From lionoak at gmail.com Tue Sep 7 07:23:55 2010 From: lionoak at gmail.com (Tribal Scribal) Date: Tue Sep 7 07:30:04 2010 Subject: [Sage] VFR On-air Fund Drive September 26 Message-ID: [image: http://www.linqmusic.com/links/images/radio/ValleyFreeRadio.png] Valley Free Radio Attention all founders & friends! It's the VFR On-air Fund Drive September 26 and onward for a goal of $6,000. Tell us that's not doable! We're hoping those who initiated WXOJ-LP five years ago will step up to the plate once more and help keep the station on the air. Naturally, newer listeners will continue supporting VFR, but... we're hoping this might be like Old Home Days, only without the kissing booth and fried dough (OK,OK, we'll do the kissing booth. Whatever it takes!). As you may know, VFR is entirely volunteer run and staffed. We have no paid programmers or administrators. All your donations go to cover our basic expenses (rent, utilities, equipment, etc.). All of our funding must come from contributions from our own community in order to make VFR truly community radio. That means our members, volunteers, and listeners provide all of our income. Please take the time to donate during the VFR On-air Fund Drive starting September 26 on WXOJ-LP 103.3fm on your dial. However........ If you'd like to preempt the On-air Fund Drive and donate RIGHT NOW just click the secure link.....and THANKS! http://www.valleyfreeradio.org/donate/ Sincerely, Your friends at Valley Free Radio -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gaiahost.coop/pipermail/sage/attachments/20100907/080744b0/attachment.htm From wmjwj at wmjwj.org Tue Sep 7 12:52:37 2010 From: wmjwj at wmjwj.org (WMass Jobs with Justice) Date: Tue Sep 7 12:52:48 2010 Subject: [Sage] GET ON THE BUS! 10-2-10 Message-ID: <005a01cb4ead$1433d100$3c9b7300$@org> Skipped content of type multipart/alternative-------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/png Size: 31137 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.gaiahost.coop/pipermail/sage/attachments/20100907/46c55b18/attachment-0001.png From hattieshalom at verizon.net Tue Sep 7 13:31:43 2010 From: hattieshalom at verizon.net (Hattie Nestel) Date: Tue Sep 7 13:32:01 2010 Subject: [Sage] NRC: VY operating safely ??? References: <201009071546.o87Fd461064068@smtpauth8.sover.net> Message-ID: <4BBDE0BF-D81B-46B0-BAD3-87024E3F68DB@verizon.net> ____ Hattie Nestel hattieshalom@verizon.net Begin forwarded message: > Comment: NRC ?Green? findings are not the ?highest safety level,? > as the NRC spokesman is quoted in the article below. Green findings > are findings of safety violations of the lowest safety significance. > Green findings indicate that the licensee may fix whatever safety > issues are reported by NRC on its own without the need of any > additional NRC oversight beyond the normal ?baseline? inspections. > > Thus the sentence, ?All of the plants were issued a safety rating of > green, which is the highest safety level issued by the NRC,? would > be much more accurate if it read ? No plants were issued findings > of safety violations higher than ?Green?. > > In other words, all US nuclear plants, including Vermont Yankee, > were found to have some safety violations in NRC?s lowest safety > significance category of ?Green.? The goal is not to have all Green > findings, the goal is to have fewer Green findings or no findings at > all. A pile of Green findings most emphatically does not mean that > VY is operating safely. > > Reporters and headline editors are not to be blamed if they get this > confused. NRC?s regulatory jargon and language usage is structured > in a way that defies plain reading or logical interpretation. Don?t > ask why. > > Raymond Shadis > Nuclear Issues Consultant to New England Coalition > NRC: VY operating safely > > By JOSH STILTS / Reformer Staff > > Saturday September 4, 2010 > BRATTLEBORO -- According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 97 of > the nation?s 104 nuclear power plants, including Vermont Yankee in > Vernon, are performing at the two highest levels, based on an > assessment of inspection findings and performance indicators. > > The NRC releases an annual assessment letter twice a year. > > "We ensure nuclear power plants are safe, inspecting them and rating > their performance regularly, as part of our mission to protect > people and the environment," stated Cynthia Pederson, acting deputy > director for reactor safety programs in the NRC?s Office of Nuclear > Reactor Regulation, in a press release. > > All of the plants were issued a safety rating of green, which is the > highest safety level issued by the NRC, Neil Sheehan, spokesman for > the NRC, said. > > Raymond Shadis, technical advisor for the New England Coalition, > said the NRC?s assessment isn?t all that important. > > "All their findings are green," Shadis said. "The NRC has a box of > 100 crayons and they?re all green." > > Sheehan said that although the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant received > the highest performance category status, "meeting all safety > cornerstone objectives," additional inspections will continue. > > In January a leak of tritiated water was discovered in Yankee?s > groundwater monitoring wells. > > Because the plant still has groundwater issues, more oversight > resources have been dedicated to Yankee than a plant in that > category would normally receive, Sheehan said. > > Shadis said the New England Coalition is reviewing