January 18, 2006

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Jan 2006 E-Newsletter

As we recover from the general chaos of the winter holiday season, Shundahai Network would like to thank you for your support and ask for your continuing support in the New Year.

Skull Valley

While there has been some good news lately regarding the proposed PFS Nuclear Waste Dump in Skull Valley with the defections of several of the member power companies , and revelations of data falsification and modifications in design (October) threaten to delay the opening of Yucca Mountain indefinitely, other developments indicate continuing threats.

Yucca Mountain

Several nuclear power generating companies are insisting that the federal government take responsibility for storage of nuclear waste, as required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. A bill introduces this past month by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) (see summary of bill text) would reaffirm the federal government’s responsibility for the waste, but would require that it be stored in dry-cask storage at the generating plants’ sites. Liability for the waste would shift to the federal government, and the funds currently used to fund Yucca Mountain would be used for this new plan for dry cask storage. Power companies are resisting plans to require power plants, to store their waste on-site, while still requiring them to pay into the Waste Fund.

Re-Processing

Given the ongoing debate over storage of nuclear waste, proponents of waste re-processing are pushing for the 30-year ban on re-processing to be lifted. Lifting this ban would increase the availability of weapons-grade plutonium, and expose the global community to proliferation risk. See “The Wrong Way”, and “Reprocessing Nuclear Waste: Forget About it” . Changes to recent appropriations bills provide $20 million in funds to locate host communities for experimental re-processing plants.

More Nuclear Power Plants?

As the prices for fuel oil and natural gas rise, and concerns about global warming take hold, supporters of nuclear power are taking the political opportunity to push for licensing of more power plants, and the implementation of new, and largely unproven reactor technologies. State legislatures, Utah’s among them, are considering legislation to encourage the development of nuclear power plants.

More nuclear power plants only increase the size of the waste problem, the risks to the environment and human population, and the threat of nuclear proliferation. Plants continue to experience safety violations and missing spent fuel. Please see the excellent report by the Union of concerned Scientists on nuclear power plant safety noted below.

Cold War Redux?

Recent news of the implementation by Russia of a new generation of nuclear weapons with range to strike the United States, and provocative language suggesting that they could foil our missile defense systems, seems likely to signal an escalation in the potential for renewed testing at the Nevada Test Site-

New Web Page

To address some of these new undercurrents, and keep our supporters informed, we have created a new page on our web site called “Nuclear Power Plants.” It is located under the “Action for Nuclear Abolition” Program line, and may be accessed from any page. On this page we will list news articles about the licensing of nuclear power plants, safety violations, general nuclear waste storage, re-processing and transportation issues, and alternatives to nuclear power. We will also include special reports, such as the recent Nuclear Information and Resource Service report that examines how nuclear power is not an answer to global warming, and the recent Union of Concerned Scientists report on Nuclear Safety.

Upcoming Events

In the coming weeks, we will be bringing you news of events on our “Upcoming Events”page to focus attention on the health and security risks of transporting nuclear waste, the legacy of Chernobyl, and the ongoing struggle against PFS by Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia Awareness and other members of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians.

Stay tuned…