Nuclear Hotseat

Directors Mary Beth Brangan and Jim Heddle, interviewed by Libbe HaLevy

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Some weeks, it's personal.  A film about a nuclear nightmare only 70 miles from my house. 

Southern California's now-shuttered nuclear reactors at San Onofre continue to offer nightmare possibilities.  How was this allowed to happen?  What did it take to shut it down?  What's could happen to the highly radioactive waste being stored in sub-standard canisters within 100 feet of the Pacific Ocean?   And who are the dedicated activists, scientists, engineers, whistleblowers, and concerned self-educated citizens who fought and continue to fight to prevent San Onofre from turning into another Fukushima... or worse? 

All these questions are addressed in a new film by Mary Beth Brangan, Jim Heddle, and Morgan Peterson, SOS: San Onofre Syndrome.  This week, we talk with two of the three directors behind this monumental film, more than a full decade in the making:

• Mary Beth Brangan and Jim Heddle, life and work partners since 1983, are documentary video and radio producers, educators, community and international organizers.  They co-direct EON, the Ecological Options Network,  producing video reports and blogs on activists and organizations working at local, national, and international levels for solutions to planetary challenges.
• MARY BETH BRANGAN is an author, award-winning filmmaker and an experienced organizer at the community, state, national and international levels.  She is the Executive-Director and co-founder with her partner, James Heddle of EON, the Ecological Options Network, a non-profit organization. EON's films have been broadcast on PBS nationally and broadcast internationally and have been screened at the United Nations, the US Congress and Parliaments, libraries and universities worldwide.  
• JAMES HEDDLE (Co-Director) has been a filmmaker and writer for the last forty years of his life.  Before that he worked in civil rights as an inter-group relations professional, then as a university teacher and administrator in communications and psychology before going freelance as a media producer.  With his partner Mary Beth Brangan he co-founded and co-directs EON – the Ecological Options Network, a non-profit education and media company. 

Trailer:

https://youtu.be/Qd3tgwlItv0?si=Z-gj-PRohLD5eEo-

To Buy Tickets:  https://app.entertainmentoxygen.com/feed/e42963ea-7477-4952-a073-31b60e4e280d

To Purchase Tickets: 

https://app.entertainmentoxygen.com/feed/e42963ea-7477-4952-a073-31b60e4e280d

• ...and yes, I do show up in the film for about a total of 3 seconds:

There I am, front row second from left, recording the event with former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairs Gregory Jaczko and Peter Bradford.  

• Grand Canyon Trust - Support the White Mesa Ute community on October 7 - Spiritual walk, speakers, 11 a.m. Rally.
• Petition for UK citizens:  Remove the word "CLEAN" from nuclear branding
• Hanford Challenge Resource Page for Hanford nuclear workers
• Nuclear Heartland USA - A Guide to the 450 Land-Based Missiles inside the United States from Nukewatch
• IAEA essay competition for people between 18 and 24.

As I explained on the program, I am dealing with an infestation of rodents in my home and have to clear out my storage space for the exterminators to do their work.   That means my archive of more than 600 Nuclear Hotseat episodes must be moved within the next two weeks.  I lack the physical and financial means to rent a storage space and people to move approximately 12-15 cartons of files.  If you can help, email me at: [email protected].  Long term, I'm also seeking a university or research facility that would be willing to take the archive and make it available to the public.  If you can help there, let me know.  THANK YOU! 

The Esteemed veteran anti-nuclear activist Harvey Wasserman.

I just returned from a week off-grid and offline, only to discover that the interview I wanted to set up was already being conducted  by esteemed veteran activist Harvey Wasserman, and he has graciouslly allowed me to present excerpts from it here.  Harvey holds a regular weekly Zoom call on nuclear and political election issues , with a focus on California but always branching out to address national topics.  Here, he focuses on reactor embrittlement issues at Diablo Canyon in California and the proposed re-opening of Pallisades nuclear in Michigan, bringing in a national and historic perspective to the discussion. 

• Harvey Wasserman is an American journalist, author, democracy activist, and advocate for renewable energy.  He has been a strategist and organizer in the anti-nuclear movement in the United States for over 30 years.  He has been a featured speaker on Today, Nightline, National Public Radio, CNN, and other major media outlets.  Harvey knows where the nuclear bodies are buried... and he's funny, too. 
  
