Nuclear Hotseat #267: INDIAN POINT Film – Former NRC Chair Jaczko, Director Meeropol

This Week’s Featured Interviews:

Filmmaker, subject and activists converged at the Los Angeles run of the documentary, INDIAN POINT, an exploration of nuclear issues seen through the lens of the two aging nuclear reactors located only 25 miles from New York City.

• We talk with director Ivy Meeropol about what led her to devote four years of her life to making the film.
• Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Dr. Gregory Jaczko, who was forced out of the agency, attended the screening and took part in the audience Q&A afterwards.  INDIAN POINT recasts Dr. Jaczko as hero… and he was.
• Interviews with activists who attended the screening from Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and Japan.
• Access INDIAN POINT TRAILER here.

LISTEN: Nuclear Hotseat #267: INDIAN POINT Film – Former NRC Chair Jaczko, Director Meeropol

As Public Service Commission Revises Its Plan to Subsidize Nuclear Plants in the NYS Clean Energy Standard, AGREE & NIRS File Legal Memorandum Challenging the Executive Overreach, Legal Problems, and Soaring Costs of the Proposal | AGREE

As Public Service Commission Revises Its Plan To Subsidize Nuclear Plants In The NYS Clean Energy Standard, AGREE & NIRS File Legal Memorandum Challenging The Executive Overreach, Legal Problems, And Soaring Costs Of The Proposal

For immediate release

Contacts: Jessica Azulay jessica@allianceforagreeneconomy.org cell  (917) 697-4472 office 315.480.1515;  

Stephen Kent, skent@kentcom.com, 914-589-5988

[Albany, NY – July 8]  On Friday afternoon, July 8, the Department of Public Service issued a new proposal for how the state should subsidize unprofitable nuclear power plants in Upstate New York. The proposal would dramatically change the formula – and the price tag – for the nuclear bailout program under consideration this summer by the Public Service Commission at the request of Governor Cuomo.

Instead of taking into account nuclear reactors’ individual costs and targeting subsidies to help them break even, as had been previously proposed, the new proposal bases subsidies on the “social cost of carbon.” The new formula is simpler to calculate, but likely much more expensive.

The new proposal is likely an attempt for the Department of Public Service to address some of the legal issues with the nuclear tier that parties have been raising in the case.

But in a legal memorandum also filed in the case today by Alliance for a Green Economy and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, the nuclear tier suffers from multiple legal deficiencies that are unlikely to be remedied from superficial changes to the policy. 

The memorandum raises concerns that the Governor overreached his authority in directing the Public Service Commission to create a program to save financially struggling nuclear reactors. It also points out how vulnerable the policy is to legal challenge by Entergy Corporation, the owner of Indian Point. The Indian Point reactors are being carved out of the policy, which is meant only to benefit upstate reactors. The Governor wants to shut the Indian Point reactors, while keeping upstate reactors open. Entergy has threatened to sue over the policy, claiming the proposal to leave out its facility is arbitrary and capricious.

In a statement issued today, Alliance for a Green Economy and Nuclear Information and Resource Service said:

“The new proposal filed today by the Department of Public Service seems like an ill-conceived attempt to salvage a legally questionable policy that suffers from no technical or policy rationale.

“This new proposal doesn’t change the fact that the Public Service Commission and the Governor are still intending to throw away billions of dollars on uneconomical dirty nuclear plants, when that money should be going toward renewables and efficiency. What New York needs is a plan for real long term decarbonization of our energy system, not short-sighted bailouts for an industry that has proven economically and environmentally disastrous. 

“Every time we turn around the price tag of the nuclear subsidies keeps going up. This new proposal will cost more over the first 2 years than the Department of Public Service estimated the first 7 years of their previous proposal would cost.”

