Friends of the Earth is fighting to prevent the expansion of unsafe nuclear reactors in the United States, with a focus on stopping the Obama administration's plan to bail out the nuclear industry with taxpayer dollars. Our Not Another Bailout campaign works both nationally and within states to halt the push for this dangerous and expensive technology.
The recent nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, which released extremely harmful levels of radiation, has reignited concerns over the safety of nuclear reactors. A natural disaster, terrorist attack, operating error or equipment malfunction can lead to an accident of frightening proportions in a matter of minutes. Already, Germany and Switzerland have pledged to end their reliance on nuclear reactors, and other countries are closely examining their own nuclear programs. The U.S. -- where aging reactors have an alarming track record of incidents and leaks -- needs to turn to safe, clean and cheaper energy alternatives, instead of planning new nuclear reactors that put people at risk.
Click here to read more about the Fukushima Daiichi crisis.
Click here to take action against dangerous nuclear reactors.
Nuclear reactor construction is so expensive and subject to cost overruns and loan defaults that Wall Street won't finance it. For this reason, reactor construction in the United States came to a halt in the late 1970s. Industry executives have admitted that without taxpayer-backed loan guarantees, they cannot build new reactors. That's why the nuclear industry is so eager to stick you -- the taxpayer -- with the bill.
Loan guarantees are the principal means by which the nuclear industry is trying to put taxpayers on the hook. Each nuclear reactor costs as much as $10 billion to build, and the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the industry will default on more than half of its loans. Through loan guarantees, taxpayers will be forced to repay Wall Street if -- and when -- nuclear companies default on their loans. Yet President Obama's fiscal year 2011 budget proposed $55 billion in nuclear loan guarantees. In February 2010, the president announced the first taxpayer-backed loan guarantee to build two reactors in Georgia, which would be the first built in the U.S. in 30 years.
Friends of the Earth's Not Another Bailout campaign is leading the fight to stop this pre-emptive bailout of the nuclear industry and keep taxpayer money from being wasted on this dirty, unsafe, and old technology. Safe, clean, and responsible alternatives exist, such as solar, wind, and energy efficiency, and these should be the focus of government investment.
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Erich Pica, our president, on NBC Nightly News |
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Friends of the Earth's Not Another Bailout campaign is taking charge in the Southeast U.S. to prevent new nuclear reactors from being constructed in North and South Carolina and Georgia. The nuclear industry is proposing four dangerous new reactors in South Carolina alone. The tremendous construction costs are being passed onto electricity consumers, leading to significant increases in utility bills. Cleaner, less expensive alternatives are available. For more information about the Not Another Bailout campaign in the Southeast U.S., click here.
The proposed reactors are associated with a range of safety and cost concerns. Friends of the Earth and its activists successfully challenged the design of the proposed Westinghouse AP1000 reactor, which saw its licensing review delayed after Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Greg Jaczko expressed serious concerns about safety. Furthermore, South Carolina Electric and Gas Company revised its cost estimate to an exorbitant $11.5 billion, an increase of nearly $2 billion from its initial estimate that could mean even higher bills for consumers.
Tom Clements, Friends of the Earth's nuclear campaign coordinator on the ground in South Carolina, led Friends of the Earth's appeal of a South Carolina Public Service Commission decision to allow new nuclear reactors to be built in the state. That appeal was heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court, and though the case was lost on the state level, we remain engaged before the PSC in challenging the South Carolina Electric & Gas project, which still lacks licenses from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for both the overall project and for the flawed Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design.
The battle to prevent new nuclear reactors came to Iowa in spring 2011. Friends of the Earth joined allies like the AARP to halt legislation that would pave the way for MidAmerican Energy to pass the tab for risky new reactors onto consumers via higher utility rates. The bill would be an obvious win-win for MidAmerican, which could keep the money it gets from the nuclear rate hikes whether or not the reactors are actually constructed. It would be a clear lose-lose for consumers, who would be saddled with higher electric bills and, if they are ever built, dangerous new reactors in their backyards.
The nuclear rate hike has become one of the most controversial bills of the Iowa legislature’s 2011 session thanks to the intervention of Friends of the Earth and its allies -- with a final decision expected by the end of June. We commissioned a poll demonstrating that 75 percent of Iowans oppose the legislation, ran TV and print ads explaining the risks to Iowans, and generated thousands of calls to the Iowa legislature. Click here to watch the ad.
"AP 1000 nuclear reactor design in grave danger," 5/20/11
"Watchdog group charges Buffet with swindling Iowans over new nuclear reactor," 4/27/11
"New reactor model faces legal challenge," 4/06/11
"President asked to release information on Japanese disaster," 3/18/11