ATHF3 and Swords Into Plowshares Present "Chernobyl + 30: Half-Lives, Half-Truths," Detroit, Fri., May 27, 6-9pm

April 26, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACTS:

Keith Gunter, Co-Chair, Alliance To Halt Fermi-3 (ATHF3)

(734) 838-8084

Carol Izant, Co-Chair, Alliance To Halt Fermi-3 (ATHF3)

(248) 930-3173

On this 30th anniversary of the onset of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe, the Alliance To Halt Fermi-3 (ATHF3), in association with the Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery (33 East Adams, Detroit, MI) is proud to announce the opening of "Chernobyl + 30:  Half-Lives, Half-Truths" by photojournalist Gabriela Bulisova. The display will begin on Friday, May 27th, 2016 from 6 PM until 9 PM and extend into Summer 2016.

Ms. Bulisova traveled to the region in the 2000's and captured startling images of Chernobyl landscapes and the affected population.  Her artist statement and captions, coupled with the photos, reflect the story not only of an environmental and human health disaster, but also of a monstrous event resulting in an enormous psychological toll on millions of people.

"Alliance To Halt Fermi-3 is profoundly grateful to the Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery for giving us the opportunity to display Gabriela Bulisova's extremely powerful work," said Keith Gunter, Co-Chair of ATHF3.  "This will be a tremendous opportunity for Detroiters to have a long look at what the after effects of a nuclear meltdown look like."

Carol Izant, the Alliance's other Co-Chair, added "This exhibit should give residents of this area reason to pause and think, since a partial meltdown occurred at Detroit Edison's Fermi-1 reactor on October 5, 1966.  We've already had our own close call."

Admission to the exhibit will be free, and will include a display addressing the situation at Chernobyl as it stands three decades later.  "Chernobyl + 30" will open simultaneously at the Gallery with another exhibit addressing the compelling issues surrounding drones.

                                        --- 30 ---

UBS: Despite ratepayer subsidies, closing Palisades early "could save money for Entergy and also for CMS consumers"

As reported by ElectricityPolicy.com:

UBS reported to clients last week on its latest conference call with the Nuclear Energy Institute to discuss the latest industry plan to bring costs back down to the 2002 level of $28/MWh by 2020, leveraging reductions on capital expenditures (capex), O&M, and nuclear fuel. UBS characterized the goals as aggressive, which many investors view with “justifiable skepticism.”  It noted that capex of almost ~$11B in 2012 could be high, as many plants were transitioning from 40- to 60-year timeframes and upgrading pricy steam generators and reactor vessel heads. O&M, it said, remains an area for significant improvement. It opined that declining nuclear costs will be a key upside driver for the likes of Exelon, PSEG, Entergy, NRG, and Talen, among others. A declining cost trend would benefit regulated portfolios as well, including Dominion, Duke Energy, NextEra, Southern, and SCANA. The bank analysts also focused on Michigan, where Palisades, Entergy’s remaining—and costly—single-unit plant, “continues to run with an above-market contract (in the 40's/MWh) with Consumers Energy. It said closing the unit early could save money for Entergy and also for CMS consumers.” With power prices across much of the country “now trending below $30/MWh—and capacity contributing an additional $5-10/MWh,” it said the implicit value of carbon “remains the key ‘discrepancy’ in justifying the economics of these plants.”  April 15, 2016 (emphasis added)

See the full UBS report, linked here.

It should be noted that, although the previous owner of the Palisades atomic reactor, Consumers Energy, had testified to the Michigan Public Service Commission in spring 2006 that reactor pressure vessel embrittlement concerns needed to be addressed at Palisades, and the reactor lid and steam generators needed to be replaced, none of these have happened since Entergy took ownership in 2007. (CMS is the parent company for Consumers Energy.) Thus, Palisades' woeful uncompetitiveness, and inability to turn a profit, has nothing to do with "upgrading pricy steam generators and reactor vessel heads," as reported above.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is complicit, in not requiring Entergy to make these previously promised major repairs and replacements at Palisades.

A year after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe began, the Japanese Parliament's independent investigation into the root cause determined that collusion between regulator, nuclear utility, and government officials was the reason why the reactors were so vulnerable to the natural disasters that melted them down. Such collusion exists in spades at Palisades, between NRC, Entergy, and such government officials as Fred Upton, Chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. Palisades -- as well as American Electric Power's Cook nuclear power plant, with two reactors -- is located in Rep. Upton's (R-MI) congressional district. Entergy has been a significant campaign contributor.

