second hydrogen explosion at the fukushima daiichi nuclear complex destroyed the reactors exterior all three daiichi reactors have nuclear fuel rods that have been exposed to some degree so they are teetering on the edge of a meltdown kind of stirred everybody to the reality of what nuclear power could give there is no source of energy in this world that doesn't have risk associated toxic leave poisonous to humans for two hundred and fifty thousand years i keep saying that number two hundred and fifty thousand years it's ridiculous it's mind boggling groundwater down there is being threatened and potentially the river water is being thrown the regulators have known that this design isn't capable of withstanding an ac since it was built a very famous nuclear attorney told me so horny in this business you're either for us or against us and you just crossed the line literally from that day forward i could never get work and the nuclear industry it was so it's a blacklist nuclear whistleblowers are not protected in this industry when you're doing the right thing you don't realize that a corporation is going to be salvationists and use all of its money and power to shut down the truth we have a lot of spying and to do and we have to rebuild public confidence and trust we're operating a nuclear power plant how can you trust a company who has really not taken seriously in my opinion the fact that we have leaking nuclear waste going into the ground from brattleboro to montpelier hundred twenty six miles in eleven days in that dead of winter i felt wow this would be really precious footage that would show the commitment that would show people's really deep concern about this issue so i decided to film and i thought originally well you know i would film this and then maybe months or years later i would actually make the real film  into the groundwater below the plant and that announcement out to set off a political firestorm that then began lots of attention lots of hearings and ultimately a vote in the in the vermont  call it that but it's it's much worse than that but i didn't know robby and maggie and i were testifying in the state legislature and there's this guy with this camera and over the over the years we got t know pretty darn well that's true i was pressed by seeing arnie and maggie testifying at the state house that's where i first met them when i was filming there in hearings i impressed with fear courage to speak truth to power for decades and really you know facing enormous pressure from the nuclear industry to silence them so i was i knew immediately when i met them that they would be made sure play a major role in my film yes and speaking of roles arnie and maggie could you tell us what role you played in the closing of vermont well we're still playing a role today because vermont you know and that makes this film so pertinent today we did a lot of testimony fairwinds associates a company in fair wind energy education leading up to what happened that vermont yankee in it shut down but now energy is trying to sell vermont yankee to northstar for decommissioning and that company has never done any decommissioning work before it's not prepared to do it and we don't believe it's prepared appropriately arnie's done tremendous amount of work on decommissioning nationally and internationally and all of them speak to that issue but this is that this power struggle is a documentary about what happened today but it's still going on and entergy is trying to have arnie removed as an expert witness as well as ray shadow this as an expert witness the two most experienced experts in the state of vermont on vermont yankee and it issues so robbie you started off a real a real hornet's nest or you know that it happened in vermont i think it makes me proud to be a vermonter when i watch the movie  and thank you for your comments about our courage there really having watched the film it really does have mag unite as one of several protagonists in our long story of our battle with the nuclear regulatory yes i'm i'm actually proud of the story over a five year period through many twists and turns and i would say the underlying theme of the film is about grassroots citizen empowerment really which the citizens are for march rising up getting involved making their voices heard taking action that made all the difference in what happened with the outcome of  personal profiles of particular activists and one of the activists that i do profile in the film is frances crowe of north hampton massachusetts who was ninety three when i first started filming her and she's ninety eight now and still going strong and so in this next clip that we're going to watch she's featured in that along with many other activists as well just to give you a taste of the power of grassroots ninety three years out and i've been involved in trying to say no to the spiting of the adam and all of the consequences of it since i felt i've got to get there and really put my body at vermont yankee because it's our ten done everything that i know what to do at all i have left it's my body and to put it in that way just say you know there are times when you feel something so strongly that just holding up a picket sign or just attending a rally or demonstration is not enough you want to speak with your whole my whole body and so we're placing ourselves in jeopardy jeopardy of being arrested  democracy so this is about whether people's voices are going to be h what many of you all working on is one of the great struggles of our time to create an energy future which were tax not only our generation but to save energy future for our kids and our grandchildren that's what we're talking about probably also talking about is the need to transform our energy system away from