Sources:  Alliance for a Green Economy, www.allianceforagreeneconomy.org

Nuclear Information and Resource Service, www.nirs.org

NOTE TO EDITORS AND PRODUCERS:  Copies of the legal memorandum are available on request.   Sources are available for interviews, including over the weekend.  They include Jessica Azulay, Program Director ,Alliance for a Green Economy; Richard Brodsky, attorney, former State Assemblyman, author of legal memorandum; and Tim Judson, Executive Director, Nuclear Information & Resource Service.  To request a copy of the memorandum or to arrange an interview, please use the media contacts listed above

As Public Service Commission Revises Its Plan to Subsidize Nuclear Plants in the NYS Clean Energy Standard, AGREE & NIRS File Legal Memorandum Challenging the Executive Overreach, Legal Problems, and Soaring Costs of the Proposal | AGREE

Tell NRC: Keep Indian Point Shut Down!

At least one of the reactors at Indian Point has been literally breaking apart from the inside. In March, the Indian Point 2 reactor shut down for a scheduled refueling. But what Entergy found when it conducted a first-ever inspection of the internal components of the reactor was an unprecedented level of damage. 

More than 25% of the bolts that Entergy inspected--227 out of 832--which are a key part of the reactor core cooling system, have failed. Dozens of bolts had already fallen out, and now Entergy says even more broke apart while it has been making repairs.

What's worse is--federal safety regulators are preparing to let Entergy restart the reactor without conducting its own independent inspection to determine the full extent of the damage, determine the root causes, and make all of the necessary repairs. 

Instead, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is letting Entergy call the shots.

Worst case scenario: The bolts and the plates they hold could fail. Cooling water can’t get to the reactor core. The reactor core melts down -- just like at Fukushima... [MORE]

Come to the NRC Public Meeting on Indian Point!

Wednesday, June 8, 2016
7pm to 9:30pm
DoubleTree by Hilton Tarrytown
455 South Broadway, Tarrytown, NY 10591
(1.5 miles from Tarrytown Metro-North station)

includes Talking Points and Background Info

Sign (NY) – Tell NRC: Keep Indian Point Shut Down!

Legal Action to Shut Down Indian Point | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 11:15am

Friends of the Earth

Contact: 

Julia Peek, julia@fenton.com, 612 719 2906

Legal Action to Shut Down Indian Point

Emergency legal filing to the NRC demands reactor 2 not restart, immediate shut down of reactor 3

WASHINGTON - The disappearance and disintegration of more than 1 in 4 critical bolts holding the Indian Point nuclear reactor cooling system together is far more serious than owner Entergy admits. On Tuesday, May 24th Friends of the Earth filed an emergency petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission calling for immediate action by the agency. The filing demands keeping reactor 2 offline until the NRC certifies that the problem is fully diagnosed and fixed, and that the reactor is safe to operate. It also calls for an immediate shutdown to inspect reactor 3 to ensure that the reactor’s bolts have not also disintegrated. Reactor 3 is the twin of reactor 2 but Entergy has rejected inspecting it until 2017 despite it being the same design and almost as old. Friends of the Earth also released an expert report detailing the breadth and depth of the bolt problem.

Although critical to the core cooling system (essential to preventing a nuclear meltdown), bolts securing the plates that channel cooling water through the reactor core are broken, degraded or missing in reactor 2. Entergy is pushing to simply replace the bolts and restart the reactor in June—in time for the profitable peak summer energy season. The company has said that it will conduct a root cause analysis of why the bolts broke or disappeared but are conducting the repairs without completing such a comprehensive review.

“This is a matter of common sense denied: if a machine breaks, you have to figure out what is wrong and then fix it,” said Damon Moglen of Friends of the Earth. “Instead, at Indian Point, Entergy has decided that the priority is to get the damaged reactor up and running by summer to protect their profits. They are making a theoretical fix to a serious but undiagnosed problem. This is a recipe for disaster.”

The technical report also released by Friends of the Earth concludes that the more than 25% failure rate of the bolts is extraordinarily high and appears to be unprecedented in the history of the global nuclear power industry. Without a full root cause analysis approved by the NRC, the report warns that there can be no assurance that the remaining old bolts will not fail or that simply replacing bolts will fix the problem.

“Only a utility that puts profits ahead of public safety would resume running this nuclear reactor without an “all clear” from the federal regulator,” said Dave Freeman, who was the head of NYPA in the mid-1990s, and operated the nuclear reactors at that time.

