Some Grumbling Going On

Don't get me wrong, after 9/11 we need tight security where nuclear reactors and weapons facilities are concerned, but the new Fitness For Duty standards where members of our security team are concerned are just not fair to many long term employees at the plant. Hell, I could not run 40 yards for a Bar BQ rib sandwich, let alone do it in 8 seconds flat...I'd trip over my beer belly long before I reached the finish line. I'm bringing this up, because 500 security staff walked off their jobs over this very issue at a military weapons sight last night...FAT PEOPLE ARE BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN THE WORK PLACE.

These new fitness for duty rules are bullsh*t plain and simple, especially where nuclear reactors are concerned. Don't let on that I told you this, but our Indian Point security strategy is simple...we sit in defensive positions behind bullet resistant (almost but not quite as good as bullet proof) glass shields, and wait for the terrorist to come to us...we could get hurt running around outside, especially if we got attacked after dark. Any fat schmuck can handle security of this nature, and how fit do you need to be to have some one sign in...those clipboards are not that heavy.

You ask me, this is just another tool that management wants to use in their attempts to break unions, lower wages and decrease staffing at reactor sites. As it is, the public would be shocked if they knew the skeletal staff we use to run not one but two reactors here at Indian Point. Get rid of management and security staff, and you have barely 1000 employees to maintain two reactors. Sounds like a lot, until you figure thats 500 employees per reactor, with 4 different shift cycles we have to cover. In the cases of a serious incident, we would be severely short handed real fast.

If truth be told, think Entergy would get rid of half of us yesterday if they were not afraid of us going public about the goings on inside the plant. Get me a few good beers, and I could tell you some stories that would make your hair stand on end. What we know keeps us safe, keeps us employed. That is the real secret behind the slogan, "Vital, safe and secure."

Reactor Side Keg Party

Explosions, problems with our water intake system, and the NRC breathing down our neck about the sirens not being ready on time has all of us in pretty low spirits this weekend, so a few of us boys decided it was time for a party. Nothing warms the heart more than a Keg party beside the blue light of the reactor's core.

Couple of big old kegs of Pabst Blue Ribbon, some music to dance by, and with all of us in our yellow suits, well it almost brings tears to the eyes. That's what people don't understand about us, we are FAMILY here at Indian Point. Sure, the cancer rates among us can be tough at times, and its hard to ignore some of the birth defects in reactor babies, then of course that dang murder/suicide really knocked us for a loop, but Indian Point is our home.

Sure, the reactors have some serious problems, but so does my pick up truck, but I am not about to have her hauled to the junk yard just because she's burning oil, and second gear is gone. A little bit of TLC, and I might just get 200,000 miles out of the old gal. The leaking fuel pools are a problem, but we check the Folgers coffee cans every day so they don't over flow to badly. The tritium and strontium 90 that is contaminating the Hudson? I am sorry, but that is one of those red herrings you hear about. With all the water moving down the Hudson, anything we dump into the river is diluted! Even Neil Sheehan gave us that one.

While we are being honest, it's true...we cannot stop a terrorist attack if one comes our way, but DAMMIT, such an event is not very likely, and we have 1500 jobs at stake here! All those millions of selfish people complaining about the risks and financial loss if an attack were to occur, and not one thought given to those of us who would be out of a job if Indian Point is not relicensed. Think about it this way...New Orleans dodged a bullet for several decades before Hurricane Katrina hit, and we are only asking you to risk two lousy decades. Why can't the public see that, and take a gamble for us, for our families? Sure, if we are wrong, there could be trillions of dollars in damages, but what if we guessed right, and nothing happens for another 20 years?

If just once some of you folks joined us for skinny dipping in the spent fuel pools, you'd understand us better, maybe even come to like the tingling sensation of irradiated water on your skin. Go for a walk through the facility, stop in the control room to listen to the ever present sounds of whistles and alarms, the gentle buzz constantly in your ears, then walk on up to the reactor Dome, and join us for a beer. We are all family here at Indian Point, and Entergy would welcome all of you with open hearts, and arm in arm we can all march into a wonderful GREEN Nuclear Tomorrow.