December 17, 2008
Dear everyone,
We thought we'd dash off a very quick update this holiday and transitional season for you about NIRS and our ongoing efforts to stop a resurgence of nuclear power and build a nuclear-free, carbon-free energy future.
*And speaking of transitional, NIRS set up a meeting for DC-based safe energy groups and the Obama energy transition team that was held on Monday, December 15. The role of the transition team is to learn about the issues the new administration will face, and especially those issues that the outgoing Bush administration is not likely to tell them about or is likely to distort.
Joining NIRS in the meeting were representatives from Physicans for Social Responsibility, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environment America, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Beyond Nuclear, and Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. Representatives from Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Friends of the Earth and Public Citizen were unable to attend for various reasons.
We talked to six transition team leaders about a variety of issues Obama will face early in his administration, including loan guarantees for new reactors; Yucca Mountain, reprocessing and the GNEP program, the disarray in the NRC's reactor licensing process and nuclear power and climate issues, among others.
The meeting went well, the transition team was interested in everything we had to say and took copious notes, and hopefully we've opened the door for future meaningful communication with the Obama administration.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: let the Obama administration know what you think about these and other important issues. Go to change.gov (or use this link) and tell them your energy and environmental priorities. Many of you have written long, thoughtful comments on our various online petitions. Now go straight to the administration and leave your comments there too. So far, not a lot of people have commented on nuclear-related issues--let's change that now!
*Breaking News! This morning, Constellation Energy announced it was rejecting its merger agreement with Warren Buffett and MidAmerican Energy, and instead is going to be, for most practical purposes, taken over by the French nuclear utility Electricite de France (EdF). This is another indication of the aggressive effort by the French government, which owns more than 80% of both EdF and reactor manufacturer Areva, Constellation's UniStar subsidiary was set up as a partnership with EdF to build Areva EPR reactors across the U.S., starting at Calvert Cliffs, Maryland.
NIRS and other groups (Public Citizen, Beyond Nuclear, SoMDCARES) intervened in NRC proceedings against Calvert Cliffs November 19. Among the contentions NIRS prepared and now will defend before an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board is a charge that the UniStar model violates the Atomic Energy Act's prohibition against foreign ownership, control or domination of a nuclear reactor. This issue is clearly going to grow in coming weeks.
Can you support NIRS for one hour?
$1500 per day--that's what it costs to run NIRS. That's $62.50 an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Nuclear industry lawyers and lobbyists would turn up their noses at that hourly rate, but for us it means constant fundraising to try to meet our expenses.
Every hour of our costs that you can cover is another hour that we can focus on doing the kind of effective outreach and professional work you expect of us--like setting up meetings with the transition team and pursuing interventions and other actions against new reactors!
We know the economy stinks--it stinks for us too--so if you can't cover a full hour, how about a 1/2 hour? Or if you can do more, how about two hours, or an entire day? Whatever you can do, please donate here.
If you prefer not to donate online, please send your contribution to NIRS, 6930 Carroll Avenue, #340, Takoma Park, MD 20912. Either way, your contribution is fully tax-deductible.
*Finally, if you haven't already signed our brief statement on nuclear power and climate change, please do so today on the front page of NIRS website. We now have more than 9,100 signers; our goal is 10,000+ by Inauguration Day. Ask your friends, neighbors, co-workers, social networks and others to sign as well. With your help, we can reach this goal!
Thanks for everything you do.
Have a terrific holiday season and let's all hope for a peaceful and increasingly nuclear-free new year.
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
nirs...@nirs.org
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