"Entergy Watchers" needed to "Occupy" NRC meetings: 9/10 on ANO, Grand Gulf, River Bend, Waterford; 9/12 on Palisades!

Kendra Ulrich stands with "No Nuke Business As Usual" banner on 3/22/12 at "Occupy Entergy" non-violent civil disobedience action at Entergy HQ in New Orleans, in solidarity with Shutdown Vermont Yankee actions on the first day of extended operations there"Entergy Watch" and "Occupy Entergy" advocates of the world, unite! The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is holding two meetings next week, regarding half of Entergy Nuclear's "dirty dozen" atomic reactors across the country. If you can attend in person, great! If not, you can still call-in toll-free.

Beginning at 8 AM Central time on Monday, September 10th, at NRC's Region IV headquarters in Arlington, Texas, NRC Staff will "discuss topics of mutual interest including performance" with Entergy officials about four atomic reactors: Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO), Units 1 and 2, in Russellville, Arkansas; Grand Gulf Nuclear Station Unit 1 near Port Gibson, Mississippi; River Bend Station, Unit 1 near Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3, west of New Orleans, Louisiana. The public will have an opportunity to ask questions at various times during the meeting, according to NRC, including NRC Staff availability after the business portion of the meeting (NRC's interaction with Entergy) for questions from the public. The call-in number to take part in the meeting by phone is toll-free, 1-888-989-6482, followed by passcode 69328.Note that while ANO, River Bend, and Waterford fall in NRC's Region IV, Grand Gulf is located in NRC's Region II.

From 6-8:30 PM Eastern on Wednesday, September 12th, NRC Region III Staff will hold a meeting in South Haven, Michigan on the complete collapse of "safety culture" at Entergy's Palisades atomic reactor in southwest Michigan, which NRC considers to be one of the four worst-run reactors in the country. U.S. Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) revealed the safety culture collapse at Palisades after a tip off by courageous Palisades whistleblowers, and their D.C.-based attorney, Billie Pirner Garde. The call-in number is toll-free, 1-800-621-9524, followed by passcode 5591733.

Combined with ongoing protest rallies and non-violent civil disobedience actions against Vermont Yankee, grassroots-led legal actions against Pilgrim, etc., Entergy is learning what "The Power of People" (the nuclear utility's ironic slogan) really means! Please join the effort, by "occupying" the meetings above and showing NRC and Entergy they are being "watched"!

Amongst Entergy's "dirty dozen" atomic reactors, NRC has already rubberstamped 20 year license extensions at ANO 1 & 2, Cooper, FitzPatrick, Palisades, Pilgrim, and Vermont Yankee. Entergy's Indian Point 2 & 3, as well as Grand Gulf, have already applied for license extensions. Waterford is expected to apply in 2014, and Riverbend in 2015.

Long-awaited NRC "supplemental inspection" at problem-plagued Palisades, Sept. 17-28

Entergy's Palisades atomic reactor, with a century-old resort community immediately to the right, and a state park immediately to the leftOn Valentine's Day, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which rubberstamped its 20 year license extension in 2007, announced that Entergy Nuclear's Palisades atomic reactor in Covert, MI on the Lake Michigan shoreline (pictured, left) is one of the four worst-run atomic reactors in the U.S. This came after a problem-plagued 2011, including: an accident, designated a "yellow finding" by NRC ("of substantial significance to safety"), on Sept. 25th, involving the near-electrocution of an electrician, and loss of half the power to the control room, which stressed multiple age-degraded safety-critical systems (a steam generator, many years in need of replacement; the reactor pressure vessel, admitted by NRC to be the worst-embrittled in the U.S.) to the breaking point, risking multiple pathways to Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA); and an August 9th service water pump coupling failure, due to inter-granular stress corrosion cracking, a repeat of an identical 2009 breakdown (to mention but two of five "un-planned shutdowns" in 2011!). 

Last February, NRC announced that the downgrade of Palisades' safety status would result in a "supplemental inspection," at Entergy's convenience, which has finally been scheduled, seven months later. The NRC supplemental inspection will take place from September 17 to 28. The agency has requested numerous relevant documents in advance.

An NRC meeting on Entergy Palisades' lack of safety culture is scheduled for Sept. 12th in South Haven, MI, although those unable to attend in person can still call in. Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps will speak about "The Radioactive Catastrophe Waiting to Happen at Palisades, and What You Can Do To Prevent It" at the Peace House in Kalamazoo, MI on Sept. 13th. Learn more about these events here.

Update on September 6, 2012 by admin

Michigan Radio and the Kalamazoo Gazette have reported on this story.

