A publication of Nuclear Information and Resource Service APRIL 2006 Volume II: Issue 3 ISSN 15568822 Linda’s Log - Condemning the ritium, tritium, every where . and way too many Canaries Tdrops to drink. In the wake of the Illinois cover-up (see Feb/Mar Atomic Watchdog), some reactor owners are coming forward with their tritium leaks rather than be A new book on the Chernobyl busted later. First, Arizona Public Service, which operates the Palo Verde accident alleges the catastrophe plant, notifi ed the state that tritium had leaked into underground vaults. was not caused by worker Th e utility claimed rainfall had washed tritium fallout from the plant’s negligence but by technical defects roof after venting tritium into the air. As Department of Environmental in the reactor’s construction, fl aws Quality director, Steve Owens aptly pointed out, “that raises a heck of a lot more questions in my mind than it answers.” Th en we learned that that were pointed out in 1983 by the Perry plant, in Ohio, had leaked tritium into Lake Erie. With tritium two state inspectors. Th ese alarms leaks already the latest albatross around the neck of the nuclear power were of course ignored but have industry, the Government Accountability Offi ce (GAO) has compounded been documented by Vladimir the nightmare revealing that NRC Commissioners eased reactor security Kuznetsov - formerly with the requirements likely due to industry lobbying. All this should leave little Russian nuclear monitoring agency doubt that the Bush administration plan for 100 or more new reactors in - and six colleagues. In Illinois, the the U.S. should be permanently consigned to the nuclear dustbin. nuclear industry has condemned the children around the Dresden and Braidwood reactors - where RetroActivist new tritium leaks keep emerging - to be our canaries. Concerned The Chernobyl Aftermath 20 Years On residents, especially parents, are The house at asking questions about the safety left stands in of the water, while the industry Belarus. It is and NRC insist there is no hazard abandoned, to human health. Why should as is the land around it. The children - born and unborn and the house serves most vulnerable to such exposures as a ghostly - be subjected to needless risk reminder to satisfy the fi nancial anxieties of the of the nuclear industry? Th is consequences obfuscation is reminiscent of the of a serious tobacco company executives who nuclear famously raised their hands before accident Congress insisting cigarettes involving a don’t kill. Recipes for prevention signifi cant release of radioactivity. Such a disaster occurred 20 years ago at are historically less popular than Chernobyl in Ukraine. This area in Belarus - like that around Chernobyl - was quests for cures. But the children sacrifi ced to humanity’s folly and the residents evacuated. The accident’s near all nuclear sites can’t wait for health impacts are still felt today, especially by children (see page 4.) that. Let’s fi nd and remove the (Photo: Gabriela Bulisova) cause as well. also downsized its protective company cost considerations. Th e THUMBS DOWN requirements regarding the explosive message this sends to the public power of truck bombs that could be – particularly those living close to detonated at nuclear power plants. nuclear reactors – is that you are GAO Implicates NRC Commissioners Over Weakened Reactor Security Th e following comments on these on your own in the event of an revelations are by Paul Gunter, NIRS attack. Th e Commissioners would On April 4, 2006, a House Director of the Reactor Watchdog rather gamble with people’s lives Subcommittee on National Security, Project. than demand the nuclear industry Emerging Th reats and International foot the bill to protect the public “It seems obvious that once Relations, held hearings at which from these radiological targets. again the Nuclear Energy alarming revelations were made. Institute successfully lobbied the “Th e NEI has long realized that Chaired by Rep. Christopher Commissioners at the Nuclear reactor site security is a slippery Shays (R-CT), the Government Regulatory Commission on behalf slope for the rising capital costs Accountability Offi ce reported of the nuclear power industry. of nuclear power in view of what that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Th e eff ect - to water down NRC’s is available today to terrorists Commission (NRC) had downgraded own professional security staff on the global weapons market. the regulatory requirements for what recommendations for reactor It is inexcusable for industry nuclear power station operators must site defenses - does no service and NRC to deliberately leave defend against. Th ese requirements to the public. It is alarming that commercial power reactors are known as the Design Basis site defenses from terrorist and their radioactive inventory Th reat. Th e report implied that the attack on an atomic power plant inadequately defended from