U.S. Congressman Conyers honors Beyond Nuclear at Fukushima commemoration

U.S. Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and one of the longest serving Members of Congress in U.S. historyU.S. Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (pictured, left), one of the longest serving members of Congress in U.S. history, and ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, honored Beyond Nuclear not only with his presence, but also his kind words, at a March 11th Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe commemorative event held in Livonia, Michigan, near the Fermi 2 atomic reactor, the world's largest Fukushima Daiichi twin design reactor, a General Electric Boiling Water Reactor with a Mark I containment.

The event, "Will Fermi 3 Radiation 'Into Eternity?'," featured a screening of the documentary film Into Eternity, about Finland's proposed high-level radioactive waste dumpsite. Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps followed the film with a presentation on the radioactive waste and atomic reactor risks plaguing the Detroit area, as well as the Great Lakes region beyond.

Congressman Conyers spoke first during the discussion afterwards, stating that this powerful event marked a turning point for anti-nuclear activism in the area. He said the event was one of the most important he had attended in some time, and that he would look into conducting congressional hearings on such important subject matter in the near future.

The event was organized by BetterWorld Happenings, founded by Keith Gunter, a Beyond Nuclear launch partner. About 80 people attended, including a number of long-time veteran anti-nuclear campaigners in Michigan representing Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Peace Action of Michigan, Don't Waste Michigan, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Southeast Michigan Group, Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, and other organizations.

The Fermi 2 atomic reactor, which has operated since 1988, is the single largest GE BWR Mark I in the world. It is as large as the identically designed Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 & 2 Mark Is put together.

Three events in Taipei added

Here's today's March Against Nuclear Madness Calendar.

Don't forget to take pictures and video of your actions and events! Please post them to the March Against Nuclear Madness page on Facebook, or email photos or video links to linda@beyondnuclear.org. Thank you!

Countdown to March 11 with scores of events around the globe

For a listing of the scores of incredible events going on around the March 11 first year commemoration of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, please see the latest version of our March Against Nuclear Madness calendar.

Yet more new events for March Against Nuclear Madness

Another slate of great events have been added - and marked NEW! - to today's (March 7th) Gobal events calendar.

"Living on Borrowed Time" & "U.S. Nuclear Power Safety One Year After Fukushima": UCS shines spotlight on 15 near-misses at U.S. reactors in 2011, examines Japan "lessons learned," or not, at NRC

David Lochbaum, Director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), recently published NRC and Nuclear Power Plant Safety in 2011: Living on Borrowed Time, describing 15 near-misses at U.S. atomic reactors in 2011 alone. Note that 4 near-misses took place at reactors belonging to one nuclear utility, Entergy: 2 near misses at Palisades in Michigan, and 2 at Pilgrim in Massachusetts. (Yet another near-miss occurred at Cooper in Nebraska, owned by Nebraska Public Power District, but with support services provided, yet again, by Entergy.)

Pilgrim and Cooper are also GE BWR Mark Is, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4. Another Mark I on Lochbaum's near-miss list is Brunswick Unit 2. The 31 Mark Is and IIs across the U.S. are listed in Beyond Nuclear's "Freeze Our Fukushimas" pamphlet.

The Thom Hartmann Show interviewed Dave Lochbaum about his report.

On March 7th, Lochbaum and Edwin Lyman, senior scientist at UCS's Global Security Program, released a report entitled U.S. Nuclear Power Safety One Year After Fukushima. Lochbaum and Lyman summarized their findings in a special published by CNN.