Life Without Indian Point?

Westchester Guardian

Jan.19, 2012  pgs. 10-11

www.westchesterguardian.com

     Life without Indian Point?

By Abby Luby

New York City - – In a          landmark public hearing last Thursday, state lawmakers listened to testimony on the potential effects of closing down the Indian Point nuclear power plants just 24 miles north of the city. In a public hearing that lasted most of the day here in lower Manhattan, the New York State Assembly Committee on Energy heard from regulatory and utility brass who support the continued operation of the twin reactors in Buchanan and from experts who want to shutter the 40 year old twin reactors.

The hearing room was filled to capacity. More than 16 Assembly members sat on the panel led by Assemblyman Kevin A. Cahill, Chairman of the Committee on Energy, and Assemblyman James F. Brennan. Testimony, which was by invitation only, was heard from the New York Independent System Operators (NYISO), Con Ed, New York Public Service Commission, Synapse, an energy consulting firm, Indian Point owner Entergy and others. Environmental groups such as Clearwater and Riverkeeper were not invited to speak, but the panel encouraged the groups and the public to submit written testimony.

Would closing Indian Point impact the state’s economy and electrical system? And how can we tap into the surplus electricity being generated by facilities in upstate New York, electricity that could replace Indian Point’s output?

Prohibiting the flow of needed electricity to the southern part of New York and to New York City is known as “transmission congestion.”

“The last transmission upgrade was in 1987,” Brennan told NYISO Chief Operating Officer, Rick Gonzalez. “We’ve been talking about upgrades for decades. Why is it taking so long?”

“This issue is the cost allocations,” said Gonzalez. “Who will pay for the upgrades?” Gonzalez said NYISO used a model study that looked at a generic solution to congestion where the cost ratio benefits were greater than one. “In general, the beneficiaries [rate payers] would have to pay for the upgrade.”

NYISO oversees and operates New York’s electricity grid and plans for future energy needs of the state. Brennan pressed Gonzalez on how to get power downstate.

“What could we do more quickly to lessen transmission congestion?”  Gonzalez mentioned a few programs NYISO was considering to augment the existing transmission system. “It would get us 300 megawatts,” he said.

At times panel members seemed to bartering for more electricity to replace the 2000 megawatts produced by Indian Point.

Of the current projects geared to bring additional power to New York City, some are already have the green light, others are in the approval process. The already approved Hudson Transmission Line is expected to bring 660 megawatts from New Jersey to Manhattan. The completion date is 2013. Pending is the Cross Hudson Line which will offer 800 megawatts from New Jersey to Manhattan. Other pending proposals to build 1000 megawatt transmission lines from upstate New York or Canada include the Champlain Hudson Cable, New York Power Pathway, and the West Point Transmission Line.

Gonzalez warned that replacement resources must be in place before closing Indian Point. “Failure to do that will have serious reliability consequences and an increase in rolling blackouts.”

Verbal sparring about the reliability of electricity produced by Indian Point to the plant’s safety reliability was initiated by Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee from Rockland. Jaffee intoned a history of accidental shutdowns at Indian Point, including the most recent shutdown last Monday from a broken pump seal at Unit 2.

“Given an aging plant and its shutdowns, how can you suggest that Indian Point is a reliable source of energy?” asked Jaffee, who received a round of applause.

“My reliability statement is focused on grid reliability, not the reliability of the plant,” said Gonzalez.

Jaffee referred to the disaster last year at the nuclear power plants in Fukushima, where a major earthquake and tsunami caused the destruction of four plants resulting in a core meltdown and the large release of radiation. “I question whether Indian Point is reliable or safe, especially in light of what happened in Japan,” she said.

Gonzalez was questioned for over an hour, a terse exchange at times only to be ironically interrupted by the lights going out for no apparent reason, garnering a moment of humor in the proceedings.

Activists made their voice heard during a break and chanted the benefits of closing Indian Point. Lead by Luna Scarano, an activist from the Occupy Wall Street environmental group, numerous anti nuclear activists echoed Scarano’s shouted words admonishing the plant for threatening the lives of 20 million people who wouldn’t be able to evacuate in case of an serious accident at Indian Point.

Indian Point 2 produces 1,028 megawatts of electricity and Indian Point 3 produces 1,041 megawatts. Currently Con Edison, who purchases 350 megawatts of electricity from Entergy, transmits between a total of 9,000 and 13,000 megawatts of electricity to New York City and Westchester during daily peak periods.  Joseph Oates, Con Edison’s vice president of energy management told the panel that on the hottest summer day, if the plant wasn’t producing electricity, there would be 1000 megawatt shortfall. Cahill asked Oates how they would replace the power if the state closed down the plant.

“We have not made any firm plans if the state decides that. There’s been no official announcement of a plant shut down – that process hasn’t been triggered,” Oates answered.

“What if Indian Point has to construct cooling towers and the plant has to close? Is Con Ed prepared for that contingency?” asked Cahill.

“We are preparing generic types of solutions. If a situation of retrofitting required support, our recommendation would be to shut only one plant at a time to satisfy needs in the short term.”

Breenan asked Oates about electricity produced by the gas powered, cogenerated plant in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and if it could make up the lost power from a retired Indian Point.

