NH #550: Holtec Pilgrim Radioactive Water Dump into Cape Cod Bay? NOPE! Diane Turco, Cape Downwinders

Libbe HaLevy

00:00:01

Water water everywhere. And the nuclear industry contaminates this precious resource every day by using it to cool reactors, which leaches radioactive materials into the water that the industry has no way of removing, but that doesn’t stop the nuke stirs from planning to dump this red water into the ocean and gaslighting the rest of us into thinking that that’s a good idea, but water made radioactive by nuclear reactors is a very big deal. Be it from Fukushima or the tritium contaminated water from the spent fuel pool at the shuttered Pilgrim nuclear facility at the foot of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Holtec the company tasked with decommissioning. Pilgrim has already announced that it is planning to simply dump this radioactive water directly into Cape Cod bay. And it propaganda spokesmodels mild platitudes about how it’s a, okay, but then you hear from Diane, Turco a genuine expert and veteran activist. Who’s been dealing with Pilgrim for decades. She knows the full history of radioactivity issues there. And then she tells you

Diane Turco

00:01:15

In 1988, Senator Kennedy held a hearing on the restart of the Pilgrim nuclear station because it had been shut down for two years. And in it, it talks about a waterborne radiation cesium, one thirty seven cobalt, 60 Tridium had been present in the canal samples and are attributed to the operation of the Pilgrim nuclear power station. That’s a 1988 in the shellfish, in the algae, in the sediment. So we already have it documented that Pilgrim has already poisoned our communities.

Libbe HaLevy

00:01:47

And if Holtec gets its way, Pilgrim will continue to do so. And both the waters of Cape Cod bay and the Atlantic ocean will become a whole lot more radioactive forever. Well, that’s just one more example of how the nuclear military industrial complex continues to strap us into that dangerous deadly seat that we all share.

Announcer

00:02:14

Claire hot seat. What are those people thinking? Nuclear hot seat. What have those boys been braking clear, hot. See the Ms. Sinking our time to act is shrinking, but nuclear Hotsy. It’s the bomb.

Libbe HaLevy

00:02:44

Welcome to nuclear hot seat. The weekly international news magazine, keeping you up to date on all things nuclear from a different perspective. My name is Libby Halevi. I am the producer and host as well as a survivor of nuclear accident at three mile island from just one mile away. So I know what can happen when those nuclear so-called experts get it wrong. This week, we get an inside look at the way things are heating up in Massachusetts as the decommissioning from Holtec plans to dump radioactive water from the Pilgrim power station into Cape Cod bay. And let me tell you, the citizens are fighting back. We’ll talk with Diane Turko. She is director of the Cape downwinders in Cape Cod, a group that’s been fighting against the Pilgrim nuclear power reactor for more than 40 years. She’ll bring us up to date on the community pushback to hold techs, cavalier decision and announcement, all leading up to a public speak out and hearing on January 24th in Plymouth, Massachusetts, we will also have nuclear news from around the world.

Libbe HaLevy

00:03:55

None of that’s of the week for outstanding nuclear bone headedness and more honest nuclear information than Fox’s Sean Hannity put into any of his tweets. All of it coming up in just a few moments today is Tuesday, January 4th, 2022. And here is this week’s nuclear news from a different perspective, lots of news to catch up on this week. And that’s what we will be doing. First of all, in Colorado here in the U S we dodged a bullet when wildfires whipped through Boulder, Colorado on December 30th, the fire came within very few miles of the site of the Rocky flats, nuclear plant cleverly disguised these days as a wildlife preserve. If the site had burned, it could easily have led to the kind of situation we discovered after the Woolsey fire here in Southern California three years ago, which ran through the Santa Susana field lab, 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles and released radioactive particles as much as 19 times of a background that traveled as far as nine miles from the site.

Libbe HaLevy

00:05:03

It’s known that earlier difficulties at Rocky flats released radioactive materials into the local community, but it is unknown if any of these were re-released in this latest wildfire, but for those of us, with nuclear awareness, it was hard to watch know the potential and not be able to do anything about it. Even with winds whipping up to 100 miles an hour, the fire was suppressed in less than 24 hours and followed up by rain and snow, which put it out completely. Two people are still reported missing. Bill gates is getting all he wants for Christmas in a nuclear way. When the small city of Kemmerer Wyoming announced that it would be the site of a new bill gates back nuclear power project, which some scientists warn is a dangerous diversion from true energy solutions. The company behind the experimental nature of nuclear power plant, which intends to construct an untried nuclear reactor design is being promoted by terror power, which gates helped to found and of which he is chairman of the board.

Libbe HaLevy

00:06:11

According to nuclear expert, earning Gunderson of Fairwinds energy education gates has continually downplayed the role of proven, safe, renewable energy technology in decarbonizing our economy as to the science of the new design Gunderson said, Liam is following in the footsteps of a 70 year long record of sodium cooled nuclear technology failures. Your plan to recycle those failures and resurrect liquid sodium again will siphon valuable public funds and research from inexpensive and proven renewable energy alternatives. Meanwhile, gates has plans are gaining support from two Japanese industrial majors, the Japanese atomic energy agency and Mitsubishi heavy industries to provide industrial assistance and data. The proposed new facility is estimated to cost $4 billion with the U S government providing funding to cover half of the project price tag in Michigan Holtec international has received initial approval to acquire a nuclear power plant that it plans to decommission and dismantle the Palisades plant in covert, Michigan.

