Nuclear energy advocates are active again. They are promoting the technology
as a solution to greenhouse gas emissions, as well as powering the growing
economies of India and China. President Bush is pushing for additional
nuclear power while pressing Iran to dismantle their program.
GENI disagrees with this new resurgence. While we leave the protests
to groups like Greenpeace, we think it's important to clarify some of
the arguments. First, there are 440 nuclear power plants in the world
today. It provides approximately 17% of global electrical energy. The
cost of nuclear power is about $0.04 per Kwh, yet the decommissioning
costs are not factored into that price.
Most nuclear waste in the U.S. sits in temporary containment at the plant
site. No nation has resolved this issue. Nuclear waste is the most
toxic man-made substance, and remains so for many thousands of years!
Several nuclear powered submarines have sunk in the sea, are rusting slowly
and considered too risky to recover. While nuclear power does not necessarily
lead to weapons production, the source material for these weapons comes
from the enriched uranium of a nuclear power plant.
Buckminster Fuller said that the safe distance for humans to be near
nuclear energy is 90 million miles — the distance from the Earth
to the Sun. In proposing the integrated global energy grid, Bucky stated,
"I have summarized
my discovery of the option to become omnieconomically and sustainably
successful on our planet while phasing out forever all use of fossil
fuels and atomic generation other than the Sun,"
— (Cosmography, 1993, Fuller and Kuromiya)
GENI is not powerful or rich enough to stand up to the nuclear lobby.
But we can offer a credible alternative that meets our global energy needs
and reduces carbon dioxide and toxic waste. We advocate high-voltage
grids that link across time-zones and political boundaries. These grids
can deliver electricity generated from abundant renewable energy just
as well. That's our stand.
In partnership for the planet,