Entergy?s root- > cause analysis of the leak of tritiated water, and will include its > analysis in testimony that will be presented to the NRC. > > "What we?re finding is that their idea of root cause is that water > or water vapor wore a hole in the pipe with no contribution from > corrosion," he said. "A root cause is either an engineering or > design defect or a material defect." > > Entergy is claiming none of these, Shadis said. > > "If they admitted it was a design flaw they would be required to > review all of their other piping to see if there are similar > problems," he said. "Clearly the NRC intends to be looking over > (Entergy?s) shoulder and the Coalition intends to be looking over > the shoulder of the NRC." > > Sheehan said the NRC will continue its investigation of the leaked > tritiated water, which may not be completed until 2011. > > Entergy, which owns and operates the nuclear plant, has applied to > the NRC to extend the power plant?s operating license from 2012 to > 2031. In addition to NRC approval, Entergy must also receive the OK > from the Vermont State Legislature and the Vermont Public Service > Board to continue operating past 2012. > > In February the State Senate voted 26 to 4 against allowing > continued operation of the plant past its current operating license. > > Josh Stilts can be reached at jstilts@reformer.com, or 802-254-2311 > ext. 273. > > > New England Coalition is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All > contributions are tax-deductible. > Donate at necnp.org using PayPal or send a check to NEC, PO Box > 545, Brattleboro , VT 05302 > > This release was sent to Hattie Nestel [hattieshalom@verizon.net] > by New England Coalition. > If you wish to update your email address or to be removed from our > private email list please email us at necnp@necnp.org > or call us at 802-257-0336. Thank you. > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gaiahost.coop/pipermail/sage/attachments/20100907/429a1951/attachment.html From wmjwj at wmjwj.org Tue Sep 7 13:38:12 2010 From: wmjwj at wmjwj.org (WMass Jobs with Justice) Date: Tue Sep 7 13:38:33 2010 Subject: [Sage] Handbill for Sep 15 Jobs March Message-ID: <00df01cb4eb3$733a3c60$59aeb520$@org> Skipped content of type multipart/alternative-------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 9-15-2010 march handbill.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 194445 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.gaiahost.coop/pipermail/sage/attachments/20100907/81f84310/9-15-2010marchhandbill-0001.pdf From hattieshalom at verizon.net Tue Sep 7 13:39:01 2010 From: hattieshalom at verizon.net (Hattie Nestel) Date: Tue Sep 7 13:39:10 2010 Subject: [Sage] Tritium leak at Pilgrim in Plymouth References: <5EAE2A4B-F9A1-458D-A636-64E53A206689@gmail.com> Message-ID: <04FD94A5-83F8-41BB-AB2C-A98A95525D02@verizon.net> > > It is not clear that the Pilgrim leak is really smaller that VY. > With the sandy soil, the leak may be moving down, where at VY it > moved east toward the river. It is also not clear that the leak > "only" contains tritium. Other isotopes may be involve, but they > move more slowly through the soil. > > > > On Sep 7, 2010, at 10:38 AM, Mary Lampert wrote: > >> PILGRIM: We Have a Problem >> >> http://northamptonmedia.com/blog/2010/09/06/pilgrim-we-have-a-problem/ >> >> >> The Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Mass. When new >> monitoring wells were dug in May, one well on the ocean side of the >> plant showed immediate spikes in radioactive tritium. (Photo from www.pilgrimpower.com >> ) >> >> PLYMOUTH, MASS. ? The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station has a leak. >> >> Safety and PR officials at Entergy, the Louisiana-based owner of >> the Pilgrim nuke plant at Plymouth, Mass., are scrambling to find >> the source of a radioactive tritium leak that, after new monitoring >> wells were dug in May, flared to unacceptable during levels July >> and continues to show evidence of a leak. >> >> Published reports and sources tapped by Northampton Media reveal >> that state public health officials are holding urgent meetings to >> deal with the Pilgrim?s tritium leak, and that Pilgrim plant >> officials meet first thing every morning to deal with the issue. >> >> While the Pilgrim leak, documented in late spring, amounts to far >> less of the radioactive material than was found at Vermont Yankee >> last year, the fact that the reactor is located next to Cape Cod >> Bay and is less than 40 miles from Boston, and 20 miles as the >> seagull flies from Provincetown, is cause for concern. >> >> The radioactive element tritium is a byproduct of nuclear plants, >> and is measured in picocuries per liter. The U.S. Environmental >> Protection Agency?s ?acceptable level? for tritium in drinking >> water is 20,000 picocuries per liter, many times higher than the >> level considered safe by some states (including California, which >> uses 400 picocuries) and some countries (Canada?s standard is 540 >> picocuries). [For views on the properties and dangers of tritium, >> see web pages at the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and >> the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.] >> >> Pilgrim?s radiation leak comes at an awkward time for Entergy, >> since the Pilgrim plant is nearing the end of a 20-year relicensing >> application for the 38-year-old nuclear power plant ? especially >> after what happened at the Entergy?s