> < > http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=U99k4twu%2BIZG11%2BW8oNc3UYEWh8aXC3k>Nuclear > Information and Resource Service > October 29, 2008 > > Dear Friends, > > A new campaign is forming to take on UniStar Nuclear and its plans to build > giant new atomic reactors in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Missouri. > > UniStar Nuclear is half-owned by Constellation Energy and half by > Electricite de France. It was created solely to build new reactors in the > U.S. These reactors, called the EPR, are designed by the French company > Areva and are 1600 Megawatts each, or nearly twice the size of the current > average U.S. reactor. It might be worth noting that both Electricite de > France and Areva are essentially arms of the French government, which owns > more than 80% of each company. > < > http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=WL6yNE5tfdAv%2Fd2qLH0uv1fdRI4lACyY>Sign > a petition to tell Warren Buffett to close UniStar Nuclear here. > > According to sworn testimony before the Maryland Public Service Commission, > UniStar chief George Vanderheyden said the cost of an EPR would be on the > upper end of $4,500-$6,000/kw. That translates into about $9.6 billion for a > single reactor. Similar costs are expected at all of the UniStar sites: > Calvert Cliffs, MD; Nine Mile Point, NY; Callaway, MO and Big Bend, PA. > > UniStar's business model calls for it to put up no money for these reactors > themselves. Instead, UniStar wants U.S. taxpayer-backed loans for 80% of the > cost, and it wants to get the French Export-Import Bank to pick up the other > 20%. Yet the Congressional Budget Office has predicted that 50% of nuclear > projects that get loan guarantees ultimately will fail--leaving taxpayers to > pick up the tab. > > Ratepayers, of course, will feel the pain if and when these reactors go > into service--at nearly $10 billion each their electricity wouldn't come > cheap. > > Like all reactors, the EPR design is not "inherently safe," rather, as its > name suggests (Evolutionary Power Reactor) it is simply a small evolution > from existing, unsafe reactor designs. These reactors would produce more > radioactive waste, with no disposal means or site even being contemplated > (Yucca Mountain, NV--if it is ever completed which seems less likely by the > day--is prohibited by the laws of Congress and physics from accepting waste > from new reactors; it's intended to handle the existing nuclear plants > only). > > Spending nearly $40 billion on four new reactors means diverting a lot of > resources that could be used for safe, clean energy technologies like energy > efficiency, solar and wind power, and distributed generation that would more > quickly and economically reduce carbon emissions while providing the > electricity we will need in the future. Given that it takes 10 years or more > to get a single reactor online, we could reduce a lot of carbon emissions > with clean technologies in the meantime with that kind of money. > > Recently the billionaire Warren Buffett and his MidAmerican Energy Holdings > Company bought Constellation Energy, and picked up its 50% share of UniStar > Nuclear in the process. There is reason to believe that Buffett is not as > ideologically disposed toward nuclear power as the UniStar > executives--MidAmerican already cancelled a reactor it considered in Idaho > on the grounds that it simply wouldn't be economic. > > That was a good call, and it's time for Buffett and MidAmerican to make > another good call and shut down UniStar and its ill-conceived plans laid on > the backs of American and French taxpayers. > < > http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=1cb3M6LCQ7VKTojFNJiw20YEWh8aXC3k>Sign > the petition to tell Warren Buffett to close UniStar Nuclear. > > But if you can do more.... > > *Post a link to the petition on your organization's website > > *We're also distributing paper copies of the petition. Contact us at > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] or 301-270-6477 and we'll send > you printed copies, or a file you can print yourself. You can use our logo > or your own organization's logo. Please take these to meetings of your > groups, to your churches, PTAs, food co-ops--anywhere you go where people > gather. It's a great way to start a conversation. It's easy and fun to > gather signatures! > > *Thanks to everyone who has signed the petition so far--but working > together we can all get a lot more signatures. Let's show Warren Buffett > that we mean business! > > The Stop EPR campaign is a collaborative effort among NIRS, Physicians for > Social Responsibility, Beyond Nuclear, Public Citizen, grassroots groups in > all of the EPR states, and, hopefully, you! Join us, but first < > http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=N4w81pHbj9uTMStSq9V500YEWh8aXC3k>sign > the petition now. > > Thanks for all you do, > > Michael Mariotte > > Executive Director > > Nuclear Information and Resource Service > > You have received this email through your subscription to this campaign's > email list. If you did not subscribe, or would no longer like to receive > email updates < > http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=9rzl9vQ0mBQEt%2FmAagtN1kYEWh8aXC3k>unsubscribe > here. >
-- "Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same". Helen Keller -- Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law. - Buddha _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
