A global library of information and links about nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear waste contamination, and citizen action for sustainable energy and human survival. Exploring paths beyond the global culture of violence. One of the most significant nuclear issues is that while human beings are fallible and prone to making occasional mistakes, nuclear materials are utterly unforgiving and never forget.  Once leaked, spilled or burned, their residues will cause illnesses and deaths for tens of thousands (and in the case of Depleted Uranium, billions) of years.  This is not the kind of legacy we want to leave for our children and all their descendants. Dennis Rivers, Editor, nonukes.org consortium of peace and ecology groups :::  R E S O U R C E S   (Last updated 10/29/09) ::: Alec Baldwin on the Human Costs of Nuclear Power on Huffington Post April 11, 2010    nukey-poo:  Toxic Radioactive Waste at Fernald, Ohio (Oct. 2009) When nuclear power advocates claim that nuclear energy is cheap, they do so because they exclude the costs of both the beginning and the end of the process:  both uranium mining/smelting and toxic waste guarding (there is no safe way to "dispose" of it).  The linked news story is about nuclear waste from 50 years ago.  We will only have to take intensive care of it for another 249,950 years!  What a bargain! Geothermal Success Stories (Oct/Nov 2008): The Philippines generate 28% of their electricity from geothermal field Utilities putting new energy into geothermal sources (L.A. Times) Geothermal Energy -- Clean Power From the Earth's Heat A 43-page report from the U.S. Geological Survey (2003) Solar energy takes off in Calif. -- New York Times Article 2/1/08 Bottom Line = WE REALLY DON'T NEED DANGEROUS & EXPENSIVE NUCLEAR POWER. Ten Strikes Against Nuclear Power Three pages tell the whole story.  --  From Coop America. Nuclear Weapons and the University of California by David Krieger, President, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Union of Concerned Scientists -- Resource page on nuclear weapons position paper and excellent library of technical articles click image to view audio slideshow Yucca Mountain   --   A Poem for Ed Abbey   --   by Maía I envy your anonymity... somewhere in the stone-blue shadow of a butte, a kangaroo rat kicking up your ornery dust.   If anybody knows, nobody's telling where your bones feed creosote.   Your ash rides the mustang wind over Nevada, the Colorado Aquifer whispering not far below the waste dump.   The Ghostdance Fault running under Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Depository, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, inside treaty lands of the Western Shoshone Nation, shimmied a little last Wednesday... an inch-of-column story buried on the back pages.   Just to let us know who the place belongs to. I heard the whoop and sob of your laughter. __________________________________________________ Note: Ghostdance Fault is an active earthquake fault. The depository is set to accept waste transported  through 45 states by 2017. Perspectives on the unforgiving nature of nuclear materials and technology.  How much do we really want to depend on them? Radioactive Ooze Found In Paducah Government Losing Track of Nuclear Bomb Parts at Kentucky Plant Nuclear Waste Tanks Leaking at Hanford, Washington (2 pages) Details? Do I hear you saying you want more @!#*&%%! details? Here is a 77-page technical report documenting the ongoing problems with leaking nuclear waste tanks that are contaminating the groundwater around Hanford, Washington. Web Site Editor's comment: How 'cheap' is nuclear power if its waste poisons the water and sickens untold future generations? How 'safe' do nuclear weapons keep us, if our continual reliance on them teaches every ambitious politician on planet Earth that nuclear weapons are the path to real political power? What are some of the safe alternatives to nuclear power? MIT issues new report on Geothermal power (Jan 2007)    more on geothermal energy     half-hour talk show on NPR 6/2/2006 NEW PROPOSALS TO REVIVE THE NUCLEAR POWER INDUSTRY How many Yucca Mountains will we need to handle giant new quantities of long-term deadly waste?  Recycling spent power plant fuel will create unmanageable quantities of nuclear weapons material.  How much will it cost to keep this material out of the hands of terrorists? Cheap electricity, anyone? Alternative Energy Sources: Australia Pioneers Energy from Hot Rocks more on Hot Rock Energy    more on geothermal energy Nuclear Power: No Solution to Climate Change A 2005 Study by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and the World Information Servioce on Energy President Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell address in which he warns about the growing "military-industrial complex." Letter to the Editor of the L.A. Times regarding the costs of nuclear power 6/23/05 (they did not publish the letter, but the questions won't go away just because they choose to ignore them) UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT NUCLEAR POWER COSTS Dear Editor, Times staff writer Ralph Vartabedian asserts in his June 22nd [2005] article that "Existing nuclear plants already produce electricity more cheaply than coal or natural gas." Later in the article it becomes clear that this is only true because the insurance costs and waste disposal costs of nuclear power plants have been shifted to taxpayers.  Since nuclear power plants are giant radiation-bombs-waiting-to-happen, some unknown but probably quite large amount of security costs is almost certainly being shifted to the taxpayers. too.  Not mentioned in the article are other costs of nuclear energy, such as cancer among uranium miners and the costs of decommissioning the giant plants when their 30 year life-span (governed by metal fatigue) is over. There are many safer alternatives to nuclear power, including conservation innovations, wind, solar, biomass and geothermal.  