Tim Judson, Executive Director at Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), upon reviewing the UBS analysis, as well as the relevant 2007 Michigan Public Service Commission documents, commented:

“Looks to me like the prices in the contract are structured like those for Ginna and Nine Mile Point [nuclear plants in Upstate New York]. There is a base price that is adjusted by monthly and time-of-day factors. The adjustment factors average out to about 1.10 over the whole year. So the average price Entergy will be paid for Palisades’ power this year is 1.10 x $52.50/MWh [Megawatt-hour] = $57.75/MWh. That is by far the highest price PPA [Power Purchase Agreement] I've seen (I guess we knew that much). But if Palisades is losing money at that price that means to break-even, the operating cost has to be at least $60/MWh. Entergy cuts so many costs at their reactors, that means something is seriously out of whack (which we knew).” (emphasis added)

Thus, despite a sweetheart deal blessed by the Michigan Public Service Commission in 2007, locking in above-market prices for Palisades' electricity for 15 years, till 2022, Entergy's problem-plagued atomic reactor is nonetheless losing money, and starkly uncompetitive compared to market rates.

Such "public service" is akin to the MI PSC "serving the public," up for dinner, to Entergy and Consumers Energy.

Regional ratepayers have been forced to pay significantly higher electric rates than the free market would require, in order to fund ever increasing safety risks at the age-degraded Palisades atomic reactor. Apparently, the overriding priority for "the powers that be," including Entergy and Consumers Energy, as well as the Michigan Public Service Commission, is to pad the pockets of nuclear utility shareholders and executives, at ratepayer expense, and public risk. In this sense, the public is being asked to fund, at exorbitant rates, many more years of "radioactive Russian roulette" at Palisades.

In July 2013, Dr. Mark Cooper of Vermont Law School -- based in part of UBS, and other investment firms' analyses -- included Palisades in his short list of a dozen atomic reactors across the U.S. at highest risk of near-term, permanent shutdown, due to a variety of reasons: economic factors such as cost, its old age, its merchant plant status, and that is has less than 25 years of operations left, despite its license extension; operational factors, such as long term outages; and multiple safety issues.

UBS's and Cooper's previous predictions have proved correct, as with the permanent shutdown at Entergy's Vermont Yankee reator in Dec. 2014, as well as the impending shutdowns at Entergy's FitzPatrick reactor in NY in Jan. 2017, and Entergy's Pilgrim reactor near Boston in May 2019 (or hopefully sooner).

Celebrating Earth Day & John Muir's birthday by seeking to prevent a Chernobyl-like catastrophe on Lake Michigan at Entergy's Palisades

As reported by WWMT (Kalamazoo, MI's CBS t.v. affiliate), on April 21st, an environmental coalition marked the eve of Earth Day, and the birthday of Sierra Club founder John Muir, with a forum calling for the "shutdown before meltdown" of Entergy Nuclear's problem-plagued Palisades atomic reactor.

The event was held at First Congregational UCC Church in downtown Kalamazoo, less than 40 miles (as the radioactive Iodine-131 flies) straight downwind from Palisades, well within the 50-mile radiological emergency planning zone (EPZ, see image below).

Beyond Nuclear, in coalition with Michigan Safe Energy Future-Kalamazoo Chapter (MSEF) and Sierra Club Southwest Michigan Group (SWMG) sponsored the event.

Beyond Nuclear's Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Kevin Kamps -- a board member of Don't Waste Michigan, representing his native Kalamazoo chapter -- presented a power point entitled Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island…Where Next?!

Beyond Nuclear congratulates the local organizers for a great event. Their press work garnered advance media coverage, which helped generate a good turn out. Folks came from as far away as metro Detroit (see the "Got KI?" campaign below), as well as from the shoreline (including MSEF-Shoreline Chairman Bette Pierman and other chapter members; Palisades Park residents, the atomic reactor's immediately adjacent neighbors); and Saugatuck's Dayle Harrison, long-time director of the Kalamazoo River Protection Association).

The program was creative and powerful.

Michael Keegan, Alice Hirt, and Kevin Kamps of Don't Waste Michigan speak out against Palisades in August 2000 at the Nuclear-Free Great Lakes Action Camp. Palisades' cooling tower steam rises in the background (Lake Michigan is also visible). The crosses in the foreground bear the names of villages, towns, cities, and counties within the nearby region that could be turned into radioactive Dead Zones, if Palisades has a catastrophic radioactivity release. Photo by Gabriela Bulisova at Van Buren State Park.Tom Duffield welcomed arriving attendees with piano music, accompanied by vocals from Michael Hoag. Both are core organizing team members with MSEF-Kalamazoo Chapter (Tom also made sure the sound system worked for all the speakers).