other nuclear plant in the >> region, Vermont Yankee. >> >> Pilgrim and Its Sister Nuke, Vermont Yankee >> >> Located in Vernon, Vt., Vermont Yankee?s operating license expires >> in a year and a half, but in February the Vermont Senate voted >> 26-4 against allowing the Public Service Board to issue a >> Certificate of Public Good, required for Entergy to operate the >> plant for an additional 20 years past March 2012. >> >> That turn of events came after dangerous tritium levels were found >> in groundwater last fall. Leaky underground pipes, like those >> suspected at Pilgrim, were blamed for tritium levels that were many >> times higher than federal limits. Although Entergy has said it has >> found, fixed and remediated the Vermont Yankee?s radioactive leak, >> relicensing is no sure thing. >> >> >> Vermont Yankee, where a massive tritium leak was discovered last >> fall. Energy giant Entergy owns this plant and the Pilgrim nuke in >> Plymouth. >> >> In a report issued last week, the Vermont Department of Health >> detailed its investigation so far into the tritium leaks, and >> estimates that about 245,000 gallons of ?tritium-contaminated >> groundwater? has been pumped from the plant site. The agency says >> the water contains tritium concentrations in the range of about >> 76,000 picocuries per liter. The report, however, documents that >> some monitoring wells there are detecting tritium levels as high as >> 370,000 picocuries. >> >> Meanwhile, Entergy is fighting an investigation by the Vermont >> Public Safety Board (PSB) into the leaks, stating in a filing with >> the board that it has no jurisdiction ?about the release of >> rsdionuclides,? which it says are the sole purview of the Nuclear >> Regulatory Commission, according to an Aug. 28 article in the >> Rutland Herald. Meanwhile, the article says, the Conservation Law >> Foundation and the New England Coalition have petitioned the PSB to >> shut down Vermont Yankee until the tritium leak issue is resolved >> for good. >> >> At Pilgrim this May, a new groundwater monitoring well on the ocean >> side of the plant immediately began showing tritium levels 5-10 >> times higher than the other 11 test wells. And after that initial >> reading of 5,810 picocuries per liter, the well ? dubbed MW-205 ? >> continued to reveal rising tritium levels. >> >> On July 7, the numbers at MW-205 peaked at 25,552 picocuries, >> higher than even the EPA?s suspect standard of 20,000. By Aug. 9, >> the state Department of Public Health?s latest published readings, >> tritium levels had dropped to a still-alarming level of over 12,000 >> picocuries. (To view a state spreadsheet showing all Pilgrim >> monitoring-well readings since 2007, click here.) >> >> >> U.S. Rep. Edward Markey has blasted the NRC for its lax oversight >> of underground pipes at nuclear plants. Photo: www.markey.house.gov >> >> Amazingly, groundwater monitoring at the Pilgrim plant was done >> voluntarily, and only started in 2007 when six test wells were dug; >> testing, though, was sketchy at best until April 2008. Critics of >> the plant?s monitoring, including the citizens group Pilgrim Watch, >> have called for the installation of many more wells to monitor >> ground water. >> >> Samples taken by Entergy are separately analyzed by the company and >> by the Massachusetts Environmental Radiation Laboratory. >> >> The Pilgrim plant is located on the edge of Cape Cod Bay, south of >> Boston. According to Entergy and Asbestos.com, the plant covers >> 1,600 acres, uses a General Electric boiling water reactor and >> stores spent fuel rods on-site; it was built by the Bechtel >> Corporation, opened in 1972, and was originally run by Boston >> Edison. Its maximum operating power capacity is about 688 megawatts. >> >> Vermont Yankee, which also opened in 1972 with a General Electric >> boiling water reactor, was designed by Ebasco and has an operating >> capacity of about 610 megawatts, according to the Entergy and >> Asbestos.com websites. The plant sits on a 125-acre site along the >> west bank of the Connecticut River. In 2002, Entergy Nuclear >> Northeast of White Plains, N.Y. bought the plant from a consortium >> of power company owners. >> >> Pilgrim?s relicensing rests in the hands of the Atomic Safety >> Licensing Board. >> >> >> UMass-Amherst engineering professor David Ahlfeld told the NRC that >> monitoring wells at the Pilgrim nuke were sited using flawed data. >> (Photo from UMass website) >> >> An NRC Incident Report, and a Handful of News Stories >> >> After high levels of tritium were discovered at Pilgrim, the >> Nuclear Regulatory Commission was notified. The federal agency >> issued an incident report, which caught the attention of some >> journalists in Plymouth and Boston, but the news stories were >> generally ignored by other media sources in the region. Curiously, >> even the NRC?s own ?Event Notification Report,? dated July 21, >> 2010, failed to document the peak levels of 25,000 picocuries, >> citing instead a level of 11,072 picocuries sampled a month earlier. >> >> No other incident reports could be found on a recent search of the >> NRC web site. >> >> Some news stories, like one found July 12 on DigitalJounal.com, >> gave brief, one-time reports citing much lower tritium-level >> readings and quoting only plant spokesman David Tarantino, who said >> public health and safety were not impacted ?in any way.? There was >> no follow-up. >> >> The Boston Globe ran a few