Nestel’s citation with Bonnie Holmes’ rat stencil
Vernon, Vermont – Two women of the Shut It Down Affinity Group face charges of trespass and vandalism after police arrested them on Monday, April 15 in the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant driveway covered with spray-painted, stencilled images of rats and the statement “I smell a rat.”
Both from Massachusetts, those arrested are Hattie Nestel, 74, of Athol and Priscilla Lynch, 63, of Colrain.
“It is important to link the recent dangerous loss of electric power to the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant with the possibility of a similar event at Vermont Yankee,” Nestel said. “For several days, damaged radioactive fuel rods heated up in a spent fuel pool at Fukushima because a rat had crawled into electrical circuits and died. The same thing could happen at Vermont Yankee.
“The Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor is the same reactor as at Fukushima,” Nestel said. “It wouldn’t take an earthquake or a tsunami to wreak havoc with offsite power. A rat could do it.”
Nestel said Bonnie Holmes of Brattleboro designed an elegant stencil of a rat earlier this week.
“Gregory Jaczko, former chair of the NRC, says that no American nuclear power plant is safe,” Nestel added. “It’s time to shut them all down, beginning with Vermont Yankee.
Chief Mary-Beth Hebert of the Vernon Police Department arrested Nestel and Lynch. No date has been set for their arraignment.
from BBC March 20, 2013
Fukushima: Rat linked to outage at Japan nuclear plant – entire article here
A rat may have caused this week’s power outage at Japan’s tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant, says the Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco).
The company suspects the rodent may have caused a short-circuit in a switchboard, triggering the power cut.
A statement from the Shut It Down Affinity Group during the week of April 15-22, 2013
on the 50th anniversary of the Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
We are here today, on the 50th anniversary of the letter from Birmingham Jail, the manifesto of Martin Luther King, Jr. as he invoked the necessity of repeated resistance to the evils surrounding him.
We are surrounded by the evils of Vermont Yankee: the invisible evils of radiation, stored spent fuel rods, leaks of radioactive isotopes into groundwater and arable soil of the beautiful countryside, leaks of radioactivity into the air we breathe.
We are here because of dangers caused by the repeated injustices of the lies perpetrated by Vermont Yankee’s corporate owners and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that protects them.
Entergy, Vermont Yankee’s corporate owner, perpetrates daily, constant, and dangerous injustice here at this nuclear power plant.
We are here in the spirit of nonviolence and imminent warning to Shut Down Vermont Yankee because of Entergy’s corporate greed at the expense of all living things.
As Dr. King said in his letter from Birmingham jail to colleagues in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, “I am here because injustice is here.”
We are here because injustice is here: the government protects corporations. Individuals are expendable. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission itself acknowledges the collateral damage of any nuclear power plant as at least 1 death per 257 persons.
We do not want our friends, neighbors, families, nor ourselves to be collateral damage.
Shut Down Vermont Yankee now!
xxx
VERNON, Vermont—Three women of the Shut It Down Affinity Group faced the impatience of Vernon police officers Tuesday, April 16, as they stretched their “Entergy Equals Fukushima” banner across the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant driveway.
“We have more important things to do than come get you,” both Sergeant Bruce Gauld and Chief Mary-Beth Hebert told the women, who appeared on the fiftieth anniversary of publication of the letter from Birmingham Jail by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King’s letter stresses to reluctant, disgruntled associates that repeated civil resistance is the only way to bring attention to injustice, according to Hattie Nestel, one of the women removed from the Vermont Yankee driveway by Vernon police on Tuesday.
“It isn’t important that police and other officials think we are a nuisance,” Nestel said. “What is important is the fact that Vermont Yankee’s radiation poisons our environment, and it’s time to shut it down. The former Nuclear Regulatory Commission chief, Gregory Jaczko, says it is time to shut down all American nuclear power plants.”
All from Massachusetts, Nestel, from Athol with Connie Harvard of Northampton and Judy Wolter of Northfield, blocked the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant driveway until Sergeant Gauld arrived to arrest them. No citations were issued.
The women carried the following statement:
A statement from the Shut It Down Affinity Group during the week of April 15-22, 2013 on the 50th anniversary of the Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
We are here today to honor the 50th anniversary of the letter from Birmingham Jail, the manifesto of Martin Luther King, Jr. as he invoked the necessity of repeated resistance to the evils surrounding him.
We are surrounded by the evils of Vermont Yankee: the invisible evils of radiation, stored spent fuel rods, leaks of radioactive isotopes into groundwater and arable soil of the beautiful countryside, leaks of radioactivity into the air we breathe.
We are here because of dangers caused by the repeated injustices of lies perpetrated by Vermont Yankee’s corporate owners and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that protects them.
Entergy, Vermont Yankee’s corporate owner, perpetrates daily, constant, and dangerous injustice here at this nuclear power plant.
We are here in the spirit of nonviolence and imminent warning to Shut Down Vermont Yankee because of Entergy’s corporate greed at the expense of all living things.
As Dr. King said in his letter from Birmingham jail to colleagues in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, “I am here because injustice is here.”
We are here because injustice is here: the government protects corporations. Individuals are expendable. People who get sick or die of cancer from invisible radiation are the collateral damage of dangerous nuclear power.
We do not want our friends, neighbors, families, nor ourselves to be collateral damage.
Shut Down Vermont Yankee now!
xxx
Shut-It-Downers arrested at Vermont Yankee for the third day in a row
VERNON, Vermont—For the third day in a row, on April 17, women of the Shut It Down Affinity Group blocked the main gate at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, urging that the facility be closed for good because of the radioactive dangers it poses.
