Nuclear Power is Dead. Time for a Just Transition: A Left Forum Panel

SDIPN will once again be hosting a Left Forum panel. The theme for 2017 is “The Resistance.” Our panel  is entitled, “Nuclear Power is Dead. Time for a Just Transition.” The panel is scheduled for Sunday, June 4th 12 Noon — 1:50PM, in room 1.65. Our scheduled panelists will be Estela Vazquez, Exec. VP of 1199 SEIU, and Alfred Meyer, Co-Chair of the Radiation and Health Committee of Physicians for Social Responsibility. SDIPN Co-Chairs Catherine Skopic and Carl Lundgren will facilitate and make presentations.

Visit www.leftforum.org to register.

Here is the panel abstract from the Left Forum website:

“Nuclear power has come to the end of it’s long, destructive road. The industry itself acknowledges this in it’s own publications and analyses but the public is still being conned — through editorials, op-eds, and propaganda — into believing it’s still necessary as a bridge to clean, green alternative energy sources. One of the tactics they use repeatedly is to shift the discussion to the “devastating” impact closures would have on workers, their families and communities, pitting labor against potential allies among activists for social, economic, political and environmental change. The issue has become even more contentious with states such as NY spending billions on bailing out aging, failing nukes instead of developing programs for a “Just Transition.” Our panel will discuss what a program for a genuine Just Transition would look like; one that would ensure employment for workers, security for their families, and stability for affected communities. We will encourage participants to offer their suggestions and ideas. Using the Indian Point nuclear facility as an example, we’ll provide the verifiable facts and figures that counter the misinformation we’re being fed, and explain how the money being misused for bailouts would be put to better use in the transition to a nuclear and fossil-fuel free future.”

Advertisement

Fukushima +5 Peace Walk

Members of SDIPN participated in a walk from the Peekskill Metro North station to the Indian Point nuclear power facility in Buchanan on Sunday, March 13th to mark the 5th anniversary of the ongoing nuclear meltdown in Fukushima.

#shutdownipnow

Rally: Indian Point Tritium Leaks

Media Advisory – 2/23/16

What – Rally: Indian Point Tritium Leaks – Close Indian Point

Question – “Mayor de Blasio – Is Our Water Safe?”

When – Thursday, March 3, 2016,         12:00 Noon – 1:00 PM

Where – Chambers & Centre St; NE of City Hall; #4, #5, #6, E, A, #1-3 Trains

Sponsoring Organization – Shut Down Indian Point Now   www.sdipn.net / 347-640-3660 / www.facebook.com/sdipn / @sdipn

Rally: Radioactive Leak at IP Threatens Our Water Supply

Peace Action of Staten Island Forum on Indian Point

SDIPN members Alfred Meyer, John Reynolds and Catherine Skopic will be speaking at a forum on Indian Point this Thursday, Feb. 18 presented by Staten Island Peace Action.
‪#‎shutdownipnow‬

Indian Point’s 100% Replacement Energy in Place Now – to Power the Bronx and All of New York City

 [The following opinion article is a rebuttal to one posted by Frank Fraley that posted on February 4, 2016 in the Norwood News. ]

(Op-Ed) Indian Point’s 100% Replacement Energy in Place Now – to Power the Bronx and All of New York City

By CATHERINE SKOPIC

We applaud Governor Andrew Cuomo’s support for the closure of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. As he has clearly stated there is no evacuation plan and it is too close to New York City. No need to worry. New York City does not need Indian Point to keep our lights on.

New York State energy regulators have already evaluated any potential reliability issues that could occur when Indian Point is closed and created a plan to ensure they are addressed: the Indian Point Replacement Contingency Plan is already being implemented by Con Edison and the New York Power Authority.*(Nuclear Information and Resource Service http://www.nirs.org)

The winds of change are blowing

Wind power, an alternative, clean, green energy source is having a very good week.

On Monday, the #3 Reactor at the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan NY shutdown after IP personnel reported seeing arcing on a transmission line tower. A mandatory event report was sent to the NRC as required (see report – click on event #51606). The incident was dutifully covered by the local press, although they all seemed to be reprinting the same AP report, with the same lack of any real information or any probing questions. However, this headline in Bloomberg Business caught our attention: “Wind Rescues New York Power After Nuclear Plant Shutdown” (see article). You would have been hard pressed to find it by googling., which might have been due to a lack of keywords or tags. None-the-less, there it was.

