My good friends and activist colleagues Pete Litster and Eileen McCabe-Olsen wrote a repsonse to the amendment to HB46 for nuclear energy research by Representative Mike Noel. Pete is the Executive Director and Eileen the Associate Director of Shundahai Network in Salt Lake City, an organization dedicated to breaking the nuclear chain through its lobbying and direct action efforts. Shundahai specifically works with indigenous groups to provide a voice against the ongoing development of nuclear projects.
Noel is wrong about nuclear energy’s safety
By Eileen McCabe-Olsen and Pete Litster
We were appalled to learn that Rep. Mike Noel’s amendment specifically advocating research into nuclear energy has been attached to HB46. While it is commendable that the House wants to explore alternative energies, nuclear power is not a credible alternative energy source. It is an immature technology that should be discontinued, not expanded in commercial use.
Noel cites that “nuclear energy is clean and it is safe.” Neither is true. While nuclear power production does not emit greenhouse gases during its generation, it produces tons of toxic waste, for which there is still no acceptable storage or detoxification solution. Further, unlike coal, which is readily usable after being mined, uranium must be processed through several steps — milling, conversion to uranium hexafluoride, enrichment and fuel rod assembly — before it can be used in a reactor. All of these steps consume energy produced by conventional sources that do emit greenhouse gases.
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Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 