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CONNECTICUT
COALITION AGAINST MILLSTONE
The French Nuclear Medusa: French vintners want their vines tested for radioactive contamination. Two wine growers near Tricastin, the nuclear site that has now suffered a series of radioactive leaks, have asked an independent laboratory to test their vines for radioactive contamination. Several winegrowers in the area have already changed the labels on their bottles – since the name Tricastin has rendered the wine unmarketable since the leaks, hitting area vintners hard. The two vineyard owners hope to receive a certificate that determines their wine is nuclear-free.
- Courtesy of BeyondNuclear.org posted August 29, 2008
Millstone: No Exit! No Entrance! - View map
The main road providing access to the Millstone Nuclear Power Station in an emergency - Route 156 (Rope Ferry Road) - was closed to traffic in both directions on the morning of Friday, August 22, 2008, because of a mechanical problem with the Niantic River Bridge, according to the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
In the event of fire or other emergency at Millstone, there was "No Exit" for residents and "No Entrance" for emergency response.
The breakdown of the Niantic River Bridge was not factored in to the decisions to license or relicense Millstone.
Another flaw in Millstone's emergency planning exposed in real time.
Operating a nuclear power plant in a populated residential area near Amtrak's Northeast rail service and I-95 is a mistake.
The risks are too high.
Join the call to shut Millstone now.
In Memoriam
In loving memory of Joseph H. Besade
December 1, 1936 - August 16, 2003
We miss your smile, your outrage, your righteousness, your ever-present videocamera, your indignation about all the "corruption and collusion," your boundless energy, your wit and humor. You were our model public citizen and your spirit continues to inspire each and every day.
Eternal love and peace,
Your Friends at the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone
The Depleted Uranium Threat
8/13/2008 - by: Thomas D. Williams, t r u t h o u t | Report
Is Nuclear Whistleblower Being Scapegoated?
Why Were No Criminal Charges Brought Over Millstone's "Lost" Spent Fuel Rods? - Davis-Besse ‘deception’ trial to begin
Posted on August 8, 2008 by gregornot on WorldPress.com
CT Coalition Against Millstone says "NO!" to "New Nukes"
'It feels like a sci-fi film' - accidents tarnish nuclear dream
A field of sunflowers in front of the Areva Tricastin nuclear plant in in Bollene, in the south of France. Photograph: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty images
"Nuclear Regulatory Commission Deals Devastating Blow to Nuclear Power
Industry - New Nukes Not Ready for Prime Time" 7/25/2008 By HARVEY WASSERMAN CounterPunch
By magic, we erased Millstone from the landscape and replaced it with giant wind turbines. Wind turbines do not generate nuclear waste, do not cause cancer - and do not melt down.
We regularly checked our Radalert during the day and it consistently registered a reading of 24 - well above the more typical levels of 17-18 recorded in southeastern Connecticut. Did the temperature inversion trap us - and the thousands who attended Celebrate East Lyme Day and live in the area - in a cloud of radiation from Millstone?
River use banned after French uranium leak
Millstone 2 - July 1 Update
Millstone Unit 2 nuclear reactor remains shut down for the fourth day since critical feedwater pumps failed during a test at 100 per cent power, according to the NRC.
The latest shutdown is the third for Unit 2 in a month.
The Coalition is investigating the causes of the failures at Unit 2 leading to shutdown.
The Connecticut grid has reported no blackouts or brownouts during the seasonally hot weather while Millstone Unit 2's 880-megawatt reactor is unable to generate electricity.
Millstone 2 Emergency Shutdown Update
Millstone Unit 2 was manually tripped to a shutdown at 11:46 A.M. on Saturday, June 28, 2008, when two critical feedwater pumps quit during a test of the system while Unit 2 was operating at 100 per cent power. It was the third unplanned shutdown for Unit 2 in one month.
As of Monday, June 30, 2008, the NRC reported Unit 2 was still shut down, at zero power.
See the schematic diagram (Click Here) provided by David A. Lochbaum, nuclear safety engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington DC, to explain this latest Millstone Unit 2 shutdown - from the information provided by Dominion and the NRC.
Tribute
The Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone honors the good citizen who contacted us on Saturday, June 28, 2008, to report her eyewitness account of alarming clamorous noises and unusual steam eruptions from Millstone, audible and visible from her beachside property at Point O' Woods in South Lyme five miles due west of Millstone.
