2022 has been quite a year so far. No sooner do we begin recovering from the gut-punching reminder of “Don’t Look Up!” that we have a potentially civilization ending Climate Code Red to contend with, and fast, when along comes – Russia. Read more
ILLINOIS ENERGY TRANSFORMATION #26:
BEWARE THE POST-COP-26 NUCLEAR HUCKSTERS
Nov. 22, 2021
COP-26 and its aftermath have seen a dramatic rise in nuclear power being marketed as a “solution” needed to fight climate disruption. A “devils in the details” analysis of these claims and a candid review of the history of nuclear power reveal them to be false – little more than marketing hype, aimed at syphoning funds and resources better spent on truly effective and sustainable climate fighting resources like renewables, energy efficiency, energy storage and improved transmission. Read more
CANCER RATE IN GRUNDY COUNTY, SITE OF DRESDEN NUKE PLANT, AMONG HIGHEST IN ILLINOIS, WORST FOR RADIATION-SENSITIVE CANCERS
Embargoed until September 30, 2021, 10 a.m. Central Standard Time
Contact: Joseph Mangano, (484) 948-7965; David Kraft, (773) 342-7650; neis@neis.org
The current [**2014-2018] cancer incidence rate in Grundy County, the site of the Dresden nuclear plant, is 22%** above the state rate, the 9th highest** of all 102 Illinois counties, and one of the highest in the United States, according to a new report** released today. Read more
PRESS RELEASE
Build Back Better Act: Climate Salvation? Or Trojan Horse?
Devils in the details reveal massive spending on “false climate solutions,” safe-energy advocates reveal
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Close inspection of the mark-up language being proposed in parts of the “Build Back Better” Reconciliation package has uncovered large hidden subsidies and loopholes that benefit Big Dirty Energy, including approximately $50 billion in subsidies for existing nuclear power plants. Read more
PRESS STATEMENT: NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST NUCLEAR POWER BAILOUTS
Monday, September 13, 2021
Chicago – Today, hundreds of citizens around the country are contacting their elected representatives to Congress to urge them to remove any funding for nuclear power plant bailouts from the Reconciliation and Infrastructure bills, expected to be voted upon later this week. Read more
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 13 , 2021
Chicago – On a day that saw the Illinois legislature approve another $694 million in nuclear power bailout money to profitable Exelon corporation, safe-energy activists in cities all over the country conducted actions and wrote to their members of Congress, urging them to remove an estimated $46 billion in proposed nuclear subsidies from the upcoming Reconciliation legislation. Read more
WASHINGTON, D.C — Over 240 organizations, including Friends of the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network, Food & Water Watch, The League of Women Voters, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Public Citizen, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and hundreds more sent a letter to Congressional leaders telling them to reject all proposals in infrastructure bills 
that subsidize nuclear energy, and to instead invest in a just and equitable transition to safe, clean renewable energy.
The letter opposes proposals in both the energy legislation for the larger reconciliation package (S.2291/H.R.4024) and the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which together would grant up to $50 billion to prop up aging, increasingly uneconomical nuclear reactors for the next decade.
The letter highlights climate, economic, and environmental justice concerns with proposed nuclear subsidies, in addition to evidence that nuclear power is too dirty, dangerous, expensive, and slow to be a viable solution to the climate crisis.
All of the proposed subsidies (up to $50 billion) are predicted to go to reactors owned by only eight corporations and located in only 19 counties across eight states. Over 50 organizations in each of these states – Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas – signed the letter. Read more
REPORT: $50 BILLION NUCLEAR BAILOUT WOULD UNDERMINE BIDEN CLIMATE AND INFRASTRUCURE GOALS
Economic Analysis Shows $10-50 Billion In Proposed Nuclear Subsidies Would Subvert Biden’s Infrastructure Plans; Best Investment for Jobs, Climate and the Economy is in Rapid Transition to Renewable Energy and Smart Electricity Grid, According to Expert
WASHINGTON, D.C.//July 15, 2021//A new report shows why the best infrastructure investment for U.S. jobs, the climate, and the economy is in a rapid transition to renewable energy and a 21st-century electricity system, and to phase out nuclear power and fossil fuels. While nuclear subsidy proposals in play as part of infrastructure negotiations like those from Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) would designate $6-$50 billion to bail out uneconomical nuclear power plants, the new economic analysis shows that subsidizing nuclear reactors would hobble the needed transition to a modern energy system and waste the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy
The report by Dr. Mark Cooper, senior research fellow for economic analysis, Institute for Energy and the Environment, Vermont Law School, was released during a video news event featuring experts from the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), Friends of the Earth, and the Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS) in Illinois. The report is available here.
Illinois Legislators should oppose Exelon’s current $700 million nuclear ransom demand. You can’t build an energy future by bailing out the past.
Recent revelations [1] that Exelon’s business partner EDF is curbing its enthusiasm for the creation of Exelon’s spin-off company “SpinCo” should warn Illinois legislators about the danger of granting the recently proposed nuclear bailout [4].
Earlier this year Exelon announced it would be splitting off and segregating its money-losing, unprofitable nuclear reactors into a separate entity called “SpinCo.” Read more
STATEMENT ON ILLINOIS LEGISLATIVE INACTION
ON ENERGY LEGISLATION
Tick…tick…tick…
Everything in its own time. Or so the old saying goes. The Illinois Legislature demonstrated that old maxim once again by failing to vote before the end of Spring session on a critical piece of energy legislation designed to create Illinois’ energy future.
The Planet has its own schedule, too. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) frantically warned in October 2018 that we humans have at best 10 years left – until 2028 – to totally revamp our energy and economic systems, or risk an irreversible climate crisis that could threaten the very functioning of civilization as we have come to know it. In this regard it’s important to recall another old maxim: Nature bats last.
Like the grasshoppers in Aesop’s Fable, we, the Governor, and the Legislature ignore this imminent peril, and instead, content ourselves to “Count the victories,” as House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, advised yesterday as the clock stroked midnight. Well, looks like it will now be easier to get to-go cocktails. Come 2029 and beyond, we will need them, and much more. Read more
NEIS
NEIS is based in Chicago which is encircled and downwind of 10 operating nuclear power plants. What could go wrong and how will it be handled by the nuclear industry, government and Emergency Services?![]()
This documentary series about the nuclear power plant meltdown at Three Mile Island is on Netflix.
Ukraine-Chernobyl![]()
While much of his has been reported already the fact that the workers did not have enough fuel for the backup generators when they lost power to the whole facility is new and disturbing news.![]()
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Excerpt![]()
[When the power to the station was cut off for three days, Valeriy said he scrambled to find fuel to keep the generator running, even resorting to stealing some from the Russians.![]()
"If we had lost power, it could have been catastrophic," Oleksandr explained. "Radioactive material could have been released. The scale of it, you can well imagine. I wasn't scared for my life. I was scared about what would happen if I wasn't there monitoring the plant. I was scared it would be a tragedy for humanity."]![]()
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The former President of Ukraine visited the Chernobyl site and expressed a concern we have as well. Also, we would add what will be the penalty from the IAEA to Russia for violating their agreements?![]()
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[Former Ukraine] [President Poroshenko has a warning for the world.![]()
"Are we sure that tomorrow Russian troops cannot appear here? My answer would be no. Putin is completely unpredictable. And nuclear smoke is not limited by borders. It can reach Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and even Great Britain. The danger of nuclear contamination of Europe is very high, while Russia continues this war."]
New Mexico![]()
Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP)![]()
Radioactive Liquid in Shipping Container