“Could taking power from a co-generated market in the future be a potentially economical purchase?”

Oates agreed.  “Co-generation is a more efficient use of the fuel because we are using it twice.  We are open to good ideas, especially ones that will minimize the cost for the customer.”

Both operating licenses for units 2 and 3 at Indian Point will expire in 2013 and 2015. Entergy applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2007 to renew their licenses, but their application has met much resistance from Governor Andrew Cuomo and environmental groups Riverkeeper and Clearwater. Since the nuclear disaster in Fukushima last March, the anti-nuclear movement has rallied with concerns about safe evacuation, Hudson River fish-kill by thermal pollution and the precarious location of the plant on a seismic fault.

It is unknown at this time how the Assembly Energy committee will use the information from the public hearing. The committee has the power to enact legislation and amend energy law and policies that impact energy availability and Public Service Law.

Radiation Checker: The Gift that Keeps on Giving

OpEdNews – Article: Radiation Checker: the gift that keeps on giving

Radiation Checker: the gift that keeps on giving

by Abby Luby

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Radiation-Checker-the-gif-by-Abby-Luby-120104-931.html

Guess what I got tucked in to my holiday stocking?

A brand new, sleek-lined Geiger counter that plugs in to your iPhone or iPad and within seconds detects radiation levels. It  was the gift that topped my list – with its pencil-like probe (14 centimeters long) that plugs in to the iPhone and uses a special  app called “Geiger Bot.”  My second choice for Christmas was the Geiger Camera app; same idea but works via the phone  camera.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/16/geiger-fukushima-radiation-and-geiger-counter-for-the-iphone/

To easily check radiation levels right in our own backyard is more than a curious pastime. It’s a survival check that became  imperative last March for hundreds of thousands of Japanese who lived near the TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company)  Fukshima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plants, reactors crippled by an earthquake and tsunami. The dual disasters ultimately caused  a triple meltdown that released dangerously high levels of radioactive substances. Today, almost ten months later, Fukushima  will go down in history as the worst nuclear disaster since the Chrenobyl meltdown in 1986.

In the post Fukushima aftermath, the Japanese company, Sanwa, came up with “Geiger Fukushima” — a name somewhat off-putting but leaves no doubt what this portable and light apparatus is for. This radiation detector and many other portable  Geiger counters are nifty, geeky gadgets that let you outfit yourself with glitzy, high-tech survival gear replete with a  not-so-subtle doomsday overtone. “Geiger Fukushima” is a perfect gift for someone like me living just a few miles from the  aging Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Westchester, New York; the twin reactors were built in the 1970′s just 24 miles from  New York City and are known to routinely and accidentally release radioactive plumes into the atmosphere and leak  radioactive isotopes into the Hudson River.

 Truly, these “smart’ radiation detectors are the type of gift that keeps on giving.

 If you decide to own such accoutrements as a pocket Geiger Counter, you will not be an anomaly: you can belong to the growing grass roots Radiation Monitoring Network (www.RadiationNetwork.com) whose data is available to anyone in the U.S. and around the world. You yourself can contribute to the group’s National Radiation Map where members have set up networks of stations that monitor radiation levels in real time. These high-tech tools and cyber networks are not only essential, they are empowering.

 ”Impacts of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants on Marine Radioactivity,” a report in mid-December, 2011, confirmed that  levels of radioactive cesium and strontium-90 reached 50 million times the normal levels in the ocean near Fukushima. Working on the study was the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Japanese Meteorological Research Institute and  the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111209171940.htm)

In the months following Fukushima, multiple studies weighed in on how much radiation actually poisoned the areas surrounding  the Dai-Ichi plants and then wafted out to sea. In a report a few weeks ago by Hong Kong-Based environmental consultant  Yoichi Shimatsu (“The Death Of The Pacific Ocean Fukushima Debris Soon To Hit American Shores” 12-16-11 http://www.rense.com/general95/death.htm), he estimates that “radioactive isotopes cesium and strontium are by now in the marine food chain, moving up the bio-ladder from plankton to invertebrates like squid and then into fish like salmon and halibut.”  Shimatsu is clear about the critical interdependence between sea animals and land events: how aquatic life after the March  11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami were exposed to millions of tons of what could be contaminated biological waste that made  its way to the ocean from nearby farms. Other volatile chemical compounds can evaporate and form clouds unleashing rain  over Canada and northern United States, extending a long term threat beyond the Rockies “affecting agriculture, rivers,  reservoirs and eventually aquifers and well water.”

How much radiation has reached the United States?

It depends on who you talk to. Reliable reporting on the spread of radiation from Fukushima can be interpreted in a variety of  ways. Government officials from Japan and the United States are skeptical of any real danger from Fukushima borne  radiation. Immediately after the Fukushima disaster, the Japanese government neglected to act on data showing the enormity  of radioactive plumes and failed to safely evacuate residents, exposing entire towns to harmful radiation. The Japanese  government’s denial of widespread contamination justified their minimal effort to effectively contain spillage from the plants to  the Pacific; they even approved sea-dumping of nuclear and chemical waste from Fukushima No. 1 plant.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was no better saying that most of the radioactive water from Fukushima released into the Pacific was harmless, and that nuclear sea-dumping would have no deleterious impact on the environment  because radioactive isotopes would sink into the middle of the ocean.

