NYC RALLY 10/1/11 FOR NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE

Coalition Against Nukes Sat. Oct. 1, Pier 95 Hudson River, in NYC

(New York, NY) The Coalition Against Nukes flagship rally is Saturday, October 1, 2011 at Pier 95, Hudson River Park in NYC, from Noon to 3:30 PM. Affiliated events in Toledo with Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Richmond, Florida, California and throughout the United States. Details at CoalitionAgainstNukes.org

The Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns inspired an international grassroots action, conceived on Facebook and intensified by the earthquake that scrambled two reactors at Virginia's North Anna nuclear plant—still shut down; another twelve reactors up and down the eastern US reported "unusual events" to the NRC.

Then, on August 28, Hurricane Irene demonstrated powerfully that electrical power and transportation routes can be disrupted over a very large area-for days and weeks.

In New York, Entergy's aging, leaky, 40-year old Indian Point nuclear reactors, with uncorrected safety concerns yet under consideration for additional 20-year relicensing by the Obama Administration, are located near 2 earthquake fault lines just north of NYC. Twenty million people live within 50 miles of Indian Point in NY, NJ and CT. Wall Street, Central Park, Harlem, the Broadway theatre district and the Rally location itself are all within that 50 miles.

We stand with the people of Japan who are suffering this ongoing nuclear disaster and say:
We cannot let that happen here!

WHEN: Saturday, October 1, 2011 from 12:00pm - 3:30pm

WHERE: Hudson River Park, Pier 95, 12th Ave @ West 55th Street, NYC

MORE actions in California(5), Florida (3), Illinois(2), Toledo Ohio with Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia and Washington state. All details and contacts at CoalitionAgainstNukes.org

WHY:

The health impacts of Fukushima are far from over. We are forced to watch Japan succumb to a growing medical and environmental catastrophe that will unfold for generations, and may equal or surpass the damage of Chernobyl. Fukushima made it very clear what happens when back-up systems fail, government withholds information, and Industry is in charge of safety.

The American public must be roused to the danger of the nuclear power industry and the cozy regulatory milieu, including hasty relicensing of old plants, lack of security and permanent storage for radioactive waste, insufficient evacuation plans, billions in taxpayer subsidies, and more.

"Consider the economic consequences of a meltdown at Indian Point from an earthquake. New York, the world's financial capital, could be rendered virtually uninhabitable," said Dr. Helen Caldicott, co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility and keynote speaker for the NYC Rally.

"Fukushima fallout is traversing the Northern Hemisphere, turning up in milk, food, and water; on tourists in airports, and products in shipping bays around the world," Caldicott said.

Priscilla Star, the executive director of Coalition Against Nukes, lives downwind across the Long Island Sound from Millstone Power Station's nuclear reactors in Waterford, CT.

"We hear from Japanese people affected by Fukushima every day at the Coalition Against Nukes Facebook page," said Priscilla Star, executive director. "They're afraid to abandon their homes and businesses, but afraid to stay while they get increasingly sick with symptoms of radiation sickness," she said. "They're frightened for their children and it just breaks your heart."

"We have 104 nuclear reactors here in the US, as well as earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. We're just as vulnerable," Star said.

NYC RALLY SPEAKERS:

Dr. Helen Caldicott – Keynote. Dr. Caldicott is a pediatrician who has devoted the last 38 years to education about the health hazards of the nuclear age. She is the co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Brent Blackwelder, President Emeritus, Friends of the Earth, and the most senior environmental lobbyist in Washington D.C.

Former US Congressman John Hall represented NY's 19th District, including Indian Point. Singer, songwriter and co-founder of Musicians United for Safe Energy—MUSE</li>

Harvey Wasserman anti-nuclear activist, author of SOLARTOPIA!: Our Green-Powered Earth, A.D. 2030

Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog at Beyond Nuclear.

Yuko Tonhira, Native of Hokkaido, Japan, co-founder of Todos Somos Japon and co-editor of jfissures.org.

Karl Grossman, investigative journalist, author, and professor at SUNY Old Westbury, recipient of the George Polk, James Aronson and John Peter Zenger Awards

Alice Slater, Founder of Abolition 2000, NY Director of Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and its UN representative.

Gary Null, Radio talk show host and director of the new documentary film Knocking on the Devil's Door

Poet Omar McCray, of S.A.N.I.T.Y, Students Against Nuclear Insanity for Tomorrow's Youth, author of "And the Morning Sun Raised Man".

RALLY CO-SPONSORS

Rally co-sponsors include: Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club NYC Group, Greenpeace, Ralph Nader, NYPIRG, NY Physicians for Social Responsibility, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Helen Caldicott Foundation, IPSEC, Beyond Nuclear, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, Westchester Citizens Awareness Network, Shut Down Indian Point Now, Time's Up!, Manhattan Local of the Green Party, Peace Action of NY, Haymarket Books, Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch, International Socialist Organization, ECOFEST, Rock the Reactors, and more.

Rally info and updates CoalitionAgainstNukes.org To help, volunteer or get more info, email NYCRally@CoalitionAgainstNukes.org call 631-377-1560

Note to editors: interviews with Caldicott, Star, and speakers about the National Rally in NYC, contacts and information on local rallies are available. Media contacts: Julie McQuain or John Carney, 212-477-0472, JMPRmedia@aol.com or Mediajmpr@aol.com