Protestors Rally at Seabrook

SEABROOK, N.H.--Anti-nuclear demonstrators swarmed over and crawled under the outer perimeter fence at the Seabrook nuclear power plant yesterday, and at least 600 were arrested without resistance.

The number of arrests was the second highest of the many demonstrations that have been held at the plant, which has been a focal point for the anti-nuclear movement since construction began 13 years ago. Previously, more than 2,500 arrests had been made, including 1,414 in 1977.

The weekend protests also were the largest in 11 years and coincided with preparations at the plant for low power testing, expected to begin late this week.

The demonstrators, including children and a woman in a wheelchair, climbed or were helped over the seven-foot high chain-link barrier. Some carried infants.

Even as arrests were being made about a half-mile inside the fence, another wave of demonstrators scaled the fence using home-made ladders.

Hundreds of other protesters remained outside the fence, and about 50 more were arrested early in the evening when they scaled the fence. Still others planned to enter the grounds later.

There were no reports of injuries.

Dianne Dunfey, one spokesperson for the protesters, said demonstrators planned to be back at the plant this morning to block the gates when workers reported for work.

State Attorney General John Arnold said as many as 650 protesters were arrested and taken in school buses to the Seabrook police station.

Dispatcher Blanche McCallion of Seabrook police said those arrested were charged with criminal trespass and were being released with a summons.

"We're sending a message out across the country that the antinuclear resistance is rededicating opposition to Seabrook Station and we're calling upon the movement across the country to recognize the dangers that are represented at every nuclear power plant," Paul Gunter of the organizing Clamshell Alliance said, leaning out of one bus after his arrest.

Plant officials inside said 51 people were arrested at a railroad entry point to the site, where demonstrators reenacted a 1976 protest and then climbed onto the plant property. Another 81 were arrested inside the north gate and hundreds more inside the south gate, where they sat down after encountering a police line.

Among those arrested was Massachusetts state Rep. Nicholas Costello (D-Amesbury) and former congressional candidate Burt Cohen of New Hampshire.

The demonstrators walked without protest to waiting school buses.

The protesters, who were singing and chanting "No Nukes," were warned over bullhorns that they were on private property and subject to arrest, but they linked hands and refused to leave. When confronted by police, most sat down.

About 1,000 demonstrators gathered at a parking lot one mile from the plant Sunday morning and began marching toward the seaside plant shortly before 1 p.m. Another 350 to 400 protestors already were blocking one of the gates.

Before marching on the plant, members of the organizing Clamshell Alliance formed a large circle to honor the Chinese killed this weekend when troops crushed the student protest in Beijing.

State Police Capt. Sheldon Sullivan said 100 state troopers and 54 officers from Seabrook and the neighboring communities of Hampton, Portsmouth and Exeter were deployed in the demonstration area.

Forty members of a New Hampshire Air National Guard security unit were standing by at Pease Air Force Base about 15 miles away, at the request of Gov. Judd Gregg.

Seabrook opponents maintain that the plant is not safe and that the congested beach tourist area around it could not be evacuated safely in case of an accident.

Plant spokesman Ron Sher said the demonstrators are a "vocal minority."

"The majority of people in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and the rest of New England recognize that nuclear power is a viable energy alternative and Seabrook...is ready to produce electricity and it can make an important contribution," he said.

The plant has won a low-power testing license, but cannot run commercially until its emergency plans for surrounding communities in New Hampshire and Massachusetts are approved.

Hearings have been completed on New Hampshire's plans, and a ruling is expected in the fall from a government panel. Massachusetts has refused to submit plans and hearings continue on plans the utility has submitted for the Massachusetts communites.

Since receiving its low-power license last month, the long-delayed $6 billion plant has been warming its reactor in preparation for a its first nuclear reaction.

More than 4,000 protesters rallied near the plant Saturday. Bands played and protesters sang and listened to speakers denounce the plant.

One opponent, Stephen Comley, hired an airplane pulling an antinuclear banner to fly by President Bush's vacation residents in Kennebunkport, about 40 miles up the Maine coast. Bush was spending the weekend there.