Does this mind-set sound familiar?

Think the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission who is emphatic about how Indian Point has little impact on the Hudson River,  incanting the NRC mantra “Dilution is the solution to pollution.”

 The NRC response to Fukushima was equally disappointing. They hand-picked a five-member safety task force in October who later recommended seven safety actions to be enforced in U.S. nuclear power plants. But later in December the Commission did an about face and reserved the right to reject any safety upgrades the NRC staff chose to implement. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a new regulatory requirement by the NRC staff can be deemed non-essential  by the Commission unless the requirement passes a cost-benefit test — a test the UCS says is based on a “post-Fukushima  understanding of risk.” (“NRC’s Post-Fukushima Response: Going in Circles” http://allthingsnuclear.org/post/14624150915/nrcs-post-fukushima-response-going-in-circles)

Radioactive releases happen on a routine basis  - no surprise here and if you live near a nuclear power plant. But many aging  plants are accident prone. In February, 2000, reactor unit 2 at the Entergy owned Indian Point experienced a ruptured steam  generator tube that released 20,000 gallons of radioactive coolant into the plant and then into the atmosphere, causing the  plant to close for ten months. Indian Point’s spent fuel pools have been leaking into the groundwater and tainting the Hudson  River where four species of fish were tested positive for the radioactive isotope strontium-90.

In 2010, the Radiation and Public Health Project reported on the staggering rise of cancer cases near Indian Point over 15 years and strongly suggested that radiation exposure from the plant was the cause. RPHP used data from the New York State  Cancer Registry (for county cancer rates) and from the National Cancer Institute (for national cancer rates). Over a 5-year  period there were about 9,000 residents diagnosed with cancer each year.  http://www.radiation.org/reading/pubs/101118_IndianPointreport.pdf.

 Knowing that invisible and odorless radiation could be lurking in our garden soil is better than not knowing at all. We don’t need a major nuclear disaster to own  small, hand-held Geiger counters and iPhone apps — just living near a nuclear power plant is reason enough. Protecting ourselves and our community seems to be one way around unresponsive government agencies whose alleged claim is to protect the public’s health and safety.

NUCLEAR ROMANCE: EXCERPT 6

It was afternoon when Lou banged out a rough story about the high school game he would cover later that evening. When the game was over, he would fill in the blanks and file the story just before deadline. It would be a story parents and teachers would jump to, anxious to see a picture of their kids and their name in print. His phone rang.

“Padera here. On deadline. Can I call you back?”

“Have you figured out how that young girl really died?”

A woman’s voice.

“Who is this?”

“Check out stuff leaking from the old nuke plant. That will give you a clue.”        Click.

Lou glared at the phone. He quickly punched a code to trace the call, but the number was blocked. What was that about? He returned to his story and wrote some formulaic wrap-up that he could change depending on who won the game. He leaned back, his eyes fixed on his phone, his mind picturing the two plant domes on the river’s edge.

- – - – - – - -

Diana Chase wiped the tears from her face. She slowly folded up the newspaper and put Jen Elery’s story out of sight. As the assistant principal of an elementary school, she mustn’t be seen crying, especially for the next ten minutes as she greets kids bouncing off the school bus and funneling through the halls to their classrooms.

She regained her composure and pulled a mirror from her desk drawer, swishing back her straight, dark auburn hair from her angular face, her features a striking composite of her Irish mother and her Asian father. Her dark brown eyes were still red and blotchy, nothing some eye drops and a quick brush of mascara wouldn’t fix.

Outside her window, Diana could see the morning procession of school buses pull up the front drive, their yellow hulks casting a golden hue over the brightly lit office. She kept the room sparse. Except for her computer, a neat stack of folders on a file cabinet, and a single shelf of books, Diana allowed herself only a few personal items: a large aquarium by the window for her box turtle and a long, colorful dragon kite arching a far corner near the door. On her desk was a small picture of her shih tzu, Lin, next to a slightly larger, years-old picture of her parents, her mom’s flaming red hair tickling the cheek of her smiling dad.

Diana stood up and did a quick yoga stretch and headed out into the reception area, where she could see directly into the office of the principal, Jane Bigley. Jane hired Diana five years ago, and the two women ran the school like clockwork. Jane was considerably older than the thirty-eight-year-old Diana, and except for butting heads a few times over school policy, they got along. Ultimately, both women were professionally committed to the students; in the great educational complex, the kids came first.

The reception area was large, with two desks for secretaries and one for a receptionist. Two of the desks were empty; one secretary was out on maternity leave and the receptionist had taken early retirement. Diana’s morning station was traffic control in the school lobby; stopping the running and pushing, saying hi to the kids she knew, checking their energy—who was excited, who was sickly, who would get in trouble that day. It was the faces of kids streaming past her each morning that inspired Diana and fueled her dedication.

“Hey, Jimmy! Remember your lunch today?”

“Sure did, Ms. Chase!”

“Don’t drop your violin, Meghan!”

