Nuclear Hotseat

Dr. Helen Caldicott talks for the first time about her March 11-12 Symposium: The Medical and Environmental Consequences of Fukushima – a watershed event for our movement, involving doctors, scientists and researchers from around the world.  She explains how she became an anti-nuclear activist while still a teenager, how she founded three of our most...

PLUS: Did Iran have a nuclear accident or is there some other cause for the evacuation of 1.5 million people? Osaka to burn radioactive Fukushima debris as the government detains and arrests anti-nuclear protestors. Turkey to test all food imported from Japan for suspected radioactivity, but US continues to do NOTHING to protect our food...

INTERVIEW:  Priscilla Star, founder of the Coalition Against Nukes (CAN) shares her passion and vision for a women-led meeting with a White House superstar! PLUS: BIG STORY:  US Navy rescue workers sue TEPCO over radiation exposure while on Fukushima disaster relief. ANOTHER BIG STORY:  NRC smacks SCE upside the head over San Onofre “restart” plans,...

 IN THIS NUCLEAR HOTSEAT PODCAST: Activists send in their requests to Santa for a nuclear-free 2013; US 2012 nuclear scorecard show nukes a losing proposition everywhere; NRC denies San Onofre hearing; Russia gives us a clue what could be happening with Fukushima produce; Construction cost overruns and construction delays at Vogtle; French electricity giant EDF‘s...

INTERVIEW: This week, a special interview with two women who have lived the nuclear nightmare.  Cathy Iwane and Beverly Findlay-Kaneko are American-born, fell in love with and married Japanese men, and were raising families in Japan when the Fukushima disaster began.   Both evacuated with their children to southern California, where they’ve become active in the...

INTERVIEW: Torgen Johnson is a Harvard-educated Urban Planner with a professional degree in Architecture from USC.  He brings a unique perspective to the nuclear conversation based upon three separate professional disciplines.  As a resident of southern California who lives near San Onofre, he interprets the risks to community and accumulated wealth from a single major...

SPOTLIGHT: San Onofre really heated up last week: Possible sabotage at Unit 3 now being investigated by the FBI; Radwaste steam generator leaking radiation at the SanO gates; Buddhist monks in San Clemente praying/fasting/chanting/meditating for an end to nuclear; NRC/SCE public meeting on SCE planned restart muzzles activists (as usual)… and Nuclear Hotseat is there!...

SPECIAL REPORT: THE NUCLEAR THREAT OF SUPERSTORM SANDY It seems we ducked the nuclear bullet from Superstorm Sandy… but what happens the next time there’s an attack like this from Mother Nature?  In this Special Nuclear Hotseat: Learn about what the real nuclear dangers were that 13 nuclear power plants faced from Sandy; Find out...

INTERVIEW:  Alice Slater, Founder of Abolition 200 and New York Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.  Learn how every nuclear reactor has “a bomb in the basement,”and how nuclear is just one outpost in the global fight for freedom and sanity.  www.abolition2000.org; www.wagingpeace.org. PLUS: San Onofre leaks again and it’s not even on line!...

PLUS: Japan’s new Nuclear Regulation Authority to create framework by which all nukes can be brought back online (this from a country that announced it would be “nuke-free by the 2030’s”)… but no one is willing to take responsibility for authorizing restarts (I wonder why…); Children in Fukushima exercise on land registering over 100,000 bequerels...

INTERVIEW: Dr. Lora Chamberlain of Chicago, founder of Nuclear-Free Illinois, with some practical tips on how to build a state-wide grassroots anti-nuclear network. STORIES: US demands that Japan’s PM Noda retain nuclear… so his announcement two weeks ago that the country would be nuke-free by the 2030’s is now a worthless lie; Japan experiences cluster-quakes...

Nuclear Hotseat Special Report on the Coalition Against Nukes Rally for a Nuclear-Free Future September 20-22, 2012 An audio journey through three days of top-level activism, starring the best minds and hearts in the Nuclear-Free Future activist community.  This podcast includes interviews with or speeches by: Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein Rep. Dennis Kucinich...

