Activists Showing Nuke Protest Film in Seabrook

By Doug Bogen

Seacoast Anti-Pollution League executive director

A film chronicling the dramatic events which made world headlines and sparked the creation of a grassroots antinuclear power movement across the country 35 years ago will be shown next Wednesday, August 1st, at the Seabrook Public Library at 25 Liberty Lane. Seabrook 1977 is the next film in “Nuclear Dangers – Past, Present, and Future” summer film series sponsored by the Seacoast Anti-Pollution League (SAPL) and is free and open to the public.   A complete listing of film dates, locations and descriptions is available at SAPL’s website www.saplnh.org.

In April 1977, Seabrook became an international symbol in the battle over atomic energy. Concerned about the dangers of potential radioactive accidents, over 2,000 members of the Clamshell Alliance, a coalition of environmental groups, attempted to block construction of a . 1,414 people were arrested in that civil disobedience protest and jailed en masse in National Guard armories for two weeks.

Filmed in a cinema-verité style, the film vividly documents the unfolding events as people march with banners and backpacks across the tidal marshes onto the construction site, erect a colorful tent city, and conduct on-site negotiations with the governor and police.  Scenes of the nonviolent demonstration and subsequent internment are interwoven with interviews with participants on all sides of the event, including local Seabrook residents, antinuclear activists, New Hampshire’s pro-nuclear Governor Meldrim Thomson, police and utility officials.  After the mass arrests at the nuclear site, the scene changes to inside the armories, where the film follows the extraordinary experiences of the largest group of U.S. citizens incarcerated since the Vietnam war protests.

“The idea for this series is that we have to consider the lessons from past events if we are to make informed and careful decisions on future energy needs,” said Doug Bogen, executive director of SAPL.  “These films run the gamut from past disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima to events 35 years ago in a little town called Seabrook and possible future disposal options for nuclear waste that threatens humanity for tens of thousands of years.  We urge all concerned Seacoast residents to attend one or more of these important films.”
 
SAPL’s film series runs every other Wednesday evening over the next 10 weeks in various Seacoast towns.  The series includes films on the history of nuclear power development, major accidents including last year’s Fukushima disaster and current and future issues facing this controversial power industry, and each showing will be followed by open discussion led by local leaders on these issues.  Each film is free and open to the public.  A complete listing of film dates, locations and descriptions is available at SAPL’s website www.saplnh.org.
 

“Nuclear Dangers – Past, Present, and Future” Film Series

• August 1, 2012  6:00 – 8 p.m.  Seabrook Public Library, 25 Liberty Lane:  “Seabrook 1977”
• August 15, 2012, 6:00  – 8 p.m. Rye Public Library, 581 Washington Road: “Nuclear Aftershocks” (Fukushima)
• August 29, 2012  6:30 – 9 p.m.  Durham Community Church, 17 Main St.: “The China Syndrome”  
• September 12, 2012,   6:30-8 p.m. Nichols Memorial Library, 169 Main St., Kingston: “The Atomic States Of America”  
• September 26, 2012  6:30 – 8:45 p.m. Portsmouth Library, 175 Parrot Ave.: “Into Eternity” 

For more information, contact SAPL at 603-431-5089 or visit their website: www.saplnh.org.