“I got it, Ms. Chase.”

As the parade thinned out, Ricky Elery walked in, his gait slow, eyes to the floor. Diana fought the tears and looked away. Suddenly Jane was by her side and stepped up to the boy.

“Hi, Ricky. Are you competing in the fifth grade readathon this month?”

“Oh. Hi, Mrs. Bigley. No. I’m just not up to it this time.”

He looked at Jane and Diana, sensing their pity.

“See ya,” he said, turning toward the stairs to his second-floor classroom.

Diana turned to Jane.

“Good try. Do you think he’s okay?”

“Don’t know. Let’s keep our eye on him. Here’s a tissue.”

Diana dabbed her eyes and nodded toward the outside parking lot.

“His mom is still driving him to school every day. She sits in the parking lot for about an hour before she leaves.”

“Poor Jen Elery.”

“Can we do anything for her?”

“Don’t know. Let’s try to come up with something.”

After teaching for almost thirteen years, Diana knew that the worst emotional trauma for a school community was the loss of a fellow student. Shocked by Kaylee’s death, the PTA organized a candlelight vigil and a food campaign to deliver meals to Jen and Ricky for the next few months. But the distraught, estranged mother shunned the offer. She wanted no part of the vigil. She just wanted to be left alone.

Diana headed for her office, half listening to Jane over the PA system incant the Pledge of Allegiance and then segue into morning announcements.

Diana sprinkled some dried turtle food into the aquarium, which took up a large place on her windowsill. She looked out to the parking lot, at the bright yellow forsythia bordering the edge, which sent out a fiery glow. At the far end of the lot, Diana saw Jen sitting in her car, staring at the school. It seemed the grieving mother wanted to stay as close to her son as possible.

Diana stared at Jen’s car. After a minute, she picked up the phone and punched Jane’s extension.

“Yes, Diana?”

“What’s happening with the part-time receptionist job out in front?”

“The job’s on hold for now.”

“Could we offer it to Jen Elery?”

“Maybe. She could give it a try as a volunteer and then see . . .”

Two minutes later Diana was outside walking slowly toward Jen’s car. As she got closer she saw that the woman had her seat tilted back and seemed to be sleeping. Diana softly knocked on the window. Jen startled up, glaring at Diana through the closed window. Then slowly she rolled the window down.

Nuclear Romance: Excerpt 5

Just a few miles north of the news room, the Daily Suburban was spread open to Lou’s story on the large oak desk of Bob Stalinksy, the head of communications for ALLPower, the company that owned the nuclear power plant. His top-floor office in the eight-story glass tower had a panoramic view of the Hudson River. Two windows at the back looked out behind the building at the plant’s raw industrial sprawl. An opaque gunmetal window shade muted the outlines of the nuclear power domes, the generator building, and the structure that housed the fuel pool holding radioactive waste.

Bob leaned forward in his mahogany-and-leather chair and studied the picture of Kaylee, his brow furrowed. His phone intercom buzzed.

“Bob, it’s your wife. You want to take this, or should I give the usual excuse?”

He bit his lip. What did he forget this time?

“I’ll take it.” He plucked up the phone.

“Hey, Babe. What’s up?”

His wife, Morgan, cackled on the other end.

“Did you remember about the fund-raising dinner tonight? I’m the chairwoman pushing this one. It’s black tie. You do remember, don’t you?”

He looked at his desk calendar. It said “Basketball game—ALLPower Trophy.”

“Oh geez, Babe. I didn’t forget, but the boss just asked me to stand in for him tonight and award a trophy at a high school basketball game. We sponsor them, you know. It’s great for the company’s image.”

He heard the long, frustrated inhale. Then she said, “The image I have of you right now makes a gorilla shitting in the woods look appealing.”

The woman had a way with words. He winced. Here we go, he thought. He leaned back and started to rock in small, quick movements. In just another minute she would slam down the phone. Just count to ten.  

Bob had been working at the plant for five years. When he started he was thirty and newly married. Now, at thirty-five his temples were peppered gray, contrasting his cropped dark brown hair. His soft stubble beard was a hint of scruff, slimming his paunchy jowls. Dark, bushy eyebrows framed his gray, squinty eyes, like gashes that sparked out from a pasty complexion. Square built, he struggled to keep his heft under control.

Bob possessed an affable charm and a winning smile. He was good at promoting the company, and his work was highly valued by the ALLPower top brass. He was rewarded with substantial yearly raises. The science of nuclear power wasn’t exactly Bob’s forte, but he understood the basics. He reluctantly majored in Communications in college, a suggestion that came from his overbearing mother, Stella. Out of habit, he’d balked, then acquiesced. Even though she was his mother, she was usually right. By the time Bob graduated college, the country was demanding green energy, favoring nuclear over the dirty coal-fired plants that spewed nasty particulates into the air. For Bob it was a no-brainer: coal was dirty, nuclear was clean and didn’t pollute the air. The nuclear industry was here to stay, an easy sell right now, and in the future. You have to believe in what you sell, right?

