· Nuclear Power Plants Are Air Polluters

Although nuclear power has been touted as a "clean" energy alternative to combat global warming, the truth is that a typical nuclear power reactor produces 376,000 to 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually—mostly from uranium mining and enrichment for fuel. In fact, uranium enrichment is one of the most CO2-intensive industrial operations on earth. The uranium enrichment plant in Kentucky is the nation’s single largest emitter of banned chorloflourocarbons.

· Nuclear Power Kills US Civilians

The Bush energy bill makes relicensing the vast majority of the nation’s 103 nuclear reactors a priority. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledges that 12 people are expected to die as a direct result of each nuclear reactor that is relicensed and operates for its 20-year license extension period. The NRC has said it expects as many as 100 reactors to apply for license extensions; this would result in some 1200 cancer deaths, not including deaths due to storage, transportation and disposal of high-level radioactive waste or accidents.

Nuclear Power Creates Waste That’s Deadly for

Millions of Years

Each reactor produces an annual average of about 20 tons of highly radioactive spent fuel and 50-200 cubic meters of low level radioactive waste. Both high and low level waste contain isotopes that

remain radioactive for millions of years. No one on earth has figured

out a safe way to isolate this waste from humans and the environment.

· Nuclear Power Plants are Prime Targets for Terrorist Attacks

After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the terrorists wrote to the New York Times to warn that "150 suicide soldiers" would hit "nuclear targets" in the US. A terrorist strike at any nuclear power plant could easily spread deadly radiation clouds across the US. Nuclear power plants are also the sole producers of plutonium, used to make nuclear bombs.

According to 1980 figures from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) an accident at Comanche Peak would result in 1,200 deaths and at South Texas in 18,000 deaths.

Quicker, Cleaner, Cheaper, Safer

Wind: In Texas, wind power generators have been able to deliver wind power to the grid wholesale for less than 3 cents per kilowatt-hour. With nearly 280 megawatts of output, the $300 million King Mountain Wind Ranch, located on a 3,141-foot mesa to the northeast of McCamey, is the largest wind farm in the world in terms of the power it generates.

Sun: When appropriately sited, solar energy creates no pollution and is the most environmentally friendly source of power currently available. It is already used by 200,000 homes in the United States. Texas leads the nation in the ability to generate energy with solar power. Setting a goal of having 10% of our nation’s energy coming from renewable energy by 2010 will put Texans to work—and create a new energy boom.

Efficiency: Energy efficiency can save Americans more energy that we import annually or will generate with new nuclear plants. Study after study has shown that by using energy more efficiently, we could save 25-30% of the energy we use in the average home or office. New energy efficiency standards for all appliances can save consumers over $22 billion and will eliminate the need for more than 170 new power plants. If Americans bought only Energy Star appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines, we would shrink our energy bills by more than $100 billion.

Click Here to see Conference Proceedings for the Beyond Nuclear Power Conference on April 27, 2002