Entergy Watch: ANO, Palisades, Pilgrim, Vermont Yankee

Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO)

One worker, 24-year old Wade Walters, was killed, and eight more were injured, when a 600-ton generator stator plunged through the floor at the twin reactor ANO station. A fire fighting water system was damaged, and the flood waters short circuited electrical systems causing loss of offsite power to the plant. Emergency diesel generators were needed to supply electricity to cooling, emergency, safety, and other systems for days on end. Federal investigations into the fatal accident are underway.

Palisades

Local residents and environmental representatives -- from groups such as Beyond Nuclear, Don't Waste MI, MI Land Trustees, MI Safe Energy Future, Nuclear Energy Information Service -- yet again called for the shutdown of the problem-plagued Palisades atomic reactor, before it melts down. The calls came during the public comment session following the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's annual performance review of Entergy at Palisades, at a public meeting in South Haven, less than five miles from the atomic reactor on the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Local grassroots groups, including recently formed Michigan Safe Energy Future chapters in Kalamazoo and on the shoreline, continue to meet on a regular basis, including on Sat., April 6th at 1 PM at the South Haven Memorial Library.

David Lochbaum, the Nuclear Safety Project Director at Union of Concerned Scientists, will speak in Kalamazoo and South Haven on Thursday, April 11th. Beyond Nuclear is a co-sponsor of the events. Lochbaum has documented three near-misses at Palisades in the past few years alone, making it one of the most risky atomic reactors in the entire country.

Pilgrim

Opponents came out in force for NRC's annual performance review in Plymouth, MA on Tuesday. EcoLaw has demanded full transparency about Pilgrim's proposed new dry cask storage facility for high-level radioactive waste, but the Town of Plymouth has invoked secrecy for safety and security reasons, it says. Pilgrim Watch has called for reactor and radioactive waste storage safety upgrades, and real-time, fully transparent monitoring on the dry cask storage. Cape Downwinders protested the "casual...open house" format for the NRC meeting, demanding instead a formal, town mall meeting format. They conducted an Occupy Wall Street style "Mike Check," refusing to become "radiation refugees," and calling for Pilgrim's permanent shutdown.

Vermont Yankee

More than 500 people paraded and rallied in Brattleboro on March 30th, protesting another year of "Leaks, Lies, and Lawyers," and calling for Vermont state law to be obeyed and enforced, and for Vermont Yankee to be permanently shutdown