[Mb-civic] nuclear power

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

Bush's Push for Nuclear Power Would Unfairly Burden Taxpayers Even
More

STATEMENT of Wenonah Hauter, Director, Public Citizen's Energy
Program:

President Bush's relentless push for nuclear power is spiraling out of
control. Today, Bush is expected to deliver a speech encouraging the use
of domestic energy sources. Among his five new proposals, he plans to
offer the nuclear industry yet another break; this time in the form of
federal "risk insurance," which would protect the nuclear industry in the
event that the regulatory process slows down its plans for building new
nuclear reactors.

Taxpayers already have provided the nuclear industry tens of billions in
subsidies since its inception 50 years ago. The just-passed energy bill by
the U.S. House of Representatives provides an additional $6.1 billion in
subsidies and tax breaks to the nuclear industry. Moreover, the nuclear
industry is the only industry to have its liability artificially limited -
even in cases of intentional misconduct or gross negligence. This is done
through the Price-Anderson Act, a law that caps the industry's liability
in the event of a catastrophic accident or attack and calls for the
government - that is, the taxpayers - to pay for cleanup above the cap.
Apparently, this isn't enough. The industry is demanding cradle-to-grave
subsidies.

The nuclear industry now wants to be 100 percent guaranteed that its
license applications will be quickly accepted by the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, the agency responsible for issuing nuclear
reactor licenses. Rushing these licenses is foolhardy. It will
shortchange the public of its opportunity to participate in the process
and could jeopardize public safety.

As the leader of the so-called fiscal conservative party in this
country, Bush is making a gigantic miscalculation by offering even more
money to the nuclear industry at the expense of taxpayers. If the nuclear
industry thought that building new reactors was profitable, then it would
foot the bill to build new reactors. Instead, the nuclear industry wants
the public to take all the risks, while it reaps the profits. Nuclear
power is risky - and those risks should be borne by the industry, not the
public.

Nuclear power is not the answer to our energy problems. It's expensive and
dangerous. Too many of our taxpayer dollars have already been wasted on
this polluting energy source. Enough is enough.

###

Public Citizen is a national nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. For
more information, visit www.citizen.org.

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