nuclear power efficiency if we are aggressive about wind solar geothermal biomass and other emerging sustainable technologies this small state can lead america in a new energy direction and rubbing can you tell us what you learned from working with arnie and meg understand affair when's energy education well i just want to say that i've been fairly impressed by the really important and critical work that arnie and make your during through fairwinds and in particular they have been the leading advocates for nuclear safety and in particular investigating the fukushima nuclear disaster and why this is relevant today is that fukushima is an ongoing disaster and the contamination from fukushima is not only going to affect people in japan but people here in the united states and in rob the thing that i learned and i've been to japan now for two months in the last couple years we came back with lots and lots of samples now were analyzed and the important lesson i learned from penn that's correct is that the rubble ization process grinding up this concrete releasing in some fine dust creases the exposure to people about a thousand fold because the little tiny particles are much more we hope you'll all go to the v to fight and get tickets so you can join us at the film and afterwards david goodman is the noted journalist and radio show host is the moderator for the panel and you get to hear more all about what's happened in this film about democracy in action in vermont power struggle and why it's so pertinent today making an army could you go into a little detail about the process of of the closing of vermont yankee there was a time when there were there was a denial of underground pipes related to vermont yankee and that was one of your your discoveries that chair of that panel one of the issues we asked entergy was that they have underground pipes and they told us no well i discovered a little later that day after a report was written that that was not true and that the very next thing that happened is one of against allowing vermont yankee to run beyond its fortieth year and that was a high point on the journey for vermont yankee shut down there were many twists and turns after that and robbie but at the end of the day for money and he shut down i think after forty two years of operation and so you know already they stopped operations vermont yankee three years ago almost  december two thousand and fourteen so what's happening now with the decommissioning and why should we be concerned about this we should be concerned because the activism needs to continue this state needs to have a voice in its future of what's left on the site and arnie can explain the technical aspects of this north star wants to do and it compromises vermont's pristine environment what they're proposing to do is to take the concrete from the nuclear reactor think of coffee beans running through a grinder to take the concrete grind it up and throw it out back on the site so the radioactive concrete is going to be left on the vermilion yankee site if the sale goes through she has said in previous legal hearings that they would never use this rubble ization but here is the north star seeking to overturn entergy its commitment to the state and throw this radioactive rock back on to the government yankee site and i don't think that's fair and also because the groundwater then will carry that cracked material the radioactive isotopes are released  will carry that material to the connecticut river and in the groundwater and towards the aquifer that is is tragic and fearsome and robbie there the film will be shown on october twenty ninth saturday at three thirty at the film for the sunday sunday i'm sorry it's sunday october twenty ninth at three thirty pm at the main street lending sixty like street in  f dot org that's the web site for the from our international film festival fund and there will be a forum it's wonderful it tickets are also there ok and they may need to buy tickets on line ahead of time and clay turnbull of the new england coalition who'll all be there to discuss what is happening now and why for marchers should be concerned about what's going on it for my yankee decommissioning and also one of the reasons why i made the film is not only to documents this i think historic citizen grassroots action activism having an effect but also to be a warning about the future because the reality  is that the high level nuclear waste is going to remain on the banks of the connecticut river indefinitely and this is true at every single nuclear power plant facility around the country and around the world and what are your hopes for how the film will be seen and used do you want to go well i hope that i hope that the film will be used as a catalyst for discussion for education in fact i want to do a  whole grassroots film tour i want to travel around vermont in particular and show the film so if there are people out there who can help set up community screenings in from ont or in new england and also around the country i'm wanting to show th or tour with a film around the country please contact me can contact me through the website power struggle movie dot com that's a good place again the website is power struggle movie dot i would like to see ravi's film go national what we're seeing an arnie studied tremendous amount is that nuclear power companies corporations are using  decommissioning as a moneymaker but at the expense of the communities and across the country this is even more pertinent that citizens in every state need to work to make sure the in speaking truth to power on any issue is critical ok thank you very much everyone thank you robbie leps or we'll see you in burlington on october twenty ninth thank you maggie and thank you viewers go