Libbe HaLevy

00:07:28

You’ll be hearing more about Holtec and what its actions have been in Massachusetts as regards their decommissioning plans for the Pilgrim nuclear facility. But opponents of this license transfer have labeled the nuclear regulatory commissions decision. Shocking this, according to Terry lodge, an attorney for a coalition of environmental groups lodge said that they will seriously consider a court appeal of the NRCS decision. And Michael Keegan of don’t waste. Michigan said we have been denied our due process rights and that the NRC had denied a hearing on our very serious environmental health, safety, and fiscal concerns. Some interesting links. There’s an article in the bulletin of the atomic scientists entitled can small modular reactors help mitigate climate change. Short answer, no longer answer this article by Arjun Maka, Johnny and MV Ramana, and an excellent article in truthout.org by Linda Pence Gunter of beyond a nuclear. The title is nuclear power doesn’t belong in the green new deal.

Libbe HaLevy

00:08:39

It starts out amid rising public outcry over government inaction towards the climate crisis. The nuclear power industry has attempted to advertise itself as zero emissions, carbon free and even renewable in order to convince politicians and the public that it is essential to solving this world historical disaster. However, nuclear power is none of these things. And it in fact stands in the way of achieving an ecologically just society well worth the read, of course, we will link to both these articles on the website, nuclear hot seat.com under this episode, number 5, 5, 0 over to Japan, whereas is so often the case that country is the site of this week’s news.

Libbe HaLevy

00:09:35

This is a masterpiece of numnuts Surrey taken from what passes as a legitimate news story in Kyoto news, the Japanese government always eager to force course lure bully, or lie to get people to go along with their nuclear nonsense, especially as regards Fukushima has announced that it will set within a year standards, put that in quotes for compensating businesses that suffer losses due to rumors that may emerge when Japan starts discharging treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. Let’s unpack this one, shall we rumors? How about it’s the truth? It’s news that radioactive water will be released into the Pacific ocean and that it’s being opposed by governments, water, protective organizations and citizens around the world. The article goes on the action plan includes having the international atomic energy agency or IAEA evaluate the safety of the water to secure transparency.

Libbe HaLevy

01:10:46

Dude, first of all, the IAEA exists to give seemingly legitimate excuses to the nuclear industry so they can do whatever they damn well, please, with their radioactive waste stream, putting the IAEA in charge of nuclear transparency is like putting the Fox in charge of evaluating security precautions at the henhouse. The only transparency is that they will do whatever it takes to get Japan. And TEPCO off the hook. The article goes on during a cabinet meeting on the topic, chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsumoto call that members to quote, implement the measure swiftly and steadily and have as many consumers as possible. Be aware of the safety of the processed water safety, but the water is radioactive and radiation is always dangerous. We have studies that prove this it accumulates and it can’t be removed. So it is never safe. Basically. You’re asking the public to swallow this lie hole, along with the water and anything.

Libbe HaLevy

01:11:52

It might have contaminated again from the article. The action plan was formed as the government decided in April to allow Tokyo electric power company holdings, Inc, to release significantly diluted contaminated water into the sea. Well, they’ve already decided, but be that as it may significantly diluted contaminated water significantly is a wiggle word. A relative term meant to imply more importance to something than actually exists. It’s like adding boldface or an exclamation point or 12 to some dumb Facebook posts to make it seem more important and more valid when it is when it’s not diluted to dilute. Something means to make it weaker. That’s like a poison can be diluted, but radioactive water cannot be diluted because radioactivity is produced by the release of one electron from one atom. So the smallest possible unit that creates it is one Adam, and you can’t get smaller than that without splitting it.

Libbe HaLevy

01:13:01

And that’s a whole other topic. So radioactive materials are not made weaker. They are dispersed, not diluted dispersed, meaning sent out in a wider area. Each Adam spreading the possibility of radioactivity over an ever expanding greater area. And they always like to say into the C because C sounds small, give it a rest. You mean the Pacific ocean. And that’s a term that you never use because everybody can understand that the Pacific ocean means, hello, a majority of the water on the planet. Then finally, there’s this masterpiece of nuclear. Double-talk the process removes most radioactive material except for tritium, which is said to pose few health risks most not all. And we’re talking about the part that isn’t being covered by most. This Tridium is said to pose few health risks, but who’s doing the saying based on what just saying the thing does that make it itself, but they make it seem that way.

Libbe HaLevy

01:14:10

Don’t they finally, the article states that the IAEA will have a long-term involvement with the release of the water, according to the plan. So according to Japan, the water release is a done deal and annoying little countries like oh, Korea and China that are objecting, even though they share the waters of the Pacific in close proximity, according to Japan, they have nothing to say in the matter. Well, we’ll see, because as I understand it, China has been known to get kind of loud at times, in the meantime, Japanese government, with your plan to release radioactive water into the Pacific ocean and IAEA international atomic energy agency with your codependent, enabling position to make this plan look legitimate and safe. When it’s neither, you are both this week’s,

Libbe HaLevy

01:15:09

Awake. And in keeping with so much of this week’s news and our feature, which is about water and radiation, there is an article entitled. Our oceans are not sewers it’s by Arnie Gunderson of Fairwinds energy education. And we will link to it on the website, nuclear hot seat.com under this episode, number five 50 that’s 5, 5, 0 internationally. What we hope is a good piece of news. If it can be believed in, if they stick to it, five of the world’s most powerful nations, the United States, Russia, China, the UK and France, which are the five nuclear weapons states recognized by the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty, who are also the five permanent members of the United nations security council have all signed a pledge and agreed that quote, a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought such a common statement on a major issue of global security has become a rarity at a time of increasing friction between Russia, China, and the west with Moscow threatening to invade Ukraine and China signaling its readiness to use military force against Taiwan.

