Urge your representatives to cosponsor Nuclear Power Plant Safety Act

Don’t Let it Happen Here: Japan’s Nuclear Disaster Now on Par with Chernobyl

Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) is introducing new legislation - the Nuclear Power Plant Safety Act of 2011.  Please urge your representatives to co-sponsor this Act. As Markey writes to his colleagues: “A nuclear disaster could happen here in America just as it has in Japan, our technological equal. This legislation will ensure that the lessons to be learned from the nuclear meltdown in Japan are incorporated into U.S. regulations to ensure the safety of our nuclear power plants in the United States. 

“As these catastrophic events have unfolded, it has become clear that the meltdown did not occur primarily because of earthquake-related damage; rather, it occurred because of a prolonged loss of electricity to the reactor cores and their spent nuclear fuel pools.  Such events could be caused not just by earthquakes or tsunamis, but by severe storms, terrorist attacks or other events.”

The Nuclear Power Plant Safety Act of 2011 will impose a moratorium on ALL new reactor licenses, reactor designs or license extensions until new safety requirements are in place. If your representatives need more information or would like to cosponsor the legislation, please have them contact Dr. Michal Freedhoff of Markey’s staff at 202-225-2836. Read the full Markey letter here.



Merkel: Nuclear exit 'as soon as possible'

"Germany will drop nuclear power as soon as possible, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday, in a major policy reversal that will alter the energy mix in Europe's largest economy.

The German government, backed by the governors of the 16 German states, will decide by mid-June how long the country's 17 nuclear power reactors are allowed to remain online, Merkel said. Berlin also will spell out what this means for the future German energy mix." UPI

"Chernobyl: A Million Casualties" April 23.

A television program investigating what could be the baseline for how many people are killed from the radioactivity being discharged from the Fukushima nuclear plant complex will be broadcast nationwide on Free Speech TV Saturday, April 23.

Interviewed is Dr. Janette Sherman, a toxicologist and contributing editor of “Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for the People and the Environment.” The study was authored by Dr. Alexey Yablokov, Dr. Vassily Nesterenko and Dr. Alexey Nesterenko. The interviewer is Professor Karl Grossman of the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury, a specialist in investigative reporting on nuclear technology.

Expert: Despite Japanese Gov’t Claims of Decreasing Radiation, Fukushima a "Ticking Time Bomb"

"Radiation is continuing to leak out of the reactors. The situation is not stable at all," says Dr. Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York and the City College of New York. "The slightest disturbance could set off a full-scale meltdown at three nuclear power stations, far beyond what we saw at Chernobyl." Democracy Now!

Radiation risks from Fukushima 'no longer negligible'

"The risks associated with iodine-131 contamination in Europe are no longer 'negligible,' according to CRIIRAD, a French research body on radioactivity. The NGO is advising pregnant women and infants against 'risky behaviour,' such as consuming fresh milk or vegetables with large leaves."

"The document, published on 7 April, advises against consuming rainwater and says vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant or breastfeeding women should avoid consuming vegetables with large leaves, fresh milk and creamy cheese.

"However, the institute underlines that there is absolutely no need to lock oneself indoors or take iodine tablets.

"If more fires are reported or if the operators are forced to release more steam in order to prevent hydrogen explosions, new massive waste releases will occur, the institute warned. Euractiv