The aging nuclear reactor, operating on a twenty-year license extension, was built in 1972 to operate for forty years. The nuclear regulatory commission granted the extension in spite of a history of radioactive leaks and maintenance failures at the plant.
Arrested by Sergeant Bruce Gauld of the Vernon Police Department were, all from Massachusetts, Anneke Corbett of Florence, Priscilla Lynch of Colrain, and Marcia Gagliardi of Athol. They were booked and released at the police station. En route in the police transport, they read aloud from a statement anchoring their action in the 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Signs reading “Nuclear Power: No Thanks” and “If you could see radiation, you would shut down Vermont Yankee now” were taken from the women and kept at the police department.
xxx
Shut It Downers quote ex-NRC chief
VERNON, Vermont—”All 104 U.S. nuclear power plants must be replaced,” proclaimed the signs carried by Ellen Graves, Hattie Nestel, and Frances Crowe, all of the Shut It Down Affinity Group, when they were arrested Thursday, April 18 for blocking the driveway at Entergy’s Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. It was the fourth day in a row that Shut-It-Downers were evicted from the power plant driveway.
The women quoted ex-chair of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Gregory Jaczko, who said recently, “All 104 nuclear power reactors now in operation in the United States have a safety problem that cannot be fixed and they should be replaced with newer technology . . . . Continuing to put Band-Aid on Band-Aid is not going to fix the problem.”
“There is no logical reason for the power plant to continue operating,” Nestel said. “It is dangerous, and the Entergy Corporation keeps it going only to reap financial profit at the expense of people’s health and safety. When someone like the NRC chairman tells us that the power plant is not safe, we should listen.”
Dr. Jaczko made his remarks at the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington in an April 10 session about the Fukushima, Japan, reactor meltdowns in 2011.
Chief Mary-Beth Hebert of the Vernon Police Department arrested and booked the Shut-It-Downers before releasing them.
xxx
Shut It Down warns about spent fuel
VERNON, Vermont—Warning that the roof over the spent fuel pool at Entergy’s Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is no sturdier than a Walmart roof, four women of the Shut It Down Affinity Group blocked the driveway at the power plant for the fifth day in a row Friday, April 19 before Vernon Police Chief Mary-Beth Hebert arrested them. She booked them at the Vernon Police Station and released them.
Vermonters Linda Pon Owens of Brattleboro and Nina Swaim and Ulricke Moltke of Sharon joined Hattie Nestel of Athol, Massachusetts, in calling attention to the recent observation by Robert Alvarez, former senior adviser to the U.S. Department of Energy, that spent fuel rods at Vermont Yankee pose a significant danger and are vulnerable to attack. Mr. Alvarez made his comment Thursday during testimony to the Vermont legislature.
“Residents of West, Texas, took their fertilizer plant for granted for many years,” Nestel observed. “In spite of the fact that dangerous materials were housed at the fertilizer plant, no one worried about it blowing up. But it did blow up. No one wants to worry about the spent fuel rods at Vermont Yankee growing too hot to cool down, but it can happen. It happened at Fukushima.
“This week, a former senior energy adviser told the Vermont legislature that the spent fuel rods at Yankee are an accident waiting to happen. Last week, the ex-chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that all 104 U.S. nuclear power plants, including Yankee, should be replaced. Why does Entergy continue to operate this place that risks the health and safety of us all?” Nestel concluded.
Citing warnings from nuclear experts about the dangers of Vermont Yankee, small groups of Shut-It-Downers have blocked Yankee’s gate each day this week during the fiftieth anniversary of the Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr., sent in April, 1963 to members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Shut-It-Downers read the following statement Friday:
A statement from the Shut It Down Affinity Group on April 19, 2013 with words from Robert Alvarez, former senior policy adviser, United States Department of Energy
We are here today to shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in keeping with the words of Robert Alvarez, former senior policy adviser with the United States Department of Energy.
Mr. Alvarez says the ever-growing inventory of spent nuclear fuel at the Vermont Yankee plant—and at similar U.S. plants—poses a growing public safety risk.
All of the nuclear fuel used over 41 years in operation remains on site in Vernon, Alvarez says, and 80 percent of that is stored in an open pool of water in an unreinforced building, according to WPTZ Television, Burlington.
The roof installed over the spent fuel pool at Vermont Yankee, Mr. Alvarez said, is no better than what is built over a Walmart store. That makes it vulnerable to attack or accident, he said.
Inspired by Mr. Alvarez, we are here during the week commemorating the 50th anniversary of the letter from Birmingham jail, the statement of Martin Luther King, Jr. invoking the necessity of repeated resistance to the evils surrounding him.
We are surrounded by the evils of Vermont Yankee: the invisible evils of radiation, stored spent fuel rods, leaks of radioactive isotopes into groundwater and arable soil of the beautiful countryside, leaks of radioactivity into the air we breathe.
We are here because EVEN a former senior adviser to the U S Department of Energy cites safety problems in with storage of spent fuel at Vermont Yankee so vulnerable that accident or attack could cause disaster.
Entergy, Vermont Yankee’s corporate owner, perpetrates daily, constant, and dangerous injustice here at this nuclear power plant.
We are here in the spirit of nonviolence and imminent warning to Shut Down Vermont Yankee because of Entergy’s corporate greed at the expense of all living things.
As Dr. King said in his letter from Birmingham jail to colleagues in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, “I am here because injustice is here.”
We are here because injustice is here: the government protects corporations. Individuals are expendable. People who get sick or die of cancer from invisible radiation are the collateral damage of dangerous nuclear power.
We do not want our friends, neighbors, families, nor ourselves to be collateral damage.
Shut Down Vermont Yankee now!