Catherine Sugas, a long time anti-Palisades activist, then sang Earth Day-themed songs, to begin the program.

Roger Taylor, active with the Sierra Club SWMG, emceed the event (as well as providing essential technical assistance to make the power point presentations possible, as did Hoag).

Bruce Brown, coordinator of the Sierra Club SWMG and its webmaster, said a few words about the chapter and its activities, as did Iris Potter, a core team member with MSEF-Kalamazoo Chapter.

Michael Hoag read aloud a powerful letter sent by Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Steven Burns, not only expressing support for hearings won from NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) by a coalition of environmental groups (including Beyond Nuclear, Don't Waste MI, MSEF, and Nuclear Energy Information Service of Chicago), but adding "the requested regulatory relief should be denied to ENTERGY."

Hopewell sent the letter on November 6, 2015. Shockingly, a mere three days later, the NRC Commissioners ruled in favor of Entergy's appeal nonetheless, overruling their own ASLB, and denying the environmental coalition its hard won hearing.

Then, a mere two weeks after that, the NRC staff added insult to injury, granting Palisades the regulatory relief (rubber-stamping the regulatory retreat, or rollbacks on safety standards) that Mayor Hopewell had protested. In short, NRC had granted Palisades permission to operate for an additional 16 years (2015-2031), despite having the worst embrittled reactor pressure vessel in the U.S., at risk of catastrophic radioactivity release due to a pressurized thermal shock fracture, Loss-of-Coolant-Accident, and core meltdown.

Kalamazoo's Vice Mayor, Don Cooney, attended the 4/21 event, as did the campaign manager for Democratic candidate for U.S. Representative, Paul Clements.

A delegation of co-chairs from the Alliance to Halt Fermi 3 (ATHF3) in metro Detroit came all the way across the state to take part in the event. Ethyl Rivera gave an enlightening presentation about ATHF3's "Got KI?" campaign, launched last year in partnership with Beyond Nuclear. The idea is to expand the "Got KI?" efforts to the Palisades region, in order to help protect residents' thyroid glands, in the event of a catastrophic release of radioactive Iodine-131 from the troubled, age-degraded reactor.

Bruce Brown and Roger Taylor with Sierra Club SWMG also prepared KI-related informational materials for the event. Brown related their experience paying a visit to the Palisades nuclear power plant, only to find that Entergy officials had no emergency preparedness materials handy -- including regarding protecting human thyroid glands from radioactive I-131 -- to share with them. This, despite the epidemic of thyroid pathology -- especially in children -- the took place in the aftermath of Chernobyl, and now appears to be happening in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear catatsrophe.

An extended question and answer period led to in depth discussions.

Brown from Sierra Club SWMG and Potter from MSEF-Kalamazoo Chapter wrapped up the event with "next steps" and "what you can do" announcements, including plans for a follow up organzing meeting in Kalamazoo in early May.

Update on April 23, 2016 by admin

Iris Potter with MSEF-Kalamazoo Chapter wrote the following in response to the post above:

Hello Everyone.  Thank you Kevin for taking the time to create this awesome detailed summary of the week's happenings including the "Palisades Forum" coverage. The news from UBS financial was definitely a boost to this week too--a day or so before the event. If folks get a chance to view the link to Kevin's Power Point please do as it is excellent. Folks in Kalamazoo loved it and all of the links give us the total information we need for this week!

We truly had an awesome event with about 60 attendees, many folks also picked-up our great yard signs and our information tables saw lots of action and conversations--it was great to see.  Let's Ban Fracking also was present to get even more signatures for the next ballot attempt.  The First Congregational Church is a local hub of community organizing as they open their doors to it--thank you thank you!  

We are very happy here in Kalamazoo with our newer Coalition now including Michigan Safe Energy Future and Sierra Club SW MI.  It just took the contact and connection Kevin made for us--thank you.  We will be going forth with more person-power/other resources, etc. The "Palisades Shutdown Team" is getting stronger everyday.  (Please note and we thank the other organizers and volunteers not listed above: Becky Mandrell, Karen Shuur and Ginger Miller--we all work so well together)!   

Thank you again to all who came from far and wide, referenced below. Also, John Brenneman from Goshen Indiana attended and he was an active Team member having created our original brochure which we love.  He is always with us in spirit until his return.

