11-2SG Seacoast Anti-Pollution League
Grant Round:
2011 September
Grant Program:
Small Grants
Grant Type:
Other Grants
Grant amount requested:
2,500.00
Attachments
Please provide a brief description of the project for which you seek funding.
We will attract new volunteers and educate the public through a film series and another local forum focusing on past, present and future threats from nuclear power. We will gather info relevant to the issues these films present and tie it in with the ongoing debate over re-licensing of the Seabrook plant. We will engage and organize volunteers to participate in key hearings now set for spring 2012 and we will press local media to provide better coverage. SAPL has worked since 1969 to challenge the construction and unsafe operation of the Seabrook nuclear power plant. We played a major role as intervener in NRC operating license hearings and have continued to operate in a watchdog role since its opening in 1990, drawing attention to numerous safety issues at the plant. With the plant owners' proposal in 2010 to seek a 20-year re-licensing, our efforts entered a new and more critical phase. Seabrook is only half way through its current license period of 40 years, yet it has already has some of the same problems as older plants, from leaking tritium to steam generator corrosion. More recently, groundwater has weakened the plant foundation's concrete and threatened key electrical cables, which may prove more problematic. The owner is just now analyzing this, but it has already led to at least a one-year delay in the re-licensing schedule. While many in the region might have been inclined to support license renewal a year ago, the onset of the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan has clearly re-focused public attention and raised critical safety concerns. We have gained much attention and engagement since the onset of our outreach last year. Notably, we and allied groups were granted intervener status in the re-licensing process, we held a very successful public forum last June and we've given three formal and other informal talks throughout the Seacoast region. We were also able to organize volunteers for three hearings/public meetings with NRC officials. We gained wide media coverage for these events, which helped attract more volunteers and supporters to our efforts. In short, we've built a strong base for further progress in the coming year. Fall - Pick films, set up schedule, research issues to discuss Winter - present films, line up speaking events and hearing participants. Spring - organize/conduct public forum/other talks, hearing participation and media coverage. Summer - follow up with volunteers and officials as hearings/events are scheduled.
Primary Issue Area:
Environmental Health
Please break-down/categorize the program expenses:
| Proposed Item | Estimated $ Amount | Would grant funds be used for this item? | Type Of Expense |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff Salary/fringe (.20 FTE/5 months) | $2,000.00 | Yes | Materials |
| Copying/Printing/Posters | $100.00 | Yes | Materials |
| Postal | $200.00 | Yes | Materials |
| Indirect - office costs (rent, utilities, internet) | $900.00 | Materials | |
| Film rental/fees | $200.00 | Yes | Materials |
| Staff salary - additional | $1,000.00 | Materials | |
| phone/internet | $300.00 | Materials | |
| event space rental | $400.00 | Materials |
Whom does your group need to make this project happen?
Please explain how your group will engage members from your community in this project.
We will organize and present a film series and public forum in the plant vicinity and pursue other venues to enable the public to get better informed and engaged. At each event, we will get contact information from participants and encourage them to subsequent public meetings and hearings. As needed, we will conduct workshops and/or tutorials with volunteers to prep them for participation in hearings. Work activities will be coordinated and carried out by our Executive Director, assisted by technical consultants, board members and other member volunteers.
If your group receives a NEGEF Grow grant, how do you plan to pay for remaining expenses?
| $ Amount | Source |
|---|---|
| $2,500.00 | NEGEF |
| $1,800.00 | Member dues |
| $300.00 | other donations |
Please list these materials or services
| $ Amount | Item |
|---|---|
| $500.00 | volunteer labor |
| $300.00 | phone/internet |
| $300.00 | free event space |
Please describe what changes will occur in your community and its environment when your group's project is successful.
The plant's neighbors will be better informed to participate in the re-licensing process and judge the viability of extending the plant's operation beyond its existing permitted life. These efforts will build the local knowledge base and power of organized, energized citizen activists to press for stronger regulatory requirements and commonsense energy policy as the re-licensing process proceeds. If successful, we will have increased public awareness and understanding of the issues raised by re-licensing, as well as public knowledge of and engagement on future power options. With enough public involvement and pressure, we hope to extend the re-licensing process to the point of being able to better demonstrate increasingly viable as well as safer renewable power options, which in the end will out-compete, supplant and deny any justification for extended use of the Seabrook plant. We will measure our success by the numbers of volunteers and meeting participants our efforts generate and by the number of media stories, editorials, op-eds or letters which result.
Please list how many people in your community your group expects to actively engage in this project.
150
What relevant skills does the group need (but does not currently have access to) to help move the initiative forward?
Social media expertise website design
What relevant skills do current members of the group have to help move the initiative forward?
Outreach experience Event organizing Energy policy expertise videography experience