Thursday, June 14, 2007 - Poughkeepsie Journal
Hudson River Revival addresses global issues
Weekend fest features musical lineup, exhibits, food and more
Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn some time ago was driving from St. Louis to Kansas City on his way to Los Angeles through a landscape that featured not much more than rolling hills and billboards.
Along with anti-abortion billboards and billboards advertising sex clubs, there was one for tattoos that really caught Cockburn's eye.
"It said, 'Mike's Tattoos, Done While You Wait,' " Cockburn recalled this week during a telephone interview with the Journal. "I thought, 'That's got to be in a song.' "
That image found its way into a song, "Life Short Call Now," the title track of Cockburn's most recent record. The song and album title, Cockburn said, draw inspiration from the "infomercial" society some of us live in, but was also written while he was between relationships.
"There was nobody lining up to call me," he said. "I thought, 'Somebody is out there that can offer an alternative to the loneliness of the road.' As it turns out, there was."
The long road Cockburn has traveled will lead him to the Hudson Valley Sunday, when the guitarist is set to perform solo at the the 41st Clearwater Festival, an annual gathering at Croton Point Park in Westchester.
The Poughkeepsie-based environmental organization Clearwater was founded by Fishkill resident and folksinger Pete Seeger to raise awareness of environmental challenges facing the Hudson River. The festival runs Saturday and Sunday, with a wide range of activities and music by the Cowboy Junkies, Leo Kottke and Seeger, whom Cockburn called "a moral and musical influence ... on the American scene."
"We've been trying to get Bruce for a long time," said festival director Ron Aja. "He is one of the kindred spirits. He cares about the world, he cares about the environment."
Cockburn has over his decades-long career addressed in song many of the issues Clearwater has tackled - nuclear power, clean water and mankind's overall destruction of the environment, among them.
Cockburn, in his music, also addresses intimate personal relationships, as well as far-reaching global issues like the fallout of war. The release of "Life Short Call Now" followed a trip he took to Iraq after the U.S. invasion.
Similar journeys Cockburn has taken to Nepal and Nicaragua have also inspired songs, and his albums serve as something of a diary of his journeys. He could play those songs Sunday at Clearwater, when the woven, meditative finger-picking that is a staple of his guitar playing will be punctuated by singing that moves effortlessly between a roar, a quiver and a whisper.
Cockburn recently traveled to Venezuela and was there for that country's elections.
"There is a sense of people being drunk with hope," he said. "The hope was there and it was really exciting."
Cockburn, however, hasn't written any songs about the trip.
But, "You never know," he said. "... I took a lot of notes, as I generally do when I go on a trip."
Cockburn's performance in Westchester will put him on the shores of a river polluted by a global corporation, General Electric; and several miles from a nuclear power plant - Indian Point - that has generated a lot of controversy. Both the river and the power plant could easily end up in a Cockburn song.
"The imagery is powerful," he said. "... It seems appropriate for me to play an event like this."
At the heart of this man, though, along with the issues he sings about, is the music. Truly, Cockburn and Seeger are, as Aja put it, "kindred spirits."
"Pete Seeger," Cockburn said, "is an unimpeachable image of integrity."
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
US NRC 'torn' on how to proceed with GNEP: Commissioner Lyons
US NRC 'torn' on how to proceed with GNEP: Commissioner Lyons
Washington (Platts)--12Jun2007
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is "torn" on how to proceed with the
Department of Energy's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, NRC commissioner
Peter Lyons said Tuesday.
In remarks before the Global Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing and Recycling
conference in Seattle, Lyons said the agency does not have "sufficient
certainty" from the Bush administration and Congress to know what resources
need to be assigned, and on what time scale, to develop a framework for
licensing facilities under GNEP, an initiative to develop new types of
reprocessing plants and fast reactors.
In determining fiscal 2008 funding levels, there have been differences
between the administration and Congress, as well as within the administration,
over the urgency of GNEP work.