Just as the Space Shuttle Challenger was brought down by a seemingly minor faulty O-ring, Indian Point is in danger from the damaged and missing bolts. Located a mere 26 miles from New York City,in the right weather conditions a radiation release at Indian Point could reach Times Square in as little as 90 minutes, making evacuation of New York City impossible and rendering the area uninhabitable indefinitely. The Indian Point reactors’ licenses expired in 2013 and 2015, respectively, and the plant is operating beyond its 40-year life span. The NRC must intervene and take immediate steps to protect the public.

###

Friends of the Earth is the U.S. voice of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 77 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has fought to create a more healthy, just world.

Legal Action to Shut Down Indian Point | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

Reject Siting of Massive New Spectra Gas Pipeline Next to Indian Point Nuclear Facility | CREDO Mobilize

URGENT! We, the undersigned, strongly urge you to exercise the power of your office to ensure that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rescind its approval of the Spectra Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) pipeline expansion project. You must stand with your constituents and local, county and state elected officials to stop the project immediately!

SIGN NOW: Reject Siting of Massive New Spectra Gas Pipeline Next to Indian Point Nuclear Facility | CREDO Mobilize

Aging Nuclear Power Plant Must Close Before It Closes Us

We must face facts regarding the Indian Point nuclear plant. It’s infrastructure is aging, its safety is dubious and most everyone knows it. What many people don’t know is that it can be replaced at little cost to ratepayers—and energy technologies taking its place would create new economic opportunities for New York.

Indian Point—just 38 miles north of New York City—is vulnerable to terrorism, has 2,000 tons of radioactive waste packed into leaking pools and relies on an unworkable evacuation plan. While some argue that transformer accidents—such as the one that occurred last month—can happen at any power facility, they happen with astonishing frequency at Indian Point. Its age is problematic: You wouldn’t rely on a 40-year-old appliance, why extend this trust to a nuclear plant? Moreover, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) says Indian Point 3 has the highest risk of earthquake damage of all the nation’s reactors. About 20 million people live within 50 miles of Indian Point. If a catastrophic accident occurred, the consequences would be unimaginable...

more: Aging Nuclear Power Plant Must Close Before It Closes Us

New York City Council enters debate over Indian Point reactors | NIRS PRESS RELEASES

May 14, 2015. New York City Council enters debate over Indian Point reactors; resolution introduced to close and decommission reactors 35 miles from Manhattan. Press release from NIRS and three other organizations.

NYC Council Enters Debate over Troubled Nuclear Plant, Activists Celebrate Historic Action to Protect 8.5 Million NY'ers
– Transformer Explosion, Shutdowns Underline Safety, Reliability Problems

New York, NY: Just days after an explosion and fire disabled the Indian Point Unit 3 nuclear reactor, the New York City Council joined the debate on whether the plant should be permanently closed. Dozens of city residents and environmental groups attended today’s Council meeting, praising Councilmember Donovan Richards and council leaders for introducing a resolution calling for Indian Point to be shut down and decommissioned. If adopted, the measure would mark a sharp break with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s policies, joining the political weight of the nation’s largest city to the efforts of state officials to see the plant closed...

> PDF @ NIRS PRESS RELEASES | NIRS

#FukushimaLessons ::VIDEO:: THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT: ONGOING LESSONS FOR BOSTON & NEW YORK

archived footage from COALITION AGAINST NUKES event in New York City and Boston on October 8 & 9, 2013 - featuring Naoto Kan, the former Japanese Prime Minister; former Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Dr. Gregory Jaczko; former NRC Commissioner Peter Bradford; and nuclear engineer, Arnie Gundersen; moderated by the President of Riverkeeper, Paul Gallay. Also: Ralph Nader joined the panel in NYC on the 8th.

