Fwd: Opposition building to energy bill, act now.

[Guest guest]

Subj: Opposition building to energy bill, act nowÂ

10/7/2003 3:12:40 PM Eastern Standard Time

nirsnet

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ENERGY BILL CONFERENCE UPDATE-October 3, 2003

 

Opposition to the Bush-Cheney-Domenici energy plan is building! We can win this

fight if we keep up the pressure. CALL your Senate and House members and tell

them to filibuster! Please reach out and ask your friends and neighbors to take

a moment to call as well. Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-2131 or toll free at

1-800-839-5276. And don’t forget to send a free fax to your Senators from

Public Citizen's website at: http://www.stopenergybill.org. The message has

changed, send one even if you have before.

 

VICTORY! We won an important vote to prevent weakening of high-level nuclear

waste protections! The Inslee-Spratt motion passed the house with unanimous

consent.

THANK YOU for calling and making your voice heard. Now we need to target the

entire energy bill.

 

Since our last update, there have been editorials in opposition to the energy

bill in major newspapers, including the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Seattle

Post Intelligencer and Los Angeles Times, some which mention filibuster.

Momentum is moving against the energy bill. Here are some links:

 

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/141953_energyed.html

 

http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/bal-ed.energy01oct01,0,5615495.story?coll=ba\

l-opinion-headlines

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-energy2oct02,1,6689632.stor\

y?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

 

Here is the latest version of the nuclear section of the energy bill, which is

still in the Senate-House conference committee. Formal discussions are stalled

right now while the Senate recesses briefly. Discussion will resume no earlier

than October 14. We must use this time to ORGANIZE!

 

http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/pubs/nuclear.pdf Funding for most of these

provisions can be found in the research and development section of the energy

bill:

 

http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/pubs/researchanddevelopment.pdf PLEASE CALL

OR VISIT your Senators’ home offices during this break with the message of

OPPOSITION to this bill and FILIBUSTER.

 

Funding highlights for years 2004 through 2008 (TOTAL 2.7 BILLION):

 

-nuclear energy research programs (funding for new reactors is here):Â 675

million

-advanced fuel cycle initiative (recycling & transmutation):Â 865 million

-university support for nuclear science and engineering:Â 243 million

-security of nuclear facilities:Â nothing listed

 

 

REMEMBER, THIS MONEY IS ONLY SOME OF THE INCENTIVES PROMISED BY SENATOR

DOMENICI. MORE WILL BE COMING AND WE WILL TELL YOU WHEN THAT HAPPENS.

 

Current bill provisions include:

 

A half-billion dollars for research & development, construction and operation of

a new reactor in Idaho to produce hydrogen gas. INEEL (DOE’s lab in Idaho)

will collaborate with an unnamed domestic company for this project and DOE will

work with NRC to develop a risk-based criteria for its commercial development.

(Note, S. 14, the original Senate energy bill, called for $1 billion for this

project; clearly DOE would be back for more taxpayer money soon if this

provision passes.)

 

Price Anderson Act renewal for 20 years, including special treatment for modular

reactors. While some of the accident payouts have been increased, the Act still

would not come close to covering the cost of a catastrophic nuclear accident.

The Act limits nuclear industry liability in the event of an accident, and

prevents people from obtaining insurance to protect their homes and lives from a

nuclear accident.

 

An NRC training fellowship program.

 

Decommissioning funding and an exemption for certain NRC funds paid by utilities

from utility bankruptcy. It also includes funds for decommissioning the sodium

cooled reactor.

 

AÂ DOE report which investigates DOE taking title and responsibility of West

Valley.

 

Feasibility study of new reactors on DOE land. This provision also includes

uranium sales, new technology for old nukes, managing nuclear waste and other

items.

 

Demonstration projects for uranium mining, except in New Mexico.

 

Reclassification of radium waste at Fernald (Ohio) as “by-product†and allow

its disposal in commercial facilities licensed by the NRC or agreement states.

 

A report regarding greater than class “C†(GTCC) waste that would consider a

new storage facility for this material as well as its continued recovery and

current storage methods. GTCC is the most highly concentrated form of so-called

“low-level†radioactive waste.

 

A nuclear security study is included to identify types of threats to nuclear

facilities, including fires and terrorist attacks of various types. The end

result would be NRC regulation changes to reflect new security needs, including

criminal background checks and fingerprinting.

 

Meanwhile, Democrats are feeling left out of the energy conference entirely,

making statements like “We wish we could tell you more, but, as was the case

with the Cheney Energy Task Force, we’re as much in the dark as you and the

American public on how key decisions are being made.†In a recent press

conference, they mentioned filibuster:

 

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2132260 Thanks for your help!

With your actions, we can defeat the energy bill!

Cindy Folkers and Michael Mariotte

NIRS

 

 

 

 

 

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