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News :: Nukes |
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Energy Bill Gives Money-Losing Nuke Plants Massive Subsidy |
Current rating: 0 |
by NIRS
(No verified email address) |
17 Nov 2003
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NUCLEAR ENERGY WOULD GET $7.5 BILLION IN TAX SUBSIDIES;
US TAXPAYERS WOULD FUND NUCLEAR RELAPSE IF ENERGY BILL PASSES |
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) and the Bush Administration would give the nuclear power industry yet another bail-out as part of the much-maligned energy bill. Domenici has included, among other largesse, a 1.8 cent per kilowatt-hour production tax credit for electricity produced by new atomic reactors. This provision, crafted in secret and not released until late Saturday night, could cost taxpayers as much as $7.5 Billion and is intended to result in the construction of six new privately-owned, for-profit reactors across the county. This provision alone would cost each American family about $600.
This incentive is in addition to almost four Billion dollars included for other nuclear energy programs.
“Apparently the Bush Administration only upholds free market principles when it isn’t inconvenient for their campaign contributors,” concluded Cindy Folkers of NIRS. “Nuclear power already has had 50 years of subsidy totaling over 140 billion dollars, dwarfing subsidies to wind and solar during the same time period. It is a mature industry that should not receive any more taxpayer funding.”
In addition to the tax credits for new reactors, the nuclear industry would also receive 1.1 billion dollars for a new nuclear reactor to produce hydrogen fuel. At least $2.7 billion would go for research and development of new reactors under the industry-written “Nuclear Power 2010” program.
This bill would gut terrorism protection provisions written in the original House-passed bill, and repeal a ban on exporting highly enriched uranium to other countries, increasing the chances that nuclear reactors could be hit by terrorists or that nuclear bomb material could fall into terrorist hands.
"Increasing nuclear materials traffic raises the risk of it being commandeered by terrorists," said Paul Gunter, Director of the Reactor Watchdog Project for NIRS. "Congress is ignoring that this legislation simply makes more vulnerable targets for terrorists both here and abroad."
As the final ill-advised indignity, the bill would encourage in-situ leach mining of uranium and write into law the necessity of a uranium enrichment facility. This bill would ease and speed the licensing procedure for constructing an enrichment facility, and would change NEPA and environmental justice regulations for such a facility. Further, it would allow depleted uranium to be treated as “low-level” waste and would require the Department of Energy to take possession of privately-generated waste. These latter provisions were put in by Senator Domenici to benefit Louisiana Energy Services (LES), a controversial firm led by the European consortium Urenco. LES, which has been unsuccessful at building a private uranium enrichment plant in Louisiana and Tennessee, is expected to soon apply for a license to build one in Domenici’s home state of New Mexico.
“This bill does not establish meaningful energy policy,” said Michael Mariotte, executive director of NIRS, “rather, it simply transfers taxpayer money to some of the wealthiest and most polluting companies in the world. We call upon the Senate to decisively reject this bill and if necessary, to filibuster to prevent its enactment. No energy policy is worth the money, public health pain and suffering, and environmental degradation that would result from this ill-conceived giveaway to a few special interests.”
A brief analysis of the bill’s nuclear power sections is available on NIRS website, www.nirs.org |
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The Word "Chaos" Cannot Do Justice To The Omnibus Energy Bill
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URGENT! Senate Taking Up Energy Bill; Call Now! |
by NIRS
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
18 Nov 2003
|
Dear Friends: The Senate-House conference committee Monday night approved the massive, pro-nuclear, giveaway of tax dollars to polluting corporations known as the energy bill. Although the Senate side tried to make some improvements in the bill (for example, reinstating a Renewables Portfolio Standard), the House refused to accept those changes--the bill remains utterly unacceptable on cost, public health and safety, and environmental grounds.
The full House is expected to approve the bill today, Tuesday, November 18. Senate consideration of the bill is expected to begin tonight (Tuesday night) and a final Senate vote could occur as early as Wednesday.
Our best estimate is that the key vote will be on a cloture motion, meaning a motion to stop a filibuster. This means only 41 votes will be needed to defeat the bill--with your help today and Wednesday, we can get those votes and stop this monstrosity!
VOICE your opposition in a FREE FAX to your senators. Note: there is now a new message on this site, so even if you have faxed before, please do so again:
http://www.stopenergybill.org/
CALL your senators and representatives! (Connect through the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121) Tell them to OPPOSE the Energy Bill and support any filibuster against the bill.
The New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and Minneapolis Star-Tribune (at the least) all ran editorials today urging defeat of the energy bill and support for a filibuster. Momentum is growing, but your Senators NEED to hear from you. Please call your Senators now, and then call two friends and ask them to call.
For more information on the nuclear sections of the energy bill, see http://www.nirs.org
Thank you!
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service |
