Nuclear Power
Nuclear power cannot address climate change effectively or in time. Reactors have long, unpredictable construction times are expensive - at least $12 billion or higher per reactor. Furthermore, reactors are sitting-duck targets vulnerable to attack and routinely release - as well as leak - radioactivity. There is so solution to the problem of radioactive waste.
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Celebrating the life and legacy of Don't Waste MI board member, Corinne "Aunty Nuke" Carey (1926-2020)
Corinne "Aunty Nuke" Carey, 1926-2020Beyond Nuclear joins with Don't Waste Michigan and the greater Great Lakes anti-nuclear movement, in mourning the loss, and celebrating the life and legacy of work, of Corinne "Aunty Nuke" Carey. Corinne was a beloved friend and colleague, who recently peacefully passed on, surrouned by her loving family, on May 19, 2020, at age 93, after a long life, very well lived.
As described in her lovely and moving obituary*:
For years, she set up a table after church services [at the progressive Fountain Street Church, her "second home" where she attended for 72 years!] where she distributed literature about the importance of a nuclear free world and protecting our environment, and talked to everyone about what they could do to promote an environmentally safe Michigan. Long before anyone heard about reducing carbon footprints, Corinne was taking steps to reduce hers and encouraging others to do so. She practiced what she preached – every single day. On Monday afternoons, for many years, she rallied with a local peace group on the corner of Division and Fulton in downtown Grand Rapids, advocating for issues of peace, global justice, and a nuclear-free world.
Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps, who is also from west Michigan, has been honored and privileged to serve alongside Corinne on the Don't Waste Michigan board of directors since 1993.
As her obituary shares:
She also grew increasingly interested in the environmental threat of nuclear power plants and joined the Don't Waste Michigan movement. In her late 60s, she walked 450 miles with the Michigan Peace March to protest against nuclear power plants and to fight for peace and justice around the world.
Don't Waste Michigan's first claim to fame, in the 1980s, was fending off multiple so-called "low-level" radioactive waste dumps, targeted at it by numerous other states. Corinne's involvement contributed to that important victory.
Corinne brought her bright, positive, energetic, creative spirit to every single board meeting, public hearing, and anti-nuclear rally she reguarly attended, over the course of many decades. She was well known for her handmade placards and street theater props and sculptures (including a human skeleton made from recycled plastic milk jugs, warning about the risks of radioactivity), which decorated countless events.
Don't Waste Michigan members celebrate the permanent shutdown of the Big Rock Point atomic reactor in August 1997. From left to right: Corinne Carey; Gary Karch; Kevin Kamps; unidentified local anti-nuclear watchdog; Eunice Hendrix; Michael Keegan. Photo by Gabriela Bulišová.Despite her sweet nature, Corinne could also courageously speak truth to power, never backing down. At the company's Orwellian "grand closure ceremony ... celebrating 35 years of succees," at the Big Rock Point nuclear power plant in Charlevoix, Michigan, in August 1997, Corinne remarkably managed to get a question in from the press pool, to Consumers Energy's CEO. She asked him about a very large-scale radioactivity release that Big Rock Point had emitted into the environment in the 1970s. Consumers Energy's CEO was dumbstruck, had no coherent response, and may in fact not have even known about the infamous, hazardous release. In that sense, Corinne helped preserve the institutional memory of the anti-nuclear movement, over the course of many decades. In fact, Big Rock Point was a extremely dirty and dangerous experimental reactor. Corinne spent decades watch-dogging it, and its sibling reactor, Palisades, in Covert, Michigan, and shining a bright spotlight of truth on them.
Corinne's ever present video camera is very likely how she "snuck" into that Big Rock Point press pool in the first place. She brought her camera to just about every Don't Waste Michigan event, board meeting, and rally she regularly attended. Her interviews with folks, on both sides of the issues, shown on Grand Rapids cable access t.v., were voluminous, constituting a steady drumbeat of her own do-it-yourself media coverage of the issues she cared so much about, spanning many years.
