Tag Archives: Financial Injustice

“Bomb Trains” Should Not Travel 1/8 Mile From Limerick’s Reactors And Fuel Pools

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“Bomb Trains” Should NOT Travel 1/8 Mile From Limerick’s Reactors And Fuel Pools

BE AWARE!  100-car crude-oil “bomb trains” regularly travel just 1/8 of a mile from Limerick Nuclear Plant’s reactors and fuel pools.

Frequent railroad transport of millions of gallons of explosive, flammable, hazardous crude-oil, only 1/8 of a mile from Limerick’s reactors and fuel pools, must be stopped immediately.   A “bomb train” derailment, explosion, and enormous fireball could burn for days in an unstoppable fire with days of thick black smoke which could trigger catastrophic multiple meltdowns.

Limerick, already a ticking time bomb + a bomb train derailment = catastrophic disaster!!!  

Millions of victims in the Greater Philadelphia Region would face unprecedented catastrophic consequences to our life, property, and the environment.  We could lose everything – homes, businesses, jobs, and health.  Drinking water for almost two million people (Pottstown to Philadelphia) would become too radioactive/toxic for safe use.  Long-term ecological damage would leave ghost towns that can’t be cleaned up safely. Our entire region could become a toxic wasteland for generations.

Victims would not be compensated adequately for losses, if at all.  Who would pay to deal with irreversible devastation from crude oil explosions/fire plus massive radioactive contamination from Limerick meltdowns?  Bottom line:  no one!

  • NOT insurance companies that refuse to cover radiological accidents
  • NOT Exelon, with its government guaranteed limited liability protection
  • NOT the railroad industry, already fighting for exemption from strict liability for derailment damages
  • NOT Pennsylvania, already burdened with an enormous deficit
  • NOT the federal government, already trillions of dollars in debt and totally dysfunctional

Train derailment disasters should be anticipated.  Occurring with more frequency, incidents occurred in over 250 municipalities – ProPublica data 2011-2014.  The worst caused widespread evacuation, death, destruction of buildings, and loss of electric and drinking water.  A 2015 accident in West Virginia proved safer trains and slower speeds aren’t the answer.

No matter what claims the oil, rail, or nuclear industries make, there is no emergency plan that could effectively deal with a disaster of this magnitude within 1/8 of a mile of Limerick’s reactors and fuel pools.  Fire fighters and emergency responders shouldn’t be expected to be on the front lines of such dangerous uncontrollable disasters.

Safe evacuation is an absurd illusion!  Limerick Nuclear Plant’s emergency and evacuation plans are fatally flawed and unworkable.  To understand why – review the 8-part ACE video-blog series on Emergency and Evacuation Plans for Limerick’s radioactive plume at www.acereport.org.   This should be a wake-up call, especially for all responsible for emergency and evacuation planning.

“Bomb trains” regularly traveling through the Limerick site dramatically increase Limerick’s already unacceptable risk for meltdowns from Limerick’s dangerously lax fire safety requirements, reactor shutdown problems, deteriorating aging equipment and systems, cyber attacks, and earthquake faults directly under reactors and fuel pools with increasing risk of earthquakes from fracking.   A crude oil disaster on the Limerick site could be caused by terrorism.  Even the attempted emergency response would increase opportunities for terrorism.

Crude oil bomb trains should not travel within 1/8 of a mile from limerick nuclear reactors and fuel pools, or anywhere on the site.   It’s far too risky!

Hoping it doesn’t happen is not the answer.   Denial allows extraordinary risks to continue and increase.

Officials have expressed concern but there has been no meaningful action to avoid such devastation.  We should not face such risk or put our fire fighters and first responders in such dangerous circumstances.

Catastrophic disasters from crude oil explosions and fires near Limerick Nuclear Plant can and must be prevented with foresight and political will to face and eliminate this unnecessary risk.  Willful blindness jeopardizes our future.

SPEAK UP NOW!  Demand that community leaders and elected officials get the crude oil “bomb train” route moved now, no closer than several miles outside the nuclear plant border.

For detailed information compiled by the Alliance For A Clean Environment (ACE) see www.acereport.org.

Dr. Lewis Cuthbert

ACE President

“Bomb Trains” Should Not Travel Through The Limerick Site – Detailed Information

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                                              BE AWARE!

