The Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition met on Sunday as is holding a vigil tomorrow, Wednesday, at the intersection of Route 202 and the Taconic Parkway. I spoke with Marilyn Elie yesterday and she welcomes others to join the vigil tomorrow. she can be reached at [email protected]:
— On Sun, 3/20/11, marilyn elie <[email protected]> wrote:
From: marilyn elie <[email protected]>
Subject: Report on Sunday's Organizing Meeting
To: "IPSEC1" <[email protected]>
Date: Sunday, March 20, 2011, 11:20 PM
Report to the Membership
March 20, 2011
Organizing Meeting
Welcome to the new folks who joined our steering committee! Everyone came wanting action, but what action? While there are many options what is most effective? In some ways, this seems like the period after 9/11. However, times have changed. It is much more difficult to turn out people for the body count now. However, we have the advantage of all of the groups that were activated then and know how to organize. Where are the pressure points?
Common concern from Fukushima to Indian Point: multiple disasters, including human error, can overwhelm any number of redundant safety features, Low Probability, High Risk. It's not worth it.
A thoughtful,vigorous discussion ensued. Please note that anyone and everyone is encouraged to take action using the information that follows. Use it as talking points, share it with your local and state elected officials. We need a truly grass roots movement. Leadership for a movement is broad and diffuse. Ask yourself what YOU can do and decide what works best for YOUR community. We at this meeting are working to do the same thing on a slightly larger scale. IPSEC is a group of volunteers, just like everyone else. We all want the same thing and our efforts will all come together. Many of us have followed the issue closely and have a lot of knowledge which we are only too happy to share. Don't wait to be told what to do. Do something now!!
Following are some of the points that we agreed on. It would be good if individuals and groups in the larger community could come to agreement on much the same points. It is powerful if we are all asking for the same thing.
1.The safest thing we can do for our community is to close Indian Point; in the meantime here are important measures that need to go into effect immediately:
Containment for the spent fuel pools
Back up electricity and cooling for the spent fuel pools
Move spent fuel into dry cask storage as quickly as possible
Real evacuation drills with full public participation, not table top drills
Extension of the evacuation zone to 50 miles
Consideration of new seismological information prior to re licensing
Support for the Governor and Attorney General for their strong stand on closing Indian Point
2.Write these points up in a resolution and encourage people to ask every group they belong to to pass it. Send copies of the passed resolutions to to all levels of government from Town Clerk (who is required to distribute it to local officials) to C
ounty Legislators to State Legislators to the Governor.
3.Write up these points as a petition and collect signatures that eventually will go to Cuomo
4.Find out when we can have a meeting at Greenburgh Town Hall. Try for April 13, a Wednesday. We already have a terrific flyer, just waiting for confirmation of the time and date. What happens at this meeting to be determined at our next meeting. Invite all town and county officials? Invite Schneider to speak perhaps? Invite Cuomo?
5.Do a second event – screen To Eternity at Greenburg Town Hall? Screen our video – No Place to Run? Everyone should take a fresh look at this video. It has a big emphasis on terrorism. Can we still use it effectively?
6.Three Women on Wednesday. Three of us are going to vigil on Wednesday, 5:30PM, at the intersection of
Route 202 and the Taconic. Lots of cars and people there at that time. We will use the big Close Indian Point sign and the new sign with the IPSEC phone number. This is an experiment to find a good location and to see if this is an effective technique. Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter…
7. Next meeting, Sunday, March 27, 2pm at Marilyn's house. If you would like to attend call 914-739-6164 for directions.
8. Concern about the website. Judy has done a a lot of work on the site and has made it clear from the beginning that this was not something she could do alone. We have never been able to find a webmaster. Can we find one now?
9. To Do List: Everyone to distribute what we are asking for to their various networks. Marilyn to contact Paul about a date at Greenburgh Town Hall. Get signs for Wednesday (Will we wear masks?) Margo to order more signs. Everyone encouraged to spend $26 dollars and order their own sign for their lawn, the next demonstration or the next Town Hall meeting. It is cheapest on line and the sign that we got was great. Margo will post the link. Some suggestions to experiment with were: Low Probability, High Impact, No Thanks. Close Indian Point. Organization of your choice Contact: 1-888-474-8848 or 1-888-I-SHUT-IT. Earthquakes and Indian Point Don't Mix. Close It Down! No More Table Top Drills. Require a 50 Mile Evacuation Zone. Spent Fuel is Dangerous. Take It Out of the Pool Now! When you come up with something clever, post it to the listserv so that others can consider it.
Many thanks to those who see the clear and present danger and have already taken action in their community. The catastrophe at Fukushima is far from over. 6 workers have died of radiation poisoning. The electricity line they have in is still not connected or working and it is not clear that the cooling equipment can work. The Kyodo News Service reported that Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said that "in a sign that the ongoing operation to cool down the spent fuel tanks is working, the temperatures of the spent fuel pools at all six reactor units were below 100 C."
Well, the problem here is that unpressurized water at sea level boils at 100C, making it impossible for water in the pools to be any hotter than that. Not one reporter asked how much below, what the temperatures were previously, how often the readings were being taken or when this particular reading was taken. This was a deliberate attempt to offer unwarranted assurances of safety and control and was evidently taken as such by the press. Beware of what you hear reported and use your common sense. Do not take it for granted that what is being reported is accurate. For the best information check the website of the Union of Concerned Scientists. David Lochbaum and Ed Lyman are the best experts in the country: they do a press report every day at 11am and it is posted to their site by evening Nuclear Information and Resource Service is also doing regular updates. For television, BBC and MSNBC, especially Rachel Maddow, seem to be accurate and willing to say what has been confirmed and what is speculation.
Post what you are doing and when your organizing meetings are to inspire others to action or to join you.
In Solidarity,
Marilyn Elie