If we are going to use heavy infusions of tax dollars to subsidize and fund our energy choices, citizens have the right to choose more sustainable and less dangerous energy paths. To be more specific on the cost issue, I would seriously like to know if Mr. Vartabedian's cost figures include the discounted present value of storing and guarding nuclear waste for 250,000 years!   I think the idea that we are going to be able to just dump our radioactive waste in a cavern somewhere and then forget about it is a fantasy, and a high stakes gamble with the health of future generations. How cheap is nuclear energy if leaking waste dumps in future centuries sicken people with cancer and leukemia?  (The Hanford, WA, nuclear waste storage site already leaks today.)  Since nuclear power creates a range of problems that last for centuries -- and even millennia -- we need to re-think the way we calculate costs. Dennis Rivers The Nuclear Guardianship Library  --  An archive of articles from many perspectives on the long-term, responsible care of nuclear materials. The Growing Nuclear Danger  by Steven Weinberg, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics.  A careful evaluation of current nuclear dangers from a July, 2002, issue of The New York Review of Books. A Renunciation of Nuclear Weapons One Citizen at a Time   Documents in support of United States citizens' renunciation of nuclear weapons use on their behalf. May, 2003, editorial from the Los Angeles Times against nuclear weapons The SAFE ENERGY HANDBOOK (large file! takes a minute to load) -- addresses dangers of nuclear industry and presents overview of safe energy technologies already available.  (This is an HTML version of a handbook published by Plutonium Free Future.) Click here to order printed copies of handbook, and/or t-shirts and prints.   The Safe Energy Handbook is also available online in:   Francaise:  Manuel de l'energie sans danger   Español:  Manual de Seguridad Energetica   Japanese (HTML 3.2)   Slovak A Background Briefing on Radioactive Pollution  --  A 26-page review of problems associated with radioactive pollution from nuclear power, weapons and waste -- by Wendy Oser and Molly Young Brown, M.Div. Citizen Action Guide USA for the Abolition 2000 campaign to outlaw nuclear weapons  --  A resource kit for people in the United States who want to campaign against nuclear weapons.  Contains statements, petitions, resolutions for schools, cities and counties, and informative articles and declarations concerning the dangers of nuclear weapons and the pressing need to build a world-wide agreement to outlaw them. Paths beyond violence:  The Citizen's Coalition to Reaffirm and Extend the Geneva Conventions  --  In a world overwhelmed by violence, the Geneva Conventions represent one of the few examples of long term cooperation to limit the violence of war.  With the recent introduction of Depleted Uranium bullets and anti-tank projectiles, the violence of war now includes the radioactive poisoning of civilians, which has take place in Bosnia and is taking place today in Iraq.  You are invited to join this noble effort, which began in the 1860s by reaching out to many kings and princes, and today needs to include all citizens of all countries. Paths beyond violence:  A World Without Armies  --  A growing number of nations are interested in demilitarization. Costa Rica provides a model for this, having abolished its armed forces in 1949 and maintaining the highest living standard in Central and South America. We work with people in Costa Rica and endeavor to spread their exemplary practice of having no army to other parts of the world. Guest Essays and News Stories: 2009:  COGENERATION as an alternative to more nuclear power plants.  Smart energy production (cogeneration, Combined Heat and Power, CHP) can allow us to get lots more benefit from the same cubic foot of natural gas.  In a cogeneration power plant, oil or natural gas is burned in a boiler to make steam that turns a turbine to generate electricity.  The steam is then piped through adjacent buildings to heat them in the winter (or cool them in the summer, through the magic of air conditioning engineering), greatly lowering the overall utility cost for the school or business, and reducing the total greenhouse gas emissions as well.  For examples of recent cogeneration projects, please visit the Goss Engineering web site and/or read the following book.   Sustainable On-Site CHP Systems: Design, Construction and Operations   Plan, design, construct, and operate a sustainable on-site CHP (combined heat and power) facility using the detailed information in this practical guide. Sustainable On-Site CHP Systems reveals how to substantially increase the energy efficiency in commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential buildings using waste heat and thermal energy from power generation equipment for cooling, heating, and humidity control. In-depth case studies illustrate real-world applications of CHP systems. Editors: Milton Meckler, M.ASCE, F.ASME, P.E., is president of Design Build Systems (DBS), a company specializing in commercial, industrial, and institutional MEP design and construction. He was one of four Global Award Finalists for McGraw-Hill’s Platts Energy Lifetime Achievement Award. Lucas Hyman, P.E., LEED AP, a professional mechanical engineer with more than 25 years’ experience, is president of Goss Engineering, Inc., a firm specializing in district energy systems. 978-0-07-160317-1 • Available January 2010 • Order from McGraw-Hill [Full disclosure:  Lucas Hyman, PE, president of Goss Engineering and one of the leading cogeneration engineers working in the field today, is the nephew of Dennis Rivers, the editor of this web site and a web programmer for Goss.] Nuclear Spoons: Hot metal may find its way to your dinner table.  