But a lot could go wrong at a nuclear power plant. Devastating accidents at Three Mile Island and a few years later at the Russian plant in Chernobyl shook the world and severely marred the reputation of the nuclear power industry. Panic over doomsday meltdowns fed a skittish level of fear. Movies like The China Syndrome pushed that fear to front and center, and anti-nuclear, grass-roots groups cropped up all over the country, waging a war against the dangers of nuclear power, feeding fear about the increasing accidents at aging plants.

The reputation of the nuclear power industry was seriously marred and in need of a new PR campaign. Bob changed tactics and honed the fine art of spinning bad news into good—how ALLPower was different from other plants in the country. He would sweeten the plant’s image and reign in the skeptics, a challenge he liked. 

Radio Show: Westchester On the Level

Radio Show: WestchesterOn the Level

Stream listening: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/westchesteronthelevel

The Nuclear Power Movement Today. Journalist Abby Luby will talk about the movement to shutter nuclear power, especially Indian Point. Luby’s newly realeased eBook novel, “Nuclear Romance,” is  about living near a nuclear power plant.

Tuesday, Oct. 25th between 10 – 11 am

Listener call in number: 877-674-2436.

 

Pro Nukes & Anti Nukes heat up their messages: will it make a difference?

Published on OpEdNews

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pro-Nukes–Anti-Nukes-hea-by-Abby-Luby-111017-688.html

By Abby Luby

America is taking to the streets.   The month-long “Occupy Wall Street” is seen as a highly charged beacon of free speech and activism, a force that has roused protesters from their comfy cyber soap boxes out to public parks and sidewalks.

The anti-nuclear movement is no exception.

Over the last few weeks, mass rallies across the United Stateshave protested the dangers of nuclear power, a cry still echoing from the devastating destruction of the Fukushimaplants in Japanlast March. The urgent message from anti-nuclear forces here: “it can happen here.”

Under the umbrella of “A National Day of Action for America’s Nuclear Free Future,” protesters took to the streets in New York City, St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale and Fort Meyers in Florida, San Clemente and San Diego, California, Atlanta, Michigan, Ohio, Asbury Park, New Jersey, Raleigh, North Carolina and Virginia.

These protests were fueled not only by the harrowing and cataclysmic events still unfolding at Fukushima, but by recent e arthquakes, hurricanes, floods and tornadoes here in the United States – events that the nuclear industry’s oversight agency, theNuclear Regulatory Commission considers “unlikely” to affect the safety of nuclear power plants in this country. www.nrc.gov. The NRC is unwavering in their federal conscripts, wearing their own brand of blinders tailored to forge ahead, re-licensing aging plants and building new ones, regardless of overt warning signs of possible dangers.

A story on iwatchnews in September http://www.iwatchnews.org  (Nuclear miscalculation: “Why regulators miss power plant threats from quakes and storms,” by Susan Q. Stranahan), reported that the NRC considers aFukushima type quake and tsunami a rare event in this country. The feds stolidly held to this adage while Americans lived through a quake inVirginia that shut down that state’s North Anna Power Station in August and caused the radioactive spent fuel storage casks to move unexpectedly, a tornado that ripped up the South and brought down transmission towers at the Browns Ferry power plant inAtlanta. And when Hurricane Irene ravaged the East Coast, a Maryland reactor was forced to shut down after loosened metal siding blustered up and sliced into the transformer’s high power lines.

That the NRC says they are processing all this information and initiating studies on the effects of these “unlikely” events adds incrementally to the frustrations of the anti-nuclear movement which is determined to rid the country of old and poorly designed nuclear power plants. Their voices are heard not only on the street, but in courtrooms and in the legal catacombs of administration procedural hearings. Here inNew YorkState, the battle over whether the NRC will re-license the 40-year old Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants, 24 miles fromNew York City, has become the longest and highly contested application in the agency’s history. Entergy, the plant’s owner, filed for a new operating license in 2007 to keep their twin reactors on the banks of theHudson Riverrunning until 2033 and 2035. Their licenses expire in 2013 and 2015. The re-licensing process usually takes four to five years, but a litany of contentions may take Entergy’s application past their expiration dates.

Governor Andrew Cuomo reiterated his campaign promise to shutter Indian Point in a   chat last month on his new virtual chat blog, http://www.citizenconnects.com/. He said the power from Indian Point could be replaced, according to The Daily News.  http://personals.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/09/cuomo-replacement-indian-point-power-can-be-found. Prior to Cuomo’s chat, in July,New YorkState won a major victory after a groundbreaking decision by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled in favor of a petition served by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The AG argued the NRC’s environmental review violated the law by not requiring Entergy to complete severe accident mitigation analysis. This means the NRC must require Entergy to upgrade their accident impact plans unless the utility company can prove a compelling reason to refuse.

In 2010, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation denied Entergy a Water Quality Certification, which is required by law to operate the power plants. Because heated water is spewed out from Indian Point’s once-through cooling system and into the Hudson River, killing billions of fish yearly, the DEC wants Entergy to upgrade their cooling system. Although Entergy is appealing the DEC decision, the NRC says the case has no impact on Indian Point’s re-licensing application. When Patricia Kurkul, Regional Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the National Marine Fisheries Service, asked the NRC if the uncertainty of the water quality issue would impact Entergy’s re-licensing application, the NRC told her that “Notwithstanding the uncertain outcome of New York’s Section 401 Water Quality adjudication, the NRC is required to move forward with its review of the LRA (license renewal application) as submitted by Entergy (http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1125/ML11259A018.pdf).

