Don't Nuke The Climate campaign at Department of Energy

The Don't Nuke the Climate campaign took to the streets in Washington, DC today, with a little street theatre outide the Department of Energy. "A Christmas Peril," a parody of "A Christmas Carol," was performed by representatives from Beyond Nuclear, Friends of the Earth, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Public Citizen and others. Tomorrow, December 12 is an international day of action on climate, in conjunction with the Copenhagen climate summit. Watch for more actions on the Don't Nuke the Climate Web site. See more photos from our street theater at Public Citizen's "Flkr" account. Also, more photos are posted at Jeff Crespi's gallery, our friend from WRYR Radio in Shady Side, Maryland, which sent correspondent Mike Shay to capture audio from the street theater. Here is the full script. And Public Citizen has posted video at YouTube.

Copenhagen activists remind us that solving climate change with nuclear power is a fairy tale

Don't Nuke the Climate activists, in Copenhagen for the climate talks, made their point when they "decorated" the Little Mermaid statue recalling the Danish writer Hans Christian Anderson's famous story.

Fermi 3 Opponents Reveal Serious NRC Concerns about DTE Mismanagement on Quality Assurance

Beyond Nuclear and its environmental coalition allies defended its quality assurance contention against the Fermi 3 new reactor proposal targeted at Monroe, Michigan on Dec. 8th. Beyond Nuclear's contention was based upon a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) "Notice of Violation" issued on Oct. 5th. Expert witness Arnold Gundersen's declaration cited U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission safety staff internal emails raising serious concerns about the lack of quality assurance in the Fermi 3 combined Construction and Operating License Application (COLA). Beyond Nuclear's media release on its latest filing quoted Gundersen, coalition attorney Terry Lodge, as well as Beyond Nuclear Launch Partner Keith Gunter of Livonia, Michigan. Not only does Fermi 3's COLA lack QA, but NRC's Office of Inspector General has questioned the QA competence of NRC's own staff itself. Despite its challenges at enforcing its own QA regulations, NRC staff have raised serious concerns about the QA of the General Electric-Hitachi design itself for the "Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor" proposed at Fermi 3. Beyond Nuclear's original QA contention against Fermi 3's COLA, and Detroit Edison's and NRC staff's responses, are posted at Beyond Nuclear's Nuclear Reactor page.

Your holiday gift search ends here!

It's the season for giving, and what better gift for your environmentalist friends - or yourself - than a copy of Ed Begley, Jr.'s new book - Ed Begley, Jr.'s Guide to Sustainable Living!

We will send a complimentary copy of Beyond Nuclear Launch Partner Ed Begley Jr.'s new book to the first ten people who make a gift of $100 or more to Beyond Nuclear in December.

Ed's book lays out a detailed road map culled from his 39 years of green living and provides a comprehensive plan, from effective conservation techniques to producing your own energy.

Even if you cannot manage $100, please consider making a year-end and tax-deductible contribution to Beyond Nuclear today.

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Long-awaited GAO report documents costs of high-level radioactive waste management alternatives

A Government Accountability Office report, "NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT: Key Attributes, Challenges, and Costs of the Yucca Mountain Repository and Two Potential Alternatives," has just been released. Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter and Kevin Kamps served as consultants on the report, which was a year and a half in the making. The report details the monetary costs, and technical challenges, of managing irradiated nuclear fuel for decades and even centuries to come. Requested by Nevada Senators Harry Reid (the Senate Majority Leader and long-time Yucca dump foe) and John Ensign, as well as Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbarba Boxer of California, this report confirms what radioactive waste watchdogs have long warned -- that the price tag for ratepayers and taxpayers will rise into the tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars over time. The report compares the costs and challenges of radioactive waste disposal at Yucca Mountain, versus long-term on-site storage at nuclear power plants, as well as "centralized interim storage" at two regional sites in the U.S. The report does not compare and contrast the "safety, health, and environmental risks" associated with each of the proposed alternatives, however.