A German pediatrician who has traveled the world informing the public of what he sees are the dangers of nuclear power will be in Brattleboro on Feb. 25 and in Bellows Falls on Feb. 26 as part of a statewide lecture tour.
Dr. Winfrid Eisenberg will discuss recent reports on the increased incidence of cancer in children living near nuclear installations and the health consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Eisenberg -- who speaks on the hazards of nuclear energy for children, nuclear disarmament and implications for human rights -- has participated in many public forums raising the awareness of the risks associated with the use of nuclear energy.
It's another peaceful day in rural Vermont. Nothing new for most folks, because just about every day is a peaceful day in Vermont. But the day will not end peacefully.
The sirens break the silence that was previously only interrupted by an occasional bird singing merrily on a tree branch. Funny, we weren't told that they were going to be doing another drill.
They just did one a short while ago. Usually they tell us when they're going to do a drill so we are ready for it.
Wonder why nothing was said about this one?
In the last drill, it turned out the telephone lines weren't working.
It wasn't just invectives that flew from mouths of the anti-nuclear activists at Thursday's Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting in Brattleboro.
One activist also threw compost at Vermont Yankee's site vice president Michael Colomb.
"You folks have no idea what to do with spent fuel or radioactive waste," said Sally Shaw, of Gill, Mass.
Carrying a bag to the front of the conference room, she threw a handful of "spent food" at Colomb and other Entergy executives before depositing handfuls of compost on a table where NRC officials sat.
"That's really good quality compost," she said.
"The renaissance of nuclear power in the U.S. appears inevitable. It just may not happen as smoothly as the Obama administration and others hope.
The Vermont Senate's vote Wednesday to block a license renewal for an Entergy plant shows that supporters of nuclear power still have big obstacles to overcome. Those include the growing costs for new plants, environmental worries and the age of the country's existing nuclear fleet.
"I think if you said 'ready, go' today, any kind of meaningful addition would be 10 years down the road," said Eric Melvin of Mobius Risk."
"The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has repeatedly affirmed that any exposure to radioactivity, no matter how small, carries a health risk.
In its 2006 BEIR VII report ("Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation," 7th iteration), NAS even reported mounting evidence that low dose radiation carries a supra-linear health hazard. That is, low doses are disproportionately more harmful, per unit dose, than high dose radiation.
The bottom line is, exposure to low dose radiation, such as intentional "routine" discharges or "accidental" leaks of tritium into the Connecticut River and downstream drinking water supplies and food chains, risks human and wildlife health impacts.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 20,000 picocuries per liter limit on tritium in drinking water is not a conservative health standard. The state of California has a goal to limit tritium in drinking water to 400 picocuries per liter, a fifty-fold strengthening. The state of Colorado's goal is 500 picocuries per liter, a forty-fold strengthening. EPA's and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) radiological health standards are inappropriately based on "Reference Man" faulty assumptions, which leaves more vulnerable women, children and fetuses at increased risk."
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted a petition from a New York man to investigate whether Entergy has lied about the adequacy of the decommissioning funds for its nuclear power plants.
"Without swift and drastic enforcement action on the part of the NRC and its staff, human health and the environment around these licensed facilities is at risk and citizen safety (is) at risk," wrote Sherman Martinelli, of Peekskill, N.Y., in a document he filed in August.
Martinelli lives within three miles of Entergy's Indian Point, in the Hudson Valley.
On Dec. 17, the NRC responded that its Petition Review Board would consider his allegations. The NRC also forwarded his claims of wrongdoing on the part of the NRC to its Office of the Inspector General.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted a petition from a New York man to investigate whether Entergy has lied about the adequacy of the decommissioning funds for its nuclear power plants.
"Without swift and drastic enforcement action on the part of the NRC and its staff, human health and the environment around these licensed facilities is at risk and citizen safety (is) at risk," wrote Sherman Martinelli, of Peekskill, N.Y., in a document he filed in August.
Martinelli lives within three miles of Entergy's Indian Point, in the Hudson Valley.
On Dec. 17, the NRC responded that its Petition Review Board would consider his allegations. The NRC also forwarded his claims of wrongdoing on the part of the NRC to its Office of the Inspector General.
"Anti-nuclear activists totaled around 70 when they left Brattleboro earlier this month for a march through freezing winter temperatures to the Statehouse.
When they arrived in the city early Wednesday afternoon - 126 miles later - their number totaled in the hundreds, flooding the Statehouse with a message that hasn't been that loud since same-sex marriage supporters lobbied lawmakers in 2009.
Betsy Williams of Westminster West, one of the organizers of the "Step It Up To Shut It Down" walk, said about 175 people took part in the march, some joining for a day and some for longer stretches. Participants included toddlers and Vermonters who are in their 80s, she said."
