FLORIDA
ROADSHOW
PRESS
RELEASES
PRESS
RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2002 |
CONTACT:
Claude Ward, BREDL 910-604-0214 cell
phone
Mark Oncavage, Miami Sierra Club
305-251-5273
Dorothy Serotta, Temple Israel
305-866-2929
Louis Zeller, BREDL 336-982-2691 |
FLORIDA NUCLEAR WASTE ROADSHOW CALLS FOR
BAN ON BARGE SHIPMENTS AND
SAFER WASTE STORAGE AT NUCLEAR PLANTS
Today at a press conference in
Miami, the Miami Sierra Club and the multi-state
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League called
for a ban on barge shipments of high-level
nuclear waste into Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.
Also, local residents called for safer storage of
nuclear waste at Turkey Point and St. Lucie
nuclear stations instead of transport to Nevada.
Claude Ward, Nuclear Campaigner
for BREDL, revealed that 104 to 175 barge
shipments of nuclear waste could enter the Port
of Miami if the Department of Energy plan to
transport the waste to a dump in Nevada is
approved by Congress. Ward asked, “Is Miami
prepared for nuclear waste barge accidents at sea
or in port?” Federal regulations require an
undamaged cask to withstand submersion in deep
water for only 1 hour. Waste casks which are
punctured must withstand submersion in only three
feet of water. Ward said, “A damaged cask
submerged in water deeper than three feet could
leak radioactive waste.” Ward noted that
Miami’s port channel will be deepened to
more than 40 feet next year. He also reported
that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has
serious concerns about nuclear waste casks
submerged in water. Ward said, “There is a
real possibility of nuclear chain reaction caused
by water entering a damaged waste cask.”
Mark Oncavage, Energy Chair of
the Sierra Club - Miami Group, ridiculed the DOE
plan and advocated the alternative of safe,
secure on-site storage of nuclear waste at the
Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point
reactor. “Are there any reasonable
scientists that would choose to bury thousands of
tons of deadly nuclear wastes in an active
earthquake and volcano zone? The Department of
Energy is telling the senators to approve this
plan because they have no other plan.”
Miami resident Dorothy Serotta,
past-chair of the Temple Israel Social Action
Committee, called for an end to the plan to ship
nuclear waste to Nevada, saying, “Nuclear
waste should not be transported from state to
state.”
The Florida Nuclear Waste
Roadshow, which began in Jacksonville on Monday,
will continue from Miami to Gainesville,
Tallahassee, and other communities, tracing waste
routes from Florida‘s five nuclear reactors.
Roadshow events include rallies, public
information meetings, media programs, and press
conferences.
Early this year Energy Secretary
Spencer Abraham recommended that 77,000 tons of
highly radioactive waste from 103 nuclear
reactors be sent to a waste dump at Yucca
Mountain, Nevada. President Bush approved the
plan. The state of Nevada opposes the $58 billion
project. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on
the project early in July.
-end-
More info: 2-page excerpt regarding Barge
Shipments from Yucca Final Environmental Impact
Statement.(in .pdf)
BLUE
RIDGE
ENVIRONMENTAL
DEFENSE
LEAGUE
www.BREDL.org
~ PO Box 88 Glendale Springs,
North Carolina 28629 ~ Phone
(336) 982-2691 ~ Fax (336)
982-2954 ~ Email: BREDL@skybest.com
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2002 |
CONTACT:
Claude Ward, BREDL
910-604-0214 cell
phone
|
STATEMENT OF CLAUDE
WARD
The Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League
launched the southern Mock
Nuclear Waste Roadshow in
Wilmington, NC on May 30 to
oppose a high-level nuclear waste
dump in Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
Since then, we have hauled our
full-sized replica of a highway
nuclear waste transport cask
4,000 miles across the country to
alert citizens to this threat.
People we meet on the highways
and byways of our nation oppose
the US Department of
Energy’s plans to transport
high-level radioactive waste to
Yucca Mountain. They join us when
we say: Don‘t dump on
Nevada!
The people of
Miami have much at stake if
nuclear waste is shipped from the
two reactors at Florida Power
& Light’s Turkey Point.