Libbe HaLevy

01:16:24

The joint statement represents a renewed commitment to prevent any confrontation turning into a nuclear catastrophe. That’s terrific guys. So why are we still building new nuclear weapons? Why does the United States not yet have a no first use policy stated signed, sealed, and delivered? So in the category of words, words, words, these are very encouraging, very hopeful. And we have yet to see whether they will be followed and out of the EU, a decision that was not surprised, but it’s still really disappointing. And that’s that the European union plans on financing nuclear as well as gas draft EU plans would allow nuclear energy as well as gas to remain part of the blocks path to quote a climate friendly future. And as might be expected has brought them under immediate criticism from both environmentalist and some governing political parties in EU member nations. It is the EAs executive commission that proposes a classification system for defining what counts as an investment in sustainable energy.

Libbe HaLevy

01:17:41

And under certain circumstances, it would allow nuclear energy to be part of the mix. Polluting companies will be delighted to have the seal of approval in order to attract cash and keep wrecking the planet among the most visible separation in beliefs is between Germany and France. As early as 2002, before Angela Merkel became chancellor in 2005, the German government had already passed a law to phase out nuclear energy by retiring all of Germany’s 17 power reactors by 2022, meanwhile, it’s France and its utility EDF that is pushing to get the EU to include nuclear in its funding for renewable energy. And it is ironic that this push comes at a time when 17 French reactors are down and brownouts or blackouts are threatened across the country. And as a result, ETF’s shares are tanking and their new reactors are literally cracking up. And at this time of nuclear contention, the Washington post has published a tone deaf editorial with the headline.

Libbe HaLevy

01:18:52

Germany is closing its last nuclear plants. What a mistake? No. The mistake is yours editorial board. And if the subject hadn’t been so serious, you would have been this week’s numnuts as for the reliability and viability of nuclear so-called green and sustainable profile. EDF closed down two nuclear power plants. After routine safety inspections found cracks at one power plant. I believe we covered this in the show two weeks ago, but it’s worth repeating. There were cracks detected in these new nuclear power plants, close to the weld on the reactors pipes, which could have proved catastrophic. If there were a failure in Belgium, the government agreed in principle to close down its nuclear power plants. By 2025, the seven party coalition had wrestled for months with the topics with the greens adamant that a 2003 law setting out a nuclear exit be respected while the French speaking liberals favored extending the life of the two newest reactors.

Libbe HaLevy

01:19:56

Belgium’s two nuclear plants with seven reactors in total are operated by the French utility Angie in Russia as 2021 drew to a close be number one reactor at the Kursk nuclear power plant was permanently shut down after 45 years in operation, this marks a major step towards retiring and the country stock of Chernobyl style RBMK reactors Kursk is located 524 kilometers or 325 miles south of Moscow. And Scotland has announced plans to shut down the torness power station two years earlier than planned. It will cease energy production in March of 2030, but meanwhile, there are jellyfish that have a whole other idea of one. The plant should be shut down, which is right now jellyfish are to clog the cooling intake pipes of Scotland’s major nuclear reactor echoing problems from 2015, when it was forced to shut down for nearly a week at an estimated cost of $1.5 million a day, the torness reactor uses seawater to prevent overheating.

Libbe HaLevy

02:21:05

And while there are measures in place to prevent aquatic life from entering the intake pipes, according to the bulletin of the atomic scientists, they are no match for the sheer number of jellyfish that come during so-called jellyfish blooms when sufficiently large volumes of jellyfish or other aquatic life are pulled in, they block the screens, reducing the volume of water coming in and forcing the reactor to shut down. This is not an uncommon phenomenon in 2008, a swarm of jellyfish shut down Diablo canyon in California, three years later, the same thing happened at a plant in Japan and in 2017 jellyfish clogged a power plant in Israel. So if a spineless jellyfish or a whole bunch of them can shut down nuclear reactors, just think what the rest of us can do as for the ongoing unsolved problem of radioactive nuclear waste, what to do with it, ship it someplace that isn’t here like Australia, that country is about to receive a two ton shipment of nuclear waste from Britain.

Libbe HaLevy

02:22:13

It will be just the second portion of intermediate level nuclear waste returned to the country. And it’s a rival shines a spotlight on Australia’s lack of a long-term storage plan for nuclear waste classified above low-level material in the coming weeks. This nuclear waste radioactive nuclear waste we need to add will be moved by rail from the decommission nuclear plant at Sellafield in Cumbria to the British coast before being loaded onto a ship that is expected to then travel through Australian waters. It may follow a comparable route to a 2015 shipment that was returned from France. When all local roads along the route were shut for more than five hours. And the operation involved the new south Wales riot squad and other police units to contain anti-nuclear protestors in Kenya, the Tanzania atomic energy commission has detained a ship Laden with nuclear waste in the port of Mombasa.

