Nuclear Relapse Goes Global

FEBRUARY 24, 2006 | No. 642 NUCLEAR RELAPSE GOES GLOBAL The Bush administration's US$2.77 trillion fiscal year 2007 federal NUCLEAR RELAPSE GOES budget proposes cuts in environmental protections and social GLOBAL 1 programs, while lowering taxes on the wealthy. (1) Instead it RUSSIA’S REPROCESSING includes increased funding for nuclear energy initiatives. CONUNDRUM 4 TURKISH ACTIVISTS PROTEST (642.5746) NIRS - These include a Bush signed the Energy Policy Act on AGAINST NUCLEAR FUTURE 5 proposed international expansion of August 8, 2005 (in between the nuclear power and a revival of domestic commemorations of the 60th ENEL TUSSEL WITH SLOVAK nuclear waste reprocessing called the anniversary of the Hiroshima and GOVERNMENT CONTINUES 7 "Global Nuclear Energy Partnership," or Nagasaki atomic bombings) at Sandia GNEP. The US$23.6 billion proposed National Laboratory in New Mexico, PBMR IS NOT THE ANSWER 9 budget for the U.S. Dept. of Energy immediately next door to one of the NUCLEAR POWER’S (DOE), a US$124 million increase over largest concentrations of stored nuclear GREENHOUSE GAS last year's funding level, includes a warheads in the U.S. at Albuquerque's EMISSIONS 12 US$250 million request to Congress for Kirtland Air Force Base. The state's two GNEP. U.S. Senators, Republican Pete IN BRIEF 14 Domenici and Democrat Jeff Bingaman In his 2006 State of the Union speech accompanied Bush. Domenici is Chair delivered on January 31, Bush called and Bingaman a Ranking Member of for an "Advanced Energy Initiative," the Senate Energy and Natural stating, "America is addicted to oil." Resources Committee - the first time in But he still seems intent on trading one U.S. history that two Senators from the addiction for another, calling for same state hold both top spots on any increased investment in "clean, safe committee. Sandia performs a large nuclear energy." GNEP, announced a amount of nuclear related research, and week after the State of the Union, along with Los Alamos National "[builds] on advances made to Laboratory (birthplace of the atomic encourage more nuclear power in the bomb), the two nuclear labs are the U.S., including the Nuclear Power 2010 largest employers in the state. (3) program and the Energy Policy Act of 2005." The Energy Policy Act Although Bush did not mention authorizes US$13 billion in taxpayer reprocessing in his State of the Union subsidies aimed at promoting the speech, Energy Secretary Sam Bodman building of the first new reactors in the and Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell U.S. in over 30 years. These subsidies gave GNEP's unveiling a very high were authorized despite the nuclear profile at the DOE budget "roll out" on power industry already having been February 6. (4) Reprocessing is at the heavily subsidized for the past 50 heart of the Bush administration's years. (2) proposed global nuclear power expansion, supposedly to "recycle" and "reduce" radioactive waste, as well as contaminated with plutonium and other publicized DOE's own research, to prevent the proliferation of nuclear high activity radionuclides, and would showing clearly that the reprocessing weapons to "terrorists" and "rogue be radioactive enough to require technologies advocated by GNEP are states." disposal in a repository. Also, the MOX not proliferation-resistant. (9) The Bush irradiated fuel associated with administration's timing in unveiling GNEP conjures memories reminiscent plutonium "recycling" is itself generally GNEP could not be worse, given its of President Eisenhower's "Atoms for not suitable for reprocessing, is hotter supposed concern about alleged Peace" heyday of the 1950s, and its in terms of radioactivity and nuclear weapons proliferation in Iran via fission fantasies of "too cheap to temperature than regular irradiated fuel, uranium enrichment, and meter" by the U.S. Atomic Energy and presents a bigger problem for acknowledged proliferation in North Commission's Chairman Lewis Strauss disposal in a repository. (7) Korea via reprocessing. The United and "Our Friend the Atom" by Walt States is effectively saying to other Disney. For example, Bodman said Commercial nuclear waste reprocessing countries "do as I say, not as I do." "GNEP brings the promise of virtually was banned by U.S. Presidents Ford limitless energy to emerging economies (Republican) and Carter (Democrat) in Seemingly oblivious to the irony, given around the globe, in an environmentally the mid to late 1970s as part of a the Bush administration's proposed friendly manner while reducing the nuclear weapons non-proliferation cuts to social programs at home and threat of nuclear proliferation. If we can policy after India had hidden its abroad, Bodman has even described make GNEP a reality, we can make the successful nuclear weapons GNEP as an international poverty world a better, cleaner, safer place to development program behind an alleviation program. He has stated "We live." Bodman's fanaticism for nuclear "atoms for peace" facade. Although can abandon the world's power and reprocessing runs deep: he President Reagan (Republican) underdeveloped nations to poverty and went