BEST/MATRR Voices Objections

for 19 Environmental Groups

to NRC's Proposed Weakening

of Radioactive Effluent Release Limits

Nineteen environmental groups around the country

signed onto our official Comments to the NRC

regarding the lessening of restrictions on effluent releases 

from U.S. nuclear reactors.

We protested the NRC new regulation proposal’s assumptions

(from the International Commission on Radiological Protection
(ICRP) 2007 Publication 103)

as untimely, since they fail to incorporate major studies
completed within the last decade;

and we asserted that the effluent limits and dose calculations

are based on inaccurate averaged data,

rather than accessible and verifiable real-time data.

We  protested the inaccurate data
used to regulate emission releases

and the outdated studies cited
as the basis for changes to effluent regulations. 

All nineteen organizations joined us

in calling for comprehensive real-time monitoring posted online,

as well as posted refueling and effluent release schedules,

to ensure the public is both informed

and protected from ionizing radiation exposures. 

We included this illustration

from our upcoming East Tennessee report.

The city of Chattanooga is only 17 miles downstream

of TVA’s Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant (SQN),

and the un-filterable tritium,

which bonds with water to become tritiated or H3 radioactive water,

has been rising steadily in Chattanooga’s drinking water

over the last two decades.

Our Multi-group Comments on Reactor Effluents

can be read by searching NRC.gov document ML 15286A236

or at http://best-matrr.org/15-1001_Multi-Group Comments on Reactor Effluents.pdf

Nuclear Costs for Our Nation

Garry Morgan explains the financial,
environmental and cultural costs

of nuclear power for the United States. 

He explores the financial inflation for families and businesses,

the terrible environmental and financial risks of disaster,

the health costs of ongoing radioactive waste releases,

and the insidious effect on American culture

of nuclear power management’s accepted
penchant for deceiving the public.

Morgan also addressed the TVA Board of Directors,

asking them to reveal the real costs of Watts Bar 2,

nearly double the costs claimed by TVA,

some 42 years into construction of the reactor unit,

to end the false claim that nuclear lowers pollution,

and to discontinue the costly pursuit of nuclear
at the Bellefonte site

in favor of utility scale solar power

and the development and implementation

of Combined Heat to Power (CHP) generators

to increase efficiency by using wasted heat to produce power.

Garry Morgan’s paper, “Nuclear Costs for Our Nation”

can be read at http://best-matrr.org/15-0821_Nuclear.Costs.for.Our.Nation.pdf

and Morgan’s presentation to the TVA Board of Directors

can be read at http://best-matrr.org/15-0821_TVA_presentation.pdf

NRC Proposes Weakening 

of Radiation Exposure Limits

Our Comments Submitted June 24, 2015

Despite growing numbers of studies

finding no safe dose of radiation,

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

has proposed further weakening

of exposure limits or the ALARA

(As Low As Reasonably Achievable).

Several government funded studies

of childhood cancer near nuclear power plants

followed in the wake of the 2006 German KiKK study.

As you can see, the studies show consistent

130% to 141% increases in observed cancers.

Table 1: Ian Fairlie, “A hypothesis to explain childhood cancers near nuclear power plants,” Journal of

Environmental Radioactivity , 133 (2014) 10e17, pg. 11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2013.07.024

Studies also show women and children

are far more vulnerable than men

for the same level of exposure,

EPA estimated 58% higher cancer rates

and our own National Academy of Sciences

estimated women are 52% more likely

to develop cancer than men

for the same level of exposure.

Arjun Makhijani, Brice Smith and Michael C. Thorne, “Healthy from the Start: Building a Better Basis for

Environmental Health Standards – Starting with Radiation,” Science for Democratic Action, Vol. 14, No. 4,

February 2007, pg. 3. http://ieer.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/SDA-14-4.pdf

Our Comments to protest weakening of standards can be read

at http://best-matrr.org/15-0624_NRC_RadProtectComments.pdf 

Environmental Injustice in Uniontown, AL

May 23-25, 2015

Garry Morgan visited Uniontown, Alabama

upon the request of the Alabama Rivers Alliance 

and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.