"The nuclear power industry is sending a clear and forceful message to the citizens of Vermont: "Drop Dead."
The greeting applies to Ohio, New York, California and a nation under assault from a "renaissance" so far hyped with more than $640 million in corporate cash.
The Vermont attack includes: "
"A lawsuit filed by four people who were arrested for protesting during a speech given by Gov. James Douglas on March 30, 2009, was settled out of court, announced Brattleboro Town Manager Barbara Sondag during the Selectboard's Tuesday night meeting.
According to Stephen Saltonstall, attorney for Jonathan Crowell, Amy Frost, Eesha Williams and Elizabeth Wood, each of the protesters will receive $2,500 from the risk pool managed by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns.
In addition, Saltonstall and the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, which assisted in the case, will split a separate $7,500 settlement for attorney's fees.
The town is only liable for its deductible -- $500. "
This is the second in a series of stories dealing with the issue of spent fuel stored at the nation's nuclear power plants.
BRATTLEBORO -- With spent fuel piling up at commercial nuclear power plants around the country and no permanent disposal site on the horizon, many power plant operators are hoping the federal government might soon endorse the interim storage of the waste at one or two locations in the nation.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry-funded organization that promotes nuclear power around the world, is suggesting just that.
"An interim facility wouldn't have to be huge," said Thomas Kauffman, senior media relations manager for NEI. If you were to put the 60,000 tons of spent fuel currently being stored in dry casks into one location, he said, "They would fit onto an area of about a square half-mile."
No site has been identified yet for interim storage.
"The industry has had some dialogue with volunteer communities," said Kauffman.
Those communities include the sites of decommissioned power plants.
This is the second in a series of stories dealing with the issue of spent fuel stored at the nation's nuclear power plants.
BRATTLEBORO -- With spent fuel piling up at commercial nuclear power plants around the country and no permanent disposal site on the horizon, many power plant operators are hoping the federal government might soon endorse the interim storage of the waste at one or two locations in the nation.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry-funded organization that promotes nuclear power around the world, is suggesting just that.
"An interim facility wouldn't have to be huge," said Thomas Kauffman, senior media relations manager for NEI. If you were to put the 60,000 tons of spent fuel currently being stored in dry casks into one location, he said, "They would fit onto an area of about a square half-mile."
No site has been identified yet for interim storage.
"The industry has had some dialogue with volunteer communities," said Kauffman.
Those communities include the sites of decommissioned power plants.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given Entergy Nuclear permission to keep a change in its technical specifications secret that deals with the nuclear fuel that will be loaded next spring into Vermont Yankee's core.
A subcontractor for Entergy, Global Nuclear Fuels, had requested the secrecy, saying it involved proprietary information.
Entergy Nuclear spokesman Larry Smith said Monday that the proprietary information belonged to Global Nuclear Fuels, and he said the request had met the criteria set out by the NRC. Entergy was notified Monday that the exemption was granted.
At issue are the thermal stresses that occur in the reactor core, which if above a certain standard, can damage fuel cladding. Damaged fuel leaks radiation.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given Entergy Nuclear permission to keep a change in its technical specifications secret that deals with the nuclear fuel that will be loaded next spring into Vermont Yankee's core.
A subcontractor for Entergy, Global Nuclear Fuels, had requested the secrecy, saying it involved proprietary information.
Entergy Nuclear spokesman Larry Smith said Monday that the proprietary information belonged to Global Nuclear Fuels, and he said the request had met the criteria set out by the NRC. Entergy was notified Monday that the exemption was granted.
At issue are the thermal stresses that occur in the reactor core, which if above a certain standard, can damage fuel cladding. Damaged fuel leaks radiation.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected calls by environmental groups to overhaul its review process before processing applications for license extensions by reactors in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.
Nine environmental groups seized on a report from the federal agency's inspector general -- a report sharply critical of the agency staff's review of license renewal applications -- to call on the commission to put on hold 20-year license extensions being sought by four nuclear plants: Vermont Yankee in Vernon, the Pilgrim plant Plymouth, Mass., the Indian Point plant in New York's Hudson Valley and the Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey.
MONTPELIER - Because of the recent dramatic events on Wall Street, the future of Entergy Corp.'s spinoff plan for five nuclear reactors could be in doubt.
The proposal, which includes the Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon, would fold the plants into a new highly leveraged company.
Entergy would retain half ownership of Enexus Energy Corp., though the new company would be a separate entity.
VERNON - Entergy Nuclear will begin storing its low-level radioactive waste on-site, after its long-time disposal site in South Carolina closes next month.
Entergy Nuclear is not alone in the disposal problem, as the Chem-Nuclear LLC site in Barnwell, S.C., takes radioactive waste from 36 states.
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