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE GREATER PHILADELPHIA REGION FACE CATASTROPHIC THREATS TO LIFE, PROPERTY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT.

OUR REGION COULD BECOME A TOXIC WASTELAND FOR GENERATIONS.

100-CAR CRUDE OIL “BOMB TRAINS” TRAVEL 1/8 OF A MILE FROM LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT’S REACTORS AND FUEL POOLS

“BOMB TRAIN” DERAILMENT, EXPLOSIONS, AND EXTENDED FIRES COULD TRIGGER DEVASTATING LIMERICK NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS, CAUSING MILLIONS OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA REGION’S RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES TO LOSE EVERYTHING.

  • Recent reports of crude oil derailment disasters show “bomb trains” keep exploding and turning into huge fireballs that burn for days, requiring miles-wide evacuations and resulting in devastating losses.
  • These unstoppable fires result in days-long thick black toxic smoke that are difficult, if not impossible to extinguish.
  • Crude oil trains travel frequently though Pottstown.  Officials expressed serious concerns. (8-18-15 AP).

MILLIONS OF VICTIMS WOULD FACE UNPRECEDENTED CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES DUE TO THE COMBINATION OF LIMERICK NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS PLUS A CRUDE OIL DISASTER.  VICTIMS WOULD NOT BE COMPENSATED FOR THEIR DEVASTATING LOSSES.

  • Millions of people would lose their homes, businesses, and health.
  • Drinking water for almost two million people (Pottstown to Philadelphia) would become radioactive/toxic.
  • Long-term ecological damage would leave ghost towns that can’t be cleaned up safely.

WHO WOULD PAY TO DEAL WITH IRREVERSIBLE DEVASTATION FROM CRUDE OIL EXPLOSIONS/FIRE AND LIMERICK MELTDOWNS?  BOTTOM LINE:  NO ONE!

  • NOT insurance companies that refuse to cover radiological accidents
  • NOT Exelon, with its government guaranteed limited liability protection
  • NOT the railroad industry, already fighting for exemption from strict liability for derailment damages
  • NOT Pennsylvania, already burdened with an enormous deficit
  • NOT the federal government, already trillions of dollars in debt and totally dysfunctional

TO AVOID CATASTROPHIC DISASTER COMMUNITY LEADERS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS MUST GET THE CRUDE-OIL “BOMB TRAIN” ROUTE MOVED NOW

EVERY CITIZEN MUST SPEAK UP TO COMMUNITY LEADERS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS, TO DEMAND THAT THE CRUDE-OIL “BOMB TRAIN” ROUTE BE MOVED NO CLOSER THAN SEVERAL MILES OUTSIDE THE NUCLEAR PLANT BORDER.

PLEASE REVIEW ATTACHED DETAILED INFORMATION

Compiled By The Alliance For A Clean Environment (ACE)  November, 2015

aceactivists@comcast.net    acereport.org   (610) 326-2387  

 

 

CRUDE-OIL BOMB TRAINS SHOULD NOT TRAVEL WITHIN 1/8 OF A MILE FROM LIMERICK NUCLEAR REACTORS/FUEL POOLS OR ANYWHERE ON THE SITE.   IT’S FAR TOO RISKY!

LIMERICK,  A TICKING TIME BOMB    +   A BOMB TRAIN DERAILMENT      =

CATASTROPHIC DISASTER!!!

Millions of people in the Greater Philadelphia Region face devastating risk from frequent railroad transport of millions of gallons of explosive, flammable, hazardous crude oil, only 1/8 of a mile from Limerick’s reactors and fuel pools.

Each shipment of explosive, flammable, hazardous crude oil traveling near Limerick’s reactors and fuel pools is estimated to contain:

  • 30,000 gallons in each rail car.  100 or more rail cars can contain over 3 million gallons.
  • Heat from the rupture and ignition of just one 30,000-gallon car can set off a chain reaction, causing other cars to explode, releasing a days-long fireball that is difficult, if not impossible to extinguish.  Basically, responders must let it burn out.

Train derailment disasters should be anticipated.  ProPublica data (2011-2014) reveals that incidents have occurred in over 250 municipalities.  Whole towns have already had to evacuate from crude-oil trains and fires.  No one should assume or suggest there will not be a crude-oil train derailment, explosion, and fire on or near the Limerick Nuclear property.