The residents of Uniontown

have been subjected to injustice

at the hands of the TVA from coal ash disposal,

and suffer from governmental inaction

at Federal, State and local levels.

Government and corporations

are taking advantage of the poor

in this Alabama Black Belt region

which has created a feeling

in the populace of helplessness.

Sewage disposal system has failed

and corruption in the grant process is evident. 

Garry worked with local residents

and other environmental groups 

o stress the importance of open government

in exposing the inner workings

of local governmental activities

at the county and municipal levels.

At corporate and higher levels of state

and federal government,

Uniontown is a classic example

of environmental racism at its worse.

Government at all levels has and is currently

failing the residents of Uniontown, Alabama.

Political-Corporate corruption is evident.

Part 1 video: https://youtu.be/IKSfsT4JlXQ

Vanderbilt Conference

on the Health and Economic Effects

of EPA's Clean Power Plan

May 17-19, 2015

Vanderbilt Medical and Law Schools

sponsored this important conference.

Gretel drove up to hear the medical speakers

and learned much about the

health hazards of pollution.

Good news that modern efficiency experts

are calling for similar programs

to those TVA implemented in the 1970's,

but abandoned in the 80's.

Maybe there will be progress

in energy efficiency ahead.

The epidemiologists

and health professionals

had not included radionuclides

in their research on particulate pollution.

Gretel gave them copies of our formal

comments on the Clean Power Plan,

and they seemed keenly interested

in learning more about nuclear pollution

and about our Monitoring Program.

Our Clean Power Plan comments can be read

at http://best-matrr.org/14-1215.EPA.CleanPower.Comment.pdf

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant 2014 Annual Review

May 15, 2015

Multiple SCRAMS & Events discussed with NRC and TVA

by BEST/MATRR's Garry Morgan

during BFN's annual public meeting.

Morgan's report on 2014 Licensee Event Reports can be read

at http://best-matrr.org/15-0515_2014.BFN-LERs.GM.pdf

We Request Nuclear Emissions Schedule

Be Posted - TVA Board of Directors Meeting

May 7, 2015

We spoke to the Board of Directors

and presented them with a request

to post their Routine Nuclear Emissions Schedule online,

and to expand and post their real-time monitoring online as well.

Gretel was interviewed by a WHNT TV News reporter,

who included part of the interview

and details from our formal letter

in the Huntsville news segment. 

Our letter can be viewed 

at http://best-matrr.org/15-0507_Ltr2TVA.pdf 

Earth Days in Huntsville & Florence, AL

Make Radiation Visible Campaign

April 18-19, 2015 

We distributed literature and demonstrated methods

of tracking, recording and analyzing radioactive pollution

at two Earth Days in Huntsville this year,

one sponsored by the City at the Hays Nature Preserve

and the traditional Earth Day Event on the mountain

around the Monte Sano State Park main pavillion.

Both were delightful events with thousands of participants,

The Hays event had a plethora of colorful educational booths

and the Monte Sano event had wonderful live music

with Microwave Dave and other local music groups.

In Florence, BEST/MATRR member Jackie Posey

distributed literature and talked with folks about

the nearby Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant

just upstream on the Tennessee River

and about radiation pollution in the valley.

The annual Shoals event is always

lively with fabulous music!

Video of Earth Day April 18, 2015, 

Hays Nature Preserve in Huntsville, Al.

 https://youtu.be/bRBTr9_Ojzk

We Challenge Watts Bar 2 Licensing

March 26, 2015

We express concerns about the radiologically stressed

Tennessee River accepting more nuclear waste,

the existing age of the plant

whose construction began in 1973,

the mid-20th century ice-condenser reactor design,

aging structural and components degradation

compounded by high-burnup fuel,

and the flawed assessments of effluents release

measurements based on averaging

rather than real-time monitoring data.

Our formal Comments to NRC re Watts Bar 2 Licensing Issues can be read 

at http://best-matrr.org/15-0326_Comments2NRCreWBN2.pdf.