The US Department of Energy
estimates that from 104 to 175
shipments of nuclear waste would
enter the Port of Miami on
barges. Turkey Point is 24 miles
south of Miami. From the seaport
the waste would be transferred to
rail or highway vehicles. Also,
Port Everglades at Fort
Lauderdale could receive 73 to
166 barges of nuclear waste
shipped 80 miles from
FP&L’s reactors in St.
Lucie.
Is Miami
prepared for nuclear waste barge
accidents at sea or in port? An
undamaged cask is required to
withstand submersion in deep
water (656 feet) for only 1 hour.
Waste casks which are punctured
must withstand submersion in only
three feet of water. But a
damaged cask submerged in water
deeper than three feet could leak
radioactive waste. The
controlling depth of the channel
in Biscayne Bay, where barges
travel, is at least 8.5 feet. And
the Army Corps of Engineers plans
to deepen the channel to 43 to 52
feet next year. (Federal
Register: August 28, 2001 Volume
66, Number 167)
The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission notes that
there is a real possibility of
nuclear chain reaction, or
criticality, caused by water
entering a damaged waste cask.
Water in a submerged waste cask
could act as a reflector of
neutrons which are emitted by the
intensely radioactive material.
These neutrons could cause a
nuclear chain reaction.
Nuclear waste
traveling through populated areas
is a danger to the public.
Nuclear waste from Florida Power
& Light’s Turkey Point
nuclear plant would come within
eight-tenths of a mile of Miami
City Hall.
A fully loaded
nuclear waste truck transport may
hold 850,000 Curies, a train cask
could carry over 5 million
Curies. Even without accidents,
people‘s health will be
affected and their lives
shortened by radiation exposure.
The nuclear
industry and their yes-men in
government agencies tell us that
nuclear waste transports have
occurred without incident. But
DOE experience with nuclear waste
transport is but a tiny fraction
of the 96,000 shipments that
would be needed to transport
thousands of tons of high-level
nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain.
A single mistake would affect
thousands of people. The Titanic
and the Hindenburg were accidents
that were not supposed to happen.
But happen they did and the
results were devastating.
Studies show
that nuclear waste casks cannot
withstand modern explosive
charges and shoulder-mounted
weapons. We do not need
dangerous, radioactive hazards on
our roads or in our communities.
-end-
Claude Ward is a Community
Organizer on BREDL staff since
1997. His wife, Bonnie, is a
BREDL Vice President and serves
on BREDL’s Board of
Directors. They live with their
dog BJ in eastern North Carolina.
|
|
Florida
Coalition for Peace and Justice
www.FCPJ.org ~ PO Box 336
Graham, Florida 32042 ~ Phone (352) 468-3295 ~
Email: FCPJ@juno.com
PRESS
RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2002 |
CONTACT:
Heather Kane, Florida PIRG
941-416-1092 cell phone
Tony Ehrlich, FCPJ 386-673-2972
Claude Ward, BREDL 910-604-0214 cell
phone
Louis Zeller, BREDL (336) 982-2691 |
FLORIDA NUCLEAR
WASTE ROADSHOW
ROLLS INTO DAYTONA
Groups
Release Report: Radioactive
Roads and Rails
Today at a press conference in
Daytona, the Florida Coalition for Peace and
Justice and multi-state Blue Ridge Environmental
Defense League joined with Florida Public
Interest Research Group to release a new report: Radioactive
Roads and Rails: Hauling Nuclear Waste Through
Our Neighborhoods. Standing near a
full-size replica of an actual nuclear waste
transport cask, they called on elected officials
to oppose a nuclear dump in Nevada which would
put thousands of shipments of highly radioactive
waste on Florida’s interstates, highways and
railroads.
Heather Kane, field organizer for
Florida PIRG which co-authored the report, said,
“Florida alone could see 5,223 truck
shipments over the course of 38 years. Commuters
on I-95 could find themselves stuck in traffic
beside three and a half tons of nuclear
waste.” Kane faulted the Department of
Energy’s selection of a dump site, saying,
“At the end of the road, under this
ill-conceived plan, the waste will be dumped at
Yucca Mountain - a volcano on an aquifer in an
earthquake zone. Yucca Mountain is unsound as the
designated site for the permanent storage of
nuclear waste.”
