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ACTION ALERT

Stop the Nuclear Energy Bill which would Grant Billions to Build New Reactors
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chair, Pete Domenici’s (R-NM) energy is a nuclear industry and Bush-Cheney wish list that would fund new nuclear power reactors in the US and abroad. A Senate floor vote could occur as early as May.

This bill would:

o Renew the Price-Anderson act indefinitely. Price-Anderson absolves nuclear utilities of full potential cost in the event of a nuclear accident. This law has been renewed every 10 or 15 years.

o Use taxpayer money to construct NEW “inherently safe” reactors. Tax dollars would be used to cover up to 50% of the costs under the Nuclear Power 2010 program. Some estimates are as much as $30 billion could be spent under this program.

o It would authorize $1 billion to build a new hydrogen production reactor for Bush?s Hydrogen Initiative. This ignores the fact that hydrogen generation can be accomplished other ways faster, with less money and less harm to the environment. For more detailed information see NIRS fact sheet at http://www.nirs.org.

o Fund the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative, which would start reprocessing of spent uranium fuel. Reprocessing was banned by the Carter administration because of health and environmental concerns. The MOX program attempts (and fails) to get rid of weapons-grade plutonium by irradiating it in nuclear reactors.

What you can do:
1) Contact your Senators (Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121) and (http://www.senate.gov) Tell them to oppose any funding for nuclear power programs.

2) You can also fax to them at: http://www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?ID=148&source=8

3) Begin to educate and organize your friends, colleagues and communities, and encourage them to call and e-mail the Congress http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov ).

4) Join NIRS? e-mail Alert list to receive updates on this and other issues where you can make a difference. Ask your friends to join too. Just send your e-mail address to nirsnet@nirs.org.

5) Sign this group statement (organizations only, please):
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/energybill/articles.cfm?ID=9342

Nuclear power has had its chance and it is time we moved on to energy technologies that are sustainable, safe and actually work. Letters to the editor and op-eds are very appropriate at this time, and should focus on the huge waste of taxpayer money that additional subsidies for the nuclear power industry would represent. Just imagine the level of sustainable energy that could be developed with the billions of dollars authorized by Senator Domenici?s energy bill!

For a more detailed bill analysis, please see the Nuclear Monitor Extra at http://www.nirs.org