ANNIVERSARY PRESS RELEASE April 30th 1977/2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2007
CONTACT: Tom Wyatt 978-544-3911, email: tom@clamshell-tvs.org
Subject: Anniversary of Massive Nuclear Power Protest at Seabrook
National No Nukes campaign that stopped the U.S. nuclear industry cold began at Seabrook
Thirty years after their arrest for taking over the construction site of the Seabrook, N.H, nuclear plant, veterans of the Clamshell Alliance say nuclear power is still not a solution to our energy needs.
“Nuclear power plants weren’t safe thirty years ago and they aren’t safe now,” says Arnie Alpert, a member of the anti-nuclear Clamshell Alliance in the 1970s and 80s. “There still is no viable plan for safe and permanent storage of thousands of tons of radioactive waste -- waste that is vulnerable to terrorist attacks.” “Seabrook and other nuclear plants are pre-deployed weapons of mass destruction," said Alpert, now the N.H. Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee.
April 30, 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of the huge protest organized by the Clamshell Alliance in 1977. Over 1400 activists nonviolently occupied the Seabrook construction site, were arrested and held in NH armories for up to 2 weeks. This demonstration sparked the national anti-nuclear movement. The Seabrook Station nuclear power plant finally began producing electricity in 1990, but only after its owners declared bankruptcy and at only half the capacity and over ten times the cost of the original project. Nationally, no new nuclear plants have been licensed since then.
"A strong grassroots movement halted nuclear power 30 years ago. The occupations became touchstones, sparking similar nonviolent protests across the country and internationally. This is a powerful story,” says Kristie Conrad, another Clamshell Alliance member and spokesperson for To the Village Square: Nukes, Clams & Democracy, a new anti-nuclear project that tells the story of the Clamshell as a successful exercise in democracy.
Conrad, who lives less than 2 miles from the Seabrook reactor with her family, went on to say that “The dangers still exist. Mega corporations are running the industry for profit with no regard for people’s safety and health. We need a Manhattan Project for safe, renewable energy." The Manhattan Project was the federal initiative in the 1940’s that developed nuclear technology.
To the Village Square: Nukes, Clams & Democracy takes its name from Albert Einstein, who wrote in 1946: “To the village square we must carry the facts of atomic energy. From there must come America’s voice.” The project began with the annual Clamshell reunion in 2006 - sharing stories of the past, rekindling friendships and learning about the resurgence of the nuclear industry. It has grown to have an extensive website that documents the resistance to Seabrook HYPERLINK "http://www.clamshell-tvs.org/" (http://www.clamshell-tvs.org) and plans for a book and exhibit. The Clamshell reunion this year is the weekend of July 27-29 at the World Fellowship in Conway, NH. For more information, to go: ( HYPERLINK "http://www.worldfellowship.org/" www.worldfellowship.org)
The nuclear power industry has launched a massive public relations and lobby campaign to present itself as an answer to global warming. “Despite this well-oiled industry campaign and increased federal subsidies, nuclear energy can not be part of the solution,” said Paul Gunter, a Clamshell founder and Director of the Reactor Watchdog Project at the Nuclear Information & Resource Service.
Gunter explained, “A nuclear power relapse would squander precious resources needed to slow and reverse global warming. Building more nukes will also create hundreds of thousands of tons of unmanaged lethal radioactive waste, accelerate the spread of nuclear weapons and result in more Chernobyl-scale atomic disasters.”
EDITORS AND NEWS DIRECTORS:
The following people, who helped plan and carry out the 1977 occupation of the Seabrook Station site are available for interviews:
- Kristie Conrad (NH – Seacoast) Phone: 603-926-2737, Email: kaconrad3@yahoo.com
- Renny Cushing (NH – Seacoast) Phone: 603-926-2737, Email: rrcushing@earthlink.net
- Chris Nord (NH – Seacoast) Phone: 603-382-8153, cell 603-686-0184
Email: chrisnord@netzero.net
- Arnie Alpert (NH – Concord) Phone: 603-224-2407, Email: aalpert@afsc.org
- Jay Gustaferro (MA – North Shore) Phone: 978-884-2988 Email HYPERLINK "mailto:%20jaygustaferro@yahoo" : jaygustaferro@yahoo
- Cindy Girvani Leerer (MA - Boston) Phone: 617-686-4358, Email: cgleerer@yahoo.com
- Sharon Tracy (MA- Western.) Phone: 978-544-6142(day), 978-544-8822(evening)
Email: sharon@clamshell-tvs.org
- Phil Stone (MA- Central) Phone: 508-755-7354 (day), 978-464-5146 (evening)
Email: pstonelaw@rcn.com
- Steve Thornton (Connecticut) Phone: 860-251-6013(day), 860-525-6510 (cell)
Email: homefront1@hotmail.com
- Paul Gunter (Washington DC) Phone: 301-270-6477 Email: pgunter@nirs.org