downgrade occurred after NRC are currently based on what the weapons easily smuggled across Commissioners bowed to industry corporations are willing to aff ord. our borders or legally obtainable. pressure that such defenses would Th e tenaciousness of this industry cost too much. Th e weapons dropped “It is more alarming that the to protect its profi ts rather than its from consideration included rocket Commission overruled its own perimeters is frightening.” propelled grenades and .50 caliber staff , despite information from sniper rifl es using armor piercing latest intelligence reports on Th e full GAO report is available at: ammunition, both available to and terrorist capabilities, in favor http://www.gao.gov/new.items/ in use by terrorists. Th e Commission of recommendations based on d06388.pdf WHAT YOU CAN DO Help us place our PSA. We have a compelling and eye-catching Public Service Announcement. Help us get it placed in your local publications. Call NIRS for more details at 301.270.NIRS (6477.) Tell your friends about NIRS! Can you identify two to three people you know who feel passionately about our issue? Let us know who they are. Host a small luncheon and invite a NIRS speaker. Write. A short letter to the editor or a longer opinion-editorial is an 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340 excellent way to spread the word and raise awareness about the detriments Takoma Park, MD 20912 of nuclear power. NIRS staff will help you edit and submit it to your local Tel: 301.270.NIRS (6477) newspaper. Web: www.nirs.org Open doors. Do you know someone at a foundation or other philanthropic organization? Introduce that person to NIRS development staff or set up an appointment for yourself and a NIRS staff er. Help us boost our The Atomic Watchdog was designed by funding! Mary Schrider. It is edited by Linda Gunter, Table. If your community hosts events like street or folk festivals, set NIRS Director of Development and Media up a table of information for NIRS. Call our offi ces. We can supply you with Relations, with additional contributions by brochures, postcards, fl iers and stickers. Call today: 301.270.NIRS. NIRS staff and board members. NIRS in the Gabriela Bulisova News By Kevin Kamps March 28: Gabriela Bulisova (right with * Paul Gunter and NIRS Board dog Wobbly) hails from the former Czechoslovakia, where member, Harvey Wasserman, she studied art history at are interviewed on WPFW university. She and Kevin (Pacifi ca, New York) about Th ree Kamps, NIRS nuclear waste Mile Island, to tie in with the specialist, fi rst met and became anniversary of the accident. partners on the Walk Across Europe for a Nuclear-Free World in 1995. Th ey walked from April 2: Brussels to Moscow, over the * Kevin Kamps is quoted in the course of nine months, against Kalamazoo Gazette on Palisades nuclear weapons and nuclear power, spending several months in and around license renewal concerns. the Chernobyl-contaminated regions of Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia. Gabriela and Kevin moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1996. Th ere they April 4: founded the World Tree Center for Peace, Justice and Mother Earth. Gabriela * Kevin’s new report outlining curated the Center’s art gallery, featuring such shows as “Other Realities,” an the multiple fl aws in U.S. exhibit by mentally ill artists. In 1998 and 1999, Gabriela and Kevin hosted irradiated nuclear fuel policies is visually-impaired Belarussian youngsters as part of the Chernboyl Children’s Project. It was also at this time that Gabriela fi rst began pursuing her interest cited by Kim Smith in the Joliet in photography. (IL) Daily News. * A NIRS press release on Kevin’s When Kevin began work at NIRS in 1999, Gabriela studied photography at the university level. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography radioactive waste policy paper is at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore in 2002. Her fi nal show reproduced on the New American featured images from the autumn 2001 protests in Gorleben, Germany against Patriots Web site. radioactive waste shipping and dumping. Gabi received her Master of Fine Arts in Photography from MICA in 2005. Her April 5: masters’ thesis, “Chernobyl: Half-Lives, Half-Truths,” featured images from the * NIRS is cited in an Associated 2003 Irish Chernobyl Children’s Project’s twenty-fi rst humanitarian aid convoy Press story on the Exelon tritium to Belarus. Gabriela took part in and documented the medical aid delivery to leaks. Th e story is used by WLS orphanages and asylums. A number of awards and grants, including a Puffi n Channel 7 (ABC Chicago.) Foundation Grant, a CANON “Explorer of Light” Award, and the 2002 Meyer Photo Travel Fellowship at MICA, made Gabi’s trip to Belarus possible. * Kevin is quoted in a WOODTV Channel 8 (NBC Grand Rapids) In 2004, Gabi also took part in an international photo-journalist project on-line story on Palisades safety.