SIGN THE PETITION TO DECOMMISSION THREE MILES ISLAND AND AVOID A BAILOUT FOR PENNSYLVANIA NUCLEAR ENERGY
The below petition was delivered to Governor Wolf on August 2nd. Please sign on to show your support and resolve for a clean energy future in Pennsylvania.
Fukushima, Decommission Three Mile Island and No Bailout for PA Nukes Petition to Governor Wolf and PA Bureau of Radiation Protection
We are Pennsylvania residents over the age of 18. We love our state’s clean air, pure water and natural environment. Pennsylvania Constitution, Article 1, Section 27 recognizes these three as our “public natural resources”. They are our “common property”. State government employees are acting as “trustee” to protect Pennsylvania’s air, water and other natural resources. It is the responsibility of us and state government employees, to continue to act as stewards to conserve and protect these public natural resources. We have signed this petition to make improvements to our environment. We do this to benefit future generations, and ourselves. We are focused on the future of Pennsylvania. We value conservation.
Increased man-made radioactivity, in addition to natural background radiation, pollutes our air and water. Our air is no longer clean, our water is certainly not pure. Our state and federal government employees are allowing these environment damages to occur. This contamination of our natural environment is not sustainable. The air, water and natural environment belong to us. We, along with government employees, decide what level of contamination is acceptable.
Unfortunately we have helped create this problem. Currently, we have a tremendous appetite to consume energy. Fission nuclear stations around the Earth have been built to generate electricity to satisfy our appetite. Because we consumed the electricity created by these plants, we bear the obligation to work with government employees to fix these problems. We must isolate the radioactive wastes that exist and reduce the role of fission nuclear power. One way to do this is to decentralize electricity production through roof top solar arrays. Net metering and fusion are in our future. This is grassroots democracy. It also will improve our grassroots economics.
One example of increased radioactivity today comes from Fukushima, Japan. Since the 2011 accident at Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Station, groundwater has continued to seep into each of three breached containment buildings and then migrate into the Pacific Ocean. Approximately 300 tons of high level radioactive waste enter the Pacific Ocean every day.
Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Radiation Protection is responsible to safeguard us from man-made radiation. The Bureau of Radiation Protection (Bureau) should request the International Atomic Energy Agency to declare an emergency at Fukushima and seal off their three containment buildings immediately. We have a global responsibility to take action.
A second source of increased radiation are our five commercial nuclear stations here in Pennsylvania. Beaver Valley, Three Mile Island, Peach Bottom, Susquehanna and Limerick (BTPSL) create tons of radioactive waste every year. The waste continues to be stored on site because the state and federal government employees have not sited space for permanent disposal yet. This has to happen to isolate these wastes. Pennsylvanians will be part of this siting process with government employees. The nuclear stations were not designed to store radioactive wastes. In addition, each nuclear station is operating within feet of our Ohio, Susquehanna or Schuylkill Rivers. We must not repeat the mistakes of Fukushima.
Three Mile Island Generating station (TMI station) in Londonerry Township, Dauphin County, is currently owned by Exelon Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. Unit 1 is still producing electricity. Unit 2 suffered a partial core meltdown on March 29, 1979. It is no longer in service. Exelon is beginning to take steps today to retire TMI station as of September, 2019. The Bureau should request that the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission force Exelon to stop generating electricity now at TMI station Unit 1 and force it to begin decommissioning both Units 1 and 2.
In addition, the Bureau should request the United States Department of Energy, in conjunction with the Bureau and residents of Pennsylvania, move the radioactive waste from the BTPSL stations into interim storage. This will isolate these radioactive wastes away from our rivers. We must use ecological wisdom.
Finally, our State’s General Assembly should not bailout any of the corporations that own the BTPSL stations. We don’t want to pay tax money for these stations to continue to operate and generate more radioactive wastes.