stories which, while not exactly hard- >> hitting, did reveal some startling items. One, in a July 14 Globe >> story, was a statement by plant flack Tarantino, who claimed the >> high tritium levels were due to ?washout? from water vapor >> returning to the ground as rain. The same article quoted Ralph >> Anderson, a top official for The Nuclear Energy Institute, trade- >> group organization for the nuclear industry, as saying the >> discovery of tritium showed the safety systems in place worked just >> fine. >> >> >> The Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth. >> >> Some of the best and most dogged reporting on Pilgrim?s tritium >> leak has come from the GateHouse News Service (picked up largely by >> WickedLocal.com), which generated more stories and gave a more >> balanced assessment of the situation. One example is a GateHouse >> story featured on Wicked Local?s July 9 edition, even though it >> quoted lower levels of tritium logged in several weeks before the >> peak reading (which occurred on July 7). >> >> GateHouse also generated an Aug. 30 story on Pilgrim Watch?s >> continuing legal challenge to Entergy?s relicensing application for >> the Pilgrim nuke. The advocacy group had hoped to disqualify one of >> three judges on the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board whom it >> considered too familiar with Entergy; but a presidential commission >> that oversees the NRC ruled that Judge Paul Abramson?s familiarity >> with computer models Entergy uses to predict nuclear plant accident >> scenarios was insufficient to disqualify him. >> >> And a July 21 GateHouse story revealed that officials at the >> Pilgrim plant are meeting on the tritium leak first thing every >> morning at 8 a.m. The story also said that, according to David >> Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists, ?Pilgrim?s problem >> just enforces the need for more consistent testing of all the >> country?s nuke plants.? >> >> PR Blackout, a Petition, and Political Pressure >> >> Visitors to the Pilgrim plant?s website, however, will have no clue >> that anything is amiss at Pilgrim. >> >> ?Pilgrim Station has an impeccable safety record,? the home page >> reads under a headline entitled ?Safe, Secure, Vital.? ?We take >> great pride in our ability to maintain a critical source of power >> safely and securely,? the Pilgrim website reads. ?We make >> significant operational improvements on an ongoing basis to help >> ensure the safety and performance of our facility.? >> >> Dissatisfied with the official oversight of Pilgrim, Pilgrim Watch >> has stepped into the breach on a number of fronts. While continuing >> its opposition to Pilgrim?s relicensing, the group last month filed >> a petition asking the NRC to order Entergy to immediately perform >> an updated hydrological assessment of the area under and around the >> Pilgrim plant. >> >> >> Pilgrim Watch posted this map, showing areas for fatalities from >> accidents or terrorist attacks at the region's nuclear power plants. >> >> ?This is necessary,? the Pilgrim Watch petition reads, ?to provide >> reasonable assurance that the leaks are not occurring so that >> piping and other buried components are able to perform their >> intended safety function (and) for Entergy to [be] in compliance >> with the Industry Ground Water Protection Initiative at Pilgrim >> Station that they agreed to follow. . ..? >> >> Dated Aug. 13, the petition was submitted by Pilgrim Watch Director >> Mary Lampert and sent to R. William Borchardt, the NRC?s executive >> director of operations in Washington, D.C. >> >> The petition includes testimony on groundwater monitoring by Dr. >> David Ahlfeld, a University of Massachusetts-Amherst engineering >> professor who heads the university?s Groundwater Management Group >> and is also an expert working with Pilgrim Watch. Lampert cites >> Ahlfeld?s analysis that Pilgrim?s 12 monitoring wells may have been >> dug in the wrong spots. The monitoring-well placement, she writes, >> were fixed using a 1967 hydrology study, conducted long before the >> power plant was built. ?No subsurface investigations have been >> performed for over 40 years, as they clearly should have been,? >> Lampert concluded. >> >> Massachusetts? Gov. Deval Patrick and U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey >> have also gotten into the act this year, asking the NRC to get >> tough on radioactive leaks; Patrick called for the NRC to suspend >> relicensing of both Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim until the leak >> issues are resolved. >> >> In Patrick?s Feb. 9, 2010 letter to NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko >> and other commissioners, he asked the NRC to order ?extensive >> testing for leaks of tritium and other radioactive substances at >> both Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim? and to halt ?any further >> consideration of the of the relicensing of both plants until the >> leak issues are resolved.? >> >> In his position as chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce >> Committee?s Energy and The Environment Subcommittee, Markey wrote >> NRC Chairman Jaczko on July 15 this year, after reading a Globe >> report on Pilgrim?s tritium leak. >> >> ?Sadly, this appears to be just another in a long line of failures >> of buried piping systems and our nation?s nuclear plants,? Markey >> wrote. ?This lack of a serious and comprehensive (NRC) inspection >> regime for buried piping systems has long been a concern of >> mine.. . .The current inspection regime for buried pipes ? physical >> inspections conducted only in those rare instances when pipes are >> dug out for other purposes ? is incapable of ensuring the integrity >> of decades-old piping systems.. . . >> >> ?Other industries have figured out how to inspect their buried >> pipes in a proactive and comprehensive fashion,? Markey concluded. >> ?How many more failures does the nuclear industry and the NRC need >> before they admit that aging buried systems need additional >> attention?? >> >> [Note: In February 2010, the independently produced media program >> "Living on Earth" interviewed Pilgrim plant spokesman David >> Tarantino and Pilgrim Watch's Mary Lampert at the plant site. A >> transcript of the program and an audio link are available by >> clicking here.] >> >> Tags: David Ahlfeld, David Tarantino, Entergy, Gov. Deval Patrick, >> Mary Lampert, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Pilgrim Nuclear Power >> Plant, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, Vermont Yankee >> >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gaiahost.coop/pipermail/sage/attachments/20100907/33af0914/attachment-0001.htm From hattieshalom at verizon.net Tue Sep 7 18:13:54 2010 From: hattieshalom at verizon.net (Hattie Nestel) Date: Tue Sep 7 18:14:10 2010 Subject: [Sage] super good article on Nuclear power near and far References: <5EAE2A4B-F9A1-458D-A636-64E53A206689@gmail.com> Message-ID: <45275B5B-12D8-4806-A2F8-E91B049CE616@verizon.net> > > Subject: Re: > > It is not clear that the Pilgrim leak is really smaller that VY. > With the sandy soil, the leak may be moving down, where at VY it > moved east toward the river. It is also not clear that the leak > "only" contains tritium. Other isotopes may be involve, but they > move more slowly through the soil. > > > > On Sep 7, 2010, at 10:38 AM, Mary Lampert wrote: > >> PILGRIM: We Have a Problem >> >> http://northamptonmedia.com/blog/2010/09/06/pilgrim-we-have-a-problem/ >> >> >> The Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Mass. When new >> monitoring wells were dug in May, one well on the ocean side of the >> plant showed immediate spikes in radioactive tritium. (Photo from www.pilgrimpower.com >> ) >> >> PLYMOUTH, MASS. ? The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station has a leak. >> >> Safety and PR officials at Entergy, the Louisiana-based owner of >> the Pilgrim nuke plant at Plymouth, Mass., are scrambling to find >> the source of a radioactive tritium leak that, after new monitoring >> wells were dug in May, flared to unacceptable during levels July >> and continues to show evidence of a leak. >> >> Published reports and sources tapped by Northampton Media reveal >> that state public health officials are holding urgent meetings to >> deal with the Pilgrim?s tritium leak, and that Pilgrim plant >> officials meet first thing every morning to deal with the issue. >> >> While the Pilgrim leak, documented in late spring, amounts to far >> less of the radioactive material than was found at Vermont Yankee >> last year, the fact that the reactor is located next to Cape Cod >> Bay and is less than 40 miles from Boston, and 20 miles as the >> seagull flies from Provincetown, is cause for concern. >> >> The radioactive element tritium is a byproduct of nuclear plants, >> and is measured in picocuries per liter. The U.S. Environmental >> Protection Agency?s ?acceptable level? for tritium in drinking >> water is 20,000 picocuries per liter, many times higher than the >> level considered safe by some states (including California, which >> uses 400 picocuries) and some countries (Canada?s standard is 540 >> picocuries). [For views on the properties and dangers of tritium, >> see web pages at the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and >> the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.] >> >> Pilgrim?s radiation leak comes at an awkward time for Entergy, >> since the Pilgrim plant is nearing the end of a 20-year relicensing >> application for the 38-year-old nuclear power plant ? especially >> after what happened at the Entergy?s other nuclear plant in the >> region, Vermont Yankee. >> >> Pilgrim and Its Sister Nuke, Vermont Yankee >> >> Located in Vernon, Vt., Vermont Yankee?s operating license expires >> in a year and a half, but in February the Vermont Senate voted >> 26-4 against allowing the Public Service Board to issue a >> Certificate of Public Good, required for Entergy to operate the >> plant for an additional 20 years past March 2012. >> >> That turn of events came after dangerous tritium levels were found >> in groundwater last fall. Leaky underground pipes, like those >> suspected at Pilgrim, were blamed for tritium levels that were many >> times higher than federal limits. Although Entergy has said it has >> found, fixed and remediated the Vermont Yankee?s radioactive leak, >> relicensing is no sure thing. >> >> >> Vermont Yankee, where a massive tritium leak was discovered last >> fall. Energy giant Entergy owns this plant and the Pilgrim nuke in >> Plymouth. >> >> In a report issued last week, the Vermont Department of Health >> detailed its investigation so far into the tritium leaks, and >> estimates that about 245,000 gallons of ?tritium-contaminated >> groundwater? has been pumped from the plant site. The agency says >> the water contains tritium concentrations in the