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ANA in the News
Nuclear budget watchdogs call on U.S. Energy Department to slash spending on weapons programs and reactor subsidies, increase cleanup funding transparency and accountability
published Monday, April 27, 2009  5635 Views :: 15 Comments
Nuclear budget watchdogs call on U.S. Energy Department to slash spending on weapons programs and reactor subsidies, increase cleanup funding transparency and accountability

for further information:
Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773 April 26-29, 2009 (202) 544-0217 x2501

Representatives of communities downwind and downstream from U.S. nuclear weapons production and radioactive waste storage sites today urged the Obama Administration and Congress to eliminate spending for new nuclear weapons from the Department of Energy (DOE) budget, be more open with data about cleanup funding plans, and end multi-billion dollar taxpayer subsidies of new reactor development. At a Capitol Hill news conference today, leaders of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) laid out the DOE reform agenda six dozen activists from across the country will pursue in Washington, D.C. this week.
“DOE is falling short of meeting its responsibilities for transparency and accountability in spending the $6 billion in cleanup funds included in the recently-passed Recovery Act,” said Don Hancock, the Nuclear Waste Program Director at Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a state that hosts several DOE facilities. “Cleanup should be a model for citizen involvement and openness while producing substantial job creation and environmental improvement. However, because of the lack of citizen involvement, DOE is not funding important work at the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national laboratories. Instead, it planned to waste money on inappropriate projects, such as for new shipping containers for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Because of objections from ANA, that project was deleted, but the tens of millions in funds are still destined for WIPP’s contractor. DOE needs to make public all its cleanup plans, including projected costs and results, for scrutiny by taxpayers before it is spent.”
Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog with Beyond Nuclear added, “The Obama Administration's praiseworthy decision to eliminate Yucca Mountain as an option for high-level radioactive waste disposal means that the nuclear industry will again cry ‘crisis’ and push other dangerous schemes even harder. After receiving more than $500 billion in taxpayer subsidies, nuclear lobbyists now seek another $100 billion in federal loan guarantees for new reactor and uranium enrichment projects. Other bad proposals being kept alive at DOE include reprocessing radioactive waste, risking nuclear weapons proliferation, environmental disaster, and astronomical costs, as well as a rushed transportation ‘shell game’ to ship wastes to ‘parking lot dumps’ at DOE sites or Native American reservations. Hardened on-site storage at waste generating facilities, fortified against attack and safeguarded against accidents, is a necessary interim security upgrade. The U.S. must stop subsidizing an expensive atomic reactor relapse. Instead it should focus on carbon-free, nuclear-free energy alternatives, such as efficiency and renewables, and the green jobs they would create.”
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NUCLEAR WEAPONS REFORM AGENDA 2 . . . 2 . . . 2

ANA Director Susan Gordon warned that DOE may seek increases in nuclear weapons spending and reactor subsidies when the Obama Administration’s first budget is released next month. “Despite President Obama’s commitment to achieving a nuclear weapons free world, we fear that DOE may seek to revive near-dead ‘zombie’ programs, such as the so-called ‘Reliable Replacement Warhead.’ In addition DOE may seek funding for new nuclear weapons from its ‘Life Extension Programs.’ We are also concerned that the funding request will be inadequate to comply with legal requirements for cleaning up radioactive and toxic waste at heavily contaminated sites such as Hanford, the Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge and Savannah River. In addition, more funds are needed to speed up the process of warhead dismantlement so the U.S. can comply with its international treaty obligations.”
The news conference kicked off ANA’s twenty-first annual “DC Days.” During the coming week, more than five dozen ANA activists from across the country have scheduled scores of meetings with members of Congress, their staffs and Obama Administration officials to discuss nuclear weapons issues. On Tuesday evening, April 28, ANA will sponsor an awards reception honoring U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, journalist Laura Frank, Environmental Protection Agency compliance officer Kathy Setian, and environmental justice attorney Larry Sanders. The event will take place in Room B-340 of the Rayburn House Office Building beginning at 6:00pm.

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- An ANA briefing kit on current nuclear weapons issues is available on request


 



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