Interview with California’s ‘Nuclear Terminator’ — Ben Davis shut down nuke plant in ’89, now he’s at it again (VIDEO)

Published: November 27th, 2011 at 8:33 pm ET
By Libbe HaLevy
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Things have been on edge a bit over here, so finding this brightened up the day

If you haven’t yet, take a look at the Nuclear Hotseat podcast. Quite an impressive array of interviews by an educated and well-spoken host. Unfortunately, there are a fair share of broken podcast links in the website, but you have two more options:

Go to iTunes store and search for Nuclear Hotseat and subscribe free
Visit http://lhalevy.audioacrobat.com/rss/nuclear-hotseat-with-host-libbe-halevy.xml and download the podcasts individually

Here are a few interviews you may want to download right away:

Interview with Aileen Mioko Smith (August 9, 2011), Executive Director of Green Action – Japan, based in Kyoto, about her work with families of Fukushima on evacuation issues; Download Podcast (Right-click, then ‘Save as’): http://lhalevy.audioacrobat.com/download/NuclearHotseat_9-08-9-11.mp3
Interview with Daniel Hirsch (July 5, 2011), lecturer on Nuclear Policy at UC Santa Cruz and President of Committee to Bridge the Gap; Download Podcast (Right-click, then ‘Save as’): http://lhalevy.audioacrobat.com/download/NuclearHotseat4-7-5-11.mp3
Interview with Kevin Kamps (August 23, 2011) of Beyond Nuclear, a longtime leading opponent of government and industry efforts to dump nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Kevin also has extensive knowledge about the risks of radioactive waste generation and storage at reactor sites, and transportation through communities across the country. In addition, Kevin focuses on eliminating federal subsidies for new reactors and other wasteful nuclear projects such as reprocessing. Prior to joining Beyond Nuclear he was for eight years the Radioactive Waste Specialist at Nuclear Information and Resource Service. Kevin has traveled to Chernobyl in Ukraine and founded a Michigan chapter of the international Chernobyl Children’s Project, which brings child victims of the Chernobyl accident to the United States for medical help. He has also worked with radiation victims in the U.S. and Canada, including those living near uranium mines and downwind from the Nevada Nuclear Weapons Test Site. Kevin has addressed communities in the U.S. and overseas, as well as governmental forums and federal, state, and local government agencies; Download Podcast (Right-click, then ‘Save as’): http://lhalevy.audioacrobat.com/deluge/68cf59a1-2c3c-c375-b90e-a55937b66e05.mp3

Below is the YouTube clip of Nuclear Hotseat’s November 23 interview with Ben Davis, who heads the proposed California ballot initiative to shut down all nuclear reactors in the state and drafted an earlier petition that led to the closure of the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant in 1989:

*If you know the Twitter or Facebook for Nuclear Hotseat, post in comments

Published: November 27th, 2011 at 8:33 pm ET
By Libbe HaLevy
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18 comments

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Mack

November 27, 2011 at 10:16 pm

Here are the specifics, to-date.

The initiative will require over 500,000 valid signatures, needed by April 16, 2012.

The initiative is being spearheaded by Ben Davis, Jr.

Link to the original initiative:

http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/initiatives/pdfs/i987_11-0042_(nuculear_power).pdf

Mr. Davis has reserved a domain name which will be up-and-running shortly.

http://www.californianuclearinitiative.com

If you are able to help, contact —> bendavis54@gmail.com or check the website when it becomes active.

@around 8:35 on interview, he discusses the petition…

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ENENEWS Staff

November 27, 2011 at 10:35 pm

right on Mack
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- Mack
  
  December 8, 2011 at 1:26 pm
  
  Here it is!!
  
  The petition for the ballot initiative to close California’s nuclear power plants is now available!
  
  *****************************************************************
  FROM THE WEBSITE:
  
  [quote] “You can make a difference.
  
  ■Click here to download the Initiative Petition Form and Instructions. Do this today. Time is of the essence.
  
  ■We need volunteers who are eligible to vote in California to help collect 504,760 voter signatures by April 1, 2012. Or you can sign a petition for just yourself, or friends and family.
  
  ■If you just get seven valid signatures and ask those seven people to get seven, and so forth, we will have all the required signatures within a few weeks! If you would like to complete more petitions, that would be of incredible help, too.
  
  ■Educate yourself and others on the reasons to support the California Nuclear Initiative.
  
  Register to vote.
  
  ■You cannot sign a petition unless you are registered to vote in California.
  
  ■Encourage your California friends to register to vote.
  
  Other things you can do.
  
  ■Share this site with your friends and family in California and ask them to help.
  
