Search This Blog
Showing posts with label utilities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label utilities. Show all posts

Sunday, October 2, 2016

STOP the $100 BILLION Nuclear Bailout!



web banner
6930 Carroll Avenue, #340, Takoma Park, MD 20912; 301-2706477; nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org

September 22, 2016

Dear Friend,

The nuclear industry is coming after our wallets again – and there’s more than money at stake.

And we need your help to stop them. Build the #NuclearIsDirty campaign.

For the last two years, nuclear power companies have been desperately trying to get billions of dollars in subsidies to keep their dirty, dangerous, old reactors from closing. Activists in Illinois, Ohio, and New York have been doing everything they can to stop them.

But in August, the governor of New York buckled, and included nuclear power in the state's new Clean Energy Standard: if the decision stands, New Yorkers will have to pay $7.6 billion in subsidies to nuclear power--three times as much as the state would spend on renewable energy sources, just to prop up four old nukes.

Within days, nuclear corporations were lobbying state governors and legislatures, convincing them to declare nuclear power clean energy--and give them New York-size bailouts.
Help us build the #NuclearIsDirty campaign and send the message--don't waste our clean energy dollars on dirty nuclear power.

And here’s the kicker: if other states follow New York—or the next President makes it a national subsidy—it would snowball into a $250 billion bailout. Connecticut alone would fork out $5 billion. New Jersey, $10 billion. Pennsylvania and Illinois, $30 billion each.

We have to stop this train before it starts, or it will block renewable energy for the next 15 years.
The nuclear industry acts like our energy dollars grow on trees, but in the real world, this is a choice. We need to put up solar panels on our rooftops, not prop up dirty, dangerous old nukes.

That’s why NIRS started the #NuclearIsDirty campaign. And we need your help to get the word out and build the movement.

 Over the next eight weeks, we will be taking action to let the next President, and every state Governor, know that nuclear power is dirty … from uranium mining all the way through to nuclear waste, splitting atoms to make electricity destroys lives and poisons the environment, and it has to stop. Nuclear bailouts are dirty money--and every dime that goes into them is creating radioactive waste, risking a Fukushima-like disaster, and keeping us from putting up solar panels and windmills.

We need your support to get the word out there. Over the next few months, we have to reach thousands of new activists across the country, and that means expanding our outreach and organizing.

So please make a contribution to support the campaign--and then share the #NuclearIsDirty campaign with your friends.

For the next four weeks, all donations will be tripled by generous NIRS supporters. 

Together, we will stop this nuclear bailout and accelerate the transition to a carbon-free, nuclear-free nation and world.
Thanks for your activism and your support.

Tim Judson
Executive Director
Stay Informed:

NIRS on the web: http://www.nirs.org

GreenWorld: (NIRS' blog chronicling nuclear issues and the transition to a nuclear-free, carbon-free energy system) http://www.safeenergy.org

NIRS on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nuclear-Information-and-Resource-Service/26490791479?sk=wall&filter=12

http://www.facebook.com/nonukesnirs

http://www.facebook.com/groups/nukefreeclimatefreemarch/

NIRS on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/nirsnet

NIRS on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/nirsnet
Please note: NIRS never sells, rents, trades, or otherwise makes our e-mail lists available to other organizations or individuals for any reason. If you would like to unsubscribe to NIRS list, click here to unsubscribe.

This was sent to Barbara Billig by email and is being shared through her blog.

Barbara Billig is the author of nuclear novels of survival - meant to entertain and educate while telling a compelling story. Hope you enjoy. Please visit my website:

http://www.barbarabillig.com


Author: 
"The Nuclear Catastrophe" (a fiction novel of suspense) - The disaster happens in Southern California

"#Betrayal" a nuclear fiction novel - the sequel - Several years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IX1L94Y

"Nuclear Road Trip-Onward to Destruction" - Terrorists carefully plan to attack a nuclear plant near Chicago



All profits from my novels have been donated to charity



Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, March 11, 2016

FIVE YEARS AFTER THE WORST DISASTER OF THIS CENTURY - AND NO END IN SIGHT!