Plus: Police kill anti-nuke protesters, including a small girl, as thousands continue to protest at Koodankulam NPP in India; The fight is on to stop PG&E from exterminating CA sea life to justify keeping Diablo Canyon NPP chugging away atop its earthquake faults; TEPCO says Unit 4 is “perfectly safe” in a quake up to...

PLUS: For only the second time in history, the NRC denies a request for a license!  NIRS Exec. Director Michael Mariotte labels this action, “A blow to the so-called ‘nuclear renaissance.'” San Onofre to get cost/benefit analysis to see if it makes sense to attempt to reopen it (CLUE: The answer is NO!); Dr. Michael...

Lou Zeller, Executive Director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, on how to grow grassroots activism, southeastern U.S. nuke issues, support for the CAN Rally for a Nuclear Free Future. News: Whales Picket Diablo Canyon; India’s $9 Numnutz – the ultimate pro-nuker’s sweet deal; tsunami debris already hitting Alaska hard; Dr. Caldicott’s 14 recommendations...

Mary Olson of NIRS on what it means when nuclear reactors are in hot water – literally.  How To Be a Homebound Activist (hint: Yes You CAN – in time for the Coalition Against Nukes Congressional Briefing on Sept. 20 in DC); Hanford site leaking; NRC just might decide to maybe study health risks for...

 Interview:  Mary Olson, Director of Southeast Office of NIRS.org, on what the June 8 DC court ruling means to the battle against nuclear waste production (meaning reactors and their radioactive legacy).  This woman is a clear, concise powerhouse! News: 82-year-old “terrorist” nun breaks into Oak Ridge nuclear facility armed w/a Bible, candles and spray paint. ...

Interview w/Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear on radioactive waste storage problems, options, how we got in this mess and what if anything can be done about this ever-lasting health menace. www.BeyondNuclear.org BREAKING NEWS – NRC freezes all nuclear reactor construction and operating licenses!  PLUS: San Diego’s COPS (Citizens Oversight Projects) challenges San Onofre’s failure to...

PLUS: Japanese anti-nuke demonstrators get pushy at their Parliament building; Extreme increase in mortality from heart attacks in Japan since Fukushima disaster began; Southern California Edison laying plans to restart San Onofre by November while activists prepare to launch their “Hell, no!”; US nuclear power production at 9-year low because of heat and drought; Anti-radiation...

Featured Interview:  Engineer and activist Ray Lutz “nukes” the NRC’s cover-up of SCE’s responsibility for San Onofre’s steam generator problems. PLUS: Four nuke plants trigger NRC “Unusual Events” in a single day.  With that many, is it still “unusual?”  (And still, no blackouts!); Illinois reactor in “hot water” – at 102 degrees, cooling water can’t...

Interview w/filmmaker Chris Noland (NOT Christopher Nolan from “Batman”),who recorded the first months after Fukushima as a relief worker in thefield. His film, “311 Surviving Japan” is in post-production and alreadygarnering overwhelming response in preview screenings. PLUS: 170,000 march against nuclear energy and the Oi restart in Japan; KEPCO cooked the energy books, turning off...

FEATURED: Report on Fukushima resident and activist Chieko Shiina’s heartrending presentation on current life in Japan and Fukushima, along with information on how to help her start a Children’s Clinic to address pressing health problems. PLUS: Fukushima determined by Japanese committee to be “a man-made disaster” (incompetence can do that!); TEPCO top execs resign… only...

Get the inside scoop on this September’s Coalition Against Nukes rally and actions in Washington, D.C. from Dr. Heidi Hutner and Michael Leonardi, long time anti-nuclear activists serving as coordinators for the event. Plus: Japanese scientists share earthquake data and dire predictions as KEPCO restarts the Oi reactors; Fukushima Unit 4 a mere gasket failure...

MUST LISTEN!  Slammer interview w/environmental attorney Susan Hito Shapiro on the battle to shut down Indian Point near NYC, plus some legal strategies applicable for anti-nuke activists throughout the country. Plus: 45,000 Japanese protest at PM Noda’s front door against Oi nuclear restart, which has already been plagued by 27 WARNING ALARMS GOING OFF!; TILT! ...