range of about >> 76,000 picocuries per liter. The report, however, documents that >> some monitoring wells there are detecting tritium levels as high as >> 370,000 picocuries. >> >> Meanwhile, Entergy is fighting an investigation by the Vermont >> Public Safety Board (PSB) into the leaks, stating in a filing with >> the board that it has no jurisdiction ?about the release of >> rsdionuclides,? which it says are the sole purview of the Nuclear >> Regulatory Commission, according to an Aug. 28 article in the >> Rutland Herald. Meanwhile, the article says, the Conservation Law >> Foundation and the New England Coalition have petitioned the PSB to >> shut down Vermont Yankee until the tritium leak issue is resolved >> for good. >> >> At Pilgrim this May, a new groundwater monitoring well on the ocean >> side of the plant immediately began showing tritium levels 5-10 >> times higher than the other 11 test wells. And after that initial >> reading of 5,810 picocuries per liter, the well ? dubbed MW-205 ? >> continued to reveal rising tritium levels. >> >> On July 7, the numbers at MW-205 peaked at 25,552 picocuries, >> higher than even the EPA?s suspect standard of 20,000. By Aug. 9, >> the state Department of Public Health?s latest published readings, >> tritium levels had dropped to a still-alarming level of over 12,000 >> picocuries. (To view a state spreadsheet showing all Pilgrim >> monitoring-well readings since 2007, click here.) >> >> >> U.S. Rep. Edward Markey has blasted the NRC for its lax oversight >> of underground pipes at nuclear plants. Photo: www.markey.house.gov >> >> Amazingly, groundwater monitoring at the Pilgrim plant was done >> voluntarily, and only started in 2007 when six test wells were dug; >> testing, though, was sketchy at best until April 2008. Critics of >> the plant?s monitoring, including the citizens group Pilgrim Watch, >> have called for the installation of many more wells to monitor >> ground water. >> >> Samples taken by Entergy are separately analyzed by the company and >> by the Massachusetts Environmental Radiation Laboratory. >> >> The Pilgrim plant is located on the edge of Cape Cod Bay, south of >> Boston. According to Entergy and Asbestos.com, the plant covers >> 1,600 acres, uses a General Electric boiling water reactor and >> stores spent fuel rods on-site; it was built by the Bechtel >> Corporation, opened in 1972, and was originally run by Boston >> Edison. Its maximum operating power capacity is about 688 megawatts. >> >> Vermont Yankee, which also opened in 1972 with a General Electric >> boiling water reactor, was designed by Ebasco and has an operating >> capacity of about 610 megawatts, according to the Entergy and >> Asbestos.com websites. The plant sits on a 125-acre site along the >> west bank of the Connecticut River. In 2002, Entergy Nuclear >> Northeast of White Plains, N.Y. bought the plant from a consortium >> of power company owners. >> >> Pilgrim?s relicensing rests in the hands of the Atomic Safety >> Licensing Board. >> >> >> UMass-Amherst engineering professor David Ahlfeld told the NRC that >> monitoring wells at the Pilgrim nuke were sited using flawed data. >> (Photo from UMass website) >> >> An NRC Incident Report, and a Handful of News Stories >> >> After high levels of tritium were discovered at Pilgrim, the >> Nuclear Regulatory Commission was notified. The federal agency >> issued an incident report, which caught the attention of some >> journalists in Plymouth and Boston, but the news stories were >> generally ignored by other media sources in the region. Curiously, >> even the NRC?s own ?Event Notification Report,? dated July 21, >> 2010, failed to document the peak levels of 25,000 picocuries, >> citing instead a level of 11,072 picocuries sampled a month earlier. >> >> No other incident reports could be found on a recent search of the >> NRC web site. >> >> Some news stories, like one found July 12 on DigitalJounal.com, >> gave brief, one-time reports citing much lower tritium-level >> readings and quoting only plant spokesman David Tarantino, who said >> public health and safety were not impacted ?in any way.? There was >> no follow-up. >> >> The Boston Globe ran a few stories which, while not exactly hard- >> hitting, did reveal some startling items. One, in a July 14 Globe >> story, was a statement by plant flack Tarantino, who claimed the >> high tritium levels were due to ?washout? from water vapor >> returning to the ground as rain. The same article quoted Ralph >> Anderson, a top official for The Nuclear Energy Institute, trade- >> group organization for the nuclear industry, as saying the >> discovery of tritium showed the safety systems in place worked just >> fine. >> >> >> The Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth. >> >> Some of the best and most dogged reporting on Pilgrim?s tritium >> leak has come from the GateHouse News Service (picked up largely by >> WickedLocal.com), which generated more stories and gave a more >> balanced assessment of the situation. One example is a GateHouse >> story featured on Wicked Local?s July 9 edition, even though it >> quoted lower levels of tritium logged in several weeks before the >> peak reading (which occurred on July 7). >> >> GateHouse also generated an Aug. 30 story on Pilgrim Watch?s >> continuing legal challenge to Entergy?s relicensing application for >> the Pilgrim nuke. The advocacy group had hoped to disqualify one of >> three judges on