FIVE YEARS...WITH NO END IN SIGHT

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake hit the Fukushima, Japan, area. It was of such large magnitude that a tsunami was generated with immense waves rolling into land. The control rods of the nuclear power plant were damaged. The generators that were to pump water to keep the nuclear fuel cooled flooded out. The fuel rods could not be moved, they could not be kept cool, and a chain reaction of the nuclear material began – also known as a melt down. Once it reached a critical stage it was irreversible. Fire, explosions, and chaos ensued. It took weeks before the government of Japan realized the enormity of what had happened and decided to evacuate the residents. Five years later – the land is still uninhabitable.



Because the nuclear fuel must continue to be cooled to prevent further explosions and spreading of radioactive material through the atmosphere, water is being pumped over the melted nuclear fuel masses. That water then flows into the ocean by the hundreds of tons each day. Last year there showed more and more signs of a massive die off of life in the ocean. Seals, whales, fish, crabs, starfish, algae, and single celled organisms have been found in massive dead piles. Sea dwellers bring the toxic sea water into their bodies and over their internal organs. “Cause of Death Autopsy” (a previous blog) went into the details. But there is little dispute that this is happening and more and more scientific confirmation.

What remains amazing is that there is little outrage. There are outstanding, recognized scientists speaking out...Dr. Helen Caldicott, Dr. Arnie Gunderson, plus many others. But who is listening?

Donald Trump stated nuclear licensing needed to be reevaluated but he firmly supports further nuclear development, refusing to recognize the peril to us all. It is the safety of the world that is at risk from existing unsafe nuclear plants and incapable operators. Recently NRC employees made a public report that all but one of the nuclear reactors in the United States are operating with a deadly flaw that could cripple the cooling system and enable a nuclear meltdown at any of them.The world has shown over and over again, with its hundreds of nuclear accidents, people are not able to contain the deadly, dangerous power that they are working with.


Nuclear power plants are very profitable to the investor-backers. That is because the utility rate payers are on the hook to pay for all costs plus their 15% to 20% profit...no matter what happens. So, no wonder the controlling corporations are careless about repairs and maintenance. Nothing affects their guaranteed profits. (Not many businesses except government guaranteed monopolies are run like this).



So, as always, the happenings of the world are laid at your feet with the question – WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? Ignorance is bliss – but may lead to death. You can write letters, articles, picket, rally, riot, etc. Most of us are too busy, too uninformed, too mired in our other problems. SO JUST DO ONE THING! TODAY! ON MARCH 11, 2016 – THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS DISASTER!



SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP THE POLLUTION FROM FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT!

It takes 100,000 signatures to get a response from the White House. The petition asks for a world governing body to take over this pollution disaster. Signing this is taking a stand that ACTION IS REQUIRED!

Be a proactive person – make a statement – sign the petition.



For more information: http://www.barbarabillig.com

THANK YOU!


All profits from these novels have been donated to charity - helping to spread the word
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, August 21, 2014

The People's Climate March Starts Now--Help Spread the Word

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Internet Catastrophe....and It's Not Over Yet!

In the early years of dial up modems, the internet used to disappear or be down periodically.  Everyone would rant and scream, even though it was in its infancy and we had no idea what far out boundaries the internet would actually reach.  Besides emailing and texting, now we pay our bills over the internet, we look up every question we can imagine by googling it, we have facebook for our friends and businesses, twitter to get the latest news in 140 characters (plus maybe a picture attached) and hordes of applications for shopping, playing games, downloading EBooks and on and on.

So several weeks ago the internet connection at my house began to fade in and out periodically. I work out of my home and I had put off posting on twitter until after dinner.  When I switched on the computer it said “No Service”.  Piqued, I went to the cell phone:  “No  Service”.  Upstairs there was a computer with a DSL land line: “No service”.  I decided to wait until later.  Later was the next morning.  It was on when I awoke at 6 am.  But it went out about 8 am.  I tried rebooting the modem.  But I also have a signal booster and it was making angry red flashes.  When I tried rebooting that it went red for everything except power.