The worst of eight major crude oil train accidents and risks include:

  • A train derailment and explosion killed 47 and destroyed 30 buildings in Quebec.
  • 2,300 residents were evacuated in North Dakota. The fireball was observed several states away.
  • Serious crude-oil train derailments and fires are occurring with more frequency.  Many have occurred just since the beginning of 2015.
  • A fuel-oil train already derailed a few miles from Philadelphia.  Sixty-five tank cars bound for Philadelphia had loose, leaking, or missing safety components to prevent flammable, hazardous contents from escaping (Hazmat report – last two years).

Safer trains aren’t the answer.  A new train with a safer-design derailed in February 2015 in West Virginia, despite adhering to the speed limit.

  • Hundreds of families had to flee their homes in frigid weather
  • Burning continued for days
  • Drinking water and electricity were lost
  • Leaking crude oil poisoned the water supply
  • Fireballs erupted from crumbled tank cars, underscoring volatility of crude oil’s propane, and butane
  • Toxic water and dirt are difficult and very costly to attempt to clean up

Hoping it doesn’t happen doesn’t eliminate catastrophic risk!  Denial allows risks to continue and increase.

  • Richard Lengel, Pottstown’s Fire Chief, said in the Mercury 2-23-15, “If something catastrophic happens, there’s no municipality along the railroad that can handle it, the volume [crude oil] is too great.  We just have to hope that nothing happens, honestly.” 
  • The Pottstown Mercury 3-1-15 editorial got it right concluding, “Clearly, hope is not enough to maintain safety…”
  • No matter what claims the oil, rail, or nuclear industries make, there is no emergency plan that could effectively deal with a disaster of this magnitude within 1/8 of a mile of Limerick’s fuel pools.

Fire fighters and emergency responders shouldn’t be expected to be on the front lines of such devastating uncontrollable disasters.

  • Emergency responders are smart to be concerned.
  • Authorities say most fire and emergency departments are only capable of responding to a 9,000 gallon tanker truck incident, but DOT-111 crude oil cars hold 30,000 gallons, exceeding the response capacity.

Catastrophic disasters from crude oil explosions/fires near Limerick Nuclear Plant can and must be prevented with foresight and political will to face this unnecessary risk and take action.

WHY CRUDE OIL BOMB TRAIN EXPLOSIONS AND FIRES ON OR NEAR THE LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT SITE CAN TRIGGER MELTDOWNS:

LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT IS ALREADY VULNERABLE TO CATASTROPHIC MULTIPLE MELTDOWNS.   LIMERICK HAS REACTOR SHUTDOWN PROBLEMS.

  • Limerick has a history of chronic shutdown problems.  Publically available official reports show that Limerick’s reactors may not be able to be shut down safely in an emergency.
  • An explosion and days-long fire from a crude oil “bomb train” derailment could require immediate Limerick reactor shutdowns to avoid meltdowns.  This may not be possible.

LIMERICK ISSUES RELATED TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF A BOMB TRAIN EXPLOSION FOLLOWED BY A DAYS-LONG FIREBALL PRODUCING THICK BLACK SMOKE:

  • Entire towns have been forced to evacuate after a bomb train disaster.  Limerick workers, including guards, so close to the disaster should certainly be evacuated for their own health and safety.  Yet, evacuation of Limerick workers could increase meltdown risks in Limerick’s 2 reactors and 2 fuel pools.
  • Limerick workers might be unable to access all necessary emergency equipment vital to preventing meltdowns, due to a crude oil explosion, massive heat, and extended days of thick black smoke.
  • Limerick’s control room would likely be impacted from days of thick black smoke.  Even Occidental Chemical’s vinyl chloride powder accidents (.7 of a mile from Limerick Nuclear Plant) caused Limerick’s operators to “button up” Limerick’s control room.   What would happen in days of thick black soot from a huge crude oil fire?
  • Extreme heat and soot could disturb the natural air flow needed for casks holding high-level radioactive wastes.  Blocked cask vents could go undetected in thick black smoke leading to overheating of the stored high-level radioactive wastes.