Lyons also emphasized that spent fuel is now safely stored at reactor
sites, although there could be debates over whether such an approach is
"desirable." NRC commissioners now are considering a staff proposal for a
two-phased approach to setting up a GNEP licensing regime.
Washington (Platts)--12Jun2007
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is "torn" on how to proceed with the
Department of Energy's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, NRC commissioner
Peter Lyons said Tuesday.
In remarks before the Global Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing and Recycling
conference in Seattle, Lyons said the agency does not have "sufficient
certainty" from the Bush administration and Congress to know what resources
need to be assigned, and on what time scale, to develop a framework for
licensing facilities under GNEP, an initiative to develop new types of
reprocessing plants and fast reactors.
In determining fiscal 2008 funding levels, there have been differences
between the administration and Congress, as well as within the administration,
over the urgency of GNEP work.
Lyons also emphasized that spent fuel is now safely stored at reactor
sites, although there could be debates over whether such an approach is
"desirable." NRC commissioners now are considering a staff proposal for a
two-phased approach to setting up a GNEP licensing regime.
Warning system won't accomplish anything
Letter to the Editor - Journal News
June 13, 2007
Warning system won't accomplish anything
I watch with amazement the continuing saga regarding the deployment of the warning system for the Indian Point nuclear reactor. Has anyone considered the effectiveness of such a warning system? Assuming the sirens are heard and it is not a test, what exactly would the public do? Anyone who drives in the Westchester area is well aware of the snaring traffic due to volume and aggravated by construction. The other day I traveled over the Tappan Zee Bridge at midday to avoid traffic and it took me 25 minutes to traverse the bridge. Does anyone really believe that Westchester could be timely evacuated? I would rather have had the time, effort and expense spent on employee training, inspections and prophylactic repairs to avoid a major disaster.
Joel Schwartz
Elmsford
June 13, 2007
Warning system won't accomplish anything
I watch with amazement the continuing saga regarding the deployment of the warning system for the Indian Point nuclear reactor. Has anyone considered the effectiveness of such a warning system? Assuming the sirens are heard and it is not a test, what exactly would the public do? Anyone who drives in the Westchester area is well aware of the snaring traffic due to volume and aggravated by construction. The other day I traveled over the Tappan Zee Bridge at midday to avoid traffic and it took me 25 minutes to traverse the bridge. Does anyone really believe that Westchester could be timely evacuated? I would rather have had the time, effort and expense spent on employee training, inspections and prophylactic repairs to avoid a major disaster.
Joel Schwartz
Elmsford
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
NRC: Indian Point fines won't go to county coffers
NRC: Indian Point fines won't go to county coffers
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 12, 2007)
WHITE PLAINS - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected Westchester County's request that Indian Point's $130,000 fine for failing to install emergency sirens on time be spread among the four counties within 10 miles of the nuclear reactors to defray emergency preparation costs.
"It's government 1, the people 0," said Susan Tolchin, chief adviser to Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano. The NRC was "right to give Entergy a penalty on this, but the bottom line is, funnel that money to the counties whose taxpayers are paying for emergency services."
The federal nuclear regulators fined Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the owner of Indian Point, for missing its April 15 deadline to install a new emergency alert system.
The company has since vowed to have the sirens operating by August. In the meantime, residents of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties must rely on a decades-old set of 156 sirens with a spotty performance record in the past two years.
Indian Point's siren system is used to alert residents of an emergency at the plant and to signal them to check their televisions or radios for further instructions.
The 150 new sirens, which will have backup battery power and can be sounded through cell antennas or radio systems, eventually will replace the existing system.
In a letter dated Friday, Cynthia Carpenter, director of the NRC's Office of Enforcement, said the agency was required to deposit the fine money into the U.S. Treasury rather than send it to local governments.
"The NRC does not have the authority to redirect such funds for nonappropriated programs," Carpenter wrote to Anthony Sutton, Westchester County's commissioner of emergency services. "As such, the NRC is unable to honor your request."
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the agency has no latitude on the issue because of the federal Miscellaneous Receipts Act, which controls how money paid to the U.S. government must be handled.