so far as to say that GNEP is "a overturned that ban, the practice has squalor, and stand by while they program that we all believe has the never been revived, as plutonium mixed struggle to meet their growing energy potential to change the world - we oxide fuel derived from reprocessing is needs with fossil fuels. Or we can work believe that." But the question is, significantly more expensive than in cooperation with other nuclear fuel- change it for the better, or worse? uranium fuel derived straight from the cycle states to provide these nations mines and mills. with commercially attractive, safe and Describing a global nuclear power proliferation-resistant sources of expansion, combined with a revival of It is also quite misleading to portray nuclear energy." (10) Is this an Atomic reprocessing, as a radioactive waste reprocessing as clean or green, given Age update on Marie Antoinette, "Let reduction and nuclear weapons non- that it represents the dirtiest single step them eat plutonium"? proliferation initiative has to win some in the nuclear fuel chain. The history of kind of prize for extraordinary worker and public radiation doses and Perhaps most unbelievable in the GNEP recklessness, brashness and environmental contamination at past proposal, considering the lack of any brazenness. Orwell must be rolling over and current reprocessing facilities good solutions for what to do with the in his grave so fast that he would shows this. West Valley, New York - the U.S.'s own wastes, is the DOE's offer qualify for electricity production tax only commercial waste reprocessing to import irradiated fuel from other credits under the energy bill! (5) facility ever to operate in the U.S., from countries for reprocessing and ultimate Obviously, more reactors would mean 1966 to 1972 - suffered over US$5 disposal in this country (U.S.). more highly radioactive waste with billion worth of contamination, despite Correspondingly, the Bush nowhere to go. And reprocessing reprocessing only one year's worth of administration is formulating legislation actually increases the volume of wastes the projected waste inventory. that will override any remaining requiring disposal, without lowering its impediment to opening the dump temperature or radiotoxicity. (6) The emissions from Sellafield and La targeted at Yucca Mountain, Nevada - Hague account for an incredible 90% such "minor inconveniences" as any Dr. Arjun Makhijani of the Institute for and 80%, respectively, of the U.K.'s remaining, meaningful public health or Energy and Environmental Research and France's radioactive emissions environmental protections that have has pointed out that "…after from their entire nuclear industries. survived the countless previous accounting for the uranium, the Plutonium has been found in children's regulatory rollbacks and short cuts on intermediate [level] waste (which should teeth hundreds of miles away from safety. It will also attempt to greatly be disposed of in a WIPP-like deep Sellafield. Leukaemia and cancer increase the amount of waste that can repository because of its high specific clusters have been found in legally be buried at Yucca, thus activity), and the vitrified waste, the neighbouring communities near forestalling the opening of several volume of waste [due to reprocessing Sellafield and La Hague. Ireland and additional repositories in this century commercial irradiated nuclear fuel] Scandinavian countries are in an uproar alone, according to Sell. This legislation destined for a repository ends up being over liquid emissions into the ocean will be introduced by Sen. Domenici in far greater than the original spent that have contaminated seafood as far the near future, and could very well fuel…" In addition, left over uranium away as the Arctic. (8) lead to a political "bloodbath" on the (uranium comprises 94 percent of the Senate floor, given the fact that weight of irradiated fuel) would be The Union of Concerned Scientists has stopping the Yucca dump is Senate 2 NUCLEAR MONITOR 642 Democratic Leader Harry Reid's top worldwide," Feb. 6, 2006 at may thwart terrorism: Bodman," priority. DOE went so far as to suggest http://www.gnep.energy.gov/ Reuters, Feb. 13, 2006. that reprocessing could be carried out gnepPublicInformation.html; also (11) "Domenici to promote Yucca Mt. at Yucca Mountain, the first time it has "Press Briefing by Deputy bill," Inside Energy EXTRA, Jan. 9, publicly suggested such an idea. (11) Secretary of Energy Clay Sell 2006; Steve Tetrault, "Federal Announcing the Global Nuclear Budget: New front for Yucca DOE's GNEP press conference ended Energy Partnership," Feb. 6, 2006 argument," Las Vegas Review- on a most ironic note. Someone from at http://www.energy.gov/print/ Journal, Feb. 7, 2006, at the media asked, "What was wrong 3171.htm http://www.reviewjournal.com/ with GNEI as a name for this as I (5) At a recent anti-nuclear power lvrj_home/2006/Feb-07-Tue-2006/ understand was the original working summit sponsored by Friends of news/5755804.html; Brian Allen, title? G-N-E-I." Global Nuclear Energy the Earth in Washington, D.C., U.S.

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