NEW YORK, OCTOBER 8

BOSTON, OCTOBER 9

THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT: ONGOING LESSONS FOR BOSTON & NEW YORK |  COALITION AGAINST NUKES 

10.8,9 NYC & BOSTON: THE #FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT: ONGOING LESSONS FOR BOSTON & NEW YORK | #FukushimaLessons

Former Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission joins panel to discuss the risks of nuclear power at the Indian Point and Pilgrim Nuclear Power Stations

update: FORMER JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER NAOTO KAN TO JOIN NUCLEAR PANEL DISCUSSION IN NEW YORK AND BOSTON

Seminars to focus on ongoing lessons from Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear catastrophe as applied to the Indian Point and Pilgrim nuclear power stations

THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT: ONGOING LESSONS FOR BOSTON & NEW YORK | Coalition Against Nukes

Seminar - Tuesday, Oct. 8 in NYC | Wednesday, Oct. 9 in Boston


NEW YORK (Sept. 30, 2013)—A panel of speakers that includes the former Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Dr. Gregory Jaczko; former NRC Commissioner Peter Bradford; and nuclear engineer, Arnie Gundersen, is scheduled to share their perspectives on nuclear safety and the future of nuclear power. The panel will specifically address concerns regarding Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant now operating with an expired license in Buchanan, New York and Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The seminars will be held in New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 8 and in Boston on Wednesday, Oct. 9. More speakers will be announced.

Jaczko was the Chairman of the NRC during the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the catastrophe at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan. He was confronted by three reactor meltdowns and a nuclear crisis that persists to this day. In 2012, Jaczko cast the lone dissenting vote on plans to build the first new nuclear power plant in the U.S. in more than 30 years.

Earlier this year on June 4, 2013, Jaczko, Bradford and Gunderson were joined by Japan’s former Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, where they spoke at the San Diego County Administrative Center about their concerns regarding the safety of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. Three days after the panel, the plant was closed permanently.

U.S. citizens are now questioning the safety of the Indian Point and Pilgrim nuclear power plants. In the event of a catastrophe like Fukushima, these plants would threaten millions. A nuclear disaster at Indian Point would threaten the entire population of New York City and the outlying metropolitan area. A crisis at Pilgrim poses similar danger to millions in and surrounding Boston.

The panel discussion is open to the public and news media.

For media and the public who are unable to attend, the New York and Boston panel can be heard on a live feed at http://www.livestream.com/fukushimalessons, these webcasts will be archived at the link for at least 30 days once live.

New York Event

Who/What: The panel, The Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Accident: Lessons for New York, will include former NRC Chair Gregory Jaczko, who led the commission during the Fukushima-Daiichi  accident, along with former NRC Commissioner Peter Bradford, and nuclear engineer Arnie Gunderson. More speakers to be announced.

When: Tuesday, Oct. 8, 9:00am – 1:00pm

Where: 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10128 (Theresa L. Kaufmann Concert Hall)

Why: Indian Point is a three-unit nuclear power station located in Buchanan, New York, 25 miles outside New York City. Potential risk of a nuclear crisis at Indian Point would pose a danger to millions in the New York area. The technology at the plant is 40 years old, and the containment domes were not designed to hold 100 tons of melting uranium in event of an accident and meltdown. Both Chernobyl and Fukushima are examples of accidents in outdated nuclear reactors.

Boston Event

Who/What: The panel, The Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Accident: Lessons for Boston, will include former NRC Chair Gregory Jaczko, who led the commission during the Fukushima-Daiichi accident, along with former NRC Commissioner Peter Bradford, and nuclear engineer Arnie Gunderson. More speakers to be announced.

When: Wednesday, Oct. 9, 9:00am – 1:00pm

Where: Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02133 (Gardner Auditorium)

Why: The Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station is located in Plymouth, MA, 40 miles outside Boston. Last summer, Jaczko and the community presented legal appeals and environmental warnings to shut down Pilgrim, however, the NRC renewed the 40-year-old nuclear plant’s license for another 20 years despite these oppositions. A nuclear crisis at Pilgrim would pose a danger to millions of people who live within 50 miles of Pilgrim, including those in the city of Boston.

> THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT: ONGOING LESSONS FOR BOSTON & NEW YORK

 Coalition Against Nukes

facebook: The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident: Ongoing Lessons

• New York Event: events/482351518538499/• Boston Event: events/1451208401770859/

LIVESTREAM:  http://www.livestream.com/fukushimalessons

 TWITTER: #FukushimaLessons

9.28 NYC: INDIAN POINT RALLY & PRESS CONFERENCE

9:30am 42nd Street & ParkAve | info@jfissures.org

We are organizing a press conference in front of the Grand Central station. Come out and help make noise, stretch banners and hand out fliers!

