January 19, 2016
by Linda DeStefano
My husband and I raised our cups (only filled with hot tea!) in celebration when we heard Entergy announce that it will close the FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in upstate Oswego County by the end of 2016 or beginning of 2017.
But our joy was shaken when Gov. Andrew Cuomo and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer responded with strong words of support for keeping FitzPatrick running and said they would do everything in their power to re-open negotiations and convince Entergy to change its decision.
Keeping FitzPatrick open is a bad idea for the people who live in Oswego County as well as those of us (humans and other beings) who live in other parts of upstate New York, as a catastrophic accident or terrorist attack would contaminate a wide area with long-lasting radiation.
FitzPatrick has the same containment vessel design as the reactors that melted down in Fukushima, Japan, causing the death of some and forcing others to flee. These people will never be able to return to their homes because of the long-lasting radiation. The natural disaster that caused the battery system to fail and a subsequent meltdown at Fukushima could be repeated in Oswego if there were a severe ice storm. Further, FitzPatrick is the only reactor of its design that did not follow the recommendation of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to install a hardened vent.
Instead, the owners of FitzPatrick came up with a jerryrigged system that endangers workers there even more. In the case of a meltdown and the failure of the containment vessel, radiation would be vented through another building and then out into the air at ground level.
A member of the team conducting the research, Joji Otaki, said on Aug. 15, 2012, that his group’s findings show radiation emitted following catastrophic meltdowns in three of the plant’s reactors is affecting the environment after the reactors were damaged by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.
The Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE) and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) recently released a white paper, “Replacing FitzPatrick: How the Closure of a Nuclear Reactor Can Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Radioactive Waste, While Creating Jobs and Supporting the Local Community.”
The authors concluded:
- FitzPatrick’s full electricity generation could be replaced with energy efficiency and wind at less than the current cost of electricity from the nuclear plant.
- Diverting all of FitzPatrick’s revenue to clean energy could result in additional reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to a 264 MW coal plant or 330 MW combined cycle natural gas plant.
- Replacing FitzPatrick with efficiency and wind could create more than twice the number of jobs currently provided by Entergy at FitzPatrick.
- Municipalities and workers affected by FitzPatrick’s closure could be supported through the economic transition for a lower cost than subsidizing FitzPatrick, if the state proactively negotiates with Entergy for a responsible and immediate decommissioning.
For more information, visit www.allianceforagreeneconomy.org/replacing_fitzpatrick.pdf
What you can do
Contact Gov. Cuomo and Sen. Schumer to say that you want them to let FitzPatrick close and to use their good offices to pour greater resources into safe jobs for Oswego County, such as retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency and installing solar panels. Subsidizing the tax base in Oswego County during a transition would also help the community.
- Reach Gov. Cuomo at (518) 474-8390. Press #2 to leave a recorded message. Or press #3 to leave your message with a person.
- Reach Sen. Schumer at (202) 224-6542.
- For those who are represented by Congressman John Katko (who has joined the chorus of politicians trying to keep FitzPatrick open), call him at (315) 423-5657.
Linda DeStefano, a member of the Iroquois Group, represents the Atlantic Chapter in the AGREE coalition.