Now I am left with one alternative – call the service provider.  Verizon is a company that has grown tremendously large over the years.  They are now so large that hardly anyone can help you.  Time after time I have spent hours on the telephone with them to really get nowhere.  Call this number they say.  And when you do you spend at least 30 minutes on hold and the company says they are not the correct department after all.  But they give you another number to call.  The same experience repeats over and over until you give up.  So I was not looking forward to having to call Verizon.

Numerous phone calls resulted in about four hours of my time (one half of a work day) wasted.  The first time I got a live person on the phone I asked if there was an outage.  He said no.  He again had me test all the equipment and couldn’t find a problem.  I didn’t feel it was my equipment because it had all failed at one time – usually all four tires on your car don’t go at once.  But he referred me to another number.  This time the number was a pre-programmed message about things you can try.  At the end of the message it asked me if I would like to take a survey.  Yes, I did and gave my opinion that so far they were a zero.

The next day I decided to try one more time and managed to get a live person.  She was very nice and insisted we do an advanced check of the modem.  That meant I had to go into the equipment room and disconnect the cellular and the Ethernet routers, hook a portable wireless computer to the modem, and sit for an hour going through steps read to me over a portable phone.  It was about 80 degrees in the equipment room.  I was sweating by the time we were through.  She informed me that we had “an outage”.  I said that I had asked that question before all this time (my free time) spent on the problem and had been told there was not “an outage”.  She apologized and asked if I wanted to take a survey.  I said no.

There was then a recorded message the next day that  “there was an outage”.   I had had it.  I do most of my communication through the internet. I spend at least fifty percent of every day  using my computer.  I would drive down the street until I could pick up cell service and check my messages and answer  those that were most important on my hand held smart phone.  I called a lot of people that I usually messaged.  Now my business office had moved to my car using the minicomputer smart phone.  I went to the library to work, to Starbucks and McDonald’s, and down the street to hook onto a neighbor’s network – she let me sit in the backyard with a portable computer.

So finally I was tired of living out of my car and other’s back yards.  I researched other internet providers and noticed that Direct TV advertised 99 percent signal dependability.  We had had Direct TV for years and in the beginning it was out a lot.  But for the past several years it had turned itself around and was hardly ever out.  So I called them and they said they would send someone out to set up a new internet service that was wireless.   Meanwhile I had never heard from Verizon again and still had “No Service”.

Direct TV technicians arrived promptly on time, with a 30 foot ladder to get up on the second story  roof. They worked with my husband (who is an electrical contractor) to understand our in house electrical wiring system and protect the roof tile from breakage.  Up the ladder they went to the second story, mounted a new dish to pick up the internet signal, pushed the wire down the metal tube meant for such into the electrical room, and hooked it onto their new modem.  Presto!  We had internet after being down for a whole week!

About one hour after we had our new wireless internet service, Verizon came back on line with cellular service (I don’t know about internet because we were disconnected from them at that point).  I logged on to “My Verizon” page and chose “Make changes to your service”.  Immediately a message came on the screen  “We have noticed that you have had outages.  We recommend you change to FIOS (a new division of Verizon that is hooked to you by high speed cable.) When I typed in my telephone number associated with the account, they gave me a number to call, saying they could not service my request over the computer. That person (when I reached them) did take my order to take my internet service off my bill but tried to continually sell me FIOS.  Sorry, I was already connected to Direct TV now.

While I had hoped this would be the end of the story, it turns out that satellite wireless (at least by Direct TV Hughes) will not allow your security cameras to be accessed by the internet.  (They are working on the problem).  Four hours of calls to them got me a sorry, but cannot help you.  So it's off to another internet company next week.