Traversing from court to court is a case initiated by former New York State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who is challenging the NRC’s common practice of “exemptions.” Five years ago the NRC exempted Indian Point from fire safety requirements that allow a minimal amount of fire insulation that protects electric cables needed to shut down the reactor and prevent a meltdown. The current insulation lasts only 27 minutes while the legal requirement for insulation to protect the cables is one hour. Brodsky claims the NRC secretly granted an exemption to Entergy, a power not within their jurisdiction according to the Atomic Energy Act. http://www.scribd.com/doc/65796345/Brodsky-v-NRC-Submission-Summary. Currently the case is in the Second Circuit of Appeals inNew York. It was previously argued before Justice Sotomayor before she became a Supreme Court Justice and then in the   United States Southern District Court in New York where Judge Loretta Preska decided in favor of the NRC, issuing her decision six days before the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe in Japan.

To counter the anti-nuke movement, a multi-billion dollar utility company like Entergy is able to enlist an army of high paid lawyers for the courtroom battles while waging expensive media campaigns. To ratchet up their corporate image, Entergy’s new advertisements features Rudy Giuliani. Entergy clearly believes the persona of the former New York City Mayor and presidential hopeful is synonymous with “safety” and “security,” which means we will see Guiliani’s face plastered on TV ads and in newspapers.http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/10/06/giuliani-endorses-nuclear-plant-in-new-ads/

Although Entergy has always claimed that since the 9-11 attacks, Indian Point was impenetrable, they now (incongruously) need heavier weapons to protect the plant. In April Entergy requested permission from the NRC to acquire heavier weapons to be used by “the security personnel at the Indian Point site.” The NRC wants to know if they turn down Entergy, what the impact would be on their current protection capabilitieshttp://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1127/ML112700219.pdf. . Entergy has not yet replied, but why the request now? Is Indian Point now more vulnerable than in 2001?

It’s hard to know if the government, the nuclear power industry or the anti-nuclear groups are having any kind of impact on the future of nuclear power. In a New York Times article by Stephanie Cooke [After Fukushima, Does Nuclear Power Have a Future?]http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/business/energy-environment/after-fukushima-does-nuclear-power-have-a-future.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y, she claims that the Japanese government has reversed their pro-nuclear policy and is now moving to phase out their reactors. Cooke also writes that of the 30 new reactors planned to be built in theUnited States, the list has dwindled to four, even with President Obama’s strong endorsement for large subsidies for newly built plants. Also, the World Nuclear Association predicts a decline in the number of operating reactors in theUnited States andFrance in the next 20 years.

What does it all mean?

Increasingly, we see the strengthening of liaisons between industry and government, corporate wealth and political campaigns, bonds that seem to weaken federal oversight to protect the public. Will the voice of dissenters and activists who reach a critical mass ultimately make a difference?

 

Anti-Nuke Rallies Urge for Closure of Indian Point

Anti-Nuke Rallies Urge for Closure of Indian Point

http://www.westchesterguardian.com/10_13_11/wg_10_13_fin.pdf

pg 14, 15,16

By ABBY LUBY

New York,NY– Last Saturday, October 1, 2011, mass rallies across theUnited Statesprotested the dangers of nuclear power. Since the devastating destruction of theFukushimaplants inJapanlast March, the urgent message from anti-nuclear forces here in this country is “it can happen here.” Billed as “A National Day of Action forAmerica’s Nuclear Free Future,” groups rallied in 16 cities from coast to coast. Organized protests happened in St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale and Fort Meyers in Florida, San Clemente and San Diego, California, Atlanta, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Asbury Park, New Jersey, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Here in New York City, some 300 people converged at Pier 95 to show their support and hear celebrated spokespersons urging to shut down nuclear plants, especially the Indian Point Nuclear Power plants, just 24 miles fromNew York City. Many claimed solidarity with “Occupy Wall Street” where 700 people were arrested as they attempted to cross theBrooklynBridge. Some from the Nuclear Free Future said they planned to join the Wall Street group later in the day. We are all about the same thing and we are connected to the Wall Street protests because whether its nuclear power or nuclear weapons, it’s all about corporate greed,” Dr.Helen Caldicott, co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, told The Westchester Guardian before she publicly addressed the rally. The 73-year-old Caldicott has authored numerous books and spoken out against nuclear power and nuclear proliferation for four decades. Her public speech on Saturday was brief but highly charged.

“I’m fed up with this bloody industry. It’s a death industry. Forty percent of the European land mass is radioactive and will be for hundreds of years. Nuclear radiation never ceases and is in our food.” Caldicott slammed President Obama for supporting the nuclear industry.