  
• Linda Seeley has been a member of the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace since moving to San Luis Obispo in 1982.  She's been a member of the Board of Directors since 2008 and currently serves as a spokesperson as well as Vice-President.  Additionally, she serves on the Diablo Canyon Decommissioning Engagement Panel.
  
  MOTHERS PETITION: Petition and Digby Macdonald’s Declaration
  
  
• Kevin Kamps is Radioactive Waste Watchdog for Beyond Nuclear.  Kevin specializes in high-level waste management and transportation; new and existing reactors; decommissioning; environmental and public health risks associated with government and industry efforts to dump commercial irradiated fuel rods on Native American lands in the western United States.

With international protests growing against Japan for releasing Fukushima's radioactive tritium-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean, the big story Japan Times can find to cover regarding Fukushima is... a lack of young baseball umpires...? 

• Nuclear Truth Telling in Memory of Daniel Ellsberg - Tuesday, September 26, 7-8:30 pm Eastern

(To access video of the speech, click on picture)

Indonesia:

Australia:

South Korea:

Santa Monica, CA:

It's not often that those who oppose nuclear get good news, but in recent weeks there's been a deluge of positive legal decisions and legislation that are enough to make a hardened nuclear campaigner giddy.  We look at just four of the good news stories that have dropped since the beginning of August, seen through the eyes of veteran campaigners who have worked for years to obtain these positive results:

• WEST TEXAS "INTERIM" HIGH LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
  Karen Hadden is the Executive Director for the Sustainable Energy & Economic Development or (SEED) Coalition in Texas. The group works for clean air and clean energy, supporting affordable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions to meet our energy needs. Karen has been involved with numerous nuclear issues in Texas and the southwest - and here we catch her the day after a momentous decision was made on one of them. We spoke on August 28, 2023.
  
  
• RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT
  Mary Dickson is an award-winning writer, playwright, downwinder, and thyroid cancer survivor who is internationally recognized for her advocacy for survivors of nuclear weapons testing. She has spoken and written widely about the human cost of the arms race, including twice at the World Forum on Nuclear Survivors in Hiroshima. For the past three years she has been part of a consortium of downwind communities across the West as well as national allies working to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA.  Here, she reads her op-ed piece on the issues that she wrote for the Salt Lake Tribune and was published on August 3, 2023.
  
  
• LAW TO REPEAL ILLINOIS' MORATORIUM ON NEW NUCLEAR REACTOR BUILDS
  Dave Kraft is a safe-energy/anti-nuclear advocate and co-founder of Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS), where he has served as its director since its inception in 1981.  Kraft’s work is to provide the public with credible information about the hazards and effects of nuclear power and waste, and the viable means to replace them.  He has testified in hearings related to nuclear power at the state and federal levels; and is a co-founder of the Radiation Monitoring Project, designed to provide training and field monitors to communities contaminated by radioactive substances. 
  
  I spoke with Dave Kraft on June 25, 2023.
  
  
• Dave suggested that people watch the film ATOMIC BAMBOOZLE; the sizzle reel is available on Youtube. 

• HOLTEC PLAN TO DUMP RADIOACTIVE SPENT FUEL POOL WATER INTO HUDSON RIVER - Manna Jo Green spent 23 years as the Environmental Action Director of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a post from which she only recently retired. The group seeks to protect the Hudson River and surrounding wetlands and waterways through advocacy and public education. It was founded by folk singer Pete Seeger with his wife Toshi Seeger in 1966.  The group has worked long and hard to first shut down the Indian Point nuclear reactors - located only 35 miles from Broadway in New York.  Since achieving shutdown in 2021, the group has moved to mandate the proper handling of radioactive waste, most especially the water.  Here, Manna Jo Green lets us know what the situation with the radioactive spent fuel pool water was and what has just happened.  We spoke on September 1, 2023.

NOTE:  If you're seeing this page before Tuesday, September 12, that's because it's being posted while I'm away off grid, detoxing from all things nuclear. 

As if Los Alamos isn't already contaminated enough with radioactive materials, now they want to build a new plutonium pit factory.  What's wrong with that addition to this picture? 

• The US already has nearly 6,000 nuclear weapons. So why the rush to build not one but two facilities to make more plutonium pits, the trigger mechanism on the bombs?  Greg Mello of Los Alamos Study Group follows the money, decodes the facts, reveals the ugly truth.  He is one of the founders and Executive Director of the Los Alamos Study Group, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico who has led the group since its founding in 1989.
  