LIMERICK’S DANGEROUSLY RELAXED FIRE SAFETY REGULATIONS

  • NRC weakened Limerick’s fire safety regulations, and still fails to enforce the weakened regulations.
  • Limerick does not use the safest fire barrier systems in all areas, to protect cables important to safe shutdown.  Even Limerick’s recent 4-5-15 fire in a reactor panel shows that Limerick is extremely vulnerable to fire that could lead to meltdowns.
  • Reduced fire safety at Limerick has new meaning in relation to days-long crude oil fires because Limerick’s fire barriers are only required to protect cables for 1 hour.
  • Without the safest fire barriers, fire detection and suppression systems, and spatial separations, Limerick plant stability is compromised. Fires can erupt in many ways at a nuclear plant.  Fires from crude oil bomb trains add significantly to Limerick’s risk of meltdowns due to fire.
  • Reactors and fuel pools need a constant supply of water to prevent meltdowns.  A crude oil fire could disable Limerick’s cooling water delivery system, resulting in simultaneous meltdowns in Limerick’s 2 reactors and 2 fuel pools.
  • Exelon’s liability limit encourages cutting corners to save money.

A CRUDE OIL DISASTER ON THE LIMERICK SITE INCREASES OPPORTUNITIES FOR TERRORISM.

  • Evacuation of security guards could increase risk of a terrorist attack.
  • Terrorists could trigger a bomb train derailment,  initiating crude oil explosions and fires at any point along the lengthy rail track route on the nuclear plant site.

A “BOMB TRAIN” DISASTER AT LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT MUST BE AVOIDED!

SAFE EVACUATION IS IMPOSSIBLE:

A CRUDE OIL TRAIN DISASTER TRIGGERING LIMERICK MELTDOWNS MUST BE PREVENTED

LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT’S EVACUATION PLAN IS UNREALISTIC, UNWORKABLE, AND DEFINITELY NOT “ROBUST”.

ACE’s evaluation of  Exelon’s fatally flawed 2012 “Evacuation Time Estimate (ETE) For Limerick’s Plume Exposure Pathway” is useless as a planning tool for safe evacuation

  • Exelon’s ETE is self-serving fiction riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, fact-free spin, unsubstantiated suppositions and assumptions, illogical conclusions.
  • Exelon’s ETE is not realistic and must be rejected.

To understand why Limerick Nuclear Plant’s emergency and evacuation plans are fatally flawed and inadequate, we urge you to review the 8-part ACE video-blog series on Emergency and Evacuation Plans for Limerick at www.acereport.org.   It serves as a wake-up call to millions in the Greater Philadelphia Region about Limerick Nuclear Plant’s negligent emergency and evacuation planning:

  • ACE Analysis of Exelon’s Evacuation Time Estimate For Limerick’s Plume Exposure Pathway(Video / Blog Part 7)

This analysis reveals self-serving, unrealistic, unworkable fiction, with suppositions, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies, featuring fact-free spin with illogical conclusions.

  • Historic Fatal Flaws In Limerick’s Emergency – Evacuation Plans (Video / Blog – Part  6)
  • In 2012, NRC Pared Down Emergency and Evacuation Plans, Even After Fukushima  (Video / Blog – Part  1)
  • Calls For Immediate Notification And Expanded Evacuation and Ingestion Pathway Zones   (Video /Blog – Part 2)
  • The Truth and Consequences of Radiation Exposure From Nuclear Plant Accidents / Meltdowns  (Video / Blog – Part 3)
  • What Really Happened After Fukushima, Chernobyl, and TMI Meltdowns  (Video / Blog – Part  4)
  • Financial Injustice To The Public From A Radiation Accident / Meltdown  (Video / Blog -Part  5)
  • Until Limerick Closes, Changes That Must Be Made To Limerick’s Evacuation Plan, To Minimize Radiation Exposure Risks After A Limerick Radiation Accident and/or Meltdowns   (Video / Blog – Part  8)

In 1980 NRC publicly admitted that safe evacuation from Limerick was impossible.  NRC testified at Limerick’s 1980 public hearing that Limerick had double the population density for a safe evacuation.  NRC admitted that people within 30 miles would be harmed.  Things are far worse now, since the population around Limerick has increased dramatically in the past 35 years.