Brent Blackwelder, former president of Friends of the Earth, and a senior environmental lobbyist inWashington D.C., warned about the daily affects of living within 50 miles of nuclear plants. He asked the audience “Will we be sending our kids to school with potassium iodine pills and a dosimeter?” (potassium iodide or KI pills are used to protect against thyroid cancer if exposed to radiation). Emotional testimonies by several Japanese speakers, mostly young women, about how the Japanese government was urging people living near Fukushima to show patriotic solidarity by eating local food probably contaminated with radioactivity. One woman who lives 400 miles from Fukushima said there was evidence of contamination in the soil of local, organic farms. John Hall famed singer / songwriter of the band Orleans and former New York congressman who represented the 19^th district where the Indian Point twin reactors are located, serenaded protesters with both new and old songs about the dangers of nuclear power, including “Plutonium is forever” and his newest about Fukushima, “I Told You So.”

Hall, co-founder of Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE ), urged for the closure of Indian Point, which is currently in the final phases of the re-licensing process. Entergy, the owner of the reactors, applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC ) to renew their operating license in 2007, but there has been strong opposition from Governor Cuomo and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman against the license renewal application. Also speaking Saturday was Harvey Wasserman anti-nuclear activist, author of SOLAR TOPIA!: Our Green-Powered Earth, A.D. 2030, Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog at Beyond Nuclear, Karl Grossman, investigative journalist, author, and professor at SU NY Old Westbury, recipient of the George Polk, James Aronson and John Peter Zenger Awards and Alice Slater, Founder of Abolition 2000, NY Director of Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and its UN representative.

The nationwide rally was the brainchild of Priscilla Star, executive director of Coalition Against Nukes. Star lives just downwind from the Millstone nuclear reactors in Waterford,CT, “We hear from Japanese people affected by Fukushima every day.  They’re afraid to abandon their homes and businesses, but afraid to stay,” she said. “They’re frightened for their children and it just breaks your heart.”

Star organized a massive outreach via a cyber network after the catastrophe atFukushima. Organizations who supported her effort include Shut Down Indian Point Now, Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club NYC, Greenpeace, Ralph Nader, NYPIRG, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Helen Caldicott Foundation, Beyond Nuclear, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation,Westchester Citizens Awareness Network, Time’s Up, ECOFEST, Rock the Reactors.

Nuclear Romance Excerpt 4

The high-pitched squeak of sneakers scuffling on the gym floor punctuated the shouts and jeers as the visiting team scored. It was the end of the season for the local college basketball team, and they were down forty points. Every point scored by the opposition prompted a cacophony of boos and catcalls. It was a scene Lou Padera loved, and he furiously jotted down notes in his reporter’s pad.

Lou was senior sports reporter for the Daily Suburban, a major newspaper in WestchesterCounty, just outsideNew York City.  At thirty-nine, Lou had been on staff for over a decade. His byline was popular; his stories were an exciting play-by-play description that read like a quick-action adventure story

       - – - – - – - –     

Later that evening Lou sat at his desk in the newsroom banging out the story. His headline read “Home team dunks a loss.”

A few other reporters were also working late, getting their stories in for the morning paper. Over the last six months the large room of wall-to-wall desks had become empty. Newspapers were struggling to beat out Internet news, watching sales and subscriptions plummet, regular advertisers pulling out ads. The upshot: reporters were being laid off.

Now, a lingering echo of a few clacking keyboards hung in the air. Tom Wilson, a heavyset reporter sat across from Lou, jerking a toothpick as he spoke.

“You gonna make deadline? The boss is chafing at the bit.”

Lou nodded and looked down at the end of the newsroom where his editor, Owen Marks, sat in a glass-enclosed office. Skinny and nervous, Owen was a young editor who also doubled as a reporter under the new austerity budget. From his desk, Lou could see Owen’s back and heard him barking into the phone.

Tom leaned over to Lou, his voice low. “He ask you to cover other stuff besides sports? The little bastard has me writing obits and the cop blotter. Sucks.”

“Nah. He’d never ask me. I’m his ace sports reporter. He’d be wasting his time trying to get me to cover other stories. He knows that.” Lou furiously typed his kicker line to end the story.

“Get real, Lou. Have you looked around here lately? See these empty desks? Newspapers are dinosaurs—only difference is no one will ever dig up our relics for posterity. We’ve lost out to the Internet. This baby could close down any day.”

“Jeez, Tom. We’re the largest daily paper outsideNew York City. We’ll never fold. Just going through a tough phase is all.”

Owens’s voice rasped out over Lou’s intercom.

“You got that story for me, Padera? The printer is holding up the works just for you, Lady. Why didn’t you file earlier, as soon as the game was over?”

Lou chuckled.

“Sorry Owen. Was interviewing a nice single mom of one of the players. Could make an interesting side story, you know? The struggles of a mom raising a son-athlete by herself, in a male-dominated game.”

“You’re out of control, Padera. File that story and get in here, will ya?”

Lou lost his smile.

“All in good time, boss.”

 Tom shook his head. “Could be your turn now, Buddy.”

Lou tapped out a few more words and leaned back. He searched through a heap of scribbled notes where he usually jotted down story ideas to pitch to Owen, just in case he was asked to cover something else, as Tom predicted. But he came up empty-handed. Finally he sauntered down to the editor’s office, knocked on the glass door, and walked in. Owen, sunk in a canyon of folders and stacks of paper, motioned him over.