  Los Alamos Study Group has worked for nuclear disarmament, environmental protection, social justice, and economic sustainability, with actions including policy research, environmental analysis, congressional education and lobbying, community organizing, and litigation. Greg brings more than 30 years of up close perspective on Los Alamos to our conversation.
  
  We spoke on August 25, 2023.

Children!  Children!  You smugly denounce Greenpeace and its anti-nuclear talking points as "old fashioned?" How about studying your nuclear history before you let others set you up as "another" Greta Thunberg?!?!???

• It's official!  From the International Uranium Film Festival PRESS RELEASE: "Nuclear Hotseat's Libbe HaLevy has been named as Special Ambassador of the International Uranium Film Festival to the USA.  In that capacity, she will meet with activists, NGOs and potential sponsors to help bring the films of the IUFF to local communities facing nuclear issues. " 
  
  Here's a LINK to the full press release.  If you have any questions about the IUFF  or want to explore having your local community host a showing of films, CONTACT:  [email protected]
  
• As money changes hands on Capitol Hill, is it lobbying or bribery? - Article by Linda Pentz Gunter
  
• The deep roots of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste fight — and why it continues to this day
  
• How a nuclear disaster spurred Fukushima to become a renewables leader
  
• A River is Not a Radioactive Sewer by Dr. Gordon Edwards - Excellent article by the head of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.

International Uranium Film Festival 2024 - U.S. Tour - Draft Itinerary
Contact Norbert Suchanek or Marcia Gomes de Oliviera
for details on how you can schedule a stop on the tour in your area - [email protected]

In Seoul, South Korea, more than 50,000 gathered to condemn Japan's release of radioactive tritium-contaminated water from Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean and urged the Korean government to file a lawsuit to stop the discharge in the International Justice Court. 

The nuclear industry is fond of treating radioactive tritium as some kind of benign radionuclide - not dangerous, nothing to get your knickers in a twist about, there there Missy... - in order to dump massive quantities of tritium-contaminated water into our oceans. This narrative could not be more wrong. To build understanding, I’ve revisited two important interviews dealing with tritium and edited together the important bits to give you some concentrated clarity.

• Dr. Ian Fairlie is a London-based radiation biologist and independent consultant on radioactivity in the environment. He has been a consultant on radiation matters to the European Parliament, local and regional governments, environmental NGOs, and private individuals, with a focus on the radiation doses and risks arising from the radioactive releases at nuclear facilities.
  
  A Primer on Radiation and Radioactivity by Dr. Ian Fairlie 
  Website:  IanFairlie.org
• Original full interview:   NH #574: 11th ANNIVERSARY! Tritium Radiation Lies – Dr. Ian Fairlie on Fukushima, Pilgrim
• Tim Deere-Jones is an internationally known marine biologist - a researcher and consultant - who specializes in analysis of the radiation threats to our planet’s waters from a wide range of nuclear sources. We’ve had him on the show many times before, the reason being that he’s thorough, articulate, and gives us plenty to think about.
  
  Tritium Notes compiled by Tim and used as the basis of our full interview.
  Tim Deere-Jones is most easily reached through messaging on Facebook.
• Original full interview:  NH #613: TRITIUM: Japan’s Radioactive Water Dump Lies, Tritium Truth w/Marine Biologist Tim Deere-Jones
  
• Dr. Chris Busby LINK - Is the Release of Radioactive Contaminated Water From the Fukushima Nuclear Site to the Sea Acceptable? Is It Safe?

• Endless fallout: the Pacific idyll still facing nuclear blight 77 years on
• Sustainability has lost its meaning as the nuclear lobby triumphs - Dr. Paul Dorfman
• Google form to REGISTER YOUR ACTIONS such as rallies, online hashtag, film screening, press releases etc.     
• Press Conference:  A Flawed Decision for Fukushima: Scientific Problems with the ALPS Water Treatment Plan

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_k-HMO0BxU
• Anti-nuclear demonstration in Wales:

https://youtu.be/IhPyUY8xNtU?si=urRZlUXDUv0_NiZM

Protest march by CND Cymru  from Trawsfynydd to Eisteddfod in  Wales.