Appeal to TVA - Pollution and Cancer in Our Valley

Feb. 12, 2015

Garry spoke and presented a compelling request

to the TVA Board that they consider

the suffering from cancer in our valley

communities near nuclear power plants

and stop pursuing the dangerous,

dirty, expensive and antiquated

avenue of nuclear power generation. 

Garry Morgan's comments can be read 

at http://best-matrr.org/15-0212-TVAboard.GM.pdf.

Madison County DDT Contamination

Misrepresented by EPA Officials

BEST/MATRR member Karen Jones

leads a Triana community effort

to hold EPA accountable and

push for further cleanup

of the Superfund Site

near the town of Triana.

Triana is a largely black community

adjacent to Redstone Arsenal

on the Tennessee River

in Madison County, Alabama.

The DDT contamination

of the Triana water supply

was identified in 1977, and

cleanup efforts substantially improved,

but did not eliminate, DDT and

chemical contamination in the area.

The predominance of health issues

in the community persists,

and the EPA appears to be misrepresenting

the levels of serious pollution.

Fish and water warnings

need to be posted.

This is an environmental justice issue,

and we will persist until appropriate

action is taken.

Garry Morgan's Summary of the issue can be read

at http://best-matrr.org/14-1208_TRIANA Summary-GM.pdf 

History of Yucca Mountain

Nuclear Waste Repository

Dec. 27, 2014

A Fact Sheet on Yucca Mountain History (10 pages)

has been written by Garry Morgan.

This important history of the controversial

radioactive waste repository located in Nevada

reveals the follies, the profiteers, and the wasted resources

dumped on this doomed project.

Some 70 years of research

have brought us no solutions

to the contamination for our planet

of radioactive toxins that remain

dangerous for millions of years.

Given the instability of the earth's crust,

a geological solution has proven unviable,

despite the expense.

This Yucca Mountain History can be read

at  http://best-matrr.org/14-1227_Yucca.Mountain.History.pdf.

Protest of EPA Nuclear Advocacy

in Proposed Clean Power Plan

Dec 15, 2014 

We submitted formal Comments (12 pages)

on the EPA Clean Power Plan

protesting the inclusion of nuclear power in the plan.

Although we applaud much of the proposed plan

and the EPA’s initiative to create and implement

an environmentally healthy plan,

including nuclear power is a contradiction

in EPA goals and is inappropriate

for a Clean Power Plan.

Carbon is not the only waste product of energy production

that threatens the viability of our planet.

Nuclear pollution is far more insidious in its impact

simply because it is invisible

and the poison symptoms are generally delayed;

but radioactive toxins attack living cells and

damage DNA structure,

resulting in extremely serious

long-range pollutant damage to our planet.

To encourage operation extensions for aging reactors

will impact the environment and health of millions of Americans,

since one in every three lives within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant. 

To encourage building more nuclear reactors

is a proven financial folly and environmental risk.

Nuclear power unnecessarily sacrifices the genetic future

of our citizens and other species on the planet,

at a time when truthfully clean, sustainable energy resources

are available at far lower costs to our economy,

our environment, and to future generations.

EPA can stop adding to the environmental

and financial debts produced by nuclear power

simply by eliminating your inclusion and support for

nuclear power in your Clean Power Plan.

To do otherwise is a betrayal of EPA's very purpose. 

We argue that nuclear is unreliable in a warming world,

contributes mightily to thermal pollution,

and produces highly toxic

and enduring radioactive waste.

70 years of intensive research

have not helped solve how to sequester

or dispose of these enduring toxins.

Our comments can be read

at http://best-matrr.org/14-1215.EPA.CleanPower.Comment.pdf.

Wild & Scenic Film Festival

November 7, 2014 

BEST/MATRR Again Helps Sponsor the Wild & Scenic Film Festival

We have sponsored the first two

Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Huntsville,

and plan to continue supporting this excellent venue.

The  festival is really exhilarating,

with exquisite cinematography

of wilderness sports and beautiful places

and excellent storytelling

about southern environmental issues and our natural wonders.