Thomas Sullivan, Montgomery County Director of Public Safety, testified at a public hearing for Limerick Nuclear Plant relicensing in 2011 that many local, county, and state roads used for evacuation that feed the local highways were no longer suitable for the amount of traffic that Limerick’s EPZ evacuation could produce.  Traffic conditions have worsened, yet in 2015 Thomas Sullivan, claimed, “Because of the Limerick generating plant, we have robust plans…” (Mercury 2-23-15), dismissing potential dangers associated with the transport of crude oil.  The serious problems and flaws with Limerick’s Emergency and Evacuation plans have been ignored by Mr. Sullivan and others.

WILLFUL BLINDNESS IS JEOPARDIZING OUR FUTURE, ESPECIALLY WITH THE ADDED RISK FROM A BOMB TRAIN DISASTER

Time To End Taxpayer Funding Of NRC

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Time to End Taxpayer Funding of NRC

How much is your life worth? Not much, according to the NRC.

Why? Because NRC reduces the incalculable worth of a human life to a low-balled monetary amount on paper that compares human lives to the costs of installing the most effective, protective safety systems and equipment available at Limerick Nuclear Plant.

From all the evidence we’ve seen, it’s apparent that NRC’s aim is not to protect the public, but to protect nuclear industry profits.  NRC provides nothing more than an illusion of safety. NRC’s assurances that Limerick Nuclear Plant is safe are as stale as old cigarette ads.

NRC’s budget for 2016, which has been submitted to Congress, shows that $122 million (about 10%) comes from the taxpaying public. The bulk of NRC’s budget (about 90%) comes from the nuclear industry that NRC is supposed to regulate.  This creates an undeniable conflict of interest.

The problem is that NRC continually weakens its regulations to benefit Exelon, despite Limerick’s obvious increasing risks to public health and safety.  Exelon requests that regulations be changed or eliminated and NRC always complies.  Regulations at Limerick have been drastically weakened through exemptions, exclusions, amendments, deferments, delays, relief from inspections, and experiments.

In essence, NRC’s weakening of Limerick’s regulations is a service NRC provides which allows Exelon to cut corners and avoid costs.  NRC should never have allowed Exelon to substitute a list of plans and commitments instead of the testing of Limerick’s aging equipment and systems to prove that they work, as required for Limerick relicensing.

When citizens want to express objections to NRC’s reckless decisions and actions, NRC offers the public NRC’s dead-end petition process, a total farce.  NRC has never ruled in favor of any petition filed against Limerick. Just over the past four years, for example, NRC dismissed the following petitions, in spite of the valid issues they raised:

  • A petition from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) requesting an updated Severe Accident Mitigations Alternatives (SAMA) for Limerick
  • Petitions from several nuclear engineers warning that Limerick’s reactors may fail.

On May 21, 2015, NRC held its annual open house stating that NRC would respond to public questions about Limerick’s 2014 performance. NRC discouraged public participation by:

  • Giving short notice in the local paper (the same day that the meeting was scheduled)
  • Holding the meeting the day before a long holiday weekend
  • Holding the meeting from 5:00 p.m – 6:30 p.m., inconveniently dinner time for most families

Despite the fact that NRC’s open house was about NRC’s assessment of Limerick’s 2014 operations, No  NRC resident inspector who worked at Limerick in 2014 was in attendance. Instead, new 2015 resident inspectors were there, but they said they knew nothing about Limerick’s 2014 inspections and appeared to be woefully ignorant of Limerick’s inherent defects.   This repeated tactic allows NRC to avoid accountability to the public.

Of utmost concern is NRC’s irresponsible refusal to test the surveillance capsules from Limerick’s defective reactors for embrittlement.  At the open house, NRC officials absurdly defended NRC’s previously stated decision to test another nuclear plant’s reactor surveillance capsules to determine Limerick’s reactor embrittlement status and associated risk to the public. Limerick’s reactors have been operating for 30 years. Would you have confidence that your 30 year-old car is safe to drive based on the inspection of someone else’s car?

NRC’s conflict of interest results in unprotective decisions about Limerick that can lead to meltdowns and widespread devastation in which the public would lose everything.  NRC should value public safety over Exelon’s profits, but its actions show that NRC doesn’t care about public safety.

Maybe it’s time to end public taxpayer funding of NRC and ask Congress to reject NRC’s budget proposal of $122 million of taxpayer money.

