Make a difference in the challenge to confront global warming and prevent nuclear war and the development and use of nuclear weapons.
Today, PSR is joining with dozens of organizations, representing millions of Americans, calling on the U.S. Senate to pass clean energy and climate legislation. Please tell your Senators that we can no longer delay action if we are to protect our health and the health of future generations from catastrophic climate change.
Energy Secretary Stephen Chu has been saying for months that the Department of Energy is going to issue the first conditional loan guarantees to build up to four new reactor projects "soon" as part of the Title XVII Loan Guarantee program. If the projects fail and default on their loans, US taxpayers will be on the hook for up for $18.5 billion. These "conditional" loan guarantees will be issued before a realistic evaluation of the economic viability of the project can be made and meaningful conditions can be determined. DOE has indicated that the "top-tier" projects to get these guarantees are Vogtle in Georgia, VC Summer in South Carolina, South Texas in Texas and Calvert Cliffs in Maryland. None of the projects have a construction and operation license, and all four have been plagued with increasing cost estimates, delays, credit down-grades, and/or scandal. Of the three proposed reactor designs for these projects, none have been certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Two designs face serious technical challenges by US and/or international regulatory bodies; the other design must be recertified in 2013.
Please contact Secretary Chu and the managers of the Title XVII Loan Guarantee program to tell them that issuing conditional loan guarantees would risk billions of taxpayer funds on unlicensed and uneconomical new reactors.
Take Action »Contact your federal legislators and urge them to oppose increasing nuclear loan guarantees.
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Physicians for Social Responsibility has released a groundbreaking medical report, “Coal’s Assault on Human Health,” which takes a new look at the devastating impacts of coal on the human body. Coal combustion releases mercury, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and dozens of other substances known to be hazardous to human health. This report looks at the cumulative harm inflicted by those pollutants on three major body organ systems: the respiratory system, the cardiovascular system, and the nervous system. The report also considers coal’s contribution to global warming, and the health implications of global warming. Read more »
A government-sponsored study of childhood cancer in the proximity of German nuclear power plants (German acronym KiKK) found that children < 5 years living < 5 km from plant exhaust stacks had twice the risk for contracting leukemia as those residing > 5 km. Read more »
The nuclear industry seeks to revitalize itself by manipulating the public’s concerns about global warming and energy insecurity to promote nuclear power as a clean and safe way to curb emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce dependence on foreign energy resources. Read more »