Libbe HaLevy

02:23:12

And king has ordered that material on that ship back to the port of origin, which is Mumbai in India, the Kenyan nuclear regulatory authority director, general Joseph Mirena approved of these measures and said that the ship quote poses a serious threat to the health and lives of Kenyans by the emission of radiation, at least one member of government, somewhere on this planet gets it right. South Korea reports that there were more than 200 incidents of Japan caught fishery products being sold in South Korea without proper identification of their origin. That was during January through November of 2021. This is the highest such figure since the 2011 accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. And 1.5 times the previous record of 137 registered for the entire year of 2019, the national fishery products, quality management service has tightened its controls since the Japanese government decided in April on the planned discharge into the ocean of 1 million, 280,000 tons of tritium contaminated radioactive water from Fukushima.

Libbe HaLevy

02:24:24

This has led to greater exposure of cases involving Marine products whose place of origin is not properly identified. The south Korean government has continued to prohibit the import of Marine products caught in eight prefectures of Japan, including Fukushima and Miyagi. Taiwan is of a like-mind as their foreign minister. Joseph Wu has emphasized that Taiwan will not import food products from Fukushima, Japan that are contaminated. The government will check food safety in accordance with international standards and scientific evidence. And Wu reiterated that in order to enter Taiwan, food must not be contaminated. Also in Taiwan, a referendum seeking to unseal and restart work on Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant failed to pass this marks. The first time people have been allowed to directly vote on the facility that has been debated and under construction for more than two decades, more than 4 million, 250,000 people voted and 52.3% voted, no that the power plant should not be unsealed and operated commercially to generate electricity while 3 million, 800,000 people or 46.7% voted.

Libbe HaLevy

02:25:42

Yes, the government of Taiwan has argued that unsealing the power plant would be unfeasible due to costs and safety issues and require years before it could actually generate power, given that they’ve already wasted 20 years, two decades, and still there is no power you think by now everybody would have gotten a message to throw in the towel. And it seems like enough of those people got the memo. We’ll have this week’s featured interview in just a moment. But first when I was just starting nuclear hot seat, more than 10 and a half years ago, I attended a Hollywood industry event and ran into some women producers I hadn’t seen for several years. When I told them I was doing a weekly program on nuclear issues, they kind of sniffed the air as if a rank odor had just made itself known and asked. Is there even enough nuclear information to fill an hour long program every week to which I can only respond?

Libbe HaLevy

02:26:46

Is there ever a week without much, much, much more than an hour’s worth of nuclear news, climate change, human error, the decay of aging technology COVID during refueling the push for wrongheaded nuclear technology, lack of planning for nuclear waste to say nothing of the weapons budget. Nuclear is a mess. And it’s one that mainstream media tends to avoid as too difficult to cover in 32nd soundbites. And that is why nuclear hot seat is here. We cover not only what the industry is doing, but how people around the world are fighting back and how any one of us. Yes, even you listening right now can take action to try to stop the atomic madness at nuclear hot seat. We’re dedicated to giving you the nuclear stories you can’t find in mainstream media. And we provide vetted facts with context and continuity. So you can understand the full picture of what we’re facing, not just now, but far into the future, but in order to continue to do our work, we need your help.

Libbe HaLevy

02:27:53

That’s why the time would be right now to support us with a donation. And we make it easy. Go to nuclear, hot seat.com, click on the big red donate button. And you can send a one-time donation or set up a monthly recurring one. Anything you can do will help. So if you value a nuclear hot seat and want to assist us in continuing this work, please do what you can now and know that however much you can help you have my gratitude. Now here’s this week’s featured interview with the decommissioning company. Holtec barreling ahead with the decision to release radioactive water from the Pilgrim nuclear power reactor at the foot of Cape Cod directly into Cape Cod bay. As you might imagine, there’s been quite a bit of outcry against it this week. We talk with Diane Turco. She is director of the Cape. Downwinders on Cape Cod, a group that’s been fighting against Pilgrim for more than 40 years in this interview, you’ll find out the background on the current issues.

Libbe HaLevy

02:28:55

What community response has been so far to hold text announcement and what is being done about it. Note that when Diane speaks of treaty aided water, that’s shorthand for water that contains radioactive tritium from the nuclear reactor. And there is no known way to remove Tridium from water. I spoke with Diane Turco on December 31st, 2021, Diane Turko thanks so much for joining us today on nuclear hot seat. Well thank you for having me again. You have been working extensively and for decades on situations around the Pilgrim nuclear power station. Historically speaking, what is the situation at Pilgrim and how is Holtec involved?

Diane Turco

02:29:41

The Pilgrim power station was shut down finally in 2019 and subsequently Holtec decommissioning international bought Pilgrim from Entergy. There was a lot of issues with the transfer of license and our attorney general Healey had to actually take Holtec to court because they had some concerns about financial viability. Would they do the job? Right? Holtec came into town saying that they would be open and transparent with the communities. And it took our attorney general to actually force them to some concessions on what they were doing in Plymouth. So right now they have moved all the waste onto the fuel pad right next to Rocky hill road, a very busy public road, and they are beginning to dismantle the buildings. And one of the buildings is a spent fuel pool now empty of the waste, but full of radioactive water.

