfly is attending this Indian Point summit, and have requested interview time with John Hall...we will see what happens.

Indian Point: Cracked fuel rod discovered; no danger to public

By GREG CLARY
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: February 23, 2007)

BUCHANAN - Indian Point workers (Think murder/suicide.) discovered a cracked fuel rod in the spent fuel pool of Indian Point 2 this morning, causing them to stop a routine inspection so they could determine the extent of the damage and what repairs are needed. Details of how serious this is will not be known for around 45 days.

The action did not necessitate the shutdown of the nuclear power plant.

A spokesman for Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns and operates Indian Point, said there was no rise in radiological dose levels around the rod and no danger to the public.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission resident inspectors are monitoring the pool and the repair. The agency also said there was no evidence of a radiological release in the spent fuel pool area.

The broken pieces stayed underwater, which is how the old fuel is normally shielded from workers.

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

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.