On Martin Luther King’s birthday Jan. 16 (snow date Jan. 23) at 10 a.m., a group of citizens plan to join in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience at Entergy Corp.’s offices on Old Ferry Rd. in Brattleboro. Why?
Entergy’s Vermont Yankee has created more than 500 tons of the deadliest material on earth, which will stay deadly for at least 10,000 years. Now Entergy wants to increase the rate it produces nuclear waste.
The federal government has estimated 7,000 people would be killed within one year of a serious accident or act of sabotage at Vermont Yankee. The Union of Concerned Scientists says the death toll would be higher. An area bigger than Vermont would be left permanently uninhabitable.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, if we took all the money we now give Entergy for power from Vermont Yankee and instead gave it to Efficiency Vermont, we would save more power than Vermont Yankee generates, and create more jobs.
Without continuing government subsidies like those provided by the federal Price-Anderson Act, Vermont Yankee would be unprofitable and would close.
Entergy should not be allowed to increase Vermont Yankee’s power output. It should be ordered to decrease output by 20 percent per year starting immediately. Vermont Yankee’s workers should be offered jobs at the same pay at Efficiency Vermont in the local area.
Between 1989 and 1997, five of the nation’s 70 nuclear power plants were permanently closed after public protest: Long Island’s Shoreham, California’s Rancho Seco, and New England’s Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee, and Millstone 1.
The public is encouraged to witness our protest Jan. 16 without risking arrest. More information: www.nukebusters.org