Libbe HaLevy

03:30:36

That’s what I want to get to next because in early December, Holtec announced that they were planning to release, not asking to release or putting plans in place, but they were planning to release 1 million gallons of potentially put that in quotes, radioactive water. We know it’s radioactive into Cape Cod bay as early as the first quarter of 2022. How did they get permission for this? Or did they get permission?

Diane Turco

03:31:04

Well, they don’t need permission. The nuclear regulatory commission will allow them to dump into the bay when they want, not only do they not need any approval by the nuclear regulatory commission, but they can dump into the bay and the nuclear regulatory commission only looks at their records after the fact of what they’ve dumped into the bay. That depending on whole Tech’s truthfulness to make that happen. And we know Holtec is not truthful. I mean, if you look at the new Mexican lawsuit against the nuclear regulatory commission, what they, 100 contentions of malingering misstatements, it’s just a huge case that we cannot trust Holtec period. So they said they wouldn’t dump in 2022 until they, as their evaluation was ongoing. Well, that means if their evaluation was over on January 2nd, 2022, they would dump. So we kind of forced them to change that, but I still don’t trust them.

Libbe HaLevy

03:32:02

So they’ve got this water from the spent fuel pool, which we know is radioactive. It’s not a question of perhaps it is, or it’s potentially radioactive. It is what kind of examinations or studies need to take place to determine what’s in there and what needs to be done with it.

Diane Turco

03:32:25

Well, it appears that Holtec is supposed to analyze the water, but they’re so shady. Somebody asked about the water in the spent fuel pool and the response was, well, look at it so clear. You can see the rods in the picture. That was their response. They recently in era dumped seventy-five hundred gallons of water wastewater into Cape Cod bay. And somebody in the audience asked what was in it. And Holtec said, well, we’re not sure, but there was no sheen or smell, but we will do an assessment

Libbe HaLevy

03:32:58

As if there would be a sheen or a smell. If there was anything radio active in it, because it’s invisible tastes smell nothing. There’s no way to detect it except with the proper equipment and the proper evaluation.

Diane Turco

03:33:10

Exactly. Holtec is all smoke and mirrors.

Libbe HaLevy

03:33:13

What kind of studies, what kind of evaluation do you and others in your community believe should be required before the move of dumping? This water could even be contemplated?

Diane Turco

03:33:26

Well, we’re saying it’s not going to be dumped. Period. Water should not be dumped into Cape Cod bay. That’s the end of it. Their options were to dump it in the bay to truck it someplace or to let it evaporate. And none of those options are appropriate at all. But we found out the international atomic energy agency recommends that treaty, ated water, be stored in leak tight containers in a secure facility. And that’s what we’re going for. That seems to be the most reasonable way to manage this waste. They can’t dispose of it. They have to manage it. And again, it highlights the fact that the nuclear regulatory commission and the nuclear industry don’t have a clue to what they’re doing.

Libbe HaLevy

03:34:12

One of the things that I brought up when this story first hit about, Holtec wanting to dump the water into Cape Cod bay, which is the Atlantic ocean is the parallel that it draws with Tokyo electric power company in Japan. Tapco wanting to dump the 1,280,000 tons of tritiated water, meaning radioactive water that has tritium in it that can’t be cleaned out, which is at Fukushima in storage containers, which are supposed to be leak-proof. But we’ve recently through some astonishing photos that were posted by simply info.org. We’ve recently seen the kind of corrosion that’s been taking place in those tanks. So given the precedent of Tapco and Fukushima and the tritium aided water there, what does that say for the types of plans that should be put in place here? And how can we prevent those kind of problems from showing up at Pilgrim in Massachusetts, here in the United States on Cape Cod bay? Okay.

Diane Turco

03:35:18

That’s a good question. That’s a really good question. You would think the industry would already have that resolved, but they don’t.

Libbe HaLevy

03:35:26

So basically looking at what’s happening with Tokyo electric power company, trying to force the release of that water sometime in the next, say 18, because they’ve already stepped back from 2022. They’re now saying 2023. What we’re doing is we’re looking through like a time machine into what the future could be might be. And proportionately looks like will be for Pilgrim and the people of Massachusetts and especially Cape Cod, which is where you live in. So much of the activism has taken place, right? What kind of limiters or prevention or anything needs to be put in place right now on Holtec to hold them back from the actions that will lead them down the path that is being followed by Tapco at Fukushima?

Diane Turco

03:36:22

Well, we’ve been trying to find any kind of legal avenue to block them. They need to keep it in spent pew pool for now. And that’s where it’s going to stay until there’s a resolution to this. We’re asking our legislators they’re meeting next week. Nobody has an answer. Nobody has an answer. It appears that it’s all under the regulation of the nuclear regulatory commission and that our state we’ve asked our attorney general, can you file an injunction? Something. So people talking about it, the gathering, you know, can they develop a regulation to ban dumping of radioactive materials into Cape Cod bay? What can they do? We’ve been asking and asking, unfortunately, it’s the holidays and we get, you know, we won’t be back till January, but our state is trying to look at every avenue everybody’s against it. I’ll tell you, this is the first time.

