Forum / Nukes and Writers

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 28, 09:14pm

  6930 Carroll Avenue, #340, Takoma Park, MD 20912; 301-270-6477; nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org

  ACT NOW!
  STOP A MOBILE CHERNOBYL
  NO FUKUSHIMA FREEWAYS

  March 28, 2013

  Dear Friends,

  Senate Energy Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) is expected to introduce--any day now--new legislation on radioactive waste. And, unfortunately, this legislation is widely expected to embrace the recommendations of the Department of Energy's Blue Ribbon Commission and nuclear advocates Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in calling for establishment of a "centralized interim storage" dump for high-level nuclear waste.

  This has been a singular goal of the nuclear industry for nearly twenty years: get the waste off their property and ship it to someone else's. Why? Because as long as this waste--the same toxic stew of irradiated nuclear fuel that spread across the globe from Fukushima and Chernobyl--remains at their reactor sites, the nuclear utilities are liable for any damages. Once the waste is moved from their property lines, we, the taxpayers, become liable for the devastation a nuclear waste accident could cause.

  Such a "centralized interim" storage site would begin the transport of tens of thousands of casks of lethal high-level nuclear waste across the entire United States, potentially affecting 100 million Americans who live within a mile or two of likely transport routes--our nation's roads, railways and waterways.

  If you don't want to see signs like the one to the right sprouting up on the roads you travel daily, it's time to act. Sign the petition now. Tell Congress: Stop a Mobile Chernobyl; No Fukushima Freeways!

  For nearly twenty years, the nuclear industry's primary aim has not been establishment of a scientifically-sound, publicly-defensible permanent solution for radioactive waste, but rather institution of such a "centralized interim storage" site. In other words, one or more "temporary" places to stash thousands of casks of lethal high-level waste, regardless of whether the site is suitable for long-term storage.

  Even the right-wing Heritage Foundation just today called the concept a "shoddy fix" that does nothing to solve the real problem. Yet the nuclear industry is confident; this week the National Journal called radioactive waste legislation one of five "easy" energy-related bills for Congress to pass this year. We're going to prove them wrong.

  Because, for nearly twenty years, a loud voice of public opposition has stopped the nuclear industry in its tracks. In the 1990s, for example, Congress approved a bill to establish such an "interim" site, but President Clinton listened to the growing public outcry and vetoed the measure, a veto that was upheld by the Senate.

  Now we have to do it again. The first step is to sign the petition here. It will be printed and hand-delivered to key Members of Congress.

  You can also download copies of the petition to print and collect signatures on paper to return to NIRS, here. And we have new resources and factsheets available on the revamped Mobile Chernobyl page on our website here. We'll be adding more resources to this page in the coming days and weeks.

  The only reason for "centralized interim storage" is to encourage generation of more radioactive waste, without consequence to the nuclear utilities. At a time when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is prohibited from even issuing reactor licenses because there is no confidence radioactive waste can be safely and securely stored, this makes no sense whatsoever. It's time to act.

  And watch for more actions soon, including a National Call-In Day to Stop A Mobile Chernobyl in mid-April. This is not a one-shot petition, it's the beginning of a major campaign.

  On today's 34th anniversary of the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown, we're reminded of the dangerous nature of commercial nuclear power. This is an industry that has never looked out for anyone but itself. Your actions now will, once again, help stop this unnecessary and dangerous nuclear industry bailout.

  Thanks so much for all you do,

  Michael Mariotte
  Executive Director
  Nuclear Information and Resource Service
  www.nirs.org
  nirsnet@nirs.org

  P.S. We want to remind you about our 35th anniversary matching challenge grant. We're more than halfway to meeting it, but the challenge ends April 30. Your contributions are being doubled during this $25,000 challenge. We hope you'll help us get over the top with a tax-deductible donation, either online here, after you sign the petition, or by sending a check to NIRS, 6930 Carroll Avenue, #340, Takoma Park, MD 20912.

  Stay Informed:

  NIRS on the web (stay up-to-date with the Nuclear Newsreel section on the front page, featuring the day's most interesting news on nuclear power and other energy issues): http://www.nirs.org

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• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 28, 09:24pm

  http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/hlwtransport/mobilechernobyl.htm

  Go to full website here to sign petitition and forward to friends. Our lives are at stake.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 28, 10:09pm

  from Howard Zinn's:
  ARTISTS IN TIMES OF WAR

  The question of NUKES:

  "Whose business is this? The historian says, "It's not my business." The lawyer says, "It's not my business." the businessman says, "It's not my business." Then whose business is it? Does that mean you are going to leave the business of the most important issues in the world to the people who run the country? How stupid can we be?"

  "There are experts in this fact and that fact but there are no moral experts. It's important to remember that. All of us, no matter what we do, have the right to make moral decisions about the world. We must be undeterred by the cries of the people who say "You don't know. You're not an expert"...It takes only a bit of knowledge of history to realize how dangerous it is to think the people who run the country know what they are doing...Everyone must be involved. There are no experts."

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 29, 05:39am

  You are your own moral expert.

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