No to Nuclear

Excerpt by Carolyn Bennett 
from Beyond Nuclear

TEN REASONS TO SAY NO TO NUCLEAR POWER

1.     New reactors are too expensive, costing at least $12-25 billion each of taxpayers’ and ratepayers’ money and likely more. The industry has a notorious history of huge cost overruns.

2.     From licensing through construction to operation, reactors take too long to come on line – at least 6-10 years each with more delays likely – to address climate change in time

3.     A meltdown could cause tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars in damages and spread radioactive contamination across vast areas for centuries.

4.     Security at reactors is inadequate, due to cost cutting by an industry otherwise unable to compete in the electricity market. Most reactors still remain vulnerable to aircraft and other attacks, making them potential dirty bombs in our backyards.

5.     Civilian nuclear programs provide the materials, knowledge and technology to transition to nuclear weapons production as happened in India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. Nuclear expansion impedes the goals of nonproliferation and disarmament.

6.     No country has an operating repository for radioactive waste. Instead, waste is stored in unsecured fuel pools and casks at reactor sites. There is no solution to the seven-decade old radioactive waste problem.

7.     Reactors require enormous quantities of water to operate. If water sources diminish significantly or become too hot – due to droughts that will increase under global warming – reactors cannot operate safely or efficiently.

8.     Nuclear power is not emissions-free. Reactors routinely release radioactivity and toxic chemicals, harmful to health. From uranium mining to waste storage, nuclear power emits greenhouse gases.

9.     Exposure to radiation alters DNA, which can cause cancer, genetic mutations and shorten lives. Wildlife near the Chernobyl reactor explosion have demonstrated decreased longevity.

10.  Nuclear corporations violate human rights and environmental justice for indigenous peoples, minority populations and affected communities. 

TEN BRIGHTER IDEAS

1.     Conservation is key and simply achieved. Start by turning off lights and unplugging electrical equipment when not in use. Consider installing movement-sensitive switching.

2.     If every U.S. household installed just one compact fluorescent light bulb, it would displace the electricity provided by one nuclear reactor. 1=1! Twenty compact fluorescents in every household would displace the need for at least 25% of all U.S. reactors.

3.     Updating heating, lighting, cooling and other electrical appliances with energy-efficient models can save more energy than all operating U.S. reactors produce annually and can reduce home electricity use by at least 20%.

4.     Energy efficiency is the cheapest and fastest way to reduce carbon emissions and is at least seven times more cost-effective at displacing carbon than nuclear power.

5.     Homeowners and renters alike can choose to buy green power instead of nuclear-generated electricity. Check with your electric utility to find out how.

6.     Wind power in 12 U.S. states could generate 2.5 times the current U.S. electricity production. Each of six states, individually, could produce more wind energy than the electricity produced by all operating U.S. reactors.

7.     Solar resources on just 1% of the U.S. landmass are three times as large as all U.S. wind energy potential.

8.     Conversion of just 15% of U.S. parking lot acreage to photovoltaic rooftops would produce more electricity than the U.S. generates today.

9.     Support for green collar jobs provides more opportunity for more people by building sustainable communities and a robust economy.

10.  The U.S. can become both nuclear-free and carbon-free.

Sources and notes

Go to www.ieer.org/carbonfree/ to learn more: www.beyondnuclear.org, #1109; info@beyondnuclear.org www.beyondnuclear.org

http://beyondnuclear.squarespace.com/storage/documents/PalmCard_TenReasons_Nov09.pdf

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/fact-sheets/

BEYOND NUCLEAR

Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. The Beyond Nuclear team works with diverse partners and allies to provide the public, government officials, and the media with the critical information necessary to move humanity toward a world beyond nuclear.

FOUNDING PRESIDENT of BEYOND NUCLEAR
DR. HELEN CALDICOTT

Dr Helen Caldicott has devoted the last 35 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. In the U.S., she co-founded the Physicians for Social Responsibility. The international umbrella group (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. She also founded the Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND and now known as Women’s Action for New Direction) in the U.S. in 1980. She has authored numerous books and currently hosts a radio show in the United States
“If You Love This Planet.” 
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/about/

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