Nuclear is not clean! We don't need nuclear.

facebook event page: INDIAN POINT LICENSE EXPIRES!

see also: whats up: 9.28 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE :: Bike Walk Run Kayak to Indian Point

9.28 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE :: Run Walk Bike Paddle to Indian Point

Save the Date: September 28th, 2013. At 12:00 am on 9/28/13, Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 (IP2) becomes the first and only nuclear reactor in the United States to operate with an expired license. We, the Stony Point Convergence on Indian Point, are organizing a joint-paddling, biking and walking/running convergence on the Peekskill Riverfront Green on Saturday, September 28th to call public attention to the continued operation of IP2 despite its current license expiring on that same day. In addition, we will be vigiling at 6 locations within 10 miles of the Power Plant. We need you to hop on your bike, stretch your legs, grab your paddles or dig your boots into the concrete and join us! Roughly our start times are: Bikers: gather at Indian Point Old Gate at 10:30am, bike 7 mile route to Peekskill Riverfront Green (PRG). Walkers/Runners: gather at Indian Point Old Gate at 11:00am, walk/run 2.3 miles to PRG. Kayakers: gather at Annesville Circle at 10:30am and paddle out to Indian Point before landing at PRG at 12:30pm Vigilers: meet at one of six locations (Cold Spring @ Little Stony Point, Annesville Circle in Cortlandt, Peekskill Gazebo - Division Street and South Street, Yorktown Heights Rt. 202 and 35, Croton-Harmon Trainstation and Ossining Farmers' Market - see maps below) at 10:30am, vigil until noon and drive/walk/take train to PRG to arrive there at 12:30pm. Peekskill Riverfront Green: convergence of vigilers, bikers, walkers/runners and paddlers at 12:30pm with music, food (most-likely potluck and bbq), and a megaphone for people to speak. This is all in process, so give us recommendations, too!

facebook event page: September 28th: Run For Your Life

see also: whats up: 9.28 NYC: INDIAN POINT RALLY & PRESS CONFERENCE

A New Opportunity to Close Indian Point—Take Action Today! | Riverkeeper

We have a new chance to shutter Indian Point—by showing that this destructive, dangerous nuclear power plant is inconsistent with state policies designed to make the best use of the Hudson River and its shoreline. The public has until October 12 to comment on this crucial issue—don’t miss your chance!

This “coastal consistent certification” is required under Federal Coastal Zone Management Act, and involves a determination about whether relicensing the Indian Point nuclear power plant for an additional 20 years will be consistent with the 44 enforceable policies outlined in NYS’s Coastal Management Plan, or CMP. Entergy claims its continued operation is consistent with coastal zone policies, and now it’s up to the state to weigh the facts and approve or deny Entergy’s application.

Without this state approval, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will not be able to grant a license renewal to Entergy for Indian Point. This Federal requirement thus provides the State of New York with a powerful tool to prevent the relicensing of Indian Point.

Riverkeeper is actively fighting both to deny Entergy the state water permit it needs to operate, and to to deny the plant the 20-year license renewal it is seeking from the NRC. The coastal consistency review represents a third way we might succeed in closing Indian Point. And because the NRC rarely allows for meaningful public comment on its decisions, this is a rare opportunity the public to express its concerns about Indian Point—and argue for its closure.

Indian Point is environmentally destructive and runs afoul of various coastal policies, so New York State should object to Entergy’s proposed consistency certification. In particular, the State must consider and address:
The 1.2 billion fish and other aquatic organisms killed annually by Indian Point’s once-through-cooling water intake system, and the devastating impacts on the aquatic biota of nearby State and Federally designated Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat in Haverstraw Bay; the effect of rampant and ongoing radioactive leaks from Indian Point that indisputably release to the Hudson River and will continue to do so for decades; and, the safety risks of storing thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste for decades if not centuries in overly crowded leaking spent fuel pools and temporary dry cask storage structures.