Diane Turco

03:37:14

And my year decades of activism that have really seen a strong community response to this. We’ve got the east coast shellfish growers association, the Massachusetts shellfish coalition, the Massachusetts aquaculture organization, along with, you know, physicians for social responsibility. And all of our other colleagues are really standing up and saying, do not dump into our bay. It seems like the people not realize that irreputable damage, that Holtec plans to create. You know, we have Caltech on one hand protecting their pocketbook. But on the other hand, now we have the community trying to protect the health of our families, the livelihoods of our coastal communities and the fishing industry and the habitat of the Marine life. Now we found that under the extinction act that the right whale is on that list. And 63% of the living, right whales feed in Cape Cod bay. So we’re connecting with organizations that are protecting the ocean and the animals in the ocean and seeing if there’s some group that could help us use that angle to keep Holtec from dumping in the bay.

Diane Turco

03:38:24

But as you know, on the flip side is they’ve been dumping in the bay forever. And that’s the sad story about this as you know, people are upset now, but do they realize this has been going on? In fact, in 1988, Senator Kennedy held a hearing on the restart of the Pilgrim nuclear station because it had been shut down for two years. And in it, it talks about a waterborne radiation cesium, one thirty seven cobalt, 60 Tridium have been present in the canal samples and are attributed to the operation of the Pilgrim nuclear power station. That’s in 1988 in the shellfish, in the algae, in the sediment. So we already have it documented that Pilgrim has already poisoned our communities. The community’s altogether, all the politicians, elected officials, everyone is, is on this.

Libbe HaLevy

03:39:21

That’s a very powerful slogan, not one drop more speaking of hell. I know that there are many communities that have had epidemiological studies done in proximity to nuclear reactors to determine if there has been health impact. And if so, what that looks like. And in so many of the instances we see increases in childhood leukemia in birth defects in miscarriages, in lack of fertility. And I’m wondering, has such a study ever been attempted in the greater Massachusetts area surrounding Pilgrim

Diane Turco

04:40:01

In the eighties and early nineties, a study was done, the Southeastern Massachusetts study. They found that the closest one worked or live to Pilgrim, there was a four times increase in leukemias as 400% that was done. There hasn’t been anything done recently. So I did on your advice call Joe man Jonno, and we had a talk and we’re thinking of pursuing some kind of current study.

Libbe HaLevy

04:40:30

And just to be clear, Joe Mangano is the executive director of radiation and public [email protected]. And he’s an epidemiologist, which is somebody who does the deep dive into medical and health statistics and teases out what they’re actually saying. And he’s been instrumental in many of the cases and locations around the country and actually around the world, dealing with the radiation impact. Now, in terms of the waters someone we’ve been dealing with, and who’s going to be a regular contributor to nuclear hot seat starting in 2022, Tim deer Jones is a UK based Marine biologist. He has been doing analyses of the water around various reactors and dredging sites and so many other locations. And I’m wondering if there’s been any outreach to him to find out what it would take to have a study of the Marine environment.

Diane Turco

04:41:30

And I followed your advice again and got touched. Thank so much for those great resources and wonderful people. And I did get in touch with Tim. I have to get more information for him, with all the family things going on. I haven’t had the time to pull stuff together for him, but he’s interested in becoming involved with us too. I think this is a real good opportunity to show what’s happening in Pilgrim with the high interest. NBC and CBS are both doing investigative reporting now of it. So something will be coming out in January. So it’s getting attention. And finally, maybe we can all connect. I’ve been in touch with Janet Truro from the oyster Creek group. And we’re trying to coordinate because Holtec is also doing the decommissioning work there,

Libbe HaLevy

04:42:16

Oyster creeks in New Jersey, correct? Yes. You spoke about the TV networks or the local stations at NBC and ABC doing reports on this in general. How has the media reacted to this? And has there been a shift since Holtec made the announcement about wanting to dump the water?

Diane Turco

04:42:35

It was front page news and the Cape Cod times in the Boston globe. It wasn’t front page news, but it was in the Boston globe and on the radio. But very quickly, Holtec walked back this story and said, oh no, no, we didn’t mean it. It was a mistake. We’re not dumping in 2022 while we do our evaluation. And then that’s when I was saying, ah, that’s not true. But at the nuclear decommissioning citizens advisory panel, the department of environmental protection for the state of Massachusetts, Seth Pickering said that he received notification. He, the DPH department of public health and the EPA received notification that Holtec would be dumping. And he went on saying they were going to dump in batches. He had a whole plan in front of him. And then when Holtec walked it back, I said, could I have a copy of that email? You got about the notification. And now I had a file with the state for, you know, to get the papers. I haven’t received them yet, but I want to see what did they get as a notification? Because it was pretty clear. It was pretty concise. They will go in and dump the water in batches.

Libbe HaLevy

04:43:42

That’s such a typical behavior by perpetrators. I’ve worked psychologically with abuse survivors. I am one myself. And one of the things is recognizing the perpetrators will say something outrageous and horrible and mean it. And as soon as there’s any pushback as like, oh, you’re taking me too seriously. It’s just a joke. Oh no, no, no. You’re not understanding no, that’s not what I meant you’re missing. And in that way, rolling it back. But bullies always do that. They will make their intentions known. And if anything comes back, they’ll step back hoping that somehow they’ll unbalance the opposition and the pushback will go away and then they’ll take a larger step forward. So it’s kind of like, you know, two steps forward, maybe half a step back and putting the blame on those people who are calling them to task. When it sounds like this time with the level of response that has come, which is a result of your decades of diligence. And so many others who have worked on this issue as well. That finally they’re in a position where they’re not going to get away with it. Is that your sense of it as well?