The folks who put this national festival together

do a really impressive job of compiling the short films

into a beautifully paced and fascinating evening of films.

The local hosts choose films from

Alabama and other southern locations

to make each event special

and locally meaningful.

The Festival was shown in the Lowe Mill Arts / Flying Monkey Theatre

to a full theatre and an appreciative audience,

and was hosted by Alabama Rivers Alliance, Alabama Environmental Council, Coalition for a Greener Huntsville and Madison County, and Flint River Conservation Association.

Questioned TVA Directors' Motives

for Continued Pursuit of Nuclear Power

November 6, 2014

We spoke and presented TVA Board of Directors

a short but pointed questioning of their motives

in continuing to pursue nuclear power,

despite the economic and environmental risks 

to their corporation

and the people of the Tennessee Valley. 

Our letter can be read 

at http://best-matrr.org/14-1106_Ltr2TVA.Directors.pdf.

Radioactive Emissions and Health Hazards

PowerPoint Presentation

at Annual APIEL Conference

for Environmental Lawyers and Activists

at University of Tennessee Law School in Knoxville

October 17-19, 2014

BEST/MATRR was invited to give a 45 minute PowerPoint presentation

on Radioactive Emissions & Health Hazards Near Nuclear Plants

during the Annual APIEL Conference for Environmental Lawyers. 

The 3 day Appalachian Conference

was hosted by the University of Tennessee

College of Law in Knoxville, TN,

an exceptional facility.

Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant 

License Extension Protest

Sept 29, 2014

We again submitted formal Comments (12 pages)

protesting the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant (SQN)

License Extension and our 3rd response to 

Environmental Impact Statements (EIS). 

We once again pointed out flaws in the process

and specific reasons the SQN Reactors Operating License

should not be extended the proposed 50%

beyond its design-basis life span. 

Our formal comments can be read

at http://best-matrr.org/14-0929_SQN_SEIS-Comments.pdf.

EPA Again Cancels Public Meeting

on Superfund Clean-Up Site

in Madison County, AL

Sept. 26, 2014

BEST/MATRR President, Stewart Horn,

and Director of Monitoring, Garry Morgan,

both submitted interview forms

after the EPA again cancelled a public meeting

 regarding the Superfund Site contaminating

the African American community of Triana

with DDT and other highly toxic chemicals. 

Triana is on the Tennessee River

adjacent to the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL.

One of our members is heading the Triana

community effort to fight the pollution.

DDT and other pollutant contamination levels

were measured by biologists at

the Department of Fish and Wildlife,

but their findings were misrepresented

in an EPA summary report. 

We are protesting this travesty and the suffering

of the largely black community it impacts.

Morgan's submission can be read

at  http://best-matrr.org/14-1208_TRIANA Summary-GM.pdf. 

DOE Plan to Increase TVA

Commercial Power Plant Production

of Radioactive Tritium for Nuclear Weapons

Sept. 21, 2014

Comments spoken and submitted (5 pages)

at Public Meeting with

the Department of Energy / National Nuclear Security Administration

(DOE/ NNSA) regarding

the Draft Environmental Impact Statement

(DSEIS) for Tritium Production in Tennessee

(at commercial TVA nuclear power plants

to produce radioactive Tritium for nuclear weapons).

We protest the proposed increase in un-filterable tritiated water

(heavy water that remains radioactive for 120 years)

that will be added to the Tennessee River,

and consequently, to Chattanooga drinking water.

Although the radiation danger from Tritium

is underplayed because it is a relatively low energy emitter,

Tritium is a form of hydrogen

that can transform H₂0 water

into radioactive H₃0 water, 

which can permeate every cell in the body

including our DNA.

According to Dr. John W. Gofman, M.D., Ph.D. 

(co-discoverer of uranium, physician, and nuclear physical chemist),

this low-energy emitter, Tritium, does more

damage to our cells and DNA

than higher energy forms of radiation.  

(See Dr. Gofman's "No Safe Dose" video at MATRR.org)

Our formal comments can be viewed

at http://best-matrr.org/14-0921_TritiumProductionComments.pdf.