"The Miscellaneous Receipts Act is designed to guarantee that Congress retains control of the public purse," Sheehan said. "It would take legislation to allow us to do this, and there isn't anything pending."
Tolchin said that the county would talk to its congressional representatives, who had already voiced their support of local municipalities receiving the fine money.
Entergy officials reiterated yesterday that the discussion of who ultimately gets the fine money doesn't involve them.
Sutton pressed the NRC in his May 15 letter to follow precedent that has allowed the Environmental Protection Agency to direct money elsewhere, but Sheehan said his agency's research showed that those transactions have not involved third parties.
Reach Greg Clary at 914-696-8566 or gclary@lohud.com.
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Susan Tolchin claims that it’s Government 1 the People 0, as if this is a game. From my perspective, Susan Tolchin represents government (bad government). Andrew Spano is government (also bad government). NRC, too, is government. Although in my book, the NRC is the only agency mentioned that is non-political and actually performs with integrity. Perhaps this is what irks pretend-to-be-greens so much. The NRC regulates based on their code of federal regulations (10CFR) and is (usually) not swayed by politics, but instead relies on facts.
Posted by: nuclear environmentalist on Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:20 pm
The old siren system is still operating, and the new siren system is also available. In effect, there are now two redundant siren systems. TJN implies that there is currently no siren system. Wrong, as usual.
Posted by: nuclear environmentalist on Tue Jun 12, 2007 5:43 am
Greg Clary writes: "In the meantime, residents of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties must rely on a decades-old set of 156 sirens with a spotty performance record in the past two years." This is not quite the absolute truth. The old sirens have tested at 100% , during the last few periodic tests in spring 2007. Therefore saying "The people must rely on" implies some problem which isn't present. Moreover, no incident requiring the live use of the sirens has ever occurred, so they are more of an addendum, than a real protection of any kind, with or without battery backup. Everybody knows this, but the politico-journalistic complex feathers its own nest by harping on irrelevancies, and stoking the ashes of a long-burnt-out issue , all while allowing no new power plants to be built. Thus we see the local media aiding the local elected cadre to personally fail their duties to provide, while ineffectively whipping the only whipping boy left to them, the white elephant never-to-be-used siren system. In Ontario Canada, where the counties own the responsibility to provide emergency plans for their nuclear stations, a complete siren system was ordered, and delivered , but the county decided in a referendum that they would be too annoying and disruptive, so never installed them. In this same county, plans are under way for new Candu reactors, to meet expected power needs. Thus we see how municipalities NOT straitjacketed by the do-nothing Spano/TJN chokehold, are actually overcoming issues that seem to strangle and paralyze the Lower Hudson. Strange, isn't it?
Posted by: la_88 on Tue Jun 12, 2007 3:20 am
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 12, 2007)
WHITE PLAINS - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected Westchester County's request that Indian Point's $130,000 fine for failing to install emergency sirens on time be spread among the four counties within 10 miles of the nuclear reactors to defray emergency preparation costs.
"It's government 1, the people 0," said Susan Tolchin, chief adviser to Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano. The NRC was "right to give Entergy a penalty on this, but the bottom line is, funnel that money to the counties whose taxpayers are paying for emergency services."
The federal nuclear regulators fined Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the owner of Indian Point, for missing its April 15 deadline to install a new emergency alert system.
The company has since vowed to have the sirens operating by August. In the meantime, residents of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties must rely on a decades-old set of 156 sirens with a spotty performance record in the past two years.
Indian Point's siren system is used to alert residents of an emergency at the plant and to signal them to check their televisions or radios for further instructions.
The 150 new sirens, which will have backup battery power and can be sounded through cell antennas or radio systems, eventually will replace the existing system.
In a letter dated Friday, Cynthia Carpenter, director of the NRC's Office of Enforcement, said the agency was required to deposit the fine money into the U.S. Treasury rather than send it to local governments.