We contacted the Office of Emergency Response at NRC headquarters in Rockville MD and were told that at 11:47 AM - just as reported by the concerned resident of South Lyme - Millstone Unit 2 nuclear reactor suffered an unplanned shutdown when critical feedwater pumps failed.
The Coalition is investigating this event - the latest of dozens of unplanned
"scrams" at Millstone Unit 2. Just last month, Unit 2 suffered two other unplanned shutdowns within two days.
When a nuclear reactor undergoes an emergency shutdown from 100 per cent power to zero in less than a second, it is subjected to intense changes in pressure and heightened challenge to all systems; such shutdowns are accompanied by releases of steam which may be radioactive.
The good citizen of South Lyme wishes to remain anonymous at this time. We respect her decision.
Through this tribute, we honor and thank her for her vigilance and concern for her community.
Millstone 2 Emergency Shutdown
Millstone operators manually shut Millstone Unit 2 on Saturday, June 28, when they discovered the steam generator feed pumps had shut down during a test of the turbine stop valve at 100 per cent power, according to Diane Screnci, NRC spokesperson.
The emergency shutdown created "a roaring sound similar to a jet that lasted about 30 seconds," according to a resident of Old Lyme who observed steam shooting into the sky from Millstone Unit 2 from her beachside home at 11:47 A.M. after the jet roar stopped and reported the frightening event to the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone.
"As soon as it stopped, a white cloud of what I'm assuming was steam - shot up from Millstone. It lasted a few seconds followed by another shot of steam," according to the Old Lyme resident, who said she can see the Millstone radiation stack from her home across the Long Island Sound from Old Black Point.
Ms. Screnci said the roaring noise heard by the Old Lyme resident may have been caused when atmospheric dump valves opened to release steam to the atmosphere; however, she said she had no information as to whether the emergency shutdown led to unusual releases of radiation to the atmosphere.
The Coalition will monitor the incident. Visit www.MothballMillstone.org for updates.
Connecticut Supreme Court Transfers Important Millstone Appeal To Itself
Celebrate the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone's
10th Anniversary!Visit our booth at Celebrate East Lyme Day, Saturday, July 19, 3 PM to 9 PM, Main Street, Niantic. Sign our petition to the NRC to block the Millstone 3 power uprate proposal: Dominion wants to increase Millstone 3's radiation doses to the community by 9-10% and overstress the aging reactor to reap more excess profits - Tell them NO! Donate your breastmilk - we will test it for strontium-90 at no charge. Contribute to our health survey! Learn the 10 reasons why we must shut Millstone! And much more!
Millstone Alert!
Petition the NRC for a Hearing! - Sign Online Petition
Which Presidential Candidate Has the Courage to Say NO to NUKES:
Nader at No Nukes Protest
Posted by The Nader Team on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 11:20 AM
Millstone Unit 2 Update:
The NRC reported that Millstone Unit 2 was in start-up mode at 1 per cent power on May 28, 2008.
The experiment is on . . . Will Millstone Unit 2 ascend to full power without another unscheduled shutdown and heightened risks to the public?
The Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone will obtain all documents related to these events that the NRC chooses to make public. Stay tuned to this website.
Two Shutdowns at Millstone Unit 2 in Two Days:
Did Dominion Violate NRC Rules and
Endanger the Public Health and Safety for Profit?On May 22, 2008 and on May 24, 2008, Millstone Unit 2 suffered two unplanned shutdowns - both involving the Reserve Station Service Transformer (RSST).
The first event - possibly triggered by a lightning bolt - shut down onsite generation of electricity. Offsite power from the grid via the RSST was fed to Unit 2 to keep the critical reactor safety systems and reactor coolant pumps operating.
Did Dominion fully understand the cause of the May 22 shutdown before it attempted to restart Unit 2?
Dominion’s spokesman, Peter Hyde, is quoted by The Day in its May 25, 2008 article (“Officials Probe Power Loss at Millstone”) fo9llowing the second unplanned shutdown as saying:
“We’re still trying to ascertain what this is all about.”
On May 24, while Millstone Unit 2 was at only 1 power cent power, another electrical disturbance - the failure of the RSST - triggered another automatic shutdown. This time, Unit 2's shutdown was complicated by a loss of offsite power.
Luckily, backup systems functioned to prevent a meltdown.
Seventy-two minutes into the second crisis, workers cross-connected a power supply from Millstone Unit 3, which was operating at 100 per cent power - as a back-up for the electricity supplied by the emergency diesel generators.