As her obituary relates:
Once retired from teaching, Corinne single handedly produced a series called Speaking Out on Grand Rapids Television and ran it for 20 years.
Reflecting her regard for children and the importance of education, Corinne taught elementary school students for 15 years.
As her obituary says:
Corinne returned to college in her early forties and, in 1967, became a member of the first graduating class at Grand Valley State University where she received a teaching degree. She taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grades at Coit School for the next 15 years. Corinne wanted students from Coit's economically depressed neighborhood to have pride in their community and in themselves. Toward that end, she organized and trained her students to lead kids in the lower grades on historical tours of the Coit neighborhood. They learned about the historic buildings and cobblestone streets around their school, as well as the origins of the neighborhood and its place in the history of Grand Rapids. For years after they graduated, students returned to her to say how important she had been in their lives.
Corinne will be sorely missed by so many who knew and loved her, as her obituary conveys:
For 35 years, she was an active member of the Institute for Global Education (IGE), an organization devoted to peaceful conflict resolution, human rights, and multicultural and religious awareness. Upon hearing of Corinne's passing, IGE released a statement saying that "…we have lost a jewel…Her enthusiasm and generous nature were a gift to everyone who was ever near her."
Corinne's environmental and Great Lakes protection activism lasted her entire long life:
At 91, Corinne joined the Michigan League of Conservation Voters as a volunteer where she spent her volunteer days calling Michiganders, encouraging them to vote for representatives who would stop rollbacks of critical environmental protections and work toward making Michigan a model and leader in conservation.
Kathy Barnes, best friends with Corinne, and a fellow, long-time Don't Waste Michigan leader, representing the Sherwood Chapter, shared that not long before she passed on, Corinne was on the phone to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's office, expressing concern about an Enbridge Canadian tar sands oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac, between Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, that is putting at risk the Great Lakes, drinking water supply for 40 million people in eight U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations. Prescient as ever, less than a month after her passing, news headlines announced alarming revelations of damage to that very pipeline, leading to a resurgence of urgent calls for its shutdown. (See a photo taken by Kathy of Corinne and anti-nuke friends at the bottom of this post.)
Her email address said it all, conveying her grandmotherly nature (she is survived by her four children, four grandchildren, and three great grandchildren, as well as a sister, a brother, and seven nieces and nephews), as well her as her lifelong activist streak, not to mention her sense of humor: AUNTYNUKE@aol.com. The anti-nuclear movement thanks her actual family for so very generously sharing Corinne with us all these many decades.
As her obituary concludes:
If Corinne could leave us with just one word, a word to remember her by, a word that we've all heard her say many times, it would be what she said with every goodbye: "Onward!"
(From Left to Right: David Kraft of Nuclear Energy Information Service of IL; Kevin Kamps of NIRS and Don't Waste MI; Corinne Carey of Don't Waste MI; and Corey Conn of NEIS of IL. Photo taken by Kathy Barnes of Don't Waste MI, in Chicago, IL, in the late 1990s, at a planning meeting for the Nuclear-Free Great Lakes Action Camps that would follow in 1999, 2000, and 2001. To see images from the 2000 Nuclear-Free Great Lakes Action Camp -- a protest and rally against the Palisades atomic reactor on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Covert, MI, click this link, and then look on the right hand margin of the website page.)
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*Please note, the August 8, 2020 memorial listed in the obituary has been postponed due to the pandemic. The memorial is now scheduled for August 14, 2021. It will be held at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, MI.
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Corinne Carey's memorial has been re-scheduled for:
Saturday, August 21st, 2021
Fountain Street Church, 24 Fountain Street N.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503
7/1/20: Beyond Nuclear on Sputnik Radio's "Loud & Clear"
Nuclear Power Safety Concerns in Michigan amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic; Three-Dozen Groups and 62 Individuals Write Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II
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Nuclear Power Safety Concerns in Michigan amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic |
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Three-Dozen Groups and 62 Individuals Write Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II |
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| KALAMAZOO, MI --
On June 19, 2020 a coalition of environmental and public interest groups warned Gov. Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Gilchrist about its concerns regarding increased risks at Michigan's nuclear power plants, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter was cc'd to numerous additional MI state, county, and local officials, as well as to MI's U.S. congressional delegation, given their overlapping responsibilities to protect public health, safety, security, and the environment from nuclear risks. In addition, the letter was cc'd to leaders of MI's dozen federally recognized Native American tribes. The letter was signed by a Native American sovereign authority, the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA), based in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. (CORA is composed of five Native American tribes that have treaty rights in Michigan: 1836cora.org.)