Diane Turco

04:44:52

I think the spotlight is on them again, but after they walked back, a lot of people say, well, that’s what they said. And so we’re going to just have we have time to work on this. And I said, no, we don’t really can’t trust them. That’s why I tell people to go to that new Mexican lawsuit, just read that. And you will not trust a word that Holtec says, somebody told me the lips are moving. So, you know, they’re lying.

Libbe HaLevy

04:45:18

There’s a song like that. I sing along with it all the time in the car. It’s not based on whole check, but it’s easy to do the substitute.

Diane Turco

04:45:26

Yeah. So I looked up their business plan to the whole Tech’s business plan. It’s on the screen and it has a timelines. And I thought, I wonder when they’re going to start taking down that building, they’re going to have to get rid of the water before they take down the building. And they plan to take down the building starting in the fourth quarter of 2022, which means they have to get the water rock.

Libbe HaLevy

04:45:47

So in other words, on the one hand, they’re saying, oh no, no, no. Don’t take us seriously about this. And on the other hand, they’re putting plans in place that would mandate that those spent fuel pools be drained of the water before they can take the building down, which is scheduled for 12 months from now. If not

Diane Turco

04:46:03

Starting. Yeah. Yeah. This starting is, that’s what it appears. So we’re keeping an eye on them. Okay.

Libbe HaLevy

04:46:10

Okay. So you’re keeping an eye on them. What kind of pressures can those of us who perhaps don’t live in that community or in that state bring to bear on Holtec what can we do to assist you?

Diane Turco

04:46:24

Number one, and we are having a speak-out on January 24th at the Plymouth town hall and the great room. We will have it on a zoom too, because a lot of folks on the Cape really can’t make it at night up there where, you know, some are an hour away and we have invited Senator Markey, Senator Warren, representative Keating, ag, Healey, they’re all looking at their calendars, our local reps, the fishermen’s association, a lobster association, the physicians because everybody and their mother is going to be there or on zoom right now there’s a mask mandate and that’s okay. We’ll be careful. We’ll keep our distance, but we want to fill the room as best we can because at six 30 on that same evening, Z nuclear decommissioning citizens advisory panel.

Libbe HaLevy

04:47:12

What group is behind that panel

Diane Turco

04:47:15

That is state officials from the department of public health, the department of environmental protection. There are citizen folks, there are whole tech representatives. So the whole tech are there and they have to answer questions. So we’re hoping that that whole crowd that has come, just do a speak out and say, you’re not dumping in our bay, stay in that room. And the ND cap walks in and we’re all there ready to ready to roll with them. We want them to commit to not dumping in the bay.

Libbe HaLevy

04:47:47

That’s a great theater event that you have leading up to. It. Here’s a point that we learned from the Santa Ana fray hearings. And that is that the TV cameras show up and they film until the first break, the first bathroom break. And during that time, it’s usually the nuclear industry and its representatives going blah-blah-blah at limp. And then the questions from the audience are in the second half, but the TV cameras have already packed up. So what can you do to do an on around any kind of structure of the event that’s going to undermine you so that your questions actually get captured by the major media that’s going to be in attendance.

Diane Turco

04:48:32

Exactly. And actually what I heard was that Holtec said they will not discuss the water at the end D cap meeting, but they’re going to have to, I’m sorry, they’re going to have to Mary Lambert, who we work with with Pilgrim watch is on the nuclear decommissioning citizens advisory panel. And she’s already proposed that that whole next meeting will be on the water.

Libbe HaLevy

04:48:53

Fabulous. We’ll have to check in with her as well. We’ve had her on the show before and we will get her input to this as well. Diane, even from a distance, this is very personable infuriating on the part of what Caltech is doing though. The entire industry is infuriating almost every moment of every day, but it’s very exciting to watch the magnitude of the pushback, you and Mary Lambert. And so many others have been organizing for years and pushing through whatever despair was there to bring us to this moment where there is attention being paid. There are connections that have already been made with legislators and other bodies and other activists. And it seems like you guys are loaded for bear ready to go. And that, yeah, their lips will be moving and they will be lying, meaning Holtec, but they can be caught out on it. So what I want is for you to keep us informed as the steps move forward and anything significant, we will always have some time on the show for you to keep us up to date. And we’ll look forward to hearing the result of this because nailing Holtec would be a lovely thing to watch. And you will be cheered not only around the country, but I believe around the world through the listeners of nuclear hot seat.

Diane Turco

05:50:11

Well, you know where we’re with everyone else in New Mexico, in oyster Creek, New Jersey, everywhere. Holtec is we are all connected, as you said, in this nuclear hot seat. Yeah. Thank you so much for all that you’re doing. It’s it’s just a great show. And I learned so much from all of your guests. You’re helping make it happen to hear,

Libbe HaLevy

05:50:35

Thank you. I don’t know, as a journalist, I’m supposed to do this, but I’m a journalist with an opinion and I’m honest about it. So advocacy, journalism, here we go. If people wish to stay in touch or follow what’s going on, where can they go? Why would give us something online that they can follow?

Diane Turco

05:50:54

You can go to our Facebook page. We’ll be Cape downwinders. A website is being redone. It’s in a skeleton stage right now, but we’re trying to post there too. As it’s being redone, Cape downwinders.info,

Libbe HaLevy

05:51:10

We will stay in touch. We look forward to hearing from you for now, enjoy your holiday with your relatives in the other room, patiently waiting for you. And thanks so much Diane, for taking the time and being my guest again this week on nuclear hot seat.