Anti-nuclear drum beat continues against Vermont Yankee

Thanks to Debra Stoleroff of Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance for sharing with us news of "three opportunities to keep the fact that Vermont Yankee is still operating in the public eye and to voice your opinion regarding this fact that Entergy continues to undermine Vermont's democratic process for its own profits; gambling away the health of people in VT, MA, and NH as well as our environment.   Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant remains an accident away from devestating the region."

Sat, Sept. 1: We Are Not Going Away Until VT Yankee is Shut Down and Safely Decommissioned With a Greenfield

Sat, Sept. 8: Our River Runs Through It Flotilla Down the Connecticut River to VT Yankee (see event poster, left, and SAGE Alliance website for details)

Sun, Sept. 23: Burlington Friends Meeting at Vermont Yankee followed by NVCD at Vt Yankee

For more info., see Beyond Nuclear's NUCLEAR POWER website section.

The five member NRC Commission unanimously rubberstamped Vermont Yankee's 20 year license extension on 3/10/11, one day before the beginning of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. NRC Staff then finalized the paperwork on the rubberstamp a couple weeks later. Vermont Yankee and Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4 are identidically designed: General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors.

Markey Questions Palisades Nuclear Plant In Light of New Leak, On-going Safety Issues

U.S. Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA)U.S. Congressman Ed Markey (Democrat-Massachusetts, pictured left) issued an August 30th press release entitled "Markey Questions Palisades Nuclear Plant In Light of New Leak, On-going Safety Issues," containing a link to his letter to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Allison Macfarlane. Entergy Nuclear's Palisades atomic reactor is located in southwest MI, on the shoreline of Lake Michigan. NRC rubberstamped its 20 year license extension in January 2007, allowing it to operate not till 2011, but rather till 2031.

Markey serves as Ranking Member of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, and as a Senior Member of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. He has watch-dogged nuclear power issues in the U.S. for decades, including safety and security risks at the problem-plagued Palisades atomic reactor for many years running.

In his press release and letter, Congressman Markey questions the safety implications of Palisades' latest leak-related shutdown, on August 12th, involving primary reactor coolant water, leaking through-wall from a Control Rod Drive Mechanism (CRDM). CRDMs are involved in the safety-critical control of the nuclear chain reaction in the atomic reactor's core. Palisades has been shutdown since the August 12th leak investigation began, but Congressman Markey notes that Palisades began reactor restart on August 30th. Palisades is now operating at full power.

Markey also questions NRC about an investigation, ordered by former NRC Chairman Jaczko, and allegedly interferred with by NRC Commissioner Ostendorff. Jaczko ordered an investigation into why he was kept in the dark about a leak of acidic and radioactive water into Palisades' control room, being caught in buckets, while he toured the atomic reactor on May 25th. Markey revealed the significance of that leak in June, after a tip off from courageous Palisades whistleblowers and their Washington, D.C.-based attorney, Billie Pirner Garde.

NRC will hold a public meeting in South Haven about Palisades' (lack of) safety culture, on Wed., 9/12 from 6-8:30 PM. Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps, who hails from southwest Michigan, will speak on "The Radioactive Catastrophe Waiting to Happen at Palisades, and What You Can Do to Prevent It," in his hometown of Kalamazoo, on Thurs., 9/13 from 7:30-9 PM. Click here for more details on those two events, as well as for extensive background information regarding recently revealed, as well as very long term, safety, health, and environmental risks at Palisades.

Entergy Nuclear's Palisades "a disaster waiting to happen"

Don't Waste Michigan board members Michael Keegan of Monroe, Alice Hirt of Holland, and Kevin Kamps of Kalamazoo call for Palisades' shutdown at the Nuclear-Free Great Lakes Action Camp in August 2000. Palisades' cooling tower steam, as well as Lake Michigan, are visible in the background.The Detroit News has quoted Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps in an article about the problem-plagued Palisades atomic reactor in Covert, Michigan, on the Lake Michigan shoreline. The article reports:

"...At a May appearance in East Lansing, Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear — a group that espouses abandoning nuclear energy — described how Palisades earned its approval for the next 20 years.

'We resisted it,' he told a crowd at the Peace Education Center. 'In fact, the entire environmental movement in Michigan resisted the license extension for Palisades. But we were steamrolled by the nuclear industry, by the NRC.' …

In four decades, Palisades has been fined by the NRC numerous times, and unscheduled shutdowns are almost an annual occurrence. To those who would characterize that as run-of-the-mill problems, Beyond Nuclear's Kamps disagrees.

There are many factors lining up for major problems, he said.

The NRC's license renewal process has a 'premeditated outcome' and, as proof, he noted the agency's 73-for-73 track record on renewal requests. He also pointed to the length of time Palisades officials have taken over the years to address NRC-identified problems.

'Palisades is a disaster waiting to happen,' Kamps said."