"Fighting the Legacy of Enrico Fermi"

NRC file photo of Fermi 2Michael Leonardi of Occupy Toledo has published an essay in Counterpunch, re-run at Ecowatch, about the resistance to the Fermi nuclear power plant on the Lake Erie shoreline near Monroe, MI. Leonardi links to Beyond Nuclear's involvement in "Freeze Our Fukushimas" efforts to shutdown Fermi 2 (see photo, left), the largest Fukushima Daiichi twin GE Mark I reactor in the world, with around 550 tons of high-level radioactive waste stuck in its storage pool, more than Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4 put together.

Leonardi also mentions the struggle to nip the proposed new "Fermi 3" reactor, a GE-Hitachi "Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor" (ESBWR), in the bud. Beyond Nuclear's website hosts the compiled submissions by the the environmental coalition resisting Fermi 3, submitted in response to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Beyond Nuclear, along with Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter -- represented by Toledo attorney Terry Lodge -- continue to officially intervene against Fermi 3 in the NRC's Atomic Safety (sic) and Licensing Board proceeding.

Update! VT Gov. Pete Shumlin to speak at April 14 rally

Come to Vermont if you can, April 14, 12 noon to 2pm in Brattleboro, VT. It's time to thank Vermont legislators for: taking a stand in support of the safety of its people and animals; the preservation of its environment; and for a committment to a green energy policy. Don't let the courts over-ride the will of Vermonters!

Vermont is the unwilling "host" of Entergy Nuclear's Vermont Yankee atomic reactor, a GE Mark I BWR, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4.

More.

"Lessons from Fukushima: is Ohio next?" Antioch University Midwest, Yellow Springs, Ohio, Sat., April 21st

Beyond Nuclear is honored to take part in an Earth Day forum on Sat., April 21st at Antioch University Midwest in Yellow Springs, Ohio entitled "Lessons from Fukushima: is Ohio next?" A schedule for the forum, as well as a promotional flyer, are available. Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps has been invited to speak about "What really happened at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan?" While focusing on the cause of the nuclear power catastrophe, he will also provide an update on the ongoing dangerous state of what is left of the atomic reactors at Fukushima, and the relevance of "lessons learned" for the problem-plagued Davis-Besse and Perry atomic reactors in Ohio. Beyond Nuclear has, along with environmental coalition allies Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Green Party of Ohio, officially intervened against FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company's proposed 20 year license extension at Davis-Besse near Toledo; FENOC's Perry plant near Cleveland is ranked by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as one of the five least safe reactors in the U.S.

Although Ohio doesn't host a GE BWR Mark I (identical to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4), it does have the largest one in the world right next door. Fermi 2 in southeast MI is nearly as big as Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 and 2 put together. In addition, Ohio has some very problem-plagued atomic reactors of its own. Although a pressurized water reactor of Babcock and Wilcox design (a twin to Three Mile Island Unit 2, actually!), Davis-Besse east of Toledo has perhaps had more close calls with disaster than any other single reactor in the U.S. And the GE BWR Mark III at Perry, east of Cleveland, has long had many problems of its own. Fermi 2, Davis-Besse, and Perry are all located along the Lake Erie shoreline, putting the drinking water supply for many millions downstream in the U.S. and Canada at risk.

New! The Activist(s)! A "silent film" about Occupy Entergy in New Orleans

Watch the video!

Entergy Nuclear's Vermont Yankee atomic reactor is a GE BWR Mark I, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4. Entergy also owns and operates Mark Is at FitzPatrick, NY and Pilgrim, MA. It also operates the Cooper Mark I, on behalf of its owner, Nebraska Public Power District.

"New [reactors] don't make any sense right now." John Rowe

The reitred CEO of Exelon Nuclear Corporation, John Rowe, is publicly on the record opposing new reactor construction. "Let me also state unequivocably that new [reactors] don’t make any sense right now,” he said in Chicago this week where Exelon is headquartered. "It just isn’t economic, and it’s not economic within a foreseeable time frame," he said.The question remains whether Rowe's remarks will influence the Obama White House policy of supporting new reactor projects. One of the original creators of Exelon was Obama's influential former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, now mayor of Chicago. Rowe made several trips to the White House during Emanuel's tenure. David Axelrod, Obama's political advisor, has been a lobbyist for Exelon.

As CEO of Exelon, Rowe presided over numerous Mark Is (identical to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4) and Mark IIs (of very similar design), including Dresden 2 & 3 in IL; Quad Cities 1 & 2 in IL; LaSalle 1 & 2 in IL; Limerick 1 & 2 in PA, to name but some.