Wednesday, Jan. 18 was a chilly, blustery, and sunny day. It was also my birthday.
Along with 13 other women in the Shut it Down Affinity Group from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, dressed all in black and wearing white death masks, I participated in a silent walking meditation circle on the driveway of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
In addition to the silent walk, some unfurled a black-and-white banner that read, “Entergy = Fukushima.“
When the police arrived and told us to move to the sidewalk, we maintained our silence and our walking circle. When we were told we would be under arrest if we did not leave, we maintained our silence and our walking circle. As we were led off to the police cars, we remained silent.
Why would I choose to spend a birthday this way? Because Vermont Yankee, whose original license to operate expires on March 21, 2012, is not safe, is not a good way to provide a reliable energy future for New England, and is run by a duplicitous and badly managed corporation.
But it is not just 14 women who feel this way. The Vermont Senate in 2010 refused to authorize the Public Service Board to give Entergy a Certificate of Public Good that is needed to operate past March 21.
The two largest utilities in Vermont, Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service Corp., are suing Entergy. As the result of two serious cooling tower accidents in 2007 and 2008, the utilities were forced to spend additional millions to purchase replacement power elsewhere when Vermont Yankee was offline.
The region needs reliable, safe, sustainable energy. Even Entergy's own lobbyist had to admit that the company lost significant support among the people of Vermont and its legislators when it gave misleading (although some would say outright false) testimony about the infamous “nonexistent” underground pipes that leaked radioactive tritium into the groundwater and the Connecticut River.
On March 22, Entergy will be operating in defiance of the will and laws of Vermont and its citizens, in disregard for the safety of the citizens of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Every day the plant operates, it generates more highly radioactive waste for which there is no guaranteed safe, reliable disposal, waste that needs to be stored safely and reliably for many thousands of years.
March 11 will mark the one-year anniversary of Fukushima. Vermont Yankee has the same type of containment vessel, which nuclear engineers raised serious safety concerns about as long ago as the 1970s. The lasting effects for the citizens, air, water, plants, and animals of that region cannot even be calculated as new devastation continues to be evidenced.
But there will never be an earthquake or tsunami here, some say.
Then again, who expected that covered bridges, major roads, homes, and other buildings would be swept away in a tropical storm in Vermont?
Who expected a tornado to level entire neighborhoods in downtown Springfield, Mass.?
Who expected an earthquake centered in Virginia would cause the twin reactors at North Anna, Va., to shut down and remain shut five months later?
This is why I observed my birthday participating in a somber and sobering action.