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The future of the disarmament agenda is on the line now as New START ratification moves forward in the US Senate.

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Tell Energy Secretary: No Risky Nuclear Reactor Loan Guarantees

January 21, 2010

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. 

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Action Alerts

  • Stop $25 billion in Nuclear Giveaways in the House

    Putting another $25 billion into costly, economically risky and polluting new reactors will be at the expense of solving climate change with clean, renewable energy and efficiency. Call or email your Representatives today and tell them that these subsidies are unacceptable.

  • Don't Undermine Public Safety in New Reactor Licensing

    Even as the consequences of lax regulation and lax oversight are washing oil onto the Gulf coast, proposed climate legislation in the Senate would cut regulatory corners in licensing new nuclear reactors.

More action alerts»

Resources

  • Dirty, Dangerous and Expensive: The Truth About Nuclear Power

    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 »

  • Coal's Assault on Human Health

    PSR has released a groundbreaking medical report that 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. The report also considers coal's contribution to global warming, and the health implications of global warming. Read more »

  • Childhood Leukemia and Cancers Near German Nuclear Reactors

    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 »

In the Spotlight

  • August 16, 2010
    Countdown to Zero
    On the 65th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, the Sacramento Annual August Peace Event and Physicians for Social Responsibility-Sacramento screened "Countdown To Zero," a film that traces the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to the present state of global affairs. Read more about this month’s chapter in the spotlight event on Hiroshima.