 

All of this and some pictures coming soon. Please view our Facebook Page "Palisades Shutdown Campaign--Michigan Safe Energy Future" which, in its 3-4 years of existence, is an increasing hub for posting and interactive comments.  You can easily "Like" us. Post, "Share," "Invite" and "Comment" if you desire.  Public education is such a key. 

Going forward and now, "Shutdown Before Meltdown 2016."   The Forum team in Kalamazoo

Update on April 23, 2016 by admin

There were some questions after the 4/21 event in Kalamazoo, re: what impact closing Palisades would have on: "keeping the lights on" (electric reliability), the future employment of the workforce there, and the area's economy.

An October 2015 report by Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and the Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE), regarding the strong arguments in favor of permanently shutting down Entergy's FitzPatrick atomic reactor on the Lake Ontario shore in Upstate NY, sheds important light on these issues at Palisades.

The report is entitled "Replacing FitzPatrick: How the Closure of a Nuclear Reactor can Reduce Greenhouse Gasses and Radioactive Waste, while Creating Jobs and Supporting the Local Economy."

It was written by AGREE Program Director, Jessica Azulay, and NIRS Executive Director, Tim Judson.

Thankfully, Entergy has recently announced the permanent closure date for FitzPatrick: Jan. 27, 2017.

While the details differ between FitzPatrick and Palisades, many of the same principles still apply.

Replacing Palisades' dirty, dangeorus, and expensive nuclear electricity, with dirty, dangerous, and expensive fossil fuel generated electricity, is not necessary. Energy efficiency, and renewables like wind and solar power, could provide more than enough electricity to replace Palisades. And they could do so more affordably, not to mention more safely and cleanly. And, considering major advances in energy storage technologies, they could do so equally reliably, if not more so (Palisades has suffered a large number of unplanned shutdowns in recent years; these not only showed Palisades' electricity is not needed -- the lights stayed on -- but also that the increasing safety risks are not necessary, nor acceptable, given that better alternatives exist).

The NIRS and AGREE report also sheds light on a just transition for workers at a closing nuclear power plant. For one thing, clean up of the site's radioactive contamination, and safeguarding of the high-level radioactive waste stored on site, are essential, and will provide employment for many years, and even decades, into the future.

And the report shows how reactor closure opens new opportunities for economic development in the host community and area, not only terms of expanding energy efficiency and renewable energy, but also growth in other sectors, including -- considering Palisades' Lake Michigan shoreline location -- increased tourism, recreation, property values, etc., as reactor safety concerns cease, upon permanent shutdown. (Although the ongoing risks of the high-level radioactive waste still stored on-site must be addressed, of course.)

Palisades Forum for Earth Week, Kalamazoo, MI, Thurs., April 21

Entergy Nuclear's Palisades atomic reactor in Covert, MI on the Lake Michigan shoreline, upwind of KalamazooFukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island...Where Next?!

Will it be Palisades on Lake Michigan?! (see photo, left)

Do you have your POTASSIUM IODIDE?!

Sierra Club Southwest Michigan Group, Michigan Safe Energy Future/Palisades Shutdown Campaign, and Beyond Nuclear will hold a

PALISADES FORUM

for Earth Week, at 6:30pm Eastern on Thursday, April 21, 2016 (Sierra Club founder John Muir's birthday; one day before Earth Day; and five days before the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe)

at First Congregational Church UCC, Small Chapel, 345 West Michigan Avenue, downtown Kalamazoo, MI 49007

featuring Beyond Nuclear's Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Kevin Kamps; a representative from the Alliance to Halt Fermi 3; and other speakers.

Free admission, donations accepted.

See the Facebook event link.

See the PDF of the event poster (please print hard copies and post or hand out around town!).

Please spread the word, and hope to see you there!

Entergy avoids fine in falsified fire report case at Pilgrim Station

As reported by Matthew Nadler at Manomet Current:

Entergy won’t be fined following the discovery that a former employee falsified fire watch records at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.

Pilgrim Station Vice President John Dent, Jr was informed of the decision in a letter from Nuclear Regulatory Commission Acting Regional Administrator David Lew on Tuesday.

The company could have been fined $70,000, according to the letter. However, the NRC credited Entergy with investigating the problem after another employee had expressed concern. The safety officer who falsified the reports was fired and the company reexamined its fire watch procedures.

The security officer at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station falsified over 200 fire watch records between June 2012 and June 2014. Fire watches are supposed to be done an hourly basis in certain areas of the plant, according to an e-mail from NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.