"A Toxic Time Bomb in the Northwest... As you read this, a huge plume of groundwater contaminated with radiation and heavy metals is moving from Hanford toward the Columbia River..Adequate cleanup funding is imperative.  Each passing day increases the risk of leakage and catastrophic tank failure at Hanford....A dedicated pool of skilled individuals is ready...ready to clean up Hanford.  They need our support to get the job done."  From OPED by Gov. Chris Gregorie and Sen. Maria Cantwell, Mar. 3, 2008: Washington Post, A17.

Dirty, Dangerous and Expensive: The Truth About Nuclear Power

Nuclear power is not the solution to global warming. A new fact sheet from PSR dispels the myths of nuclear power as a clean, safe, and affordable energy source. ******* WPSR Powerpoint Presentations:  "India, Iran and the NPT 2008" "Nuclear Energy: Is it really healthy? Is it really green?"   ******* Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy   Is Nuclear Energy the Answer to Global Warming?   Contrary to the current popular myth, nuclear power is not a clean energy solution to global warming. Without huge loan guarantees and federal government subsidies, the nuclear industry would collapse entirely.  While awareness and knowledge about the consequences and established science of climate change continues to grow, many look towards nuclear energy as the only possibility for ending our dependence on oil and curbing our global warming pollution.

If you were not able to join WPSR and Dr. Arjun Makhijani in Seattle April 13 & 15th, you can still read Dr. Makhijani's newest book:  Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy (2007) on-line or see the April 15th lecture as captured by Ed Mays on Pirate TV.

Photo by Julie Wiatt 

*****

• Read Read IEER’s summary and recommendations from their book Nuclear Power Deception: http://www.ieer.org/reports/npdb.html

• Also from IEER: "Landmark Energy Policy Study Points the Way to U.S. Energy Future without Fossil Fuels or Nuclear Power" http://www.ieer.org/carbonfree/pressrelease.html

******

Dr. Makhijani is the president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.  IEER promotes public participation and a healthier environment.

*****

More about Dr. Arjun Makhijani

In Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for US Energy Policy Arjun Makhijani provides a much needed plan to transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a sustainable economy without nuclear energy.  If you made it to WPSR’s Annual Dinner in October, you may recall Helen Caldicott emphatically praising this recent work during her talk.  Come learn about this crucial research, supported and funded due to Helen Caldicott’s dedication to this project. Bring your questions and faith in a healthier, sustainable energy future to Dr. Makhijani’s talk.

Arjun Makhijani is President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Takoma Park, Maryland. He earned his Ph.D. in engineering at the University of California, Berkeley in 1972, specializing in nuclear fusion.  A recognized authority on energy issues, Dr. Makhijani was the principal author of the first study of the energy efficiency potential of the US economy published in 1971. He is the principal editor of Nuclear Wastelands: A Global Guide to Nuclear Weapons Production and Its Health and Environmental Effects, published by MIT Press in July 1995, and subsequently nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by MIT Press. Dr. Makhijani has testified before Congress, and has appeared on ABC World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, NPR, CNN, and CBC. He has served as a consultant to numerous organizations including the Tennessee Valley Authority, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, and several agencies of the United Nations.

WPSR PowerPoint  Nuclear Energy: No Solution to Global Warming

The global nuclear energy industry is aggressively pushing a revival with the argument that huge expansion of nuclear power is essential to reversing global warming. WPSR activists Charlie Weems and Dave Hall recently researched their claims and presented the PowerPoint slide show below to reframe the debate.

In short,

1. Nuclear power is integral to nuclear weapons production. Any country that has nuclear power can develop nuclear weapons.
2. Despite enormous governmental subsidies for R & D, loan guarantees, insurance, and waste management, the nuclear power industry still has not solved the basic problems of:
   • disposal of nuclear waste
   • protection from accidents
   • diversion of fissile materials for making nuclear weapons
3. The decade-long lead time required to design, permit and build a nuclear power plant means nuclear power cannot be a solution to the short-term crisis of global warming. If we don't invest heavily in energy efficiencies, carbon sinks and sequestration, and clean alternatives to fossil fuels, global warming may well reach a tipping point where nothing we do will reverse the warming process and its consequences.
4. There are many faster, cheaper, safer, and cleaner technologies already available to reverse global warming IF we would invest in them
5. Continuing to subsidize nuclear power diverts necessary investments from more immediate solutions   to climate change, which increases the risk that the world will come to a tipping point with global warming where we have lost control of rising temperatures altogether.