BREDL, BEST and MATRR

MATRR – Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation

MATRR is an educational project of BEST, inspired by parents and grandparents who love this valley and want their offspring to inherit the beautiful mountains and river they have been able to enjoy. Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation can see no benefit strong enough to justify knowingly increasing the incidence of cancer in children. We see nuclear power as an unnecessary short-term '''solution'' for a very long term 100,000 year radioactive waste legacy we leave future generations.

MATRR members have studied energy efficiency and different forms of power generation and publish factsheets showing why Energy Efficiency and Renewable/Sustainable Energy choices are more financially beneficial as well as environmentally friendly. We simply do not need to risk the health of our children and grandchildren by producing more radioactive waste along the Tennessee River. We demand that the TVA not place this risk on our communities, but rather invests TVA resources into 1. safely securing the existing radioactive waste it has created, and 2. providing cost-effective energy efficiency programs and smart, affordable renewable energy for our valley. We also call on the NRC to enforce regulations to protect the citizens of our valley. We have repeatedly heard TVA executives deny and misrepresent the financial and health dangers of nuclear power, so we decided to provide citizens this website as a resource for actual data and studies addressing these pressing issues. MATRR members assert that if Tennessee Valley residents are allowed to make informed choices, they will make the decision to discontinue the pursuit of nuclear power in order to protect the future financial and physical health of our children – Because It Matters.

BEST/MATRRrepresents the concerns of people who wish to say no to more nuclear reactors on theTennessee River and to encourage the TVA to choose Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy technologies over the dangerous and expensive nuclear power they are presently pursuing. Most of our members are folks living within 50 miles of a nuclear site in the Tennessee River Valley, and our concerns range from the health of the river to the possibility of leukemia in our children and grandchildren. We are fortunate to have the support of BREDL and other regional and national groups and many nuclear experts. Our goal is to educate the residents of theTennessee Valley, the TVA ratepayers, workers, executives and board members about the tremendous financial, environmental, and health risks to our people. We also wish to educate and empower local groups across the country in their efforts to reveal and prevent radiation poisoning in their areas.

Your BEST/MATRR membership is important. The more people BEST/MATRR represents, the stronger our voice. Please join together with BEST/MATRR in our efforts to ensure that our existing nuclear plants are carefully maintained until we can rid the valley of nuclear poisons and help us support smart sustainable energy for our future.

website: MATRR.org

email: best@matrr.org

BREDL – Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League

BEST/MATRR is a local chapter of BREDL, which is a league of environmental groups from 7 southeastern states, and is a 501(c)3 non-profit, community-based environmental organization. The founding principles are earth stewardship, environmental democracy, social justice, and community empowerment. BREDL educates citizens, assists groups who have local environmental concerns, and files legal actions with the court system, the TVA, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Local BREDL chapters have raised public awareness and have won numerous battles against environmentally damaging projects and proposals throughout the southeast – ranging from safer high & low-level nuclear dumps and landfill expansions to preventing clear-cut logging in our national forests. The issues center on industry's dependence on toxic chemicals, utilities' refusal to adopt sound energy alternatives, intensive livestock operations' effects on agriculture and the environment, and industrial development at the expense of public health. BREDL has chapters in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Verdana, Tennessee and Alabama.

website: BREDL.org

email: bredl@skybest.com