the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board whom it >> considered too familiar with Entergy; but a presidential commission >> that oversees the NRC ruled that Judge Paul Abramson?s familiarity >> with computer models Entergy uses to predict nuclear plant accident >> scenarios was insufficient to disqualify him. >> >> And a July 21 GateHouse story revealed that officials at the >> Pilgrim plant are meeting on the tritium leak first thing every >> morning at 8 a.m. The story also said that, according to David >> Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists, ?Pilgrim?s problem >> just enforces the need for more consistent testing of all the >> country?s nuke plants.? >> >> PR Blackout, a Petition, and Political Pressure >> >> Visitors to the Pilgrim plant?s website, however, will have no clue >> that anything is amiss at Pilgrim. >> >> ?Pilgrim Station has an impeccable safety record,? the home page >> reads under a headline entitled ?Safe, Secure, Vital.? ?We take >> great pride in our ability to maintain a critical source of power >> safely and securely,? the Pilgrim website reads. ?We make >> significant operational improvements on an ongoing basis to help >> ensure the safety and performance of our facility.? >> >> Dissatisfied with the official oversight of Pilgrim, Pilgrim Watch >> has stepped into the breach on a number of fronts. While continuing >> its opposition to Pilgrim?s relicensing, the group last month filed >> a petition asking the NRC to order Entergy to immediately perform >> an updated hydrological assessment of the area under and around the >> Pilgrim plant. >> >> >> Pilgrim Watch posted this map, showing areas for fatalities from >> accidents or terrorist attacks at the region's nuclear power plants. >> >> ?This is necessary,? the Pilgrim Watch petition reads, ?to provide >> reasonable assurance that the leaks are not occurring so that >> piping and other buried components are able to perform their >> intended safety function (and) for Entergy to [be] in compliance >> with the Industry Ground Water Protection Initiative at Pilgrim >> Station that they agreed to follow. . ..? >> >> Dated Aug. 13, the petition was submitted by Pilgrim Watch Director >> Mary Lampert and sent to R. William Borchardt, the NRC?s executive >> director of operations in Washington, D.C. >> >> The petition includes testimony on groundwater monitoring by Dr. >> David Ahlfeld, a University of Massachusetts-Amherst engineering >> professor who heads the university?s Groundwater Management Group >> and is also an expert working with Pilgrim Watch. Lampert cites >> Ahlfeld?s analysis that Pilgrim?s 12 monitoring wells may have been >> dug in the wrong spots. The monitoring-well placement, she writes, >> were fixed using a 1967 hydrology study, conducted long before the >> power plant was built. ?No subsurface investigations have been >> performed for over 40 years, as they clearly should have been,? >> Lampert concluded. >> >> Massachusetts? Gov. Deval Patrick and U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey >> have also gotten into the act this year, asking the NRC to get >> tough on radioactive leaks; Patrick called for the NRC to suspend >> relicensing of both Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim until the leak >> issues are resolved. >> >> In Patrick?s Feb. 9, 2010 letter to NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko >> and other commissioners, he asked the NRC to order ?extensive >> testing for leaks of tritium and other radioactive substances at >> both Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim? and to halt ?any further >> consideration of the of the relicensing of both plants until the >> leak issues are resolved.? >> >> In his position as chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce >> Committee?s Energy and The Environment Subcommittee, Markey wrote >> NRC Chairman Jaczko on July 15 this year, after reading a Globe >> report on Pilgrim?s tritium leak. >> >> ?Sadly, this appears to be just another in a long line of failures >> of buried piping systems and our nation?s nuclear plants,? Markey >> wrote. ?This lack of a serious and comprehensive (NRC) inspection >> regime for buried piping systems has long been a concern of >> mine.. . .The current inspection regime for buried pipes ? physical >> inspections conducted only in those rare instances when pipes are >> dug out for other purposes ? is incapable of ensuring the integrity >> of decades-old piping systems.. . . >> >> ?Other industries have figured out how to inspect their buried >> pipes in a proactive and comprehensive fashion,? Markey concluded. >> ?How many more failures does the nuclear industry and the NRC need >> before they admit that aging buried systems need additional >> attention?? >> >> [Note: In February 2010, the independently produced media program >> "Living on Earth" interviewed Pilgrim plant spokesman David >> Tarantino and Pilgrim Watch's Mary Lampert at the plant site. A >> transcript of the program and an audio link are available by >> clicking here.] >> >> Tags: David Ahlfeld, David Tarantino, Entergy, Gov. Deval Patrick, >> Mary Lampert, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Pilgrim Nuclear Power >> Plant, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, Vermont Yankee >> >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gaiahost.coop/pipermail/sage/attachments/20100907/785b22ed/attachment.htm From martygjf at comcast.net