  ■Complete the Contact Form and we’ll keep you informed of upcoming events and other information. We will not share your information with other organizations.
  
  Take back the power.
  
  ■California citizens have a rare opportunity to decide their own fate.
  
  ■This is a grass roots all volunteer campaign.
  
  ■Let’s show the country that the 99% in California can take back the power. Be part of the solution.” [end quote]
  
  *****************************************************************
  
  FOR FULL INSTRUCTIONS AND LINK TO THE PETITION:
  
  http://sanonofresafety.org/print-petition/
  Report Comment
xdrfox

November 28, 2011 at 10:32 am

Mack, Can you also put this in the : FORUM: Upcoming meetings, gatherings, & demonstrations about energy issues (172 Comments)
http://enenews.com/upcoming-meetings-gatherings-demonstrations
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- Mack
  
  November 30, 2011 at 2:26 am
  
  I just want to stress that this is NOT an on-line petition.
  
  It will be a hard-copy paper petition drive.
  Report Comment
  - Mack
    
    December 1, 2011 at 6:21 am
    
    “Exploring Earthquake Risks to US Power Plants”
    
    http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/nukes-and-quakes/
    Report Comment
Mack

November 28, 2011 at 12:05 pm

Whoopie linked a blog and book from Ace Hoffman last week.

Mr. Hoffman supports the California ballot initiative!

Here’s Mr. Hoffman’s blog entry called “Dear Lord: Please send Einstein back! We’re scared!”

http://acehoffman.blogspot.com/2011/11/dear-lord-please-send-einstein-back.html

And here’s his free on-line book called “The Code Killers…an expose of the nuclear industry”

http://www.acehoffman.org/books/TheCodeKillers.pdf

Recommended reading!
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- Auntie Nuke
  
  November 28, 2011 at 12:13 pm
  
  Powerful book. We all deserve to have this as a reference book, as he covers an amazing range of info.
  Report Comment
- Mack
  
  November 30, 2011 at 2:27 am
  
  For more information on the CA iniative, see this enenews link:
  
  http://enenews.com/will-california-close-all-nuclear-plants-in-2012-secretary-of-state-approves-ballot-initiative-targeting-diablo-canyon-and-san-onofre-similar-idea-worked-in-89
  Report Comment

November 28, 2011 at 9:42 am

Here are two recent articles in California papers about the initiative. Both are skewed towards keeping the nuclear plants open and make no mention of the dangers of nuclear energy and its waste, or the impact a meltdown could have on their children, their environment, their health; their real estate values…

http://calcoastnews.com/2011/11/initiative-could-shut-down-diablo-canyon-nuclear-plant/

Some of the comments made on this article are excellent:

http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/11/23/poll-would-you-vote-to-shut-down-san-onofre/139673/

ENENEWS Staff

November 28, 2011 at 10:02 am

or the ongoing radioactive releases…

LINK TV, Oct. 21 — Dr. Helen Caldicott appeared on the LINK TV program Earth Focus to discuss the Fukushima crisis and other nuclear issues.

[Transcript Summary]

At 7:20 in
- German gov’t study on children under 5 that lived within 5km of reactors showed double leukemia and high incidence of solid cancers… deformities (teratogenesis). The closer to reactor, the higher the malignancy.
At 10:15 in
- Nuclear plants cannot prevent tritium (Radioactive hydrogen) from escaping… highly carcinogenic.
- It is probably what’s causing the cancers in the kids that live near power plants in Germany.
- Mack
  
  November 28, 2011 at 12:08 pm
  
  EXCELLENT POINT ADMIN!!! THANK YOU.
  Report Comment
  - Mack
    
    November 28, 2011 at 2:43 pm
    
    “NO-NUKES ANALYSIS ‘DISTORTED, BIASED,’ SAYS S.C. GREEN”
    
    http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/11/28/no-nukes-analysis-distorted-biased-says-sc-green/141193/
    Report Comment

arclight

November 28, 2011 at 10:00 am

Nuclear power growing more unpopular – several global polls show
“In countries with nuclear programmes, people are significantly more opposed than they were in 2005, with only the UK and US bucking the trend. Most believe that boosting efficiency and renewables can meet their needs.

Just 22% agreed that “nuclear power is relatively safe and an important source of electricity, and we should build more nuclear power plants”. In contrast, 71% thought their country “could almost entirely replace coal and nuclear energy within 20 years by becoming highly energy-efficient and focusing on generating energy from the Sun and wind”. Globally, 39% want to continue using existing reactors without building new ones, while 30% would like to shut everything down now.”

http://nuclear-news.net/2011/11/27/nuclear-power-growing-more-unpopular-several-global-polls-show/