Citizens Awareness Network Inc

ACT TODAY TO CHANGE TOMORROW

Citizens Awareness Network (CAN) is a volunteer, grassroots organization that is committed to the creation of vibrant communities. Our goal is to replace nuclear reactors and fossil fuels in New England with sustainable solutions. CAN is committed to empowering people to participate in the democratic process to ensure a sustainable, equitable and energy independent future with the closure and safe decommissioning of New England’s aging fleet of nuclear reactors.

We have:

•  Had a major role in forcing the closure of 4 New England reactors—Yankee Rowe in Massachusetts, Connecticut Yankee, Millstone Unit 1 in Connecticut and Vermont Yankee.

•  Won lawsuits against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and nuclear corporations, on issues concerning decommissioning, public participation and high-level waste storage. The rulings stated that the NRC violated its own regulations in permitting the illegal decommissioning of the Yankee Rowe reactor. Our lawsuit against Boston Edison stopped the utility from shipping its high level waste to the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation in Utah.

•  Intervened in NRC hearings on the cleanups of Yankee Rowe and CT Yankee and license transfer proceedings on Indian Point in NY, Fitzpatrick in New York State, and Vermont Yankee. Our interventions resulted in a more thorough cleanup of decommissioning reactors and increased oversight and awareness concerning the financial vulnerability of merchant nuclear corporations.

• Worked with other organizations, to organize a grassroots campaign to support Act 160, empowering the Vermont legislature to decide Vermont Yankee's future.

•  Organized a Citizen Health Study with the MA Department of Health on radioactive waste releases into the Deerfield River Valley in MA from the Yankee Rowe reactor. The purpose was to examine the health effects on the neighboring community. In the process, CAN organized a team of epidemiologists, meteorologists, and organizations to do the research needed for a full investigation. The results of the study confirmed an epidemic of disease including statistical significance in cancers and increases in children with Down syndrome.

•  Engaged in a series of waste tours, called “Caravan of Conscience and Waste Tours”, because of our concern with the issues of environmental justice, alerting people to nuclear waste transport through their communities in the northeast, southeast, midwest and west regions of the US. We found that many communities were not fully aware of the risks of transporting nuclear waste through their towns. We organized a high-level waste summit, bringing reactor and waste communities together to create consensus on a waste siting and transport policy.

• Organized “Action Camp’s” in Vermont with Nuclear Information and Resource Service. Over 1,000 people participated in camp activities. The goal of the camps was to create a group of competent and effective organizers who would return to their reactor communities better able to advocate and mobilize opposition to their local nuke. Skill building workshops included organizing 101, nukes 101, waste 101, media training 101, training in non-violent civil disobedience as  workshops on environmental justice and nuclear power.

• Organized and coordinated with other impacted groups a 2.206 enforcement petition to NRC to revoke Vermont Yankee, Fitzpatrick, and Pilgrim reactors license to operate based on Entergy’s financial vulnerability and how it impacted the safe operation of these reactors. NRC accepted our petition for review and staff has requested financial information from the corporation. The New York, Vermont and Massachusetts Attorneys General submitted letters of support for our requested investigation and within two years all three reactors announced closure.

• Worked with the state of Vermont to create a citizens advisory panel to ensure that the decommissioning of Vermont Yankee is as democratic and transparent as possible. CAN prepared a white paper on Decommissioning and Public Participation. Using CAN’s experience in participating in utility driven Citizens Advisory Boards, it was important to share what we have learned in creating a process that is transparent and democratic, providing essential information about what people can expect at different stages of cleanup and how it can affect their communities.

 

A Call for Moral Action
Our communities and environment must be protected.  Our generational responsibility to leave the world a better place is severely challenged by the ongoing operation of Entergy’s Pilgrim nuclear power station in Plymouth, MA. When regulators choose to protect a corporation’s bottom line rather than the health and safety of the Commonwealth, moral action is necessary.
 
The Pilgrim reactor's continued operation puts the people in the Commonwealth at unacceptable risk. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as the federal oversight agency charged with public safety, acknowledged Pilgrim as one of the worst operating nuclear reactors in the country- it is on the NRC watch list, systemically mismanaged, and ordered to shut down in bad weather to avoid an accident. Yet NRC refuses to order Pilgrim’s shut down. The NRC chooses to protect Entergy—not the people of Massachusetts.
 
What does Governor Baker have to say about the dangers of Pilgrim? Nothing. Governor Baker is silent. It is unconscionable tha NRC refuses to shutter Pilgrim.It is immoral that the Governor is silent on this issue.
The governor must know that the people of Massachusetts need him to put the safety of its citizens above Entergy's bottom line.
We are called to care for each other and our environment.  We have a moral duty to speak out and confront this threat. 
 
Pilgrim is an imminent threat to us all.  CAN and Cape Downwinders is calling on Faith communities to join in our efforts to close Pilgrim now. 
 
Join Us at the MA Statehouse! 
Wake Up Governor Baker! Call for closing Pilgrim NOW!
Governor Baker: (617) 725-4005.

Moral Monday dates and more info published on: www.nukebusters.com