"The NRC does not have the authority to redirect such funds for nonappropriated programs," Carpenter wrote to Anthony Sutton, Westchester County's commissioner of emergency services. "As such, the NRC is unable to honor your request."
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the agency has no latitude on the issue because of the federal Miscellaneous Receipts Act, which controls how money paid to the U.S. government must be handled.
"The Miscellaneous Receipts Act is designed to guarantee that Congress retains control of the public purse," Sheehan said. "It would take legislation to allow us to do this, and there isn't anything pending."
Tolchin said that the county would talk to its congressional representatives, who had already voiced their support of local municipalities receiving the fine money.
Entergy officials reiterated yesterday that the discussion of who ultimately gets the fine money doesn't involve them.
Sutton pressed the NRC in his May 15 letter to follow precedent that has allowed the Environmental Protection Agency to direct money elsewhere, but Sheehan said his agency's research showed that those transactions have not involved third parties.
Reach Greg Clary at 914-696-8566 or gclary@lohud.com.
TOP OF PAGE
Post a Comment View All Comments
Susan Tolchin claims that it’s Government 1 the People 0, as if this is a game. From my perspective, Susan Tolchin represents government (bad government). Andrew Spano is government (also bad government). NRC, too, is government. Although in my book, the NRC is the only agency mentioned that is non-political and actually performs with integrity. Perhaps this is what irks pretend-to-be-greens so much. The NRC regulates based on their code of federal regulations (10CFR) and is (usually) not swayed by politics, but instead relies on facts.
Posted by: nuclear environmentalist on Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:20 pm
The old siren system is still operating, and the new siren system is also available. In effect, there are now two redundant siren systems. TJN implies that there is currently no siren system. Wrong, as usual.
Posted by: nuclear environmentalist on Tue Jun 12, 2007 5:43 am
Greg Clary writes: "In the meantime, residents of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties must rely on a decades-old set of 156 sirens with a spotty performance record in the past two years." This is not quite the absolute truth. The old sirens have tested at 100% , during the last few periodic tests in spring 2007. Therefore saying "The people must rely on" implies some problem which isn't present. Moreover, no incident requiring the live use of the sirens has ever occurred, so they are more of an addendum, than a real protection of any kind, with or without battery backup. Everybody knows this, but the politico-journalistic complex feathers its own nest by harping on irrelevancies, and stoking the ashes of a long-burnt-out issue , all while allowing no new power plants to be built. Thus we see the local media aiding the local elected cadre to personally fail their duties to provide, while ineffectively whipping the only whipping boy left to them, the white elephant never-to-be-used siren system. In Ontario Canada, where the counties own the responsibility to provide emergency plans for their nuclear stations, a complete siren system was ordered, and delivered , but the county decided in a referendum that they would be too annoying and disruptive, so never installed them. In this same county, plans are under way for new Candu reactors, to meet expected power needs. Thus we see how municipalities NOT straitjacketed by the do-nothing Spano/TJN chokehold, are actually overcoming issues that seem to strangle and paralyze the Lower Hudson. Strange, isn't it?
Posted by: la_88 on Tue Jun 12, 2007 3:20 am
Monday, June 11, 2007
Power deals elude the state
Saturday, June 9, 2007 - Poughkeepsie Journal
Power deals elude the state
The state's rules allowing power plants to be built expired about four years ago - and each year, New York's demand for energy grows.
Yet, lawmakers can't bring themselves to put together a reasonable deal that allows for new construction. But they put a premium on environmental protection.
They need to sort this out, and fast.
To be sure, more power plants aren't the sole answer to the state's energy problems. Conservation efforts - including strengthening efficiency standards in appliances and providing utilities with more incentives to promote energy-use reductions - must be part of the equation. Gov. Eliot Spitzer recently released a comprehensive plan that would do just that. But the governor, as well as the state Assembly and Senate, recognize the need to increase supply as well. They are at odds, in part, over which type of power plants should be given "fast-track'' status.
The Senate would allow any power source, including nuclear and all types of coal, to qualify as long as certain pollution standards are being met.