Betty and Charlie Shank

2461 E. High Street, Unit F-28

Pottstown, PA 19464

(610) 323-6715

Terrorist Threats At Limerick Pose Catastrophic Risks

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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.

 

Elected Officials Must Take Action To Protect Us From Limerick’s Harms Or Be Voted Out of Office

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 ELECTED OFFICIALS MUST TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT US FROM LIMERICK

NUCLEAR PLANT THREATS OR BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE

WE ARE AT A CROSSROAD!  AT STAKE:
PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND FINANCIAL INTERESTS

 

  • Limerick Is Destroying Vital Drinking Water Resources
  • Limerick’s Radioactive Air Releases Add To Cancer And Other Health Risks
  • Limerick Systems Are Rapidly Aging, Corroding, and Increasingly Dangerous
  • There Is No Safe Solution For Limerick’s Deadly Radioactive Wastes
  • There Is No Safe Way To Evacuate Our Densely Populated Region If Limerick Has A Major Radiation Accident or Meltdown
  • Meltdown Risks Are Increasing!  Millions Could Lose Everything!  That Can Be Avoided If Limerick Closes Now. 

    ACE REPEATEDLY INFORMED ELECTED OFFICIALS

  1. In 2011, your officials failed to speak on the Limerick Relicensing public hearing record
  2. In 2012, your officials failed to speak on the public hearing record to protect our drinking water
  3. In 2013, your officials failed to speak on the record about Limerick’s environmental impacts

    ELECTED OFFICIALS’ SILENCE IS UNACCEPTABLE:

  • SILENCE ALLOWS THREATS AND HARMS TO INCREASE
  • SILENCE CONDONES NRC REGULATORY NEGLIGENCE
  • SILENCE PROTECTS EXELON PROFITS AT OUR EXPENSE

    ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO DON’T SPEAK UP NOW

    SHOULD BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE!

    TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND FINANCIAL INTERESTS,

    LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT MUST CLOSE NOW:

  • Stop Limerick’s Radiation Releases Into Our Air and Water
  • Stop Depletion and Overheating of the Schuylkill River, The Vital Drinking Water Resource For Almost 2 Million People, Pottstown to Philadelphia
  • Stop Deadly Radioactive Waste Production. There Is NO SAFE SOLUTION!
  • Reduce Need to Evacuate.  We Can’t Evacuate Safely!
  • Reduce Meltdown Threats That Could Render The Entire Philadelphia Region Uninhabitable.  Millions Could Lose Everything They Own

    ELECTED OFFICIALS’ VOICES MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE!

    NUCLEAR PLANTS ARE CLOSING WHERE ELECTED OFFICIALS SPEAK UP

  • Nuclear Plants In California and Vermont Are Closing, In Large Part Because Their Elected Officials, Including State and U.S. Senators, As Well As Governors Spoke Out Against Risks And Harms To The Public From Their Nuclear Plants
  • In New York, Officials, Including Governor Andrew Cuomo and State Senators Have Pushed For Closure Of Indian Point, Citing Its Location Near A Major Population Center
  • Only U.S. Senator Bob Casey Expressed Public Concern About Evacuation Feasibility 

    YOUR VOICE AND VOTE ARE NEEDED 

    TELL FAMILY, FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, AND ELECTED OFFICIALS WHAT IS AT RISK

    FOR DETAILS ON LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT’S THREATS AND HARMS

    WWW.ACEREPORT.ORG

  • TELL LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL ELECTED OFFICIALS YOU PLAN TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE IN THE VOTING BOOTH FOR THEIR FAILURE TO SPEAK UP TO PROTECT YOUR FUTURE.

DECADES AGO ELECTED OFFICIALS FAILED TO SPEAK UP

NOW WE FACE LIMERICK’S UNPRECEDENTED THREATS AND HARMS

 

PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY SERIOUSLY JEOPARDIZED!

Limerick Nuclear Plant’s Devastating Assault On The Schuylkill River Is Slowly Destroying This Vital Drinking Water Resource For Almost Two Million People From Pottstown to Philadelphia. 

