Beyond Nuclear and Nuclear Policy Research Institute Combine to Challenge Nuclear Power and Weapons

6/27/07

Beyond Nuclear and Nuclear Policy Research Institute Combine to Challenge Nuclear Power and Weapons

Dear friends,
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NEWS FROM BEYOND NUCLEAR

For Immediate Release
June 26, 2007

Contact: Linda Gunter, Beyond Nuclear
301.455.5655

Beyond Nuclear and Nuclear Policy Research Institute Combine to Challenge Nuclear Power and Weapons

TAKOMA PARK, MD – The incoming board and staff of Beyond Nuclear are extremely pleased to announce that Beyond Nuclear will now pursue its mission under the auspices of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute (NPRI).

NPRI was established by Dr. Helen Caldicott, a renowned physician who has devoted the last 35 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. NPRI is a tax-exempt and tax-deductible organization.

Beyond Nuclear is a new initiative that aims to educate wider audiences about the connection between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear works to promote positive, solutions-focused messages and to provide guides to safer alternatives to these dangerous technologies. Beyond Nuclear was previously undertaken through Nuclear Information and Resource Service.

Beyond Nuclear and NPRI share a synergistic vision: to communicate the grave threats to health, environment and safety implicit in the complexities of the nuclear industry. To that end, Beyond Nuclear will focus its work on the public and the media using dynamic campaigns and its cadre of expert spokespeople to create a consistent high-profile presence for these issues. It will also serve as a resource with which to build and expand the movement for a world beyond nuclear.

Our staff – Paul Gunter, Kevin Kamps, Cindy Folkers and Linda Gunter – has comprehensive expertise in all aspects of nuclear power. In addition, Beyond Nuclear will partner with national and international specialists who can offer information and insight on nuclear weapons and sustainable energy. These specialists will be listed on our Web site (www.beyondnuclear.org).

In announcing the incorporation of Beyond Nuclear into NPRI, Dr. Caldicott said: “I am confident that the distinguished new staff and new board of the Institute will be effective stewards of NPRI. I will continue to be a keen supporter of NPRI for long into the future. Above all, I look forward to the day when we can all celebrate the termination of both the nuclear power and nuclear weapons industries.” Dr. Caldicott will not be involved in the daily operation of NPRI although she will remain its founding president.

Collectively, the Beyond Nuclear Board and Staff have all been actively involved in the anti-nuclear movement for many decades.

The founding Board of Beyond Nuclear at NPRI
Robert Backus, Esq: Manchester, NH
Kay Drey: St. Louis, MO; anti-nuclear activist
Lou Friedman: Canton, CT; international consultant; environment and peace
Karl Grossman: Sag Harbor, NY; professor and journalist
Judith Johnsrud, Ph.D.: State College, PA; radiation and nuclear power specialist

The staff of Beyond Nuclear at NPRI
Cindy Folkers; Linda Gunter; Paul Gunter; Kevin Kamps.

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Ten Reasons To Say No To Nuclear Power

1. Climate change is underway. Renewable energy can be brought online faster, more cheaply and more safely than nuclear power. 2. Reactors are sitting-duck targets and are not even defended to the ferocity of the 9/11 attacks. 3. Nuclear power is not emissions-free. Reactors routinely release radioactivity and use fossil fuels at every step from uranium mining to waste storage. 4. Building more reactors in the U.S. sends the wrong message abroad. Commercial nuclear technology inevitably leads to nuclear weapons capability. 5. The Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive dump is unsound and even if opened could not accommodate all wastes if generation continues. 6. Evacuation plans are unrealistic. Hurricane Katrina taught us that a mass evacuation during a serious radiological release would be a chaotic catastrophe. 7. A typical 1000 megawatt nuclear reactor produces enough plutonium each year to make 40 atomic bombs, an unacceptable risk. 8. New and old reactors are most prone to break down. U.S. reactors are old. New ones increase the risk of accident. 9. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission—mandated to watchdog the nuclear industry – chooses to protect industry profit over public health and safety. 10. The most defenseless are at the greatest risk—children, the elderly, minorities, the poor and animals—at every phase of the nuclear fuel chain. Ten Brighter Ideas 1. If every U.S. household installed one compact fluorescent light bulb, the power savings would equal the power produced by one nuclear reactor. 1=1! 2. Twenty compact fluorescents in every U.S. home could displace at least 25% of U.S. nuclear reactors. 3. Updated lighting, appliances, heating, cooling and other electrical systems can save more energy than all 103 U.S. reactors produce annually. 4. Cost-effective energy efficiency measures for homes and businesses can save at least 20% of electricity use. 5. Turning off and unplugging electrical equipment not in use and line-drying clothes seem like small measures but can make a big difference. 6. Homeowners and renters alike can choose to buy green power instead of nuclear generated electricity. 7. Properly sealing and insulating your home can save 25%-40% of building heat loss. 8. Renewable energy sources can meet 25% of U.S. energy needs by 2025. 9. Shifting to locally-generated electricity avoids waste, reduces brownouts and blackouts, increases efficiency of service and creates jobs. 10. Every dollar spent on nuclear power instead of fossil fuels results in releasing six times more carbon than if the same dollar is spent on efficiency. www.nirs.org 301.270.6477

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6/27/07