A Nuclear-Free Lake Michigan?!

The MI, IN, IL, and WI shorelines of Lake Michigan, as seen from outer space (the bottom of the photo is north, the top is south)Dominion Nuclear permanently shut down its Kewaunee atomic reactor near Green Bay, WI on May 7th. Combined with the permanent shutdowns of Zion 1 & 2 in IL, and Big Rock Point in MI, in the late 1990s, we are halfway to a Nuclear-Free Lake Michigan! But this hopeful vision cannot happen soon enough, as Entergy's problem-plagued Palisades atomic reactor in MI just spilled 80 gallons of radioactive water into the Great Lake.

Beyond Nuclear shares U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton's (R-MI) outrage at Palisades' latest leak, and joins his call for complete replacement of Palisades' Safety Injection Refueling Water storage tank, which has now been leaking for more than two years, mostly through the ceiling of Palisades' safety-critical control room!

Lake Michigan is the headwaters of the Great Lakes: 20% of the world's surface fresh water; drinking water supply for 40 million people in 8 U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations; and the lifeblood for one of the world's single biggest regional economies.

In addition to Palisades, Point Beach 1 & 2 in WI, and Cook 1 & 2 in southwest MI, also still need to be permanently shut down, and their electricity replaced by efficiency and renewables such as wind and solar, in order to protect the safety, purity, and future of the irreplaceable Great Lakes.