Tony Ehrlich, spokesperson for
the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice and
the Volusia County Green Party, cited the risks
to residents of Florida who live near transport
routes saying, “Over 2 million people live
within 1 mile of the interstate highways and
railroad tracks that would transport deadly
nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. My daughter and
grandson in Daytona Beach live only 1.4 miles
from the Florida East Coast Railway!”
Claude Ward, nuclear campaigner
for Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League,
said, “Nuclear waste traveling through
populated areas is a danger to the public because
of the risk of a terrorist attack.” Ward
noted that hundreds of railcars with nuclear
waste from Florida Power & Light’s St.
Lucie and Turkey Point nuclear plants would come
within one-tenth of a mile of the Daytona Beach
City Hall. He added, “Studies show that
nuclear waste casks cannot withstand modern
explosive charges and shoulder-mounted weapons. A
railroad cask fully-loaded could hold 5 million
Curies of radioactive waste. We do not need
dangerous, radioactive hazards on our roads or in
our communities.”
The Florida Nuclear Waste
Roadshow began in Jacksonville and will continue
from Daytona to Miami, Gainesville, Tallahassee,
and other communities, tracing waste routes from
Florida‘s five nuclear reactors. Roadshow
events include rallies, public information
meetings, media programs, and press conferences.
Early this year Energy Secretary
Spencer Abraham recommended that 77,000 tons of
highly radioactive waste from 103 nuclear
reactors be sent to a waste dump at Yucca
Mountain, Nevada. President Bush approved the
plan. The state of Nevada opposes the $58 billion
project. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on
the project early in July.
-end-
More info: Download
the FloridaPIRG report from the BREDL website
or from Florida Public Interest Research
Group.
PRESS
ADVISORY
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2002 |
CONTACT:
Louis Zeller, BREDL 336-982-2691
Mark Oncavage, Miami Sierra Club
305-251-5273
Claude Ward, BREDL 910-604-0214 cell
phone |
THIRD DAY OF FLORIDA
NUCLEAR WASTE ROADSHOW
MIAMI RESIDENTS WILL
CALL FOR SAFER
WASTE STORAGE AT NUCLEAR PLANT
On Wednesday, June 26th
the Sierra Club of Miami, the Florida
Coalition for Peace and Justice, and the
multi-state Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League will hold a joint press conference in
Miami. Residents will call for safer storage of
nuclear waste at Turkey Point nuclear
station instead of transport to Nevada.
Present at the conference will be
a 20-foot long, full-size replica of a high-level
nuclear waste highway transport cask.
The Florida Nuclear Waste
Roadshow began in Jacksonville on Monday and will
continue from Miami to Gainesville, Tallahassee,
and other communities, tracing waste routes from
Florida‘s five nuclear reactors. Roadshow
events include rallies, public information
meetings, media programs, and press conferences.
Campaigners have logged over 4,000 miles since
beginning the southeastern roadshow in North
Carolina on May 30.
Early this year Energy Secretary
Spencer Abraham recommended that 77,000 tons of
highly radioactive waste from 103 nuclear
reactors be sent to a waste dump at Yucca
Mountain, Nevada. President Bush approved the
plan. The state of Nevada opposes the $58 billion
project. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on
the project early in July.
-end-
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
PRESS
RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2002 |
CONTACT:
Claude Ward, BREDL 910-604-0214 cell
phone
David Pred, FCPJ 352-468-3295
Louis Zeller, BREDL 336-982-2691 |
FLORIDA
NUCLEAR WASTE ROADSHOW
LAUNCHED IN JACKSONVILLE
GROUPS
DENOUNCE FEDERAL PLAN TO SHIP WASTE
Today at a press conference in
Jacksonville the Florida Coalition for Peace and
Justice and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League kicked off a statewide campaign to alert
the people of Florida to the dangers of
high-level nuclear waste transportation.