  • Elected Officials Knew Before Limerick Was Licensed That The Schuylkill River Could Not Sustain Limerick Nuclear Plant operations. They Also Knew Limerick Would Radiate and Overheat The River, Jeopardizing Public Health and The Ecosystem.
  • ELECTED OFFICIALS FAILED TO SPEAK UP IN THE 1970S AND 1980S TO STOP AVOIDABLE DESTRUCTION OF THIS VITAL PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY.
  • By 1999 The River Reached Record Low Flows. Limerick’s Cooling Tower Depletion Was A Major Factor.  By 2003, Exelon Asked To  Reduce and Eliminate Requirements In Place To Protect The River Water and to  Pump Massive Amounts of Toxic Unfiltered Mine Waster Into The River To Supplement The Flow To Operate Limerick.
  • AT THE 2012 PUBLIC HEARING, ONLY ONE LOCAL OFFICIAL, MICHAEL MOYER, OPPOSED LIMERICK’S UNPRECEDENTED THREATS AND HARMS TO PUBLIC DRINKING WATER.RADIOACTIVE WASTES THREATEN UNTHINKABLE DISASTER
  • There Is NO SAFE SOLUTION.
  • Transporting It Offsite Is Too Dangerous Due To Accidents and Terrorist Attacks
  • Storing It In Limerick’s Corroded and Thinning Fuel Pools Makes It Vulnerable To Devastating Meltdowns From Accidents or Terrorist Attacks 
  • The Only Solution – STOP MAKING IT. 
  • Until That Happens, We Must Store Existing Wastes On Site SAFER – In Above Ground Casks
  • ACE Repeatedly Informed Elected Officials About Extreme Threats We Face From Limerick’s Radioactive Waste Storage and Transport.   ACE Also Repeatedly Requested Officials To Comment to NRC In Support Of Recommended Actions For NRC’s Radioactive Waste Study
  • NOT ONE ELECTED OFFICIAL TOOK  ACTION TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC’S HEALTH, SAFETY, AND FINANCIAL INTERESTS RELATED TO LIMERICK’S LETHAL HIGH-LEVEL RADCIOACTIVE WASTES.SAFE  EVACUATION NOT POSSIBLE!
  • In 1980, Before Limerick’s Construction, NRC Admitted The Region Within 30 Miles Of Limerick Had Double The Population That Could Be Evacuated Safely. 
  • IN 1980 ELECTED OFFICIALS REMAINED SILENT AND ALLOWED  LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT CONSTRUCTION TO CONTINUE.
  • At The Same Time, In The 1980s, Based On Population Density and Impossible Safe Evacuation, New York Elected Officials Opposed Shoreham Nuclear Plant
  • NEW YORK OFFICIALS OPPOSED SHOREHAM NUCLEAR PLANT BASED ON INABILITY TO EVACUATE SAFELY.  SHOREHAM WAS CLOSED.
  • By 2010, Population Density Around Limerick Nuclear Plant Skyrocketed Over 4 Times Higher Than Could Evacuate Safely.
  • OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS STILL REMAIN SILENT ABOUT OUR INABILITY TO SAFELY EVACUATE, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF U.S. SENATOR BOB CASEY. 
  • Only Michael Moyer, an East Coventry Supervisor, had the courage and integrity to speak out on  behalf of public interests at the public hearing to relicense Limerick Nuclear Plant.LIMERICK’S RADIOACTIVE RELEASES INCREASE CANCER RATES, INFANT MORTALITY, AND OTHER DISEASES AND DISABILITIES. 

    HEALTH THREATS WILL CONTINUE AND INCREASE AS LONG AS LIMERICK OPERATES

  • Since 1985 Limerick released unknown amounts of radiation into our air, water, soil, food, milk, fish and bodies.  
  • Evidence of harm is clear.  Skyrocketing cancers have been documented since Limerick started operating, especially in children.  Infant and neonatal mortality rates became far higher than the state average, and even higher than Philadelphia and Reading.
  • The best way to reduce cancer rates and other health problems is to close Limerick to reduce radioactive releases into our air and water.
  • NOT ONE STATE OR FEDERAL OFFICIAL ATTENDED THE PUBLIC HEARING TO ASK NRC NOT TO RELICENSE LIMERICK, MUCH LESS TO CLOSE IT NOW TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND FINANCIAL INTERESTS.  SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUES ARE BEING IGNORED BY ELECTED OFFICIALS
  • Earthquake Faults – Under Limerick site.  4 others within 17 Miles
  • Reactors May Not Be Able To Shut Down To Prevent Meltdowns
  • Limerick Follows Lax Fire Safety Regulations
  • Substandard Cement in Reactors and Fuel Pools
  • Fuel Pools Corroding and Thinning At Rates 10 Times Faster Than Anticipated
  • Fuel Rods Taken From Pools Years Before Sufficient Cooling Tim

    CALL  OR  E-MAIL

    ELECTED OFFICIALS TODAY

    URGE THEM TO SPEAK OUT

    TO CLOSE LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT

    TO PROTECT

    YOUR HEALTH, SAFETY, AND FINANCIAL INTERESTS

     

    Contact as many elected officials as possible! 