Protest Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant

(SQN) License Extension

Sept. 17, 2014

BEST/MATRR spoke at Public Meeting

regarding the Sequoyah Nuclear Power

Plant (SQN) License Extension

and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

We once again point out flaws in the process and

specific reasons the SQN Reactors Operating License

should not be extended 50% beyond its design-basis life span.

Formal comments submitted Sept. 29, 2014

can be viewed at http://best-matrr.org/14-0929_SQN_SEIS-Comments.pdf

TVA Votes to Defund Energy Efficiency by 25%

August 21, 2014

BEST/MATRR spoke and sent letter to TVA Board of Directors

regarding their choices as Directors,

including their vote to reduce spending

on Energy Efficiency programs by 25%.

They were reminded that Energy Efficiency

is seven times more cost-effective than nuclear power;

therefore, they were voting to abandon their mission

to benefit the people of the valley

and instead voted to continue

to raise customers' electric bills

to pay for nuclear,

rather than saving valley residents money,

improving their homes,

buildings and factories,

and creating more jobs

with Energy Efficiency and CHP Co-Generation. 

Letter can be viewed at http://best-matrr.org/14-0821_Ltr2TVA.pdf.

EPA Proposed Weakening Radiation Protection

July 19, 2014

Comments submitted (11 pages) in protest

against EPA's Proposed Rulemaking

which would weaken Radiation Protective Action Guides,

hugely increasing doses of public exposure

to radionuclide contaminated water.

We called on the EPA to reexamine its dosage models

and to use verifiable data via real-time monitoring,

rather than theoretical models,

to determine dose limits for nuclear workers

and the U.S. public and environment.

Comments can be viewed

at http://best-matrr.org/14-0731_EPA.ANPR.Comments.pdf.

BEST/MATRR Annual Members Meeting

June 14, 2014

Garry Morgan gave a presentation on radiation monitoring

and Gretel Johnston presented the campaign to

MAKE RADIATION VISIBLE. 

Guest Speaker, David Lochbaum

of the Union of Concerned Scientists,

presented a paper on

Tritium Emissions from Sequoyah and Browns Ferry

 that he had completed

as a gift to our group.

There were lively discussions

about nuclear issues and

on our goals for the coming year,

and members voted on officers: 

Stewart Horn was voted President for a second term, 

Gretel Johnston was voted Vice-President and Secretary,

and Garry Morgan was voted BEST/MATRR Treasurer.

Members came from Chattanooga in the east

and from southwest Tennessee in the west,

as well as from north Alabama.

Browns Ferry Annual Safety Meeting

May 21, 2014

Garry spoke and presented to the NRC and TVA

important issues at the

public Browns Ferry Annual Safety Meeting.

Issues included antiquated parts 

and resultant, repeated power supply failures.

Mr. Morgan outlined 25 serious problems identified

in a 2010 Institute for Nuclear Power Operations

(INPO) report on Browns Ferry,

and asked if any of the problems had been fixed.

He pointed out that a later peer-review report on Browns Ferry

by the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) in 2013

would verify progress on the issues

reported in the 2010 INPO report, and asked

for access to read the non-profit organization's WANO report.

Public access to these reports, commissioned by TVA

and issued by these two non-profit organizations,

has be denied by TVA on grounds

of potential proprietary information.

We strongly contest this denial of access

and have requested permission

to review the reports

without removing them from the TVA library.

Permission denied.

BFN safety issues can be viewed

at http://best-matrr.org/14-0521-BrownsFerrySafetyMtg.pdf.

TVA Board Meeting

May 8, 2014

We Call for Energy Independence 

We spoke at the TVA Board Meeting and presented the Directors

with a (14 page) letter calling on the TVA to

"Lead the Nation Towards Energy Independence"

and presenting documentation on the environmental and economic

advantages of Energy Efficiency and Renewables.

Gretel was also interviewed by a Huntsville WHNT TV News reporter,

who took a copy of the letter

and included part of the interview

and information from the letter in the news segment.

Letter can be viewed at http://best-matrr.org/14-0508_Efficiency2TVA.pdf.