Successes
Recent successes in Nuclear Power include:
Brought critical facts to the debate about nuclear power and global warming
Because nuclear energy results in few global warming emissions, a growing number of policy makers have called for an expansion of the nuclear industry. UCS's report, Nuclear Power in a Warming World, details the serious safety and security risks that could accompany such an expansion and recommends steps to minimize those risks. To ensure that this information has a policy impact, UCS experts give briefings to congressional staff, meet with members of Congress, testify at Congressional hearings, speak to reporters, and serve as a resource for the media.
Dangerous Nuclear Reprocessing Plan Curtailed
Solid UCS research and the involvement of thousands of UCS activists helped strike a major blow to the Bush administration proposed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program, an ill-advised plan to reprocess spent fuel from nuclear power reactors. UCS strongly opposes reprocessing, which separates plutonium from other nuclear waste, since separated plutonium can be used to make nuclear weapons. Reprocessing would make it easier for terrorists to acquire nuclear weapons materials, and for nations to develop nuclear weapon programs.
Over the last several years, we have helped convince Congress to provide significantly less funding for the program than requested by the Administration. As a result, construction on a proposed large-scale reprocessing facility and a nuclear reactor of a new, unproven design has not begun. In April, 2008, the Administration announced that the decision to proceed with the program would be left to the next administration.
Enhanced public access to information about nuclear power safety
UCS created the Nuclear Power Information Tracker—an interactive map that allows users to search for safety issues at U.S. nuclear power plants and get in-depth information about each reactor, including past and present safety issues, UCS letters to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and testimony to Congress.