By Anne-Marie Cusac in The Progressive October 1998. "...the DOE has come up with an  ingenious plan to dispose of  its troublesome tons of [radioactive]  nickel, copper, steel, and  aluminum. It wants to let scrap companies collect the metal, try to take the radioactivity out, and sell the metal to foundries, which would in turn sell it to manufacturers who could use it for everyday household products:  pots, pans, forks, spoons, even your eyeglasses."  (Web editor's note:  Bad publicity such as this article helped get this program suspended by the DOE in July, 2000.  But the problem of radioactive materials migrating into civilian prodicts is not over.) Hope From Ashes: Why Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki?  by Dennis Rivers, 2006.   "Every August 6th people around the world gather to mark the deaths and injuries of the inhabitants of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  And once again we join them, gathering in this memorial garden, surrounded by folded paper cranes, and struggling to find an appropriate response to one of the world's great catastrophes." Cause and Effect: An American Reflects on 9-11   By Dennis Rivers, Editor, nonukes web site  --  September 11, 2004   News Clips of Enduring Interest: >>> Dangerous development:  The U.S. Senate is moving toward authorizing the development of new nuclear weapons... July 14, 2000: We Are Taking a Detour From Deterrence, an article in the L.A. Times by retired  Rear Admiral Eugene J. Carroll Jr., Vice President of the Center for Defense Information in Washington.  >>> One objection to nuclear power is that it requires superhuman levels of honesty, consistency and reliability from a vast network of just plain human beings.  The story below reports the latest trouble at Sellafield, England, site of the disasterous 1957 Windscale nuclear fire...    Feb. 22, 2000: UK Nuclear Fuel Scandal Widens (from the Environment News Service) >>> For many years, advocates of nuclear energy have argued that nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are two separate issues. In fact, the two have always been intertwined behind the scenes. The story below documents the explicit linking of  U.S. nuclear power plant to the production of tritium for nuclear weapons.  The big question is: how many other countries will convert their nuclear power plants to atom bomb factories?... Dec. 12, 1999: U.S. Civilian Reactors to Produce Nuclear Weapons Material (from the Environment News Service)     >>> March, 2000:  Improvements in local infant health observed after nuclear power reactor closings...   Abstract of journal article:  Between 1987 and 1998, operations ceased at 12 U.S. nuclear power reactors. One of these, Rancho Seco, is located in a densely populated area. After the reactor closed in 1989,  significant decreases in mortality (all causes and from congenital anomalies) and cancer incidence were observed for fetuses, infants, and small children. These trends contrast with a  worsening of infant health status after the plant opened in 1974. The data suggest that a relationship between nuclear emissions and adverse health effects exists, especially since fetuses  and newborns are most sensitive to radiation. Because Rancho Seco released low levels of radionuclides into the local environment, the issue of health effects of prolonged, low-dose  radiation exposure is raised. The matter becomes increasingly important as operators of several dozen aging U.S. reactors must soon decide whether to extend their operating licenses. From:  Environmental Epidemiology and Toxicology (2000) 2, 32-36.  notes from the bottom of the radwaste tank...              Some things to think about:              A = USA military budget for 2007:  Approximately 700 billion dollars B = Population of planet earth in June 2007: Approximately 6.6 billion people Disturbing arithmetic:   A/B =  approximately $100 of U.S. guns, bombs, planes and military pay for every man, woman and child on planet Earth (about $2,300 for each US citizen and resident, young and old, about $9,200 per year for every US family of four) Thought Questions:     At what point does something like this become "too much" ?    What sort of tensions would the world have if we spent this amount on schools, hospitals, housing, solar panels  and employment training around the world?   What role do you play in relation to this process (which now influences most people on Planet Earth)?   How do you feel about the role you play in this process? Dennis Rivers - June 2007   Links to major sources of anti-nuclear information: Tri-Valley CAREs -- Communities Against a Radioactive Environment is located near the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which has been designing nuclear warheads, and leaking radioactive material into the neighborhood, for many decades. Rocky Mountain Institute Library of articles on nuclear energy and alternative energy paths. The Nuclear Control Institute (Washington, DC) presents detailed technical information about problems associated with nuclear weapons and waste. Nuclear Information & Resource Service  (Washington, DC).  NIRS is an information and networking center for citizens and environmental organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation, and sustainable energy issues. Greenpeace(Amsterdam) presents the latest information on campaigns around the world to limit the spread of nuclear contamination. Earth Island Institute (San Francisco, Calif.) reports on world-wide ecology issues (including nuclear waste and power). Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (Santa Barbara, Calif.) features articles and position papers on nuclear weapons control and nuclear waste disposal. A longer list of links to web sites with information about nuclear and safe energy issues.   This web site is sponsored by the nonukes.org consortium of peace, ecology and educational groups, including...      The Nuclear Guardianship Project,      Plutonium Free Future,      A World Without Armies      www.TurnTowardLife.org      www.LiberationTheology.org      www.NewConversations.net Thank you for visiting the www.nonukes.org web site.