Indian Point shutdown raises new safety concerns

[Comments on this article by Tim Judson, Exec. Director of NIRS: “This is the best article on the IP2 event so far. Two points are worth correcting: this is the sixth incident at Indian Point this year, not the second. There have been four other equipment failures at IP3, resulting in shutdowns. Also, Entergy has only owned IP since 2001. The prior incidents mentioned in the article occurred when ConEd owned IP1&2 and the NY Power Authority owned IP3.]”

December 10, 2015 | Filed under: News | Posted by: The Villager

The Indian Point nuclear plant is less than 40 miles from New York City.

BY PAUL DERIENZO  |  Another troubling mishap at the Indian Point nuclear power plant last Saturday prompted a shutdown, or “trip,” of one of the two reactor units and the dispatch of inspectors from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Office made the announcement that the reactor was “forced to shut down,” but New Orleans-based Entergy, which owns the plant, said there was no release of radiation or chemicals from the incident. The company said magnets holding control rods failed when power was lost, allowing the rods to sink into the reactor vessel, as designed, which shut down the nuclear reaction. Control rods are a feature of nuclear reactors that allow the nuclear reaction to be adjusted or shut down.

Is the Bronx Burning?: A Community Forum:

NUCLEAR POWER, AND THE INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT: Are they PART OF THE SOLUTION OR PART OF THE PROBLEM?

Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

St. Ann’s Episcopal Church
295 St. Ann’s Avenue (at E.140th St.)
Bronx, New York 10454

Indian Point is located less than 25 miles from us, just a 30 minute drive from the Bronx. It’s an aging facility, long past its expected expiration date. There have been a number of accidents and breakdowns over the years, all of which had the potential for disaster, placing all our lives in grave danger. It’s a ticking time bomb…AND… we no longer need it to supply our electricity.

Shut Down Indian Point Now! invites you to attend a grassroots community forum where we will explore the following questions:

• Can we afford to shut down the Indian Point nuclear power plant
• Can we afford not to shut down Indian Point?
• Do we need to move towards 100% clean, green renewable energy, with livable-wage, green renewable jobs for Bronx residents, with all deliberate speed (but no later than 2030!)?
• If 100% clean, green renewable energy is the objective, is nuclear energy part of the solution…or part of the problem?

(HINT: What does clean, renewable energy have to do with asthma rates in the South Bronx? With livable-wage jobs in the South Bronx? With housing for poor and working people in the Bronx?)

A Question & Answer discussion will follow the presentation

Confirmed speakers (list in formation):

• Tim Judson (Nuclear Information & Resource Service – NIRS)
• Alfred Meyer (Physicians for Social Responsibility – PSR)
• Catherine Skopic (Shut Down Indian Point Now! -SDIPN!)

Welcome by Rev. Martha Overall (St. Ann’s Episcopal Church)

Introduction by Carl Lundgren (Chair, Shut Down Indian Point Now! -SDIPN!)

Co-sponsors (list in formation):

• 350NYC
• Bronx Climate Change North
• Bronx Greens/Verdes del Bronx
• Food and Water Watch
• Green Ecosocialist Movement
• Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
• Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition
• Manhattan Green Party Local
• New York Friends of Clearwater
• Peace Action Staten Island
• South Bronx Community Congress
• United for Action

---

DIRECTIONS:

Subway: #6 train to Brook Ave. Walk East one block to St. Ann’s Ave; walk North two blocks on St. Ann’s Ave. Church is on your left; #2, 5 train to Prospect Ave. Transfer to Southbound BX17 bus and exit at the St. Ann’s Ave/E. 141st St. stop. Walk South on St. Ann’s Ave. a few yards. Church is on your right. Alternately: #2 train to W 135th St. Transfer to Eastbound Bx33 bus; exit at the Brook Ave./E. 138th St. stop. Walk East one block to St. Ann’s Ave; walk North two blocks on St. Ann’s Ave. Church is on left.

Bus: Eastbound Bx33 bus; exit at the Brook Ave./E. 138th St. stop. Walk East one block to St. Ann’s Ave; walk North two blocks on St. Ann’s Ave. Church is on your left. Southbound BX17 bus; exit at the St. Ann’s Ave./E. 141st St. stop. Walk South on St. Ann’s Ave. a few yards. Church is on your right.

Another day, another co-sponsor

Council Member Antonio Reynoso,  District 34, Brooklyn, is the nineteenth CM to sign on to Resolution 0694 calling for the closure of Indian Point. Please call his office to thank him.

39% of the Council Members have now signed on. We need 15 more co-sponsors to ensure that the resolution is veto proof.

If your CM has not yet signed on, call today and urge them to do so. Visit our Call to Action page for more information and instructions.