Dr. Bill Cardozo of CreativeElectron.com and Darin McClure of SanOnofre.com on radiation monitors, what they’ll do and won’t do, crowd-source radiation monitoring and how to hook up some monitors directly to the Internet for real-time result posting. Radiation 101 classes the last Saturday of each month, w/streaming video and online posting available at: www.CreativeElectron.com. Plus:...

A special interview on the politics of nuclear energy with Irvine City Council member Larry Agran, an outspoken anti-nuke Southern California politician.  He offers a picture of how local community activism can move up the political food chain to create the crucial changes we need to permanently get rid of nukes.  Think globally, act locally:...

Nuclear Hotseat Exclusive: Special panel discussion on The Roy Process for Neutralization and Elimination of Nuclear Waste.  Is this the missing technology for ultimately getting rid of the radioactive byproducts of the nuclear industry? Learn about the process, the doubts, the tantalizing possibilities, and what stands in the way of this potentially game-changing nuclear technology. ...

Interview with Daniel Hirsch of Committee to Bridge the Gap on the 1959 Santa Susana Field Laboratory nuclear meltdown – more radiation released than Three Mile Island! – and the current status of clean-up attempts.  PLUS: The battle over San Onofre heats up, with four times the number of damaged pipes in the steam generators...

An exclusive Nuclear Hotseat interview with Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds.com on San Onofre, how and when the problems happened with the steam generators, and the dangers of even thinking about a restart this summer (as SCE has announced they are planning to do).  PLUS: Battle heats up over NRC’s anti-safety Svnicki going for second term...

Interview with Gene Stone of ROSE on visit by NRC Chairman Jaczko and Sen. Feinstein to San Onofre last week in the wake of burst pipes and pipe degradation in the new steam generators. ACTIVIST ALERT:  Requests for letters to the NRC and live bodies to show up for San Onofre demo on April 28....

Terrific food safety interview w/Kimberly Roberson of Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network and Mary Beth Brangan of Ecological Awareness Network.  Learn about the increasing dangers posed to our food supply by the radiation from Fukushima, as well as what you can do to boost your health and resist the effects of radiation. Plus: Radiation in Fukushima...

Download it here:http://lhalevy.audioacrobat.com/download/e0e8afa5-1b3d-95df-37be-2ffd0ba3ade2.mp3 Special report on Three Mile Island on the eve of the 33rd anniversary, including host Libbe HaLevy’s personal story of having been one mile away when it happened; Exclusive interview w/Dr. Helen Caldicott; 15 Koodankulam activists in India now 9 days into a fast to the death (if necessary) to stop two...

On the first anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and the start of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster: Special audio report from the March 11 San Onofre anti-nuke demo; Interviews with two survivors of Tohoku quake, tsunami and ongoing Fukushima Daiichi disaster, direct from Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture in Japan, who were speaking at the...

This from simplyinfo.com, forwarded from Dr. Helen Caldicott’s Facebook page: US Media Promotes Another Flawed “Study”, Downplays Fukushima Journalism standards hit a new low as the NYTimes, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine’s blog and Scientific American all picked up the story without fact checking.  So much for mainstream media’s credibility on the nuclear issue.

Here’s the latest from Arnie Gunderson and Fairewinds, done in conjunction with Greenpeace. Fairewinds was retained by Greenpeace to write a chapter of their newly released report entitled “The Echo Chamber: Regulatory Capture and the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster”. Fairewinds concludes that Fukushima Daiichi was not just a nuclear accident; rather, for decades it was a...

Japanese government shown to have been in chaos after Fukushima, w/possible Tokyo evacuation; only 2 nuke reactors left online in Japan… and no rolling blackouts; stillborn calves at Fukushima-area farm; NRC cites Palisades Power Plant in Michigan for safety violations, plus Perry near Cleveland and Susquhanna near Harrisburg, PA; North Anna tritium double federal standard,...