The Assembly is more in line with Spitzer's thinking: If the state is going to offer fast-track incentives, it should do so for the plants releasing the lowest amount of emissions. They also argue that offering faster approval for nuclear plants is essentially moot since a lengthy federal review process is required in these instances.
Ironcially, the now-defunct siting law, known as Article X, was created to streamline the process for industry to build new power plants. But opponents who correctly argued the reviews also steamrolled any opposition to particular sites as a result. For instance, the old Article X law didn't spell out that utilities must offer alternative sites for what they were proposing. Article X also exempted smaller power plants from some important environmental reviews. As in years past, the Assembly's version rectifies these matters more comprehensively than the Senate's.
State energy costs soar above the rest
While the two houses continue their dispute, some matters are beyond argument. Several reputable studies, including one from the U.S. Department of Energy, say that within a few years New York is going to need more power than it is generating. The state's energy costs are among the highest in the nation. Without new sources of energy, they won't be coming down soon.
Meanwhile, the state's plants - including the nuclear-powered Indian Point and several others near the Hudson River - continue to age, having been built between between 1955 and 1976. Their licenses continue to be extended, even though they don't run nearly as efficiently or cleanly as new plants in regard to emission standards and/or their cooling systems. These plants use Hudson River water to cool their generation equipment, destroying billions of fish eggs and larvae as a result, despite screens that are supposed to mitigate the devastation.
The state should be paying more attention to which energy sources and policies are best in the long term. It can't afford to stall on this issue much longer. Getting any type of power plant built is never going to be easy. But without a law offering a road map, the difficult becomes the impossible.
Power deals elude the state
The state's rules allowing power plants to be built expired about four years ago - and each year, New York's demand for energy grows.
Yet, lawmakers can't bring themselves to put together a reasonable deal that allows for new construction. But they put a premium on environmental protection.
They need to sort this out, and fast.
To be sure, more power plants aren't the sole answer to the state's energy problems. Conservation efforts - including strengthening efficiency standards in appliances and providing utilities with more incentives to promote energy-use reductions - must be part of the equation. Gov. Eliot Spitzer recently released a comprehensive plan that would do just that. But the governor, as well as the state Assembly and Senate, recognize the need to increase supply as well. They are at odds, in part, over which type of power plants should be given "fast-track'' status.
The Senate would allow any power source, including nuclear and all types of coal, to qualify as long as certain pollution standards are being met.
The Assembly is more in line with Spitzer's thinking: If the state is going to offer fast-track incentives, it should do so for the plants releasing the lowest amount of emissions. They also argue that offering faster approval for nuclear plants is essentially moot since a lengthy federal review process is required in these instances.
Ironcially, the now-defunct siting law, known as Article X, was created to streamline the process for industry to build new power plants. But opponents who correctly argued the reviews also steamrolled any opposition to particular sites as a result. For instance, the old Article X law didn't spell out that utilities must offer alternative sites for what they were proposing. Article X also exempted smaller power plants from some important environmental reviews. As in years past, the Assembly's version rectifies these matters more comprehensively than the Senate's.
State energy costs soar above the rest
While the two houses continue their dispute, some matters are beyond argument. Several reputable studies, including one from the U.S. Department of Energy, say that within a few years New York is going to need more power than it is generating. The state's energy costs are among the highest in the nation. Without new sources of energy, they won't be coming down soon.
Meanwhile, the state's plants - including the nuclear-powered Indian Point and several others near the Hudson River - continue to age, having been built between between 1955 and 1976. Their licenses continue to be extended, even though they don't run nearly as efficiently or cleanly as new plants in regard to emission standards and/or their cooling systems. These plants use Hudson River water to cool their generation equipment, destroying billions of fish eggs and larvae as a result, despite screens that are supposed to mitigate the devastation.
The state should be paying more attention to which energy sources and policies are best in the long term. It can't afford to stall on this issue much longer. Getting any type of power plant built is never going to be easy. But without a law offering a road map, the difficult becomes the impossible.
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