for release at 10:00am, Monday March 15, 2010, 2322 Rayburn News Conference
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WATCHDOGS GIVE PRES. OBAMA MIXED GRADES
ON NEW WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT, WASTE CLEANUP, & REACTOR FUNDING
President Barack Obama today received a mixed report card for his Administration’s first-year policies relating to nuclear weapons production, waste cleanup and reactor funding. Grades presented by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) at a Capitol Hill news conference ranged from an “A” for keeping his campaign promise to terminate the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste dump to an “F” for proposing to increase taxpayer subsidies for construction of new nuclear reactors. ANA is a national network of nearly three dozen groups representing the concerns of communities downwind and downstream from U.S. nuclear weapons sites.
ANA Program Director Nick Roth explained the “Radioactive Report Card” grades, “President Obama’s performance has been inconsistent. He earned a “B” for initiatives to address the legacy of contamination from six decades of U.S. nuclear weapons production, such as allocating stimulus funds for cleanup. At the same time, his Administration gets a “D” for requesting the largest budget for nuclear weapons in history. If Congress approves this proposal, the nation will not be more secure, while much more radioactive and toxic waste will be generated. There’s plenty of room for improvement.”
Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance continued, “The U.S. should not expand its capacity to build nuclear weapons components. Instead, President Obama should use the money he was going to spend on new production facilities at Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and Kansas City to increase the pace of warhead dismantlement and nonproliferation activities. ANA shares the President’s goal of seeking prompt ratification of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). However, accepting expansion of U.S. warhead production as a trade-off for Senate votes is unacceptable. That is why, despite the excellent rhetoric of his speeches, President Obama is only receiving a B for ‘Reducing the Nuclear Threat’."
Michele Boyd, Director of the Safe Energy Program at Physicians for Social Responsibility said, “The President’s performance on nuclear power-related issues is extremely poor. Public funding for new reactors, which private investors have found too risky, will waste billions of taxpayer dollars while creating more health hazards. The work of his Blue Ribbon Commission on radioactive waste is “Incomplete.” However, nuclear promoters dominate Mr. Obama’s appointments to the Commission. The Commission fails to include representatives of the communities who have to deal with contamination and public interest scientists who have been studying the issue for decades. If he continues to waste large amounts of taxpayer dollars on new reactors, President Obama will fail to put this country on a path to a safe and secure energy future.”
The news conference kicked off ANA’s 22nd annual “DC Days.” More than five dozen activists from around the country are in Washington this week for scores of meetings with members of Congress, senior staff members and Obama Administration officials. On Tuesday, March 16 at 6:00pm, ANA will host an Awards Reception honoring leaders in the movement for more responsible U.S. nuclear policies. Awardees include U.S. Representative Pete Stark, Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force leaders Judy Treichel and Steve Frishman, and Ira Shorr of Physicians for Social Responsibility. The event will take place in Rayburn House Office Building Room B-354.
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- ANA fact sheets on current nuclear weapons issues are online at http://www.ananuclear.org
To Download the Report Card,
Click here.