Diane Turco

05:51:25

Thank you. Thank you. Have a wonderful new year.

Libbe HaLevy

05:51:28

That was Diane Turko. She is the director of Cape. Downwinders a group on Cape Cod that has been fighting against bad decisions and bad actions at the Pilgrim nuclear power reactor. For more than 40 years, if you would like more information about the actions the group is taking and specific information on the upcoming January 24th, public speak-out followed by a nuclear decommissioning citizens advisory panel meeting go to their website, caped downwinders.info. And we will have a link of course, up on the website, nuclear hot seat.com under this episode, number five, five, zero

Announcer

05:52:10

Activists,

Libbe HaLevy

05:52:17

A happy birthday to Setsuko. Thurlow a Hiroshima survivor who worked closely with the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, or I can double you.org for passage of the United nations treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. We will have a link up to a brief beautiful film, which was adapted from a passionate call to action. She made on the day that the treaty was adopted by the United nations, July 7th, 2017. The treaty came into force on the 22nd of January, 2021 after 50 states parties ratified it. Now the first meeting of states parties on the treaty, which was originally scheduled for the 12th to 14th of January of this year will take place at the United nations office in Vienna from the 22nd to the 24th of March, 2022. For more information visit, I can w.org, no, that will keep you up to date on it here. And we will also link to that refilm that was made of Setsuko Thurlow is message.

Libbe HaLevy

05:53:25

Atomic coverup is a brilliant film that takes long suppressed footage of what it looked like on the ground, in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki immediately after the bombs were dropped and combines it with narration from the two individuals who actually shot that footage. Atomic coverup is a film by Greg Mitchell and it will begin streaming on Tuesday, January 11, at 6:00 PM Eastern time. It will be available to be watched for 24 hour period. We’ll have a link up online to where you can purchase tickets to view this and know that a discussion with filmmaker, Greg Mitchell and art rocks Elliot forest will take place at 7:30 PM. Again, Eastern time on Wednesday, January 12th, nuclear hot seat also has an interview with Greg Mitchell. That was up on our episode of May 18th, 2021 episode five 17. You might want to check that one out as well. It keeps getting well to Bruce Gagnin of global network against nuclear weapons and power in space or space for peace.org.

Libbe HaLevy

05:54:34

That’s the number four, Bruce was felled by COVID in December and continues to recover from it. The good news is that he’s finally able to get up and around and as again, becoming active online, he just posted a new blog entry. We will link to that and wish him continued healing with the Jewish mother and me saying, Bruce darling, try to put back on those 15 pounds you lost, you were skinny enough to begin with and news that the next international uranium film festival will take place in Rio de Janeiro may 19 to 29, 20 22 that’s COVID permitting several filmmakers have already booked their flight to Rio, including Jeff Spitz of Navajo. Boy. If online streaming is announced, we’ll let you know here@nuclearhotsyandallinformationandupdatescanbefoundatnuclearhotseat.com. This has been nuclear hot seat for Tuesday, January 4th, 2022 material for this week show has been researched and compiled from nuclear-news.nec dune renard.wordpress.com beyond nuclear.org nears.org.

Libbe HaLevy

05:55:45

The international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, or I can w.org AP news.com R t.com. Common dreams.org, the bulletin.org truthout.org courier post online.com Kyoto news.net fairwinds.org. The guardian.com Irish examiner.com Gordon Edwards, and the Canadian coalition for nuclear [email protected], Washington post democratic-europe.edu east lo Theon courier.com. vise.com the global mail.com bellona.org anti-nuclear dot net. The citizen.co.tz. the-japan-news.com. Taiwan news.com, sandbox dot U S and the ever captured and compromised by the industry. They’re supposed to be regulating nuclear regulatory commission to follow nuclear hot seat. You can subscribe at any of your favorite podcast platforms or cut to the chase. We make it easy. Go to nuclear hot seat, not com scroll down for the yellow box and sign up for a weekly email link to the latest show. You’ll get it. The split instant that we post the show, and it will also include a brief rundown of some of the material inside.

Libbe HaLevy

05:57:09

Now, participatory democracy here. If you’ve got a story lead, a hot tip or suggestion of someone to interview, send an email to [email protected]. We do take these suggestions seriously and check them out. And it’s where some of the best stories have come from. And of course, if you appreciate weekly verifiable news updates about nuclear issues around the world, help us out. Take a moment and go to nuclear, hot seat.com. Look for that big red button, click on it, follow the prompts and know that anything you can do will help. And we will really appreciate your support. This episode of nuclear hot seat is copyright 2022 Leiby Halevi at hardest street communications, all rights reserved, but fair use allowed. As long as proper attribution is provided. This is Libby Halevi of hardest street communications. The heart of the art of communicating, reminding you that water is life, but radioactive water is not. There you go. You’ve just had your nuclear wake-up call. So whatever you do do not go back to sleep because we are all in the nuclear hot seat,

Announcer

05:58:25

Clear hot seat. What are those people thinking? Nuclear hot seat. What have those boys been breaking their hot? See the Ms. Sinking our time to act is shrinking, but Hotsy, it’s the bomb.