I cannot understand why communication is so poor with these companies.  Direct TV spent a lot of money installing the equipment that I am now going to cancel.   And with Verizon, I hate to be paranoid but I was the only one on my street to be without internet for a week.  However, we are the last house on the street.  But they had been trying to sell us FIOS for over a year.  It isn’t possible that they interrupted our service just to get our attention, is it?  And the government doesn’t spy on us either, does it?  And I still don't have the reliable internet service I want..

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Bye Bye San Onofre Nuclear Reactor…….and what it does for YOU


Eons ago I lived in Orange County not too far from the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. Visiting San Diego made you pass right by it when using the freeway. As a science teacher in high school, it always made me wonder if it were “safe”. The mechanics of an atomic bomb were well known – radioactive materials release “nuclear bullets” as they decay. An uncontrolled increasingly large chain reaction can be created – just as all the old science films showed- dropping one ping pong ball into thousands of mouse traps set with other ping pong balls. One ball hits a trap and now 2 balls hit 2 traps and 4 balls are loose , the 4 turning into 8 balls loose, etc. The heat and energy released in an atomic chain reaction results in an explosion.


But……the nuclear reactor in a power plant has control rods that drop into the chain reaction and absorb the excess “nuclear bullets” to slow the reaction down and there is a cooling system also. Therefore the reactor heats water which produces steam to turn turbines and make electricity safely.


But…. What if it somehow got out of control. What if the unthinkable happened? What if there were human error? What if what could go wrong, did go wrong? It kept flowing through my mind. And I lived nearby.


So in 1975 I sat down to put my fears into writing. This was before the internet, when communication was through books and magazines, newspapers, and television. With the confidence produced from having no knowledge of the book industry, I dedicated myself for several years to writing a fiction novel that expressed my ideas of what would happen if an earthquake hit a nuclear reactor facility and jammed the control rods so that the nuclear chain reaction could not be slowed down and an explosion would occur. In a moment of brilliance I entitled the fiction novel, “The Nuclear Catastrophe”.


Suprisingly, I had no trouble getting the novel published with a moderate advance, a few good reviews, sales to libraries across the United States. Then: nothing. Hard to make a living that way so I moved on in life. In fact I forgot all about that adventure until the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Strangely enough, 30+ years later, an earthquake had jammed the control rods of a nuclear plant and the plant had explosions and a meltdown, totally destroying the plant.


Out of curiosity, I googled the name of my novel. It was all over the internet being sold as a second hand used book. Since it had never been brought out as a paperback, nor the now the ever present EBook, I decided to re-enter the contentious fray over nuclear power. Is it safe? Is it sane? Is it cost effective? Does it increase cancer risk? And how else does it affect YOU.


While my critics abound, so do my supporters. (Reading the reviews on my Amazon page is like a nuclear war). But the bottom line is, Southern California has 20 MILLION people who would be affected by a Fukushima type nuclear disaster. With San Onofre mothballed and shut down, we are never going to have thousands of acres abandoned and uninhabitable, with buildings sitting vacant from contamination from a nuclear plant meltdown. We are never going to have to try and evacuate more people that the existing road structure can handle, enduring massive traffic jams that last for days as people and their vehicles are radiated. We are never going to have to face leaving all our possessions behind, to be looted, to be irradiated so that they are useless. We are never going to have to realize that our losses are not covered by insurance from our home policy or insurance from the nuclear plant company. We are never going to have to figure out where to evacuate (bearing in mind that states close their borders as may Mexico or Canada – who wants your radioactive car in their neighborhood?). We are never going to be faced with starting over after a nuclear catastrophe with no job, no home, no usable car, no possessions, and no prospects.


40% of the population of the United States lives within 50 miles of a nuclear reactor. Shutting down San Onofre is certainly called for as it sits in earthquake country and is an old plant with previous problems. And YOU have the chance to keep this type solution moving forward for other nuclear plants. So YOU do not have to be subjected to starting over with nothing, email your local legislators and your friends with your thoughts that the risk is not acceptable. There is too much risk to YOU, for too little reward.