Make sure to let New York State know that Entergy should not get a coastal consistency certification! Submit your comments by October 12, 2013 to:

New York State Department of State, Division of Coastal Resources
ATTN: Consistency Review Unit
One Commerce Plaza, Suite 1010
99 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12231

(518) 474-6000
(518) 473-2464 (Fax)

email: cr@dos.ny.gov

> A New Opportunity to Close Indian Point—Take Action Today! | Riverkeeper

10.4 SUFFERN NY: RPHP - DRIVING WITHOUT A LICENSE - Indian Point @ the Crossroads - Health Dangers Posed by the Nuclear Plant

Radiation and Public Health Project 

presents

DRIVING WITHOUT A LICENSE

Indian Point at the Crossroads

Hosted by Alec Baldwin

with Ellen C. Jaffee and Joe Mangano; and more

5:30-6:30 Cocktails.........................$100/Supporter
6:30-8:00 Panel Discussion.............$10/PUBLIC
8:00-10:00 Benefit Dinner...............$250/GUEST

RPHP Indian Point @ the Crossroads: Health Dangers Posed by the Nuclear Plant (facebook)

5.30 Press Conference Call/Webinar -Indian Point public comment period ends on June 3

The Indian Point Energy Center, owned by Entergy Corporation, is a nuclear power plant in northern Westchester County, which provides roughly 20% of the electrical power used by New York City and its environs. In 2013 and 2015 Entergy’s licenses to operate Indian Point’s two reactors will expire, which is why it needs approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for two more 20 year licenses. The public comment period ends on June 3, 2013.

As such, New York state lobbying expenditures and campaign contributions have been steadily increasing by 33% each election cycle since 2005.

Common Cause/NY’s report, “Generating Influence: Entergy’s Spending and the Battle over the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant” is an in depth analysis of Entergy’s political spending and lobbying efforts on the state and federal levels, as well as their efforts to manipulate the debate by establishing faux community organizations targeted at communities of color.

Press Conference Call/Webinar Releasing Report on Entergy’s Lobbying and Public Relations Effort on Indian Point

4.28 Clearwater Benefit to Support Indian Point Campaign

Sunday, April 28 event to take place at Reid Castle at Manhattanville College

Clearwater and The Connie Hogarth Center for Social Action will host a benefit to support Clearwater’s ongoing Indian Point Campaign that will take place on April 28, from 3:00-6:00 PM at Reid Castle at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY. Clearwater has been at the forefront of the fight to close Indian Point to prevent the relicensing of outdated facility. Since its inception 15 years ago, the Connie Hogarth Center for Social Action has also actively opposed Indian Point and called for its closure. This intimate gathering will bring together many influential individuals from a constituency that is building community momentum to see the Indian Point nuclear facility permanently closed.

Special honored guests include New York Assembly Member, Ellen Jaffee, and former Westchester County Executive, Andrew Spano.

The event will also feature musical performances by singer-songwriter and pop folk artist, Dar Williams; bluesman, Guy Davis; and Hudson Valley songstress, Linda Richards.

The event will also feature a reception and silent auction that includes a week at a villa in Italy, a Peter Max print and more!

WHAT: A Benefit  to Close Indian Point

WHEN: Sunday, April 28, 3:00 – 6:00 PM

WHERE: Reid Castle at Manhattanville College, 2900 Purchase St, Purchase, NY 10577

WHO: Special musical guests Dar Williams, Guy Davis and Linda Richards; honored guests Ellen Jaffee and Andrew Spano. Co-sponsored by Hudson River Sloop Clearwater & The Connie Hogarth Center for Social Action.

RSVP: Reservations are $125 per person, $200 for two, or $350 for two and includes two tickets to the Clearwater Festival taking place June 15 & 16 at Croton Point Park in Westchester County, NY. Reservations can be obtained through the Clearwater website at www.clearwater.org by going to the donation page and selecting “Indian Point Benefit 2013” as the gift designation.

All proceeds will go to support Clearwater’s legal fees, community outreach efforts, and public policy campaign to close the aged, leaking, outdated nuclear reactors located at Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Buchanan, NY.

