Spread of Nuclear Capability Is Feared -

5/16/08

Spread of Nuclear Capability Is Feared -

Spread of Nuclear Capability Is Feared - washingtonpost.comNuclear Energy Could Spark Arms Race: A front page investigative story in the Washington Post this week sounded the warning that is central to the Beyond Nuclear message: the spread of nuclear energy around the world could spark a new nuclear arms race. The article, written by Joby Warrick, made a number of key points, including that “nuclear power can give a country the technological expertise and infrastructure that could become the foundation for a clandestine weapons program.”
Our View: Missing from this otherwise excellent and timely piece was the fact that global nuclear promotion is not only the purview of nuclear corporations but also – and inappropriately – the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This came most chillingly to light when former NRC Commissioner, Jeffrey Merrifield, told an industry and regulatory conference last year that the agency needed to take a more proactive role in “international partnerships” for the development of nuclear power and “an increased role in promoting strengthened nuclear regulators worldwide,” including to the military junta of Burma.
What You Can Do: Help Beyond Nuclear continue to expose the flagrant industry bias of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Burma needs aid not atoms. Insist that your Congressional representatives hold the NRC accountable – as is their mandate – for its consistent rubber-stamping of nuclear industry initiatives that increase proliferation dangers worldwide.

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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

"The No Nuker" - where No Nukes is good news !

5/16/08