"Kirk Urges President to Halt Canadian Proposal to Store Nuclear Waste Near Great Lakes"

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL)U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (Republican-Illinois, photo left) has issued a press release, and the text of a letter he sent to President Obama, calling for administration action to protect the Great Lakes against Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) proposed "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive waste dump, targeted at the Lake Huron shoreline at Bruce Nuclear Generating Station.

Sen. Kirk stated: “As co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, I am fighting to keep our lakes free from toxins that could harm our precious ecological system and threaten the drinking water source for more than 30 million Americans. Storing nuclear waste underground along the shores of the Great Lakes directly jeopardizes the wellbeing of this shared natural resource, and I urge the President to work with the Canadian Government to postpone this decision and protect our lakes for generations to come.”

In 2011, and again in 2013, Sen. Kirk sent letters of concern to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. Last year, and again this year, Sen. Kirk has introduced resolutions of disapproval for the site.

In his letter to President Obama, Sen. Kirk stated: "This matter presents an immediate threat to all the Great Lakes, and I ask you to use all diplomatic means available to urge the Canadian government to delay its decision-making process until the proposal has been given all due consideration by the [International Joint Commission."

Sen. Kirk warned: "As a permanent repository, the Kincardine, Ontario facility would hold 7 million cubic feet of nuclear waste for thousands of years. Any leak during that time could unleash toxic material throughout the Great Lakes Basin, and contaminate the largest surface freshwater system in the world while causing irreparable damage to the more than 3,500 plants and animals that inhabit the ecosystem."

More information about Canada's Great Lakes shore radioactive waste dump is posted under Beyond Nuclear's Canada website section.

Michael J. Keegan receives ANA & Beyond Nuclear "Judith Johnsrud Unsung Hero Award" at DC Days

Michael J. Keegan (right) receives Judith Johnsrud Unsung Hero Award from Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps. Photo by Glenn Carroll of Nukewatch South.On May 18, the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) and Beyond Nuclear named Michael J. Keegan of Monroe, MI the 2015 Judith Johnsrud Unsung Hero, "for demonstrating tireless dedication and stubborn determination, undeterred by lack of recognition, resources, or short-term success, in his creative, visionary work for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes." The award ceremony took place as part of ANA's annual D.C. Days Capitol Hill reception, held at Rayburn House Office Building.

The award was named after Beyond Nuclear founding board member, Dr. Judith H. Johnsrud, who passed on in 2014. Judy's anti-nuclear activism began in 1967, when she blocked Project Ketch, a scheme to explode a thousand H bombs underground in Pennsylvania, to carve natural gas storage. Her resistance to nuclear power included intervening against Three Mile Island, long before the meltdown. In 2012, the Sierra Club honored Judy with a lifetime achievement award for her half-century of anti-nuclear activism. (See Beyond Nuclear's tribute to Judy on p. 6 of its TMI 35th anniversary newsletter.)

The criteria for this award include: a clear dedication to the issue; hard-working and self-sacrificing; determined, fearless spirit when confronted with challenges and setbacks; unsung. No one fits this bill better than Michael J. Keegan.

For the past 35 years Michael has actively engaged in opposition to nuclear power and nuclear proliferation. He has testified in hearings at county, state, provincial, and the U.S.-Canadian federal levels, providing expert testimony. He has frequently been legal intervenor in matters before both federal governments. Michael has helped stop nuclear waste dumps, atomic reactors, bomb tests, radioactive shipments on the Great Lakes, and many other nuclear ills. Currently, Michael is engaged as a legal intervenor against: the proposed Fermi 3, MI new reactor license application; the Davis-Besse, OH license extension; and the Palisades, MI license amendment request for regulatory relief on reactor pressure vessel embrittlement risks.

Michael began with his opposition to the nuclear industry in 1980 at Fermi 2, a Fukushima twin design, which is located near Monroe, MI, his lifelong home. In the mid 1990s he brought together Citizen's Resistance at Fermi Two. He is Co-Chair of Don't Waste Michigan, and Chair of the Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes. Michael co-chairs a U.S.-Canadian task force dedicated to Green Energy and a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes.

See Kevin's introduction of Michael here. See Michael's biographical statement here.

"Nuclear Evacuation Preparations in Question for Chicago Area Communities"

NBC 5 investigative reporter Chris Coffey has looked at the Disaster Accountability Project's findings and applied them to Exelon's atomic reactors in Illinois. Major gaps are apparent, especially in the 10- to 50-mile zones around atomic reactors.

The U.S. government warned Americans in Japan to get at least 50 miles away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, once the radiological catastrophe began there in March 2011.

The report quotes Beyond Nuclear: “They are not ready for the flood of nuclear evacuees that would flow out of the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone and seek shelter in their communities, not to mention potentially large numbers of spontaneous 'shadow' evacuees who would also flee in panic, despite no official orders to do so,” said Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear.

Beyond Nuclear stands in solidarity with DC ANCs & City Council members against Exelon takeover of Pepco

Logo courtesy of Public Citizen's Energy ProgramBeyond Nuclear stood in solidarity with Advisory Neighborhood Council representatives from almost all the wards in the city, as well as three City Council members, who spoke out at a press conference on the steps of city hall against Exelon Nuclear's takeover of the local utility Pepco. The press conference was supported by PowerDC, a coalition opposing the merger, due to the DC ratepayer robbery that would ensure, to prop up Exelon's failing atomic reactors in Illinois, as well as bolster their underfunded decommissioning. Speakers also pointed to Exelon's dismal record of declaring war against renewables (it was kicked out of the American Wind Energy Association for lobbying against the federal Wind Production Tax Credit -- while simultaneously, and hypocritically, taking advantage of the subsidy in its own wind division!); D.C., for its part, has visionary, progressive energy efficiency and renewable energy policies on its books, which would very likely be attacked if Exelon takes over Pepco.  Public Citizen took photos at the event.

The speakers, and PowerDC, are calling on DC residents and businesses to take action, to contact DC's Mayor, Muriel Bowser, as well as the city council, to speak out against Exelon's ill-advised takeover of Pepco. As reported by Greenpeace's Connor Gibson at an excellent article on the issue at HuffPost, public comments are needed by May 26th. Maryland's Public Service Commission, meanwhile, is to announce its ruling on the Exelon-Pepco merger this Friday, May 15th. If any Pepco jurisdiction rejects the takeover, the deal is blocked.

Beyond Nuclear on Thom Hartman's "The Big Picture" re: Indian Pt. fire/oil spill & Chinese proliferation concerns

Thom Hartmann, host of "The Big Picture"Thom Hartmann, host of "The Big Picture," had Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps on to discuss the transformer fires at Entergy Nuclear's Indian Point nuclear power plant, and consequent oil spill into the Hudson River upstream from New York City. Thom and Kevin also discussed the Obama administration's attempt to extend approval nuclear power commerce with China, despite congressional concerns about dual-use technology that could be transferred to China's nuclear submarines, as well as "vertical" and "horizontal" proliferation concerns from reprocessing plutonium (adding to China's own nuclear arsenal, or the spread of nuclear weaponry to other countries or terrorist groups, respectively). (See the segment from the 46:00 minute mark to the 52:15 minute mark.)