In 2013 I am donating 50% of the proceeds from the sale of the updated EBook, “The Nuclear
Catastrophe” a fiction novel of survival, to a charity that benefits the forgotten victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Towns are still sitting vacant with contaminated soil pushed into large piles. The victims have not been compensated. Your purchase of 99 cents will help them.






In this Monday, March 4, 2013 photo, a warning sign for drivers is seen beside a roadway, near a pile of radiation-contaminated soil at the Tsushima Junior High School in Namie, outside the the nuclear exclusion zone surrounding the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan. Two years after a tsunami crippled the nuclear plant, towns surrounding it remain abandoned, too contaminated by radiation for residents to return for more than short visits. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)


In this Monday, March 4, 2013 photo, a warning sign for drivers is seen beside a roadway, near a pile of radiation-contaminated soil at the Tsushima Junior High School in Namie, outside the the nuclear exclusion zone surrounding the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan. Two years after a tsunami crippled the nuclear plant, towns surrounding it remain abandoned, too contaminated by radiation for residents to return for more than short visits. (AP Photo/Greg Baker



Kiwi TNT KIWI was an experimental nuclear-powered rocket engine. In this case "TNT" stands for "Transient Nuclear Test." This safety experiment was a deliberate burn-up of the reactor by a run-away chain reaction. The release of energy caused portions of the reactor to vaporize and the reactor to destroy itself.

Kiwi TNT KIWI was an experimental nuclear-powered rocket engine. In this case "TNT" stands for "Transient Nuclear Test." This safety experiment was a deliberate burn-up of the reactor by a run-away chain reaction. The release of energy caused portions of the reactor to vaporize and the reactor to destroy itself.


Barbara Griffin Billig

Available for Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WDRWXY
Follow on twitter: @barbarabillig
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/barbarabillig/nuclearcatastrophes/
Web page: http://mysite.verizon.net/resrrmof/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
Also published as: as THE DISQUIET SURVIVORS of The Nuclear Catastrophe in Paperback
Read an excerpt now:  http://bit.ly/pY8HxX



























 
 



 
 
 
 



















Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, March 3, 2013

March 11, 2013 - 2 Year Anniversary of Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe

From: Aslihan Tumer, Greenpeace International 

Dear  Barbara,

Today I'm writing to you about the Fukushima nuclear disaster because I need your support. First, try to imagine being forced to abandon your home so quickly that you cannot even return to warn your neighbours and friends to evacuate. Then imagine being told you may not be able to live in your home again for decades. It is too dangerous, there is too much radiation. That is what happened to some 160,000 people because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. For the past two years these people have lived in limbo: not able to return, not able to start a new life, bearing the burden of the nuclear industry's disaster which the Red Cross calls an "ongoing humanitarian crisis".

Before this email you may never have heard of General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba's connection to this disaster. But these three famous companies were closely involved in the design, construction and servicing of the Fukushima nuclear reactors, which experienced multiple failures and three full meltdowns almost two years ago.

Then these companies walked away from the disaster without being held accountable, including without paying any of the cost - estimated at 250 billion US dollars.

This situation is completely unjust and must change. If you agree, please join us in taking action.

General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba are nuclear supplier companies who have left the Japanese people, especially the victims of Fukushima, to bear the burden of this nuclear disaster. In comparison with the zero dollars these companies have paid, the Japanese people have already paid 43.7 billion US dollars worth of public money.

The nuclear industry profits while creating huge nuclear risk, but people pay the price for this risk. This is partly because of flawed nuclear liability laws which prioritise the profits of the industry over the health and safety of the public by exempting nuclear supplier companies from paying for nuclear disasters. The situation in Japan is not an exception, nuclear liability laws are like this in most countries. The nuclear industry needs to be accountable just like any other industry in the world. The solution is simple "The polluter must pay."

You can help change this unfair situation - please help us build awareness of this issue and spread the word!

