Plutonium Fuel: Making North Carolina's Nuclear Power More Dangerous

 

 

Did you know that there are 4 nuclear power reactors within 100 miles of Asheville that are slated to take experimental plutonium fuel made from dismantled nuclear warheads!?!

	It's called "MOX" …techno talk for "mixed oxide" fuel

 

This new type of "bomb fuel" has never been used anywhere in the world before. This is a federal program of the US Department of Energy. Duke Power operates the four reactors, called McGuire 1 & 2 near Charlotte, and Catawba 1 & 2, near Rock Hill, SC, and will get OUR taxpayer dollars as a reward for this experiment.

 

National experts on nuclear power, including  Nuclear Information & Resource Service, Union of Concerned Scientists and Institute for Energy and Environmental Research report that the use of this experimental MOX plutonium fuel will lower the margin of safety at nuclear reactors since they were designed for uranium fuel, not weapon's grade plutonium. This increases the chances of a reactor accident, particularly as these systems age.

 

Dr. Edwin Lyman at the Nuclear Control Institute reports that this new plutonium fuel would cause enormous increases in the numbers of deaths in the event of a major reactor accident  -- anywhere from 30% more cancer deaths to a full 100% more (doubling) depending on how much plutonium fuel is in the reactor.  Asheville at 100 miles away should worry which way the wind is blowing!

 

Making sure that plutonium from the Cold War and from old nuclear weapons is secure is an important goal. However, turning weapons - usable material into a commodity and shipping it throughout the Southeast will not fulfill this mission. We must not trade our own security and health for a phony plutonium policy. Both the U.S. and Russia should treat this material as a waste, not fuel.

 

 

What we can do to NIX MOX!!!!

 

¨     Think about ways to spread the word about this risky business:

¨     Add your name and e-mail address to the contact list for ALERTs you can forward to your friends and family, including easy action steps

¨     letters to the editor

¨     call-in on radio shows

¨     invite a speaker to a meeting of one of your organizations -- contact Mary Olson for possible speakers and to arrange -- 251-2060

 

¨     Learn more about the issue.  The following Websites have more information:

¨     Nuclear Information & Resource Service  www.nirs.org

¨     Institute for Energy and Environmental Research  www.ieer.org

¨     Nuclear Control Institute  www.nci.org  (you must search the site with the key word "MOX" and you will find they have lots of info)

¨     Women's Action for New Directions  www.wand.org

¨     Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League  www.bredl.org

 

¨     Tell Congress to cut the money for this program -- it's our tax dollars!

Write a simple letter to your Rep or Senators...don't send e-mail -- it is "invisible" in DC. Hand written is the very best. Simply tell them that plutonium fuel is too big a risk and that Duke Power and the Department of Energy should not get our tax dollars to put our lives at risk. Be sure to include your address. Their addresses are:

 

Representative Charles Taylor  or   Representative Cass Ballenger (10^th district)

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

 

Senator John Edwards  and Senator Jesse Helms

U.S. Senate

Washington, DC 20510

 

¨     Urge our elected officials to hold public hearings on this issue here, and also demand that the federal agencies also hold public hearings in North Carolina.

 

¨     Tell Duke Power this is a bad idea! (Especially if you're in their service area.) Write to  Cathy Roche, Director External Relations, Duke Energy

      PO Box 1244   Charlotte, NC 28202             csroche@duke-energy.com