RADIATION DETECTIVES WORKSHOP

KNOW NUKES WORKSHOP  –  RADIATION DETECTIVES

OCTOBER 6, 2012

There is a nuclear plant near you!

How much nuclear radiation is in your soil, air and water?

Where does it go?

How does it impact your health?

How can we find out?

BEST/MATRR invites you to join a citizen project aimed at

collecting radionuclide data our agencies are not collecting.

Lou Zeller, Executive Director for Blue Ridge Environmental

Defense League, will lead you through training for radiation testing. 

Try your hand at using a Geiger counter and computer aides

designed to conduct the radionuclide search.

Join a worldwide network of citizens

monitoring radioactive releases.

Where?

JACKSON COUNTY PARK

(old marina restaurant)

SCOTTSBORO, ALABAMA

When?

BEST MEMBER MEETING – 11:00 a.m. CST

(Light lunch served for those attending this meeting.)

RADIATION WORKSHOP – 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. CST

(Beverages & snacks served. Please bring your own cup)

Both sessions are free. Please RSVP

Join BEST/MATRR - Because It Matters

KNOW NUKES Y'ALL SUMMIT hosted by BEST/MATRR

We hosted an amazing array

of speakers and workshop leaders

for this weekend event

at the University of Tennessee

at Chattanooga

June 28-30, 2012.

25 environmental groups

co-sponsored this event,

a memorable time

of learning and bonding

with 100 fellow activists

and citizens concerned about

the increasing accumulation

of nuclear wastes

in the South.

To read reviews and

see photos and presentations

visit:

KnowNukesYallSummit.org

'KNOW NUKES Y'ALL' poster & logo created for BEST/MATRR, May, 2012

Benefit Concert - BONNIE RAITT

Thanks to our amazing fellow activist,

TVA whistleblower, and longtime friend of Bonnie's

– ANN HARRIS of We the People –

40% of the Benefit Ticket sales from this concert

were donated to MATRR.org

This was a brilliant performance

to a sold-out crowd

in the historic Tennessee Theatre.

Bonnie keeps reaching higher peaks

in her music and her performance

was uplifting and deeply moving,

as well as providing

a riveting, rocking good time!

Y'all go get her new album

– Slipstream –

it is wonderful!!

'NUCLEAR FALLOUT' - In Honor of Future Cancer Victims of Fukushima

'Nuclear Fallout' poster created for BEST/MATRR by Graphic Artist Roy Simmons

'Nuclear Fallout' Events

March 12, 2012

In Honor of Future

Cancer Victims of Fukushima

BEST/MATRR

spearheaded this

1st annual event

honoring

Fukushima victims

of radiation poisoning.

Multiple studies show significant

rises in cancer mortality rates

near nuclear power plants,

especially in women and children.

In addition to the natural disasters

of the earthquake and tsunami,

the radiation exposures

will have tragic

long-range effects

on Japan and

the families of Fukushima.

Flash mob 'die-ins' showed solidarity

with Fukushima victims

exposed to nuclear power radiation

and brought attention to

the delayed symptoms

(but very real dangers)

of nuclear power

radiation releases.

'Nuclear Fallout' photos on MATRR.org Facebook:

Atlanta, Georgia

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Huntsville, Alabama

Nashville, Tennessee

St. Petersburg, Florida

Tucson, Arizona

Honoring Fukushima Victims

FUTURE RIVER FEST, Connecting People and the River, Sept. 24, 2011

Future River Fest poster created for BEST/MATRR by Tina Terrell, September 2011

RIVER FEST

We organized and sponsored an all day festival

by the Tennessee river in Chattanooga

with numerous speakers and bands,

including Microwave Dave & the Nukes,

and booths demonstrating clean energy,

water conservation,

and river habitats, etc.

NUCLEAR TORNADOES

Nuclear Tornadoes map created for BEST/MATRR, April 2011

We created this map

of the 50 mile zones surrounding

TVA nuclear power plants

superimposed on a NOAA track of

Category EF-4 and EF-5 Tornadoes

that ripped past 6 nuclear reactors

and over six million pounds

of highly radioactive

spent fuel in cooling pools

in the Tennessee Valley

on April 27, 2011.

BEST/MATRR members regularly call for higher standards

and greater vigilance regarding nuclear power safety

at TVA board meetings and NRC hearings.

OVERDRAWN $8 BILLION and No Sense TVA Check

'Check Voucher' created for BEST/MATRR, March 2010

Printed on card stock with information

about nuclear energy on the back.

Distributed to TVA ratepayers

who send the check in with their bill payments.

(Read about Bellefonte below.)

STOP BELLEFONTE

A classic photo by BEST member Tom Moss. 

Photograph of rear gate, Bellefonte Nuclear zombie plant.

Construction began in 1974

and stopped at about 60% completion in 1986.

The construction license was withdrawn

by TVA in 2006, 

and NRC inspections and oversight halted.

From 2006 until 2009

critical components, piping, and turbines

were cannibalized (torn-out and sold)

with no NRC oversight.

In 2010, the NRC granted re-instatement

of the original 1973

TVA nuclear construction license

which circumvented modern environmental and
nuclear construction requirements.

Many environmental hazards have been identified

for the Bellefonte site since 1973,

including proximity to earthquake faults,

sink holes, and river current reversals

at both the outflow and cooling intake locations.

The Tennessee Valley has seen an increase

in severe thunderstorms and

highest intensity tornadoes,

Categories EF-4 and EF-5,

with the onslaught of global warming.

There has also been a substantial

population increase

within the six mile radius

of the Bellefont Nuclear Power Plant.

The lack of quality control

and the process of natural aging

have resulted in the deterioration

and breakage of several reactor containment

support tendons,

an ongoing problem

even before the NRC reinstated

the antiquated 1973 construction license.

(see nuclear engineer, Arnie Gunderson's report on Bellefonte)

THE OLD BELLEFONTE TOWN SITE, GHOSTS OF BELLEFONTE

The Old Martin Inn chimney at Bellefonte, Alabama with the nuclear plant cooling towers and reactor containment vessels in background. Photo and graphic June 2008, by Garry Morgan

"Everything put together

sooner or later

falls apart."

– Paul Simon