Industry minister says nuclear energy too risky for
quake-prone Japan, must end quickly
Sept. 20, 2012 — Washington Post article
POWER — A Song from No Nukes Concert in New York City
This song was prophetic, predicting in its way both the successes of wind and solar energy and the nuclear disasters that would arrive in the coming decades. (Leaks of radioactive waste, “poison power,” at Hanford, WA, are a slow-moving and under-noticed calamity on a par with the much more dramatic recent nuclear meltdown crisis that began in Fukushima, Japan.)
(Some browsers may require that you click the start button twice.)
Poison Fire: Eco-philosopher Joanna Macy speaks on
the spiritual challenges of nuclear power and nuclear weapons
Barbara Ford on
Fukushima, Fallout, and the Spiritual Challenge
of Nuclear Disaster
CNN story on the changing face of solar energy — (May 12, 2010)
The new look in solar energy is mirrors rather than photovoltaic panels.
The two technologies, working together, may supply one quarter of
the world’s electricity by 2050. Also see Renewable Energy World web site, and
Duke study finds solar power cheaper than nuclear (July, 2010).
So much sun energy falls of the deserts of the world that a single square of desert
approximately 250 miles by 250 miles (less than 1% of the world’s deserts) could
produce all the power the world needs today. See the Desertec web site for more info.
Alec Baldwin on the Human Costs of Nuclear Power
on Huffington Post April 11, 2010
.
Chernobyl 25 years later: distorted reality, and unanswered questions
a report from Greenpeace International. (2011)
.
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 nuclear energy 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.
STILL TRUE IN 2010:
Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Keb’ Mo’ and Ben Harper…
joined in this adaptation of the classic Buffalo Springfield song, “For What It’s Worth,” to help stop a $50 billion loan guarantee package for building new nuclear power plants that was slipped into the 2007 Energy Bill. The Fall 2007 campaign mounted by NukeFree.org and allied environmental non-profit organizations gathered over 120,000 signatures, including those of the activists and artists listed on the scroll above. After a media conference and lobby day featuring Bonnie, Jackson, Graham and several environmental organizations along with public pressure on key Senators, Congress defeated the proposed loan guarantees, handing the safe energy movement a huge victory on the road to a green-powered Earth. Check ‘em out at NukeFree.org .
Ten Strikes Against Nuclear Power
Three pages tell the whole story. – From Coop America.
click image above to view audio slideshow
Blighted homeland
Four L.A. Times articles on the impact of uranium mining on the Navajo people.
11/19/2006: Families spent years in radioactive homes, unaware of the danger.
11/20/2006: Navajos quenched their thirst at watering holes that turned out to be toxic.
11/21/2006: How the tribe and the U.S. botched the chance for a thorough cleanup.
11/22/2006: Uranium producers want to resume mining, with new technology.
Book based on this series:
Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed
by Judy Pasternak
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.
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 Service on Energy
Letter to the Editor of the L.A. Times UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT NUCLEAR POWER COSTS |
The Nuclear Guardianship Library – An archive of articles from many perspectives on the long-term, responsible care of nuclear materials.
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.
>>> 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.
Links to major sources of anti-nuclear information and action:
Rocky Mountain Institute Library of articles on nuclear energy and alternative energy paths.
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.