Originally a Letter to Editor from S.A.V.E., transcribed by Brandon Ladd

We of S.A.V.E. (Students Actively Volunteering for Earth, SUNY Oswego) declare that New York State should shut down the nuclear plants or SUNY Oswego. Due to poor maintenance and management, the three nuclear power plants in Oswego County pose an everyday threat. One of the plants, Fitzpatrick, is owned and operated by the Power Authority of the State of New York (PASNY), has just been placed on the embarrassing Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) watch list of worst run nuclear power plants in the nation, a dubious distinction given ounto onlya handful of the 111 U.S. power plants per year. 

To answer some of the plant’s problems, PASNY is committing to Fitzpatrick $20 million for an administrative building and at least $12 million a year on top of the $70 million budget. While the state of New York faces a severe budget crisis, Fitzpatrick is allowed to run in a state of severe disrepair and to operate at a net loss. To balance that loss, SUNY Oswego, as well as the other SUNY colleges, will have to raise tuition and cut many faculty members and courses. Is this New York State’s choice: the elimination of education and growth in order order order to secure nuclear waste, life-threatening power plants, and an even larger deficit? 

We at S.A.V.E. are concerned about the safety of the nuclear plant employees and the sourrounding community members, including Oswego residents, students from around the world, and families within a 50-mile radius of the plant, which includes those living in Syracuse. The NRC reported that in 1990, the Power Authority of the State of New York’s Fitzpatrick nuclear plant exposed its employees to more radiation than any other nuclear plant of its kind in the United States, with untold releases of radiation into the neighboring community.

To reduce this radioactive exposure to its workers, Fitzpatrick has proposed to use the ALARA (As Low As Reasonable Achievable) method. Does “reasonably” mean the State of New York’s nuclear plant will continue to operate with insufficient funds, ill management, over-worked employees, ignorance of safe plant maintenance and operation, faulty equipment, and hundreds of uncompleted work orders which are vital to safe operation? Does “reasonable” mean problems will continue to be remedied by quick fix methods rather than repairing root causes? Is it “reasonably achievable” when we in Oswego cannot feel safe when a daily leak of 6,000 gallons of radioactive water goes unnoticed and when plant workers are “‘living on the edge’ of sound safety performance”? 

We at S.A.V.E. are also very concerned about the toxic waste created by the nuclear power plants. We call for the immediate shutdown of the nuclear power plants and demand they remain shut down until there are scientifically-proven safe methods to contain and store the toxic nuclear waste. If the power plants continue to produce the nuclear waste. then the waste must remain stored on site. 

-S.A.V.E..

SUNY Oswego

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