NRC holds open house about Fermi, protest takes place
By Blake Bacho
Posted May 1, 2019 at 8:45 AM
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held an informational open house in Monroe Tuesday; and in response a protest took place at Loranger Square.
A deeply tanned Donald Trump and a dapper Homer Simpson stood solemnly in front of a makeshift casket carrying an effigy of the vintage energy mascot, Reddy Kilowatt.
This was the scene Tuesday in front of the Loranger Square Pavilion in Monroe, where citizens gathered to hold a “nuclear energy funeral” in protest of the current situation with DTE as well as nuclear energy as a whole. The event was hosted by the antinuclear power advocacy group, Citizens Resistance at Fermi 2 (CRAFT), and held just hours before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) annual open house.
“It’s time to end nuclear power,” said CRAFT co-chair Jessie Collins. “We’ve had the anniversaries of Chernobyl, which is now a sacrifice zone, it cannot be lived in again. Fukushima is another sacrifice zone, it won’t be able to be lived in ever again. So why risk another one?”
While CRAFT does not have formal members, Collins says the group currently has over 500 members in its Facebook group and distributes its newsletter to about 1,500 people.
A small crowd gathered, despite the inclement weather, to take part in Tuesday’s nuclear funeral. Several attendees dressed up for the occasion, with one protester donning a Donald Trump mask and two more wearing the likeness of Homer Simpson.
A brief ceremony was held, in which those gathered could say a few words over the casket. Reddy Kilowatt was also referred to as Mr. Fission.
″(We’re trying to) draw attention,” Collins said. “They keep saying that all is well, and it’s not. (We want to) put it out there, and have a little fun while we’re at it. (But) it’s a very serious thing.”
Fermi remains under the NRC’s normal level of oversight after operating safely throughout 2018, agency officials said. Stephen Tait, nuclear communications manager said in a statement that Fermi 2′s top priority is “always the health and safety of the community.”
“We continue to demonstrate that, just as the NRC states in its assessment of our operations in 2018,” Tait continued. “We are ranked as green — the best level, in terms of performance — in all our NRC indicators.
“We are proud to be a part of this community and we look forward to generating safe, reliable energy for decades to come.”
Keith Gunter, board chair of the Alliance to Halt Fermi 3, took part in Tuesday’s gathering. He echoed Collins’ sentiments about the danger Fermi 2 represents to the community.
“I have an old T- shirt that says ‘The experts agree: everything is fine,’” Gunter said. “But nothing could be further from the truth. The nuclear industry really is a zombie… There’s 90,000 metric tons of the most radioactive material on the planet scattered on nuclear sites around the United States, with nowhere to put this waste and no end in sight.”
Collins said the goal of her group is to promote renewable energy while continuing to advocate for the eradication of nuclear plants like Fermi.
“Why risk our area becoming another sacrifice zone?” she said. “Where will the next one blow? We’re just trying to do our best to make sure it’s not here.”
Is Keith chanting ‘Om’ or ‘Ohm’?
VIDEO: Nuclear funeral
Two-dozen environmental activists held a “funeral” for nuclear power in Monroe, Mich. on April 30, 2019.
JC REINDL