Tue Sep 7 22:47:55 2010 From: martygjf at comcast.net (marty nathan) Date: Tue Sep 7 22:48:03 2010 Subject: [Sage] Fw: E-News: 11,000 by 9/11 Message-ID: <5815B110D3CE49A2988F84ED805F262E@DELLNEW> FCNL ----- Original Message ----- From: Joe Volk, FCNL To: Martha Nathan Md Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2010 6:03 PM Subject: E-News: 11,000 by 9/11 Friends Committee on National Legislation A Quaker Lobby in the Public Interest E-News: 11,000 by 9/11 September 7, 2010 11,000 by 9/11: Take a Stand with American Muslims Standing with American Muslims: Your Responses Quotes of the Week: Muslim Leaders and General Petraeus on events around 9/11 From FCNL: A Goodbye and a Hello No Nukes: New START Treaty Builds on Experience Stories from the Field: Tampa Friends Meeting works to Cut Pentagon Spending War Is Not the Answer Photo of the Week: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Annual Session See an online version of this newsletter. 11,000 by 9/11: Take a Stand with American Muslims Already, more than 4,800 people have signed this statement on FCNL?s website supporting the proposal for American Muslims to exercise religious freedom and build an Islamic Cultural Center in downtown Manhattan. Anticipating ongoing public conversation about the proposal before the 9th anniversary of the September attacks, we are looking to gather 11,000 signatures before 9/11. Will you take a stand? We will be delivering the petitions to the community center organizers in New York. * Sign the petition * Ask 5 friends to sign * Copy the petition link and share it on Facebook and Twitter Standing with American Muslims: Your Responses What has been your reaction to the controversy surrounding the Islamic Cultural Center? Many of you shared your thoughts with us in response to our blogs and calls to action. Communications program assistant Jess Halperin looks at the range of feedback and reflects on the different perspectives you offered, noting that ?many of your questions and comments answer each other.? Read the responses and join the conversation. Quotes of the Week: Muslim Leaders and General Petraeus on events around 9/11 "Many [Muslims] say they are rethinking more festive activities in the wake of what has been a tense summer for Muslims in the United States. ?Particularly, people are taking care not to do any celebrations on the day of 9/11, because it is a day of tragedy and we have to be sensitive,' Rashid Makhdoom, a Director of the Muslim Community Center of Silver Spring, said." Read a Washington Post report on Islamic community celebrations of Eid and then consider building bridges of understanding with Muslims in your community. "Images of the burning of a Koran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan - and around the world - to inflame public opinion and incite violence. It's also insulting to our soldiers in terms of what they stand for and what their commitment is to this country and to the Muslims in this country." Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, reacts to news that a pastor in Florida plans to burn Korans at his church on September 11. From FCNL: A Goodbye and a Hello Last week we said goodbye to our foreign policy lobbyist of more than 3 years, Jim Fine, who moves on to Irbil, Iraq to work with the Mennonite Central Committee. We wish Jim well on his new adventures! We welcome Jonathan Evans to the FCNL staff to lead our program on the Greater Middle East. Jonathan has traveled to more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe and spent 5 years in the Middle East as the Catholic Relief Services representative for the Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza program. Find out more about Jonathan. No Nukes: New START Treaty Builds on Experience When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee votes on the New START Treaty with Russia next week, they will be considering an arms control treaty that is stronger from the experience of previous negotiations. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, former Secretary of State George Shultz argues that the Senate should ratify New START this year. Stories from the Field: Tampa Friends Meeting works to Cut Pentagon Spending Tampa Friends Meeting is mobilizing people in Florida to encourage press for cuts in Pentagon spending. The Friends meeting has already gathered some 350 signatures on a petition asking Florida Senator Bill Nelson to shift spending away from the Pentagon. War Is Not the Answer Photo of the Week: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Annual Session; DeSales University, Pennsylvania At their Annual Session this summer, PYM attendees are eager to climb the ladder of engagement with the help of FCNL's War is Not the Answer campaign. Order your own War Is Not the Answer sign, see where this movement is showing up across the country, and find out how to submit your own photo. You are subscribed to FCNL's e-newsletter. Make sure you receive these email updates from FCNL. Find out how to add joevolk@fcnl.org to your address book. Donate to FCNL. Update your email address, manage your FCNL email subscription, or unsubscribe from this list. Subscribe to this or other email lists. ? 2010 Friends Committee on National Legislation | 245 2nd Street NE Washington, DC 20002 | 800-630-1330. Powered by ARCOS. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gaiahost.coop/pipermail/sage/attachments/20100907/9e604d59/attachment.htm