Before I get into the heart of my blog, I’d like to alert you to the fact that there is an NRC “Open House” on Safety Issues at Oyster Creek on this coming Wednesday, March 28 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Manahawkin (Route 72 and Route 9).  You should know that this is being advertised as an “open house” not a public hearing.  A public hearing would allow people to get up and address the panel and the public and there would be recorded evidence of the proceedings and written responses to the public’s questions.  What they are proposing is a “dog and pony show” where people would go to various kiosks and ask questions privately.  That’s not what a safety hearing should be about.

I encourage you to call today, Neil Sheehan at the NRC Public Relations department at 610-337-5331 and demand that they hold a public hearing on Wednesday, not a “dog and pony show.”  I just called Sheehan’s office and he confirmed that they are, in fact, holding an “open house.”  I indicated that this cannot be considered a public hearing and it is an abomination that they are shutting out the public and avoiding having to record evidence of the public’s concerns.  He said I could further escalate to Bill Dean, the Regional Administrator at 800-432-1156.  Please call both of these people to register your complaint on the type of meeting they are proposing to hold – and get angry.  The NRC, who happens to be in bed with the nuclear industry, is trying to continue to shut out the public in their mission to do whatever Exelon and the other nuclear owners want.

Oyster Creek needs to and will be shut down – and it should be sooner than 2019.  Fukishima, 9/11 and other catastrophic events only add proof to that fact.  Another thing to consider is that this plant needs to be decommissioned – not just a soft shutdown.  It also makes pure economic and common sense to fully decommission this plant.  You should all know that if this plant is decommissioned immediately, there are hundreds of jobs to be had for several years.  The owners don’t want to go this route because they could just delay and delay this decommissioning and not expend the money in their decommissioning fund for this purpose.  This is a fund that you and I pay into every month when we pay our bill – so it should be used to decommission Oyster Creek.  The owners want the burden to fall on someone else in the future when, in fact, the costs will be much greater.  This decommissioning fund contains hundreds of millions of dollars – so they have planned for it, but just don’t want to use it.  Big mistake – just think of all those transition jobs which would be created.  All Exelon and the other owners of nuclear plants can think of is their bottom-line – they don’t care about you, they don’t care about the health and welfare of you and your family.  All they care about is their profits.

Further to this issue of nuclear energy, there was an article in the Sunday, March 25^th issue of the Asbury Park Press entitled “Renewable Energy Output Exceeds Oyster Creek Output.”  This is mind-blowing considering all the hot air blowing by the “big money” oil, coal, gas and nuclear sources saying that renewable sources of energy cannot provide the necessary output required by our citizens.  This article points out that the updated Renewable Energy Report from the New Jersey Clean Energy Program indicates that “…..progress is being made.  As of the end of January, the Program has supported 14,122 renewable energy projects…...”  The results stated that these projects provided 689 megawatts of power – and outperformed the 636 megawatts of power by Oyster Creek.  How’s that for progress? 

Just imagine how much ahead of the game we would be had these “dirty” industries redirected their resources to producing clean, safe and renewable energy – and don’t let anyone tell you that nuclear, oil, coal and gas are clean and safe energies.  To say that would be an oxymoron – they pollute our air, water and soil, inject dangerous chemicals into our drinking water and they continually put us in harm’s way in terms of the safety of the nuclear plants from terrorism, our dependence on foreign oil, the pollutants going into the air from coal plants and the just plain “safe” storage of the nuclear waste – which is certainly not happening in our lifetime, nor in the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren.  The time has come for us to wean off these energy sources and use our resources to develop clean, safe and renewable energy. 

We need to look to our natural sources of energy – solar, wind, biomass, fuel cells, geothermal, etc.  The big oil, coal, gas and nuclear industries have been fighting hard for years to deter us from that goal because it will have a direct effect on their RECORD profits.  This is not the wave of the future and we must all get on board to making a difference. 

You MUST get involved.  More than that, we need you to get “MAD” at these money-grubbing industries and put them in their place by standing up and being heard.  Please begin by coming to the Holiday Inn in Manahawkin on Wednesday, March 28 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.