As of May 27, 2008, the NRC’s website reported Millstone Unit 2 was still shut down.
David Lochbaum, nuclear engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists based in Washington DC, addressed these disturbing events in an Issue Brief he released on May 27, 2008 entitled “Millstone 2 Events.” To see Mr. Lochbaum’s insightful “Brief” and accompanying graphic displays click here.
Mr. Lochbaum notes that the NRC fined the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in New Jersey a then-unprecedented $850,000 fine in 1983 involving failures to fully understand precipitating causes of an unscheduled reactor trip prior to attempts to restart the reactor.
As a result of the Salem errors, the NRC issued Generic Letter 83-28 to all nuclear power plant owners, mandating that they FULLY UNDERSTAND the causes of unscheduled nuclear reactor trips BEFORE restarting the reactors. .
Did Dominion violate the NRC mandate?
Did Dominion put profit ahead of safety?
STOP $544 billion for nuclear energy!
Lightning Strike Shuts Millstone Unit 2
Three Mile Island 29 Years Later: Nuclear Safety Problems Still Unresolved
CLASS I EMERGENCY DECLARED AT MILLSTONE
Hartford Courant: "Challenge Dominion"!
Millstone
Downwinders: Inhale Deeply - Until March 31
Snow and rain caused a malfunction in the Millstone meteorological tower
and associated instrumentation for measuring gaseous radioactive releases
to the environment for at least seven days in January, according to
a report Dominion filed with the NRC on January 30, 2008.
While
New London Slept . . . [1]
All hell was breaking loose at Millstone
Order this new book by Joseph Mangano <Click Here>
Settlement Offered to Some Residents Near Pa. Nuke Fuel Plant 2/01/2008 Read more>>>
LOSS OF SPENT FUEL POOL COOLING Incident at Millstone 02/01/2008. Read more>>>
Where Have All the Children Gone:
An Inquest into the Activities of The New London Day
The playground at the Southwest Elementary School in Waterford, Connecticut, is in the shadow of the Millstone Nuclear Power Station radiation-release stack.
Since 1978, due to the pioneering research of Dr. Ernest J. Sternglass and others, it has been known that developing fetuses, young children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to the effects of exposure to low-level ionizing radiation, which Millstone continuously releases to the air and water. Continue>>>
Senators call for safety inspection, waste studies at VY
By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff Saturday, January 12Energy and Commerce Committee to Probe Breakdowns in NRC Oversight
SCANDAL ERUPTS RE: NRC’S LACK OF CONSISTENT STANDARDS
IN RELICENSING NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS;
Millstone Relicensing Debacle Cited
Dominion Investing $500 million in closed cooling system - at Brayton PT
Connecticut's Congressional Delegation: You Let The People Down in 2007
Rocks in His Head?
Dan Steward, First Selectman of Waterford, greets the New Year from the front page of The Hartford Courant standing amid the rocks at Pleasure Beach advocating constructing nerw nuclear power plants at MIllstone. Go to: http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hc-nuclear0101.artjan01,0,322176.story?coll=hc_tab01_layout
Does Mr. Steward have rocks in his head?
With tritium leaks exceeding federal drinking water standards, poisons washing ashore to the public beach from the nuclear power plant, its blatant security lapses and firing of whistleblowers, and facing a residential neighborhood plagued with a cluster of fatal brain cancers, Mr. Steward's blind advocacy for new nuclear power is antithetical to the public interest and well-being.
We invite Mr. Steward to sensitize himself to the everyday health and safety perils of Millstone and join us this new year to work to phase out antiquated and costly nuclear power in Waterford and develop sane solutions to our energy needs.
Time to rock the reactors, Mr. Steward.
Leukemia link to nuclear power 12/26/2007
Sickened, and Fighting Another Cold War
By ANTHONY DePALMA and DAVID STABA NYT 12/23/2007
Ad Feminam
In a courtroom, when an unscrupulous advocate lacks facts to prove a case, he may resort to an ad hominem attack against the opponent as a last, pathetic resort.
And so have the “news” writers of southeastern Connecticut’s biggest daily, The New London Day, gone on a reckless, ad feminam binge.
Read the obituaries that you publish at a high fee, Mr. The Day. Read the flyers put up in the communities you purport to serve with their desperate appeals for help for young victims of brain cancer and thyroid cancer. Infants, young children and young adults are suffering and dying in your midst from supposedly rare medical conditions.
When does the word “rare” lose its original meaning and take on a new meaning such as “not uncommon” or even “common”?
