Ohio House Bill 381: This bill introduced in October is new attempt to bail out Ohio’s two nuclear power plants, Davis-Besse and Perry on Lake Erie. Proponents say it has more support than the previous incarnation, HB 178 introduced earlier this year, since it asks for a smaller subsidy. Both bills have an entirely fictitious premise, which they call ZEN, or zero emissions nuclear. Nuclear power has zero emissions? Enormous amounts of carbon dioxide are produced in the front and back ends of nuclear power. While the nuclear chain reaction itself does not release greenhouse gases, it produces the deadliest substance on earth – radioactive waste. HB 381 would be paid for by increasing ratepayer electric bills. Call your Ohio House Member and tell her/him NO to HB 381.  

Federal Bill, HR 3053:  This bill fast-tracks the moving of high-level radioactive waste, which is the used, irradiated fuel from nuclear reactors (power plants.) It would give a green light to shipping this waste around the country to Consolidated “Interim” Storage (CIS) sites. It greases the skids to send this deadly material to Yucca Mountain, on sacred Native American land, as well as permitting private entities to take it. Two privately-owned facilities have applied, Holtec in New Mexico and Waste Control Specialists in Texas. Yes, a private firm’s application would mean there is a valid public “consent” for those sites to take the waste.  Moving the waste does nothing to solve the problem of keeping it isolated from the environment for hundreds of thousands of years. It worsens the problem by adding the risks of shipping, which we call a “Mobile Chernobyl.” Tell your federal representative to vote NO on this bill. Watch for a companion bill in the Senate.
 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC):  At the request of the US Dept. of Energy, FERC has proposed a new rule package to bail out coal and nuclear power. Rule changes would give energy sources credit for having a 90-day supply of fuel onsite, ostensibly for “reliability.” Only nuclear and coal qualify. This is another Trump Administration attempt to impose its corporate wish-list onto the public. The proposed changes would financially handicap other power sources that have different and even more important advantages, not only in overall reliability but also in long-term sustainability and protection of public health and the environment. Large centralized sources create more of a problem if they are forced to shut down in an emergency. The Sierra Club is one of numerous organizations and business entities that have made comments to FERC on this proposal.
 

EPA Says Higher Radiation Levels Pose ‘No Harmful Health Effect’: The EPA’s determination sets a level ten times the drinking water standard for radiation recommended under President Obama. The position taken could readily unravel all radiation protection rules, according to Daniel Hirsch, retired director of the UC Santa Cruz’s program on environmental and nuclear policy.