nuclear-news

ACTION !

USA EMERGENCY PLANNING PETITION NOW OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF EXPANDING EMERGENCY PLANNING ZONES; IMPROVING REGULATIONS The deadline for public comments is July 16, 2012. You can submit your comments here.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published the Petition for Rulemaking to expand Emergency Planning Zones around nuclear reactors written by NIRS and submitted with 37 Co-Petitioners on February 15, 2012. About 4500 people have since signed on as Co-Petitioners.

The deadline for public comments is July 16, 2012. You can submit your comments here.

The nuclear disasters at Fukushima and Chernobyl provide real-world and plain evidence that the current 10-mile emergency evacuation zones in the U.S. are simply too small, and cannot adequately protect the public from the possibility of acute radiation exposures. Moreover, as we have learned in recent months and years, women and children are more susceptible to radiation than men: regulations must protect the most vulnerable in society.

At both Fukushima and Chernobyl, actual evacuations took place far beyond 10 miles. And at Fukushima (as at Three Mile Island in 1979) far more people than those who were told to evacuate actually did evacuate–the Associated Press in an article today says that about one-third of the Fukushima evacuees left areas that were not part of the evacuation zones.

And yet, as the AP article today notes, the Federal Emergency Management Agency actually quietly weakened its emergency evacuation rules late last year (on December 23, to be exact).

For its part, the NRC says it does indeed intend to review its emergency planning rules, although not as part of its post-Fukushima safety changes. We believe that means it intends to review them through this Petition for Rulemaking–making your comments all the more important.

Improving emergency planning rules is obviously not a substitute for closing nuclear reactors. We all would prefer that such rules not be needed at all–because all reactors are closed. But that’s not the world we live in; with 104 operating reactors in the U.S., it is essential that emergency evacuation rules reflect the real dangers each of these reactors presents. We do note, however, that some reactor sites would not be able to meet our proposed new regulations: those reactors would have to be closed simply by virtue of this petition–and that’s progress!

Our petition calls for a three-tiered Emergency Planning Zone: the current 10-mile zone would expand to 25 miles, with all current requirements intact. A new zone from 25-50 miles would be established; utilities would be required to notify residents of these zones of evacuation routes if needed, but would not conduct biannual exercises. The Ingestion Pathway Zone, designed for interdiction of contaminated food, milk, and water, would be expanded from the current 50 miles to 100 miles. And a new rule would be established that would require emergency exercises to include scenarios of initiating or concurrent regionally-appropriate natural disasters.

We have prepared some sample comments for you to submit–you can do so here. However, we encourage you to edit these comments to reflect your own concerns, and to discuss emergency evacuation issues in your own communities. What happens if there is an earthquake in your area, or a hurricane? Has population growth in your area outstripped road networks? What about public transportation–how would people without cars be evacuated? The more you can address real-world problems, the better!

We encourage organizations to submit more detailed comments. And we encourage everyone to ask their state and local elected officials to submit comments (we soon will have a separate action aimed at Congressmembers).

You can submit your comments by e-mail through our website here. However, there are a number of other ways to submit comments if you’d prefer (or if you are contacting elected officials), you can find those, and a summary of the petition and issues raised, at the Federal Register website here.

And the original petition, along with sample resolutions for local officials and other background information, can be found on our Nuclear 911 website here.

Please contact Dominique French at NIRS if you have any questions about commenting. With a deadline of July 16, we have a lot of time to spread the word about this vital issue and get as many comments in as possible. The nuclear industry will certainly be putting in its own comments; we need to counteract their self-serving comments with the voices of the vast majority of the American people. Your help with outreach is essential. Note: this letter, with share buttons, can be found at the top of this page (as can all NIRS Alerts).

Thanks for all you do,

Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
nirsnet@nirs.org
www.nirs.org
P.S. We hope you will help us pay for this major emergency planning campaign–your activism and financial support are what keeps us going. Seriously. Please make a tax-deductible contribution here or after you submit your comments and help us keep doing this essential work.

Stay Informed:

NIRS on the web (stay up-to-date with the Nuclear Newsreel section on the front page, featuring the day’s most interesting news on nuclear power and other energy issues): http://www.nirs.org

NIRS on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nuclear-Information-and-Resource-Service/26490791479?sk=wall&filter=12

http://www.facebook.com/nonukesnirs

http://www.causes.com/causes/49098-no-nukes-nuclear-information-and-resource-service

NIRS on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/nirsnet

 

India

Please take a minute to also to see what is unfolding in India at the moment. The battle against new nuclear power has seen over 10,000 people protesting in Tamil Nadu, with fifteen people committing to a hunger strike and hundreds being arrested. Emails of support for their struggle and to let them know that the world is watching would be greatly appreciated.

Send snail mail or emails to:

People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)

Idinthakarai & P. O. 627 104

Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, India.

Phone: 98656 83735; 98421 54073

koodankulam@yahoo.com

pushparayan@gmail.com

For more information

http://www.dianuke.org/latest-updates-from-koodankulam/

We have never asked for donations to  nuclear-news.net, and we’re not doing so now.

However, we’re just very keen to support Frontline Films  David Bradbury is an Australian film-maker who has earned an international reputation as a film maker willing to go to extraordinary lengths for a cause, exposing political oppression and environmental vandalism.

Bradbury has won many international film festival prizes, received five Australian Film Industry awards, and two Academy Award nominations.

He is currently producing a very up to date film on the situation of nuclear power – globally. Bradbury’s Frontline Films nevertheless runs on the proverbial shoe string – and with little encouragement from the mainstream media.

We believe that Frontline Film’s newest documentary will be a remarkable and eye-opening film. But David Bradbury needs funds to get these filmed events and interviews edited, and onto DVD and film. And then – to get this – the most up to date film about the global nuclear scene, to the  2nd International Uranium Film Festival of Rio de Janeiro 28. June – 14. July 2012.

So – we’re calling for  donations. The Frontline Film Foundation  is a registered charity and has tax deductible status. All you need is these  banking details:
Frontline Film Foundation
Southern Cross Credit Union
BSB: 802-185
A/C #: 86527

For more information – go to http://www.frontlinefilmfoundation.org/index.htm

 March 30 USA  - Occupy EPA  

The demonstration will start at 12:00 noon at Franklin Square Park
(13th and I Sts, NW, Washington, DC) and the march will head down 12th
Street to the EPA Headquarters.  The rally in front of the
Administrator’s office on the EPA lawn will feature national speakers
and leaders, such as Dr. Helen Caldicott, nominated for the Nobel
Peace Prize and known for her anti-nuclear weapons activism.  In
addition to featured speakers, there will be numerous groups concerned
with clean air and water, and protection of our environment….

“On March 30th, the American people will occupy the groundsof the EPA and demand an end to corporate interference in publicpolicy over the needs of people,” said EPA whistleblower Dr. Marsha

Coleman-Adebayo, referring to the recent decision by the Obama
Administration not to sign lifesaving smog regulations that would
have, according to an EPA scientist, saved over 7,100 lives. The
business community successfully lobbied the White House not to sign
the smog regulations.

Stop Dangerous Nuclear Energy in South Africa   http://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/getinvolved/Petition-Nuclear/,   check out http://koebergalert.org/npfree/