For more information, please contact Linda Richards at 845 265-8080, x7105, Events@Clearwater.org .

Clearwater Benefit to Support Indian Point Campaign | Hudson River Sloop ClearwaterHudson River Sloop Clearwater

Entergy Watch: FitzPatrick, Indian Point, Palisades, Pilgrim, Vermont Yankee

Entergy's dirty dozen atomic reactorsFitzPatrick

AGREE New York (Alliance for a Green Economy), working in partnership with Beyond Nuclear, have filed an emergency enforcement petition with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), seeking the immediate shutdown of the Fukushima-twin design FitzPatrick atomic reactor on the Lake Ontario shore in upstate NY.Help AGREE reach its goal of 1,000 signatures in support of its petition by signing on!

AGREE's website also covers a serious radioactive tritium leak at the adjacent Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant. As listed in Beyond Nuclear's "Freeze Our Fukushimas" pamphlet, FitzPatrick and Nine Mile Point Unit 1 are General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4. Nine Mile Point Unit 2 is a GE BWR Mark II, very similar in design to the Mark I. Beyond Nuclear's "Freeze Our Fukushimas" campaignseeks to permanently shut these demonstrably dangerous reactors, whose containment structures were known to be too small and too weak by 1972.

Presumably, the NRC Commission's vote this week, to require hardened vents at Mark Is and IIs as a "lesson learned" from the Fukushima catastrophe (but, by a 4 to 1 vote -- with NRC Chairwoman Allison Macfarlane the sole dissent -- to reject radiological filters on those hardened vents) will finally require FitzPatrick to install one. FitzPatrick was the only one of the 23 Mark Is in the U.S. to refuse to "voluntarily" install containment vents in an effort to compenstate for its too small, too weak containment. However, the newly ordered hardened vents are not required to be installed until Jan. 1, 2018 -- an inexplicable, unjustifiable five year delay!

Indian Point

Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps was honored to present "The Radioactive Waste Con Game & Reactor Risk Russian Roulette at Indian Point" at the invitation of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC) at the Stony Point Center near Indian Point nuclear power plant on March 10, 2013. Featured at the IPSEC event were two U.S. Navy sailors who served aboard the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, Jaime Plym and Maurice Enis, whose story appeared on the CBS Evening News later that very same evening. Plym and Enis were exposed to Fukushima fallout as they provided rescue and recovery support to Japan in the aftermath of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They've been seriously sick ever since, and have joined with over 100 fellow crew members in a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Palisades

Public pressure led to NRC holding a Webinar on March 19 about the embrittlement of Palisades' reactor pressure vessel (RPV) -- the worst at any U.S. atomic reactor -- and its vulnerability to a catastrophic fracture due to pressurized thermal shock. This was the third NRC Webinar about Palisades since October. The first two were about the long list of leaks and breakdowns that have occurred in recent months and years. NRC's next Palisades Webinar is slated for July, and will be about radiological releases. Beyond Nuclear has published a pamphlet about "routine radiation releases" from atomic reactors. Note that the photograph in the pamphlet, by Gabriela Bulisova, of a liquid radiological release pathway, was taken at Palisades itself. Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter also devoted an entire chapter of his April 2010 report, Leak First, Fix Later, to tritium leaks into groundwater at Palisades.

Both NRC and Entergy Nuclear have issued defensive statements, standing by the integrity and safety of Palisades' RPV, after a number of media outlets -- such as Reuters, and WOOD TV-8 in Grand Rapids, MI -- reported that Palisades will yet again violate NRC's already weakened PTS safety regulations by 2017, begging the question, will Palisades be forced to permanently shutdown? However, Mr. Hiromitsu Ino of Citizens Nuclear Information Center-Tokyo, in a technical paper, has warned that the Japanese nuclear industry has significantly underestimated embrittlement at its pressurized water reactors, a failure that is almost certainly true of the U.S. nuclear power industry as well.

On Monday, March 25, concerned local residents and environmental group representatives will meet with NRC Commissioner William Magwood IV in South Haven. Commissioner Magwood will tour the problem-plagued Palisades plant the next morning. This will be the second meeting with an NRC Commissioner by local grassroots watchdogs in 10 months. On May 25, 2012, 25-30 concerned citizens met with NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko just after he had toured Palisades.

