By Jim Bloch
Generally, Vets for Peace advocate for the end of nuclear weapons. Using their peace boat the Golden Rule, the activists crisscross the globe, educating people about the dangers of nuclear weapons and the horror of nuclear war.
The group’s 39-foot ketch is now circling Michigan. It docked in Port Huron on the evening of Aug. 16 en route to Mackinaw City and beyond.
“Our main focus is our opposition to nuclear weapons,” said spokesperson Helen Jaccard, who is offering ground support to the sailboat as she and other activist follow it in a RV. “But there are a whole collection of issues with nuclear power plants and that’s something we’ll discuss at each of our stops.”
In the Great Lakes, the group is focusing on the dangers of all phases of the nuclear fuel cycle and the links between nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
The activists are encouraging local mayors to join Mayors for Peace and local city and county commissions to endorse the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

The Golden Rule approaching the St. Clair Power Plant Aug. 16.
“The Great Lakes Basin hosts every aspect of the nuclear fuel chain, from uranium mining and refining to nuclear reactors (and) waste facilities …,” said the Vets in their brochure for their Great Lakes trip.
According to the International Joint Commission in 2020, 38 nuclear reactors have operated at 14 sites in the basin, plus the uranium refining operations at Blind River, Ontario.
Twenty-one reactors operate in Ontario at three sites; nine reactors operating at the Bruce Nuclear Site on Lake Huron; 12 operate at two sites near Toronto on Lake Ontario.
In the U.S., there are 17 current or former reactors in the basin — four on Lake Ontario, four on Lake Erie and nine reactors on Lake Michigan, including the shuttered reactor at Palisades in Michigan, which state and industry officials are hoping to restart.
“Radioactive materials are regularly shipped between these sites,” according to the Vets for Peace. “Each stage of the nuclear fuel chain has its own enormous nuclear waste problem. Routine emissions of radioactivity from these sites add to the degradation of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem. A major accident at any one facility could have a devastating impact on the entire Great Lakes. Even if a catastrophic accident is avoided, these nuclear hot spots will have to be isolated and monitored for many generations to come. Nuclear waste is hazardous (to humans and the environment) for thousands of centuries. High level radioactive waste is being stored at each reactor site in water-filled pools and dry cask storage.”
The boat plans stops and educational presentations at Mackinaw City, Aug. 20-21; Traverse City, Aug. 22-24; Sheboygan, WI, Aug. 25-29; Milwaukee, Aug. 30-Sept 5.; Racine, Sept. 5-7; and Chicago, Sept. 13-18. Dates are subject to change given weather conditions.
You can follow the Golden Rule’s progress in real time at https://share.garmin.com/goldenrule. Learn more about the peace boat and its mission at https://vfpgoldenruleproject.org/.
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.