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By week's end, as judges tried to expedite handling of the cases, some demonstrators were being tried and sentenced to two-week jail terms. But the sentences did not seem to shake the determination of those yet untried. Their decision to hold out until they were released on personal recognizance posed a problem for the state of New Hampshire, which must bear the estimated $50,000-a-day cost of caring for those arrested. The occupation—and the protesters' plan to return next year with a force of 18,000—also added to the frustrations of the Public Service Co., which has been trying since 1972 to get the 48 separate local, state and federal permits needed to build the two-reactor plant. The utility has been harassed by suits brought by environmentalists, who fear, among other things, that sea water used to cool the reactors would harm marine life unless it was recooled before being discharged back into the ocean. They have received support from the New England regional office of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which has refused permission for the plant to discharge its cooling water directly back into the ocean. As a result of these roadblocks, construction has barely proceeded beyond the excavation stage.
Members of the Clamshell Alliance hope to halt construction completely with future demonstrations. "Our intention was to occupy the site and stop construction of the plant," explained Clamshell Spokesman Harvey Wasserman, 31, an author and farmer. "We feel Seabrook in particular and nuclear power plants in general are life and death issues. We are acting in self-defense."
Premature Party. Some believe that the anti-nuclear energy forces are on the verge of victory. "I was impressed by what they did," says Daniel Ford, a Harvard-trained economist and director of the Union of Concerned Scientists, in Cambridge, Mass. "But it was like beating a dead horse. The industry has come to a halt." Others agree. Says Irwin Bupp, a lecturer at the Harvard Business School: "For all practical purposes, there is a moratorium on building plants. In effect, for a short term, the antinuclear people have won." A victory celebration, however, may be premature. Like the majority of Americans, President Carter believes nuclear power is necessary to meet America's energy needs—and has promised to push for faster licensing of plants similar to the one under siege at Seabrook.