When a newspaper compromises objectivity and recklessly censors the facts about the known dangers of environmental exposure to radiation from nuclear power plants to our most vulnerable populations - the young, the unborn and pregnant and lactating women - it has lost any claim to speak for the well-being of the community.
Educate yourself, Mr. The Day.
Read the official report issued by Congress in 2006 through the National Research Council of the National Academies (“Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation: BEIR VII - Phase 2"), http://darwin.nap.edu/books/030909156X/html.
Read “Science for the Vulnerable: Setting Radiation and Multiple Exposure Environmental Health Standards to Protect Those Most at Risk,” issued on October 19, 2006 by the Institute for Environmental and Energy Research, http://www.ieer.org/campaign/report.pdf,
Stop censoring the truth and shooting messengers. Aspire to honor and integrity. Stop betraying the community you have the privilege of serving.
Rock Stars Play Backup to Edwards' Populist Message
By John P. Gregg Valley News Staff Writer
CENSORED AGAIN!
New London CT's The Day newspaper is censoring the news about Millstone once again!
On December 17, 2007, Nancy Burton, Director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone, filed a complaint in the Connecticut Superior Court charging The Day and its reporter, Patricia Daddona, with publishing a libelous article about Millstone on December 15, 2007 on the front page. Attorney General Richard S. Blumenthal is also a named defendant.
The Day was served with an electronic copy of the complaint early on December 17, 2007, affording it ample opportunity to publish an article acknowledging it is a defendant in a libel lawsuit involving Millstone for its December 18, 2007 isssue.
Instead, The Day put a blackout on the news to keep its 100,000 loyal readers in southeastern Connecticut in the dark.
You can read the complaint here:Banish the Censorship:
Nancy Burton v. Patricia Daddona et al.Millstone 2 reactor cut to 58 percent
12/17 (Reuters)
Click here to download 8" x 10" jpeg for printing.
Millstone Leaking Radiation: Exceeding Federal Standards
Cheney Pursuing Nuclear Ambitions of His Own
By Jason Leopold - t r u t h o u t - Report 11/5/2007Oral Argument November 27, 2007 at 11 A.M.
CONNECTICUT SUPREME COURT
TAKES ON MILLSTONE NUKE WASTE APPEAL
Millstone T-shirts for sale -
$20 plus postage.
To pre-order, send an email to info@MothballMillstone.org
Domenici slips nuclear loan provision into farm legislationNo new nuclear power plants have been built in the U.S. in decades, primarily because nuclear power is simply too risky to receive financing from the private market. But we're in danger of seeing a rebirth of nuclear power, with dozens of new plants across the country, if the nuclear industry gets its way and gets taxpayers to foot the bill with $50 billion worth of loan guarantees. Friends of the Earth has been fighting to remove these loan guarantees from the energy bill, but this week a member of our policy team found that Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), the nuclear industry's biggest congressional ally, has slipped this loan guarantee language into an amendment to the farm bill. Send a message to Congress about these guarantees at Friends of the Earth Action's nonukeloans.com.
The horrific traffic accident that occurred in East Lyme in broad daylight on November 2 was called the "worst case scenario" by Waterford Police Chief Murray Pendleton because I-95 was blocked in both directions for nearly 8 hours and Route 1 and secondary roads were virtually gridlocked for hours.
What if an accident or a terrorist strike occurred at Millstone? Would I-95 and Route 1 really accommodate a full-scale evacuation of the 139,205 people who live within 10 miles of Millstone?
Attorney General Richard S. Blumenthal:
Won't you follow NY Attorney General Andrew Cucomo's lead and hold a community forum in New London County. The community would like to hear about your plans to bring Millstone into compliance with the law or shut it down.
CALL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY:The U.S. House of Representatives is considering sneaking through a $50 BILLION taxpayer loan guarantee so that outlaw profiteers like Dominion can persuade Wall Street to back a new generation of dangerous nuclear power plants.
If the nuclear experiment had worked, the nuclear industry wouldn't need government subsidy.
But the technology is so dangerous and the potential consequences of an accident so catastrophic that no private company will insure them or invest in them without government - that means YOU, the taxpayer - guarantees.
The Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone has contacted each member of the state's Congressional delegation to educate them and their staffs on this issue.
We have let them know we are counting on them to block the "new nukes subsidy."
You can help by contacting them yourself.
Here is the number that will connect you to your own Representative: (202) 224-3121.
Let them know you are watching their votes on this issue.