Failing Reactors Highlighted at Minnesota Protest

[the.greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org]

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Original-TO:      World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-Cc:      The Greenbase (Green2:Green2:Gnl:Main)
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               GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
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>>  NSP, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO HIDE?   
 Rally Highlights Cracking Nuclear Reactors and NSP's      
Attempts to Hide Documents
 
MINNESOTA, March 6, 1996 (GP) Today, from 12:30pm 'til 1:15pm,
40 Greenpeace activists and local citizens, in sub-zero wind-
chill temperatures, held a demonstration and street theatre at
Northern States Power's (NSP) Corporate headquarters - at 5th
and Nicollet, downtown Minneapolis - to highlight the failing
reactors at Prairie Island and NSP's attempts to hide this
information from the public.  At 1:00pm NSP's cracked reactors
(mock) released radiation into the environment during the
monthly air-raid siren test.  People dressed as radioactive
isotopes dispersed from the reactor and handed out information
sheets to the public walking by.  
Steam generators in nuclear reactors around the world are
cracking, failing and leaking radiation into the environment. 
Northern States Power Co. (NSP) operates 2 reactors on Prairie
Island, near Red Wing, that have been plagued with steam
generator problems - including large radiation leaks.  NSP is
also the 14th utility to sue Westinghouse Corp. over steam
generator cracking.    
Greenpeace has been an active member of the Prairie Island
Coalition which has intervenor status in the NSP /
Westinghouse lawsuit.  Greenpeace been involved in the
"discovery" of documents related to this suit that reveal
cracking and corroding steam generator tubes.  These documents
also show that radioactive particles are being released into
the environment.  Steam generator failures at Prairie Island
pose the most catastrophic ecological risk - a nuclear melt-
down - on the Mississippi River and NSP continues to ignore
Federal Court orders to release the most incriminating
documents to the public.
 
"Greenpeace and local citizens," said Ken Pentel, local
organizer for Greenpeace, "are outraged at NSP's attempts to
hide the most incriminating nuclear secrets from the public. 
All documents related to the cracking, corroding, and failing
nuclear steam generators at Prairie Island must be made public
immediately by NSP."
 
Contact: Greenpeace Minnesota - Ken Pentel @ (612) 333-1917

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