Urge the Administration to Abandon Dangerous New Nuclear Plan (Union of Concerned Scientists)

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Union of Concerned Scientists
Citizens and Scientists for Environmental Solutions

What's At Stake?

Urge the Administration to Abandon Dangerous New Nuclear Plan

The Bush administration is requesting a Fiscal Year 2008 budget of $405 million for its major new nuclear energy initiative, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), which involves “reprocessing” the used (or “spent”) fuel from nuclear power reactors. Reprocessing separates plutonium and uranium from other nuclear waste contained in spent nuclear fuel. The separated plutonium can be used to fuel reactors, but also to make nuclear weapons. See the UCS Fact Sheet on reprocessing.

Currently, the Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) of GNEP. The PEIS looks at potential consequences of the facilities that would be built under GNEP, including the reprocessing plant and an experimental new type of nuclear reactor.

As part of this stage of the assessment, the public is invited to submit comments on the scope of the PEIS, as well as concerns or questions about the program, by April 4, 2007.

The DOE will consider these comments, as well as others received at a series of public hearings held across the country, as it prepares a Draft PEIS. That draft is scheduled to be released this summer, at which point there will be an opportunity to comment on it.

The Union of Concerned Scientists is calling for the impact statement to include an assessment of the effects of GNEP on the spread of nuclear weapons, materials, and technologies. Since the administration announced GNEP, several countries have proposed similar or related initiatives, undermining one of the stated goals of the program: stopping the spread of nuclear technology.

The DOE has also refused to provide a comprehensive budget for the proposed program. A 1996 study by the National Academy of Sciences estimated that a full-scale U.S. reprocessing program could cost $100 billion. A budget assessment should be included in the PEIS.

Meanwhile, UCS and other groups will be urging Congress—as they consider its annual spending bills (e.g. Appropriations)—to eliminate and cut the $405 million in GNEP funding proposed this fiscal year.

You can also send your comments to the DOE by faxing, writiing, or calling:

Mr. Timothy A. Frazier - GNEP PEIS Document Manager
Office of Nuclear Energy - U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW,
Washington, DC 20585-0119,

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Please mark your letters, faxes, or emails – GNEP PEIS Comments.

http://ucsaction.org/campaign/3_23_07_new_nuclear_plan/explanation


Email Action Center form here:

http://ucsaction.org/campaign/3_23_07_new_nuclear_plan?rk=H7x4v-Y1bvgEW

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