Organizational signatories on the letter include the following Michigan groups, listed in alphabetical order: Alliance to Halt Fermi 3 in Livonia; Ban Michigan Fracking, Charlevoix ; Belle Isle Concern, Detroit; Black Autonomy Network Community Organization, Benton Harbor; Citizens for Peace, Livonia; Citizens' Resistance at Fermi 2, Redford; Coalition to Oppose the Expansion of US Ecology, Detroit; Detroit Independent Freedom Schools Movement; Don't Waste Michigan, Monroe and Sherwood; FLOW (For Love of Water), Traverse City; Freshwater Future, Petoskey; Green Living Science, Detroit; Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War (KNOW); League of Women Voters of Michigan, Lansing; Lone Tree Council, Bay City; Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, Mecosta; MI Organic Food and Farm Alliance, Lansing; MI Safe Energy Future-Kalamazoo and Shoreline (Benton Harbor) Chapters; MI Stop the Nuclear Bombs Campaign, St. Clair Shores; MI Wildlife Conservancy, Bath; Palestine Cultural Office-MI, Detroit; Palisades Park Community, Covert; Peace Action of MI, Ferndale; S.E. MI/Michael Gramlich Chapter, Veterans for Peace, Brownstown; Washtenaw350, Ypsilanti. Also, the 62 individuals who signed the letter include residents of dozens of MI communities, in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. In addition, national groups Beyond Nuclear and Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), with large numbers of members and supporters in MI, as well as a number of groups in states and provinces downwind and downstream, also signed the letter.
The letter, including all signatories, is posted online here: <http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-reactors-whatsnew/2020/6/20/nuclear-power-safety-concerns-in-michigan-amidst-the-covid-1.html>. Also pasted online is the briefing paper, "Nuclear Power Safety Concerns in Michigan amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic," linked here: <http://www.beyondnuclear.org/safety/2020/6/22/briefing-paper-nuclear-power-safety-concerns-in-michigan-ami.html>. It includes sections about Fermi nuclear power plant (Monroe County) in southeast MI on the Lake Erie shore, as well as Cook (Berrien County), Palisades (Van Buren County), and Big Rock Point (Charlevoix County) nuclear power plants in west Michigan, on the Lake Michigan shore.
The letter requests of the governor and lieutenant governor that:
---Vital safety inspections, repairs and maintenance at Michigan atomic reactors be carried out, not deferred or cancelled, including for example the torus inspection and repair at Fermi 2 prior to reactor restart;
---The highly radioactive waste storage pools at Michigan reactors be carefully monitored and prepared for the potential loss of electric grid power to run safety and cooling systems, that is, that back-up emergency diesel generators be connected to pool cooling systems prior to an emergency, and that expedited transfer of irradiated nuclear fuel into on-site or near-site hardened storage be prioritized;
---There be no further reduction in safety margins at Fermi 2, Palisades, or Cook, even during refueling outage shutdowns -- the COVID-19 emergency is no excuse to increase radiological risks;
---Emergency preparedness and response measures, complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, be comprehensively reviewed and addressed, including by state, county, local, and tribal agencies of jurisdiction;
---Given the reduced demand for electricity at the present time, keep Palisades shut down for good, and delay refueling outages, and postpone restarts, at Fermi Unit 2 and Cook Units 1 and 2, until post-pandemic, in order to prevent coronavirus outbreaks in southwest Michigan, as has already occurred in southeast Michigan at Fermi 2 due to very large, itinerant refueling outage workforces traveling in from outside counties and even other states.