    The list below does not include all elected officials who represent residents impacted by Limerick Nuclear Plant operations, but it is important for you to contact any elected official with constituents within 50 miles of Limerick Nuclear Plant.

    Governor Tom Corbett  (R)

    225 Main Capitol Building
    Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120

    Phone: (717) 787-2500     Fax: (717) 772-8284

    governor@state.pa.us

    High Street, Suite 100
    U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R)
    8 Penn Center
    1628 John F. Kennedy Blvd. Suite 1702
    Philadelphia, PA 19103

    Phone: (215) 241-1090    Fax: (215) 241-1095

    mitch_vidovich@toomey.senate.gov   

     

    U.S. Senator Bob Casey  (D)

    2000 Market Street, Suite 1870
    Philadelphia, PA 19103

    Phone: (215) 405-9660  Fax: (215) 405-9669

    kurt_imhof@casey.senate.gov    

  • U. S. Congressman James Gerlach  (R)580 Main Street, Suite 4

    Trappe, PA 19246

    Phone   (610) 409-2780     Fax (610) 409-7988

    scott.savett@mail.house.gov

    U.S. Congressman Charles W. Dent  (R) PA-15

    701 W. Broad Street, Suite 200

    Bethlehem, PA   18018

    Phone (610) 861-9734            Fax (610) 861-9308   

    vincent.odomski@mail.house.gov

     

    U.S. Congressman Pat Meehan   (R)

    940 Sproul Road
    Springfield, PA 19064

    Phone: (610) 690-7323     Fax: (610) 690-7329

    Andrew.Colket@mail.house.gov 

    U. S. Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz  (D) PA-13

    Montgomery County Office
    706 West Avenue
    Jenkintown, PA 19046

    Phone–215/517-6572        Fax–215/517-6575

    Michelle.Espinal@mail.house.gov

     

    PA Senator John Rafferty  (R) – Montgomery County

    Montgomery County Office
    3818 Germantown Pike, Suite B
    Collegeville, PA 19426

    Ph: 610-831-8830       FAX: 610-831-8837
    jrafferty@pasen.gov

    jmunera@pasen.gov 

    PA Senator Andrew E. Dinniman  (D)– Chester County

    One North Church Street
    West Chester, PA 19380

    (610) 692-2112           Fax  (610) 436-1721

    andydinniman@pasenate.com

    MINDARS@pasenate.com

     

    PA Senator Judith Schwank(D)   Berks County

    1940 North 13th Street
    Suite 232
    Reading, PA 19604

    (610) 929-2151   FAX: (610) 929-2576

    Jschwank@pasenate.com 

    PA Senator David G. Argall  (R)   Schuylkill County

    One West Centre Street
    Mahanoy City, PA 17948

    (570) 773-0891

    Dargall@pasen.gov

     

    PA Representative Tim Hennessey  (R)

    Old Elverson Train Station
    P.O. Box 255
    Elverson, PA 19520

    Phone: 610-286-9194               Fax: 610-286-1922
    thenness@pahousegop.com

    PA Representative Mike Vereb  (R)

    3950 Germantown Pike. Suite 101
    Collegeville, PA 19426

    Phone: (610) 409-2615      Fax: (610) 409-2619

    mvereb@pahousegop.com

     

    PA Representative Mark Painter (D)

    600 Heritage Drive, Suite 102

    Sanatoga, PA  19464

    Phone (610) 326-9563   Fax (610) 718-5787

    mpainter@pahouse.net  

  • PA Representative Becky Corbin (R) 315 Gordon Drive
    Exton, PA, 19341
    Phone: (610) 524-5595           Fax: (610) 524-5667

    bcorbin@pahousegop.com