ANGERED LONG ISLANDERS PROTEST NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION'S URESPONSIVENESS

Protest planned to draw attention to NRC and their failure to fulfill the Congressional mandate to "assure the public health and safety"

[Long Island, NY] The Coalition Against Millstone is staging a protest before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) "meeting" scheduled for 11 a.m., at the Riverhead Town Hall. The demonstration will begin 15 minutes before the meeting and is intended to call attention to NRC unresponsiveness.

In May 1998, the NRC came to Long Island for a meeting on issues surrounding the restart of Millstone Unit #3. The issues raised by Long Islanders were never addressed or resolved. "Now, the NRC will again ignore the concerns of Long Islanders; from our congressman down to the last citizen, our concerns will certainly fall on deaf ears," stated Dennis Avedon. "The demonstration is intended to draw attention to the inadequate treatment the NRC begrudgingly allows Long Islanders," stated Cile Downs of the Accabonac Protection Committee and a member of the Coalition.

"The NRC has made it clear that the comments of Long Islanders will not be part of the administrative record for decision on the Unit #2 restart and this is more unacceptable and unresponsive treatment by the NRC," stated Downs. "Citizens on Long Island are outraged and sick and tired of the lack of responsiveness; the same environmental and health and safety issues were raised last spring around the Unit #3 restart and nothing has been done," stated Debbie O'Kane of the North Fork Environmental Council and a member of the Coalition. "Congress charged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the overriding responsibility for assuring public health and safety in the operation of nuclear power facilities and they have failed to meet that responsibility for Long Islanders," stated O'Kane. "The NRC is nothing more than a shield for the nuclear industry and it is abundantly clear by the way they have responded to the genuine concerns raised by Long Islanders," she added.