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.

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DANGER - Radioactive Leak at INDIAN POINT

This 30-minute interview has just been published and broadcast in New York City, and is also available for viewing online: Alfred C. Meyer, Board Member of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) & Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog at Beyond Nuclear, discuss the danger of continuing radioactive leaks at Indian Point, Buchanan, New York. An Access for All Production produced through the facilities of Manhattan Neighborhood Network, by Gloria Messer, Producer/Director.

NRC gives Entergy pass on falsifying fire safety reports at Waterford and Pilgrim nuclear power stations

The New Orleans-based Entergy Nuclear Corporation didn’t even get a slap on the wrist from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for “willfully” falsifying fire safety inspections at its Waterford nuclear power station in Louisiana and Pilgrim station in Massachusetts.  Instead, the NRC waived enforcement actions for violations of federal reporting requirements that could have resulted in large fines and criminal felony charges. Entergy contract workers and operations managers were caught falsifying “fire watch” reports in zones of the nuclear power plants that fail to meet federal fire safety requirements for protecting safe shutdown electrical cable from fire damage in the event of an accident.  Rather than replace bogus fire barrier systems on electrical circuits vital to safely shutting down the reactor following an accident, the NRC has allowed reactor operators to send out hourly patrols in these unprotected fire zones. The fire watch personnel are required to certify that patrols were conducted.  When the falsified fire watch records were reported, Entergy management sought to cover it up.

The NRC’s own safety studies show that fire is the largest risk contributor initiating a reactor melt down. Yet, for decades now, the NRC has colluded with industry to save the cost of installing qualified passive fire barriers around electrical cable trays, conduits and boxes to make nukes safer from fire. Instead, the NRC and industry have settled on  “compensatory actions” like these least-cost roving fire watch patrols that are in the unprotected area maybe five minutes of the hour leaving the area left unwatched for the other 55 minutes. The patrols don’t actually protect safety-related electrical cable like a working fire barrier would but report the fire to on-site fire fighting crews. Meanwhile, control of shutting down the reactor and cooling down the tremendous amount of residual heat could be lost initiating fuel damage.

The problem is not just that fire watches don't adequately compensate for reliable, tested fire barrier systems or the fact that operators are cheating on conducting fire patrols.  The root cause, now decades old, is that the NRC is “willfully” ignoring enforcement of federal fire safety laws that came about from the a very real fire at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant. 

Where a daycare facility would get promptly shutdown for fire code violations that jeopardize children’s safety, the NRC provides nuclear power plants with no real compliance standard at all jeopardizing entire regions.

When "FirstEnergy says PUC vote assures Davis-Besse operation for several years," Beyond Nuclear begs to differ

This still images comes from a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission video. The yellow arrow shows a sub-surface crack in Davis-Besse's concrete containment Shield Building wall. The cracking was revealed during an October 2011 reactor lid replacement. The cracking grows by a half-inch, or more, in length, every time it freezes out, due to Ice-Wedging Crack Propagation, due to water locked in the walls by FENOC's 2012 "White Wash" weather sealant of the Shield Building exterior, 40 years too late.In an article entitled "FirstEnergy says PUC vote assures Davis-Besse operation for several years," Nucleonics Week reporter Michael McAuliffe quoted Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps:

A coalition of anti-nuclear and environmental groups including Beyond Nuclear was also critical of the PUC decision.

“PUCO’s $4 billion bailout to FirstEnergy will mostly go towards padding the pockets of company executives and shareholders, not to critically needed repairs of safety systems, structures, and components,” Beyond Nuclear spokesman Kevin Kamps said in a March 31 statement.

[FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, FENOC, spokesman] Colafella said “there are currently no major capital improvements needed at Davis-Besse.” But the coalition said that among needed plant maintenance is repairing a shield building which has a multitude of cracks. The shield building protects the reactor from impact by external objects.

Kamps questioned whether Davis-Besse will be able to remain in operation for the eight years covered by the plan and said in an April 4 interview that FirstEnergy does not “plan on plowing much of their bailout back into maintenance, and the NRC didn’t require it.” More.