Kick-ass interview w/Hattie Nestle, 73-year-old anti-nuke activist arrested on Feb. 13 at Vermont Yankee nuclear facility; Fukushima 2 in recriticality; NRC licenses two new nuclear reactors for Georgia; Two quakes – 6.2 and 5.5 – at Fukushima within the past 24 hours; 1/3 of kids from Fukushima who were tested have “lumps” on their thyroids...

A summary of the current status of San Onofre nuclear reactors in San Diego after last week’s leaks, the discovery of over 800 damaged pipes, and an employee falling into the radioactive refueling pool.  Featuring an interview with James Chambers, a licensed nuclear reactor operator and whistleblower from San Onofre, who offers his unique perspective...

Reporters always need sources and don’t know where to find them.  They’ll also take the easiest way out whenever possible.  News and journalism have been so degraded since I got my BA in the field that it’s sad to see such simplistic “reporting” when stories are so much richer and more complex than get represented...

An email forwarded to me from Mary Olsen of Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS.com) has been haunting me. It’s well known within the anti-nuclear movement that radiation most profoundly affects fetuses and the very young.  In explaining this phenomenon, Mary wrote, “In addition to radiation impacts on DNA (both egg and sperm), there is...

I believe that entertainment is a great way to get beyond people’s resistance to the nuclear issue and start them thinking and feeling about what needs to be done.  I don’t know if there is a more powerful commercial film for us than “The China Syndrome.”  Big names, great acting, harrowing message, funny hair and...

My tech guy just fixed a weeks-long lock-out from this site, which is why I’ve fallen behind.  I’ll catch up on the missed podcasts and blog posts as quickly as I can, but for now, here’s today’s podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclear-hotseat-hosted-by/id458213762 Terrific interview on the proposed California ballot initiative to shut down all in-state nuclear reactors with...

In the latest Nuclear Hotseat Podcast: Interview with Michael Keegan of Nuclear-Free Great Lakes; radiation news and health problems from Japan; Swedish nuclear plant fire; Canadian radiation higher than originally reported; Cesium in San Francisco-area milk… again; NIRS report on radiational harm worse for women than men; apple pectin good for more than jelly… radiationally...

Arnie Gunderson of Fairewinds.com can always be counted on for sober, clear, unbiased information. He’s one of the sources upon which I base much of my understanding of the issues of nuclear power. In this update, he talks about the true meaning of TEPCO’s claim for pending “cold shutdown” and the problems created by the...

Here’s the video of last Tuesday’s hearing on San Onofre with the San Clemente City Council. Our side’s turn; great presentation by Arnie Gunderson via teleconferencing, Dr. Helen Caldicott via Skype, and an especially powerful (though understated in delivery) talk by Dan Hirsch at about the 3 hour mark. Watch Democracy in action: http://www.san-clemente.org/Videos/ShowVideo.aspx?VideoID=290

My life has changed dramatically in the past 6-1/2 months.  I’ve gone from ignorant of/in denial about/blind to all issues nuclear-related into a 24/7/365 activist on the issues.  I’ve spoken in public, posted videos, addressed the NRC (in a rogue kind of way; they didn’t want participation but I participated anyway), begun producing a weekly...

A clearly animated representation of how many blasts we’ve had since the first ones in 1945.  Remember, each blast releases radiation into the atmosphere and/or the ground, where it remains until a minimum of ten half-life cycles are completed.  None of us will outlive the radiational pollution of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, let alone the domestic...

Rachel Maddow nails it about Vermont’s battle to shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor in this brief but powerful excerpt from her MSNBC program: http://www.nuclearfreeplanet.org/rachel-maddow-how-much-political-power-does-nuclear-power-wield.html  So who has the right to decide aabout ongoing exposure to the radioactive detritus of a nuclear reactor – We-the-People or corporation-as-“legal-person”?  Corporations can’t sicken and die from radiation,...

Today’s Nuclear Hotseat Podcast: North Anna’s operators caught in a lie about quake-readiness of that plant, even as they break ground for reactor #3; Fukushima radiation levels for workers more than 10 times too high; Interview with Dr. Robert Gould of Physicians for Social Responsibility on radiation dangers; Report on Vermont’s nuclear sanity – a...