Thank you for supporting our work,

Aslihan



Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Consumer Ripoff by the Utility Companies

I started in 1977 making  the statement that nuclear power plants had the possibility of being dangerous.  I wrote: “The Nuclear Catastrophe”,  a fiction novel of suspense  and survival.  It foretold the idea  that an earthquake might cause the  control rods in a nuclear plant to become frozen in place and could no longer be used to control the speed of the nuclear decay of the fuel …… with an explosion and fires resulting….and the release of radioactive matter into the atmosphere, the water, the soils, the people etc.  That was just what happened in March of 20ll in the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Then as time went on I wondered why an executive at the Southern California Gas Company , married to a sister of my friend could afford to build one of the largest homes in Palos Verdes Estates (Southern California) while we were in our 40’s and still establishing our careers.  What did he do at this utility to earn so much money?  And later in Thousand Oaks, California, a water executive retired at an early age with a one million dollar bonus  (I think he had not taken vacation time – is that worth one million tax payer dollars – is not vacation absence work needs  covered by the other workers?).

Then my real estate career took off and I was busy with that and my family.  When the Fukshima Nuclear Catastrophe happened in March 2011 I googled the name of my novel (which was out of print, but had been purchased by many libraries).  It was still being sold as a used book by Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and survival sites.  So, over a period of time, I updated it and brought it out again as a 3rd edition in EBook and paperback formats.  (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WDRWXY)

Now I was interested in not only nuclear problems, but the whole concept of public utilities and what they are up to WITH OUR MONEY.  Utilities are a monopoly.   About ten  years ago in California, someone decided to let electricity be sold to private companies and let those companies resell  it to consumers on a competitive basis.  Since I  managed apartment complexes, I loved it…..the utility bills at these complexes went down about 50%.  But someone important must have been losing money because that whole deal was abruptly cancelled and once again I had one company only that I could buy from at their prescribed mandatory rate.

And where does that rate come from?  There is a Public Utilities Commission.  And an advocate for the consumer (available for complaints).  Have you EVER gotten a response from the Public Utiities Commission or the consumer advocate?  I HAVE NOT AND I HAVE COPIES OF THE LETTERS AND FORMS I HAVE FILLED OUT AND SENT.

Published in the LA Times on 12/29/12 page A14 is the following statement:  “Utilities charge ratepayers for every dollar spent…for which the state of California guarantees utilities an annual return of 11% for 40 years”.  That guaranteed return is paid by YOU, THE UTILITY USER!.

And what return is available to you, the utility user, in your investments?  1/10 of one percent to 1% at a local bank. 4 to 5% in tax free bonds (some are insured).    Even junk bonds don’t pay much more in today’s economy.  SO WHY ARE UTILTIES GETTING 11% GUARANTEED FOR 40 YEARS?  Because they can, or have, or have someone in their  pocket.  Our state and federal deficits are HUGE.  I continually hear that we will have to cut medicare.  What about cutting the UTILTIES hold on us?  We are a prisoner that no one is interested in paroling.

I wrote the Public Utilities Commission and stated that our local water company (a public company) had shown profit increases of 20% per year and they were still increasing rates.  NO RESPONSE.  My water bill started out at $500 per month in the summer and went up to $3000 per month in the summer within 5 years, until I  gave up and started letting things die.  I certainly would not want to interfere with their necessary increased profits by demanding reasonable water rates.

Have you heard the rumor that the Japanese Mafia controls their nuclear/electric production?  And that is why even though they experienced the horrific  Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, after Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs, there are still  public officials making the statements that they “cannot do without nuclear”.  It is my understanding that all their nuclear plants were shut down for almost a year after the disaster…..and they still had enough electricity for the nation.  Nuclear plants require a large investment of money – and then return a large amount of dollars to their owners.  Big Bucks for Big People.  What about the rest of us – the consumers who pay to make this happen.  We need to make our displeasure a priority. Cut utility returns in half and give half  of the savings to the consumer and half to the government and we would, as a nation, come out ahead.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)