“Sit down, Lou. I need a favor.”

Lou remained standing. “I’m good. What’s up?”

Owen angled back in his worn swivel chair, and a plaintive creak sliced the air. He looked weary and older than his years.

“Look Lou, you’re one of my best reporters, and we know you can write about pretty much anything. Agreed?”

Lou nodded. His throat tightened.

“Okay. We’re spread thin, and you know that. I need you to cover another story—not sports related. Up until now, I’ve tried to spare you, but you’re the last man on the totem pole not covering other beats. Time you did what we’re all doing, Princess.”

Lou frowned. He placed his hands firmly on the back of a chair. Then he slowly sat down.

“Sports is all I know, Owen, and I’ve been taking on more, from derby bouts to the majors. I’m doing more than my share. I really object to this.” 

“Wake up and smell the coffee, Your Highness. We’re all scrounging to keep our jobs. I have the paper’s owner on my ass, and the bottom line is you want to keep your job, you take more work. I’m rewriting fat-free cookie recipes, for God’s sake.”

“And when do you suggest I take on more? In the goddamn middle of the night?”

“Yes. If you’d let up on your gallivanting bachelor escapades, you’d be amazed how much extra time you have on your hands.”

Owen wrote something down on a scrap of paper and handed it to Lou. He read the note and worked his jaw.

“Who is she?”

 “Jen Elery. It isn’t pretty. Just lost a young daughter to some freaky illness. The school community is grieving to the hilt. It’s emotions on steroids. They’re holding a vigil for the girl tonight. I want an exclusive interview with the mom. Do a good job, and I’ll get you front page billing. Go.”

Lou scowled at the paper and then glared at Owen. He stood up and whipped out the door.

 

 

Rallies across the United Statesbroadcasting the dangers of nuclear power are slated for October 1^st. The movement to shutter reactors worldwide galvanized after the devastating destruction of the Fukushima reactors in Japan last March. October’s “National Day of Action for America’s Nuclear Free Future,” will see rallies in New York City, Des Moines, Washington, Detroit, Toledo, Chicago, Asbury Park, New Jersey, Raleigh, NC, Virginia, Florida, including Fort Myers, St. Petersburg,Fort Lauderdale, inCalifornia -San Clemente andSan Diego.

In the beginning of September, “Walk for Fukushima in Maine” saw a contingent  walking for three weeks starting inRockland and ending at the Japanese Consulate inBoston by way of the troubled nuclear plant in Seabrook.

Here in New York City, the Saturday, October 1, rally has been long planned  and is  expected to have a large draw. It will take place at Pier 95 Hudson River Park, from Noon to 3:30 pm with Dr. Helen Caldicott as the  Keynote. Caldicott is also speaking on Oct. 3 in Atlanta with the Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND). Many well known organizations are sponsoring the New York City rally including Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club NYC, Greenpeace, Ralph Nader, NYPIRG, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Helen Caldicott Foundation, IPSEC, Beyond Nuclear, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Westchester Citizens Awareness Network, Shut Down Indian Point Now, Time’s Up, ECOFEST, Rock the Reactors

Some websites to check:

C.A.N. Coalition Against Nukes www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=243481852330015

Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition  www.ipsecinfo.org/

Nuclear Information Resource Service www.nirs.org/action.htm

Against nuclear power plants

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Against-nuclear-power-plants/201225389906044

Close Nuclear Power Plants!!!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Close-Nuclear-Power-Plants/168593396810

Maine Peace Action Committee  www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106916232683845

http://uncannyterrain.com/blog/
http://sayonara-nukes.org/english/

Nuclear Romance Excerpt 3

The deep pool of water is still. An aqua glow emanates from the bottom, where a jungle of steel racks and metal hardware are submerged like a sunken ship in a remote corner of the sea.

Forty feet down and under the weight of thousands of gallons of water, the racks are illuminated by glinty points of light that pierce the water and bounce off long, thin tubular pipes. Inside these brassy vessels are the skeletons of atomic fission, parts that once moved in an unwieldy dance of atoms building to a feverish rhythm, then to a burning heat. Heat that bears an endless energy. Now these submerged bundles of long, thin, gold-colored pipes are filled with used, irradiated fuel, fuel that still holds a raging heat to be slowly cooled in the watery tomb.

Somewhere under the pool are layers of bedrock. While solid to the touch, this stratum of the earth’s crust shifts at random, subject to a geological whim every now and then. One early spring day the bedrock layers yielded to a subtle heave and quaked slightly. Hairline cracks developed, sending fractured tendrils along arbitrary paths of least resistance, tiny tunnels that would carry water laced with toxic radioactive isotopes out to the world.

The undetectable tremor caused a brief, curious ripple on the blue, glassy surface of the nuclear plant spent-fuel pool. It might have been cause for concern had anyone seen it. But workers monitoring the pool were changing shifts, and the subtle vibration went unnoticed. Luckily, the vessels of used fuel were left intact. But deep below the sunken tubes, a weak spot in the pool wall cracked, and a new conduit connected to the veins in the bedrock. Contaminated water slowly seeped out into the ground and into the river. Eventually it would wash up on the sands of a popular recreational beach.