[ RadSafe ] Arnold Gundersen's Wife - Maggie - now an "expert"

[Roger Helbig]

Who wants to host the nuke carcass…?

by Christina MacPherson

http://www.fairewinds.org/newsletter-archive//oegf127i8zwvkcg5koxzivdipspzk9,
June 22, 2017, Demystifying Nuclear Power, Atomic Power and a Just
Transition for ‘Host Communities’   By Maggie Gundersen &Ben
Shulman-Reed, Atomic power plants are shutting down faster than they
are being built.  These reactors conceptualized in the 1960s are
failing because they are old and they are being closed because they
are not competitive with renewables and therefore economically
unfeasible.  People around the world understand that a Fukushima-like
disaster can happen anywhere, anytime.  The nuclear power industry
that dreams of building a new nuke every twelve days for the next 35
years) – totaling 1000 new rectors by 2050) are facing the harsh
reality that atomic energy is not needed and is no longer wanted.

In the United States (U.S.), where largest amount of atomic power
reactors in the world are located, Pilgrim in Massachusetts, Indian
Point outside New York City, Oyster Creek in New Jersey, Diablo Canyon
in California, and most recently Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania
have recently announced their intent to close in the near future.
While the shutdown of American nukes is good for our economy as well
as the planet’s environment, decommissioning is a costly and
complicated process that takes a toll on the local communities that
hosted these giant facilities. When a nuclear power reactor shuts
down, an incredible amount of work must be done to ensure a just,
smooth financial transition for the local economy and also to create
long-term viable storage for its toxic radioactive waste, which the
U.S. Government has failed to provide. In addition to hosting the
physical radioactive carcass of the power reactor for decades, the
local community must restructure its economy to make it more diverse
and self-sufficient as well as creating a more healthy and sustainable
energy future.

Unfortunately, the usually small and economically stifled cities and
towns, often referred to as ‘host communities’ to these atomic power
reactors are not always given a voice at the table when it comes to
deciding plans for their future – yet they are the true stakeholders.
Fairewinds has continuously monitored and reported upon the challenges
and defects of the Vermont Yankee atomic reactor and the lack of
stakeholder respect given to its Windham County host. When it came
time to close reactor in 2014, the Vermont Legislators and State
Officials found themselves having to stand up to both Entergy (Vermont
Yankee’s parent corporation), and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) the alleged federal regulator for the nuclear power industry,
for the Vermont’s own State’s rights and for the rights of all Vermont
citizens.

Vermont is still negotiating the terms of the decommissioning process
for Vermont Yankee – the state’s lone nuclear power plant and is
becoming a leading example for nationwide regarding how to advocate
for a smooth and just transition from atomic power operations to
decommissioning and dismantlement. Vermont is seeking a just
transition that will protect all the stakeholders, not only the profit
interests of the power plant’s corporate owners.

The real question for all nuclear power plant host communities is: who
is protecting and advocating for the rights of the ratepayers, for the
level of decontamination at the site, nearby aquifers and watersheds,
and an orderly economic transition for all the people in the impacted
surrounding communities? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),
while the controlling interest in radiological standards and
decommissioning processes on each site, does not examine or consider
any of these critical human rights issues.  All the environmental
justice and human rights issues of assuring ongoing open access to
clean air, safe water, and uncontaminated food from the remaining
carcass of a shutdown atomic power reactor falls upon local and state
governments throughout the US. Vermont is leading the way in creating
an open and transparent process for local communities to self-advocate
in creating a safer and more transparent decommissioning process and
transition to a safe and permanently uncontaminated dismantlement of
these highly radioactive nukes.

By opening a wide dialogue as we all advocate for an open and
transparent decommissioning process, we believe the U.S. can shed its
title of founding nuclear energy and instead become a global leader in
cleaning up the mess we started. By following Vermont’s of paying
close attention to the interests of our local governments, ratepayers
and host communities, we all will begin to achieve just and safe
transitions from the glut of toxic radioactive nuclear power plant
carcasses coming our way as atomic power continues to become
economically unviable.

It is Fairewinds’ goal to help communities work together to achieve a
safer transition in their energy futures by shifting energy paradigms
to an economically feasible and environmentally compatible model for
the health and survival of our species and our planet.

Christina MacPherson | June 23, 2017 at 11:46 am | Categories:
decommission reactor, USA | URL: http://wp.me/phgse-vX5

http://nuclear-news.net/2017/06/23/who-wants-to-host-the-nuke-carcass/