Terrorist Threats At Limerick Pose Catastrophic Risks
ACE wants a safer future for you and your family.
A 2013 Defense Department analysis said NO U.S. nuclear plant is protected against terrorist attacks, and all pose catastrophic risks.
We can avoid a Limerick Nuclear Plant catastrophe if our elected officials and government agencies stop dodging the harsh reality of risk and take action.
To insure a safer future we must transition to safer energy immediately, and close Limerick now before a terrorist attack triggers a meltdown which can be caused by loss of power and/or water.
Millions of people would suffer irreparable health harms from Limerick’s radioactive plume contaminating everything.
We would be financially ruined and permanently displaced. It’s insanity to allow that kind of unnecessary risk to continue.
After 9/11, ACE started investigating Limerick’s vulnerabilities to terrorism, plus security and evacuation problems. For details: www.acereport.org #13 “Terrorists Threats: Precaution Is Inadequate” and Video Blog Series 1-8. The reality is alarming. It’s not fear-mongering to report it in hope of prevention.
On July 30, 2014, the Mercury printed Evan Brandt’s article, “NRC Mum about Security Problem at Limerick Nuclear Plant”. It’s unacceptable for NRC to withhold information about risks from those who would be most impacted by the consequences.
For a year following 9/11, taxpayers paid for Limerick’s air defense. Since then, NRC refused to require Exelon to pay for that, despite extraordinary risks from terrorists’ planes or missiles.. If a plane or missile crashed into a fuel pool, it could result in loss of water, meltdown, and fire.
One expert reported that a fuel pool fire could cause fatal radiation-induced cancer in thousands of people as far as 500 miles from the site. “Spent fuel” rods (among the deadliest materials on earth) are jam packed in Limerick’s extremely vulnerable fuel pools, constructed with substandard cement and without extra containment walls. Like Fukushima’s, they’re directly above Limerick’s reactors.
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On September 24, 2014, a PBS documentary, “Cyber Security, Rise of the Hackers”, revealed the reality of high-stakes cyber attacks. For example: the Stuxnet virus targeted an Iranian nuclear plant in 2010, destroying over 1,000 centrifuges before detection. Stuxnet, capable of spreading, could be a blueprint for cyber attacks on U.S. nuclear plants. Even a cyber attack on the grid could lead to extended loss of power and water, triggering meltdowns at Limerick.
Limerick security and NRC oversight are so lax that an Al-Qaida suspect worked undetected for 5 years (2002-2007) during Limerick re-fueling.
Inexplicably, in 2012, even after lessons from Fukushima, NRC pared down emergency evacuation planning for radiation exposure after meltdowns.
Nearly 8 million people live within 50 miles of Limerick, the evacuation zone that NRC recommended after Fukushima. Millions of people, in all directions, would suffer health harms, financial ruin, and permanent displacement, while Exelon would be liable for only a tiny fraction of the estimated one trillion dollar cost.
We can’t evacuate safely! No workable evacuation plan exists. Escape routes would be completely gridlocked.
The Montgomery County Planning Commission and the Department of Safety both warned NRC about inadequate infrastructure to support safe evacuation. Where would everyone go, with Philadelphia just over 20 miles downwind and downstream from Limerick?
The price of ignoring the public’s health and financial risks are incalculable, yet almost all our elected and agency officials have displayed callous disregard for the extraordinary terrorist threats we face related to Limerick Nuclear Plant and our future.
We can’t afford to elect more politicians like Tom Quigley, who took contributions from Exelon and publicly supported Limerick relicensing until 2049, despite ACE repeatedly informing him of irrefutable catastrophic risks, including terrorism.
Before voting 11-4-14, ask each candidate if they will help close Limerick now to protect your family.
We also encourage you to review just released 2013-2014 environmental voting records of PA state senators and representatives at www.conservationpa.org.