The coalition's concerns include the spread of the highly contagious and potentially deadly coronavirus at the atomic reactors, especially by large, itinerant nuclear refueling outage workforces, numbering in the thousands of workers, who come in from other counties or states. Fermi Unit 2 in Frenchtown Township had to institute an extended safety stand down, after suffering one of the single largest coronavirus hotspots known in Michigan -- many hundreds of its workers were reported to have contracted COVID-19, requiring many hundreds more to self-isolate. The Fermi 2 infection crisis is a cautionary tale, including about the specter of further spread to the surrounding host communities. Palisades in Covert Township, and Cook in the City of Bridgman, have scheduled likely-overlapping refueling outages in late August and mid-September, 2020.
Also of concern are the mounting examples of safety shortcuts and regulatory rollbacks nuclear utilities are seeking, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is rubber-stamping, under the excuse of the pandemic emergency. Fermi 2 has already secured permission for a significant increase in the number of hours its workers are allowed to work, per day and per week. Workers can now be required to work up to 16 hours per day; 12 hours per day for 14 days straight; and up to 86 hours in any given work week. The letter and attached briefing paper raised concerns about the risk to workers' health, including increased vulnerability to COVID-19, as well as risk to public health, safety, security, and the environment, due to mistakes made by severely stressed and fatigued nuclear workers. NRC has laid the groundwork for nuclear utilities to request exemptions, deferrals, and regulatory rollbacks in the following additional areas, as well: Respiratory Radiological Protection Requirements; Owner's Activity Reports; Operators' Licenses; Physical Protection; and Fire Brigade Requirements. In addition, nuclear evacuation and mass sheltering preparedness, and other emergency response capabilities, appear ill prepared, given the compounding complications of need for social distancing during the pandemic. As stated in its letter to Gov. Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Gilchrist, the coalition "fear[s] the operating Michigan atomic reactors could seek such safety-significant exemptions in the near future, increasing risks to workers and the public."
Of the most immediate concern is the inadequate inspection and repair of the torus at Fermi 2, a safety-significant structure in the reactor's radiological containment system. Fukushima Daiichi in Japan showed the catastrophic consequences of containment failure during a meltdown at a General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactor (GE, BWR). Fermi 2 is the largest GE Mark I BWR on Earth, identical in design, but supersized to be nearly as big as Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 and 2 put together. On April 16, 2020, Don't Waste MI and Beyond Nuclear, represented by legal counsel Terry Lodge of Toledo, OH, filed an emergency enforcement petition, demanding NRC require comprehensive inspection and repair of the Fermi 2 torus. David Lochbaum, a retired nuclear engineer with several decades of experience in industry, at NRC, as well as at the Union of Concerned Scientists, is serving as technical advisor to Don't Waste MI and Beyond Nuclear on the emergency enforcement petition. Fermi 2 is now reportedly set to restart by the end of June, after a three-month "extended safety stand down," despite the lack of resolution on the emergency enforcement petition, and despite the petitioners' request for expedited review. (See the related press release, and additional background documentation, here.)
Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear, and board of directors member of the state-wide anti-nuclear alliance Don't Waste Michigan, representing the Kalamazoo chapter, said: "During a global pandemic emergency, atomic reactor and radioactive waste safety regulations should be strengthened and enforced, not weakened or waived."
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| Beyond Nuclear is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization. Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abolish both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. The Beyond Nuclear team works with diverse partners and allies to provide the public, government officials, and the media with the critical information necessary to move humanity toward a world beyond nuclear. Beyond Nuclear: 7304 Carroll Avenue, #182, Takoma Park, MD 20912. Info@beyondnuclear.org. www.beyondnuclear.org. |
6/17/20: Beyond Nuclear on Sputnik Radio's "Loud & Clear"
Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show. The webinar for comments on the proposed radioactive waste dump affecting Native and Latino communities in New Mexico is on Tuesday at 5pm EDT, with information posted at www.beyondnuclear.org.