Displaying a full-size replica of an actual
nuclear waste transport cask, they called on
elected officials to oppose a nuclear dump in
Nevada which would put thousands of shipments of
highly radioactive waste on Florida’s
interstates, highways and railroads.
Claude Ward, nuclear campaigner
for Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League,
said, “Nuclear waste traveling through
populated areas is a danger to the public because
of the risk of a terrorist attack.” Ward
said that 980 truckloads of nuclear waste from
Florida Power & Light’s St. Lucie
nuclear plant alone would come within six-tenths
of a mile of Jacksonville’s City Hall. He
added, “Studies show that nuclear waste
casks cannot withstand modern explosive charges
and shoulder-mounted weapons. This highway cask
fully-loaded could hold 850,000 Curies of
radioactive waste. We do not need dangerous,
radioactive hazards on our roads or in our
communities.” Statewide, over two million
people live within a mile of a nuclear transport
route.
David Pred, Assistant Coordinator
for the Florida Coalition for Peace &
Justice, said, “By playing this atomic shell
game, the industry is betting Americans will
think we are solving the nuclear waste problem.
What they don’t want to admit is that
America’s operating reactors will continue
to churn out thousands of tons of nuclear waste
each year.” He noted that on-going nuclear
power operation and waste generation would fill
Yucca Mountain dump to capacity within a decade.
Pred concluded, “Instead of solving the
nuclear waste problem, Yucca just guarantees that
the nuclear industry will have room to make more
of it.”
The Florida Nuclear Waste
Roadshow will continue along nuclear waste
shipping routes to Daytona, Miami, Gainesville,
Tallahassee and other communities. Events this
week include rallies, public information
meetings, media programs, and press conferences.
The Florida Coalition for Peace
& Justice (FCPJ) is a long-standing
coordinating organization of approximately fifty
peace, social justice, environmental and
faith-based groups and over 2,300 individuals
throughout the state of Florida. FCPJ makes the
connection between environmental destruction,
social injustice and military escalation, and
works to promote a more just and humane world
through statewide action.
The multi-state Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League was founded in 1984
in response to the federal proposal to build a
high-level nuclear dump in the eastern United
States. Since launching the Roadshow in North
Carolina on May 30th, BREDL
campaigners have logged over 4,000 miles with
their Mock Nuclear Waste Transport Cask.
-end-
PRESS
ADVISORY
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2002 |
CONTACT:
Louis Zeller, BREDL (336) 982-2691
Heather Kane, Florida PIRG 941-416-1092
cell phone
Claude Ward, BREDL 910-604-0214 cell
phone
David Pred, FCPJ (352) 468-3295 |
FLORIDA NUCLEAR WASTE
ROADSHOW
ROLLS INTO DAYTONA
GROUPS
TO RELEASE NEW REPORT ON
HIGH LEVEL NUCLEAR WASTE
IMPACTS
On Tuesday, June 25th
the Florida Public Interest Research
Group, Florida Coalition for Peace and
Justice, and the multi-state Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League will hold a joint
press conference in Daytona Beach to release a
detailed report which exposes how trucks and
trains carrying many times the radioactive
material released at Hiroshima could rumble north
on Interstate 95 and the Florida East Coast rail
line if the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste
repository project is approved.
Press Conference Time and
Place: 10:00 am at City Island Library
parking lot (pavilions nearby if raining)
Present at the conference will be
a 20-foot long, full-size replica of a high-level
nuclear waste highway transport cask.
The Florida Nuclear Waste
Roadshow began in Jacksonville and will continue
from Daytona to Miami, Gainesville, Tallahassee,
and other communities, tracing waste routes from
Florida‘s five nuclear plants. Roadshow
events will include rallies, public information
meetings, media programs, and press conferences.
Early this year Energy Secretary
Spencer Abraham recommended that 77,000 tons of
highly radioactive waste from 103 nuclear
reactors be sent to a waste dump at Yucca
Mountain, Nevada. President Bush approved the
plan. The state of Nevada opposes the $58 billion
project. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on
the project early in July.
-end-
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
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