On Tuesday, April 2, NRC will hold its annual End-of-Cycle-Review public meeting in South Haven. Concerned citizens are urged to attend. In 2012, citizens consistently packed a large number of NRC meetings, whether regularly scheduled or specially called.

Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps will discuss Palisades, and other radioactive risks to Michigan, at a Thursday, April 4 meeting of the South East Michigan Group of the Sierra Club in Bloomfield Hills. On Monday, April 8, he will speak at the Jackson, MI chapter meeting of the Sierra Club.

The Union of Concerned Scientist's Director of the Nuclear Safety Project, David Lochbaum, will speak in west MI about Palisades on Thursday, April 11th.

Pilgrim

As reported by the Plymouth Patch, on March 15th, just an hour after the prosecutor moved to drop trespassing charges and the judge agreed, members of "the Pilgrim 14," and about 50 of their supporters, went back out to Entergy's Pilgrim atomic reactor near Boston, where five were arrested for trespassing again. The protestors had hoped to mount a "necessity defense," and had expert witnesses lined up to testify that Pilgrim's radiological trespasses against residents downwind justified efforts to shutdown the reactor.

One of those expert witnesses, Dr. Helen Caldicott, is scheduled to speak in Plymouth on March 25th.

Learn more about grassroots efforts to permanently shutdown Pilgrim at the websites of Cape Downwinders and Pilgrim Watch. Cape Cod Bay Watch, a member of the Pilgrim Coalition, has announced a "Save Our Bay Flotilla" for June 9th.

Vermont Yankee

March 21st is Vermont Energy Independence Day! It is also the first anniversary of the expiration of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee's original 40-year operating license, as marked by Richard Watts in his blog "Failure to Navigate." The very next day, the first day of VY's state-contested, NRC-rubberstamped 20-year license extension, 1,500 rallied in Brattleboro, marching to Entergy's Vermont HQ, where over 150 were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience. Additional arrests took place at Entergy's Northeast HQ in Westchester County, NY near Indian Point nuclear power plant, as well as in New Orleans at Entergy's national HQ.

Watts is the author of Public Meltdown: The Story of Vermont Yankee, which chronicles the decline and fall of Entergy Nuclear, and its VY atomic reactor, in the Green Mountain State, from core asset and good neighbor, to rogue corporation and pariah. Watts, with the support ofthe Linthilac Foundation, has generously donated 50 copies of his book to Beyond Nuclear. They have sold like hotcakes at recent Beyond Nuclear presentations near Palisades and Indian Point. All proceeds have gone towards the grassroots groups, such as Michigan Safe Energy Future and Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, resisting Entergy on a local level.

The Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance, Safe and Green Campaign, and SAGE Alliance have announced a "Leaks, Lies, and Lawyers" parade and rally in Brattleboro on March 30th, featuring the Bread and Puppet Theater, protesting a year of illegal operations by Entergy's VT Yankee Nuke.

And, as reported by the Rutland Herald, even NRC has begun questioning Vermont Yankee's financial qualifications.

In addition, an accidental over-pressurization, and blow-out panel failure, has raised concerns about increased radiological releases during current re-fueling operations at Vermont Yankee. 

Raymond Shadis, senior technical advisor for the New England Coalition, was quoted by theRutland Herald:

"This incident is a downtime demonstration of the fact that secondary containment, as well as primary containment, is designed for failure of its ostensible purpose of containing radioactive releases in the event of a reactor accident...In short, even the most obtuse observer should now understand that Vermont Yankee’s containment safety systems have a very high probability of failure."

The Brattleboro Reformer also reported on the failure of VY's exhaust fans, resulting in over-pressurization of the reactor building and the blow-out of the panel. The panel was supposed to be secured with a wire cable, to prevent it from falling to the ground, but it landed on the turbine building roof nonetheless.

Beyond Nuclear - NUCLEAR POWER - Entergy Watch: FitzPatrick, Indian Point, Palisades, Pilgrim, Vermont Yankee