Tell President Obama not to support dirty, dangerous and expensive nuclear energy!
Beyond Nuclear Bulletin
October 22, 2009
YOUR ACTION IS NEEDED TODAY!
Please sign our letter today
What's Happening: In a speech in New Orleans last week, when answering a question from the audience, President Obama said:
"There's no reason why technologically we can't employ nuclear energy in a safe and effective way. Japan does it and France does it and it doesn't have greenhouse gas emissions, so it would be stupid for us not to do that in a much more effective way."
What We Think: President Obama is either misinformed or uninformed if he believes that France and Japan have operated their nuclear power programs safely and effectively. Due to its dependency on nuclear power, France has an immense and unsolved nuclear waste problem including 81 + tonnes of plutonium sitting in canisters – enough for 10,000 bombs. Leukemia clusters have been found along the coast near the huge reprocessing plant and radioactively contaminated sites litter the country due to the 210 now abandoned uranium mines. Japan has suffered a series of tragic accidents at nuclear facilities in the past two decades including an accidental criticality at the Tokai-Mura uranium enrichment facility that killed two workers and exposed many hundreds of local residents and an earthquake that released radioactivity into the ocean from the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world's largest with seven reactors. If Obama is serious about addressing climate change he must get off the nuclear bandwagon and make a real commitment to meaningful progress on renewable energy.
What You Can Do: First, please sign the letter to President Obama on our Web site, asking him to keep nuclear funding out of pending climate legislation. Second, please write to him personally, letting him know that the failures of the French and Japanese nuclear systems must not be repeated in the U.S. Please send him our French Myths pamphlet and fact sheet – maybe if he gets hundreds of them his staffers will read them. You can order these from us or download them from the Additional Resources France section on our Web site. Finally, please make sure that Obama hears from the American public as often as possible. Please help to inform your local reporters; address audiences in your communities; write letters to the editor. These actions and others will send a strong message to President Obama that nuclear power has no place in climate change solutions.
The French Nuclear Medusa
30 pounds of plutonium "turns up" at nuclear facility being shut down
Poor inventory practices was the mild conclusion drawn by French authorities when 30 pounds of plutonium that had not been accounted for was discovered at the Cadarache nuclear facility in Provence which is currently being shut down. The center had identified the presence of 18 pounds of plutonium, 30 pounds less than was actually there. The French Atomic Energy Agency admitted there might even be as much as 86 pounds of plutonium at the site. Only 5-6 pounds of plutonium is needed to make a nuclear weapon so the vagueness about the precise inventory at Cadarache is alarming. Furthermore, the discovery of the additional plutonium was made in June but the plant waited until October to alert the authorities.
"Nuclear Power: The Truth About A Taboo Subject"
PACE (People's Action for Clean Energy, Inc.), Three Mile Island Alert, and Beyond Nuclear are asking you, and/or the organization with which you are affiliated, to join a list of endorsers who support the presentation of this critical and unique public health event on November 21, 2009. Endorsement does not necessarily include financial support. It simply means that you believe that the truth about nuclear power should be told to the public. Nuclear Power: The Truth About A Taboo Subject and A Clean Energy Exposition, will take place on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at the Unitarian Society of Hartford, CT. Please download the full endorsement form and submit to Judi Friedman ([email protected]) at PACE. If you would like to make a donation to PACE, the host organization, please send a check to: PACE, 101 Lawton Road, Canton, CT 06019 and memo the check as "Nuclear: The Truth". Please pass this e-mail on to other individuals and organizations who may wish to endorse and/or attend this event.
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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. Beyond Nuclear staff can be reached at: 301.270.2209. Or view our Web site at:http://www.beyondnuclear.org/