Below are links for books and articles from the Oregon Conservancy Foundation. These are provided for anyone wanting to learn more about the challenges of nuclear energy. OCF is particularly concerned about the Department of Energy’s “Cleanup to Clean Energy” initiative launched last summer, which proposes using federal lands for “clean energy generation”. (See the featured picture, above.) Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – which still create nuclear waste which will be with us for generations to come – are included as eligible to apply for siting at Hanford.
The film “Atomic Bamboozle” (which will be screened on March 11th by Mt Baker Meaningful Movies) features NuScale (the company that had the Small Modular Nuclear Reactor project that had advanced the farthest in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission review process until the project collapsed in November of last year). (Curious about the collapse – here is another article from the Salt Lake Tribune.)
The Oregon Conservancy Foundation
19140 SE Bakers Ferry Rd., Boring Oregon 97009-9158
P. O. Box 982, Clackamas, Oregon 97015
Email: cnsrvncy@cascadeaccess.com
Phone: (503) 637-6130
OCF Resource Guide
“NUCLEAR POWER UNAFFORDABLE AT ANY SIZE”
1. Nuclear Power Plant Accidents, Nuclear Weapons Testing and radiation releases:
a. “Three Mile Island – A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective” by J.S. Walker
b. “Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future” by Kate Brown
c. “The Woman Who Knew Too Much, Alice Stewart and the Secrets of Radiation” by Gayle Greene
2. Oregon’s 1980 Statutory Ballot Measure Law – Siting of Nuclear Plants in Oregon:
a. Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 469.590 to 469.601:
b. 2/4/22 Eugene OR City Club: Should Nuclear Be Part of The New Energy Future
3. NuScale:
a. NuScale’s corporate website: https://www.nuscalepower.com
b. Eyes Wide Shut by M.V. Ramana, September 2020
c. NuScale’s Small Modular Reactor – Risks of Rising Costs, Likely Delays, and Increasing Competition Cast Doubt on Long-Running Development Effort – 2/2022 Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)
d. The End of DOE’s Flagship SMR —A Cautionary Tale – Stephanie Cooke, former editor of Nuclear Intelligence Weekly and author of In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age.
4. Nuclear Power designated “Clean Energy” :
a. NIRS: Nuclear Energy is Dirty Energy (and does not fit into a ‘clean energy standard’)
5. X-energy At Hanford:
a. X-energy – Advance Nuclear Reactors – corporate website: https://x-energy.com/
b. Union of Concerned Scientists: “Advanced” Isn’t Always Better – Assessing the Safety, Security, & Environmental Impacts of Non-Light-Water Nuclear Reactors”
6. Government Subsidies for Nuclear Power:
a. Taxpayers for Common Sense: “Doubling Down – Taxpayers’ Losing Bet on NuScale and Small Modular Reactors” 12/14/21
b. Senate extends nuclear liability-limiting law without public scrutiny. Here’s why we should care. – Victor Gilinsky, physicist and former Commissioner of the US NRC.
c. Small modular nuclear reactors: a history of failure – Dr. Jim Green
7. Energy Alternatives to Nuclear Power That Can Save Our Climate:
a. “No Miracles Needed” by Mark Z. Jacobson – also 1/23/23, The Guardian Interview
b. “Reinventing Fire” by Amory Lovins – also 3/26/22, The Guardian Interview
Nuclear is empirically slower, less certain of getting built, less certain of working properly, there are a lot of lemons, Trojan was one, and also more expensive. And therefore just do the math: If something costs more per kilowatt hour, that means you get fewer kilowatt hours per dollar, therefore it will replace less fossil fuel generation per dollar, therefore it makes the problem worse. This is really simple logic, and claiming we need everything because the problem is urgent is exactly backwards, because the more climate change is an urgent problem, the more we need to invest judicially, not indiscriminately… (Emphasis added!)
– Amory Lovins, Adjunct Professor, Stanford University. Eugene City Club, 2/4/22
8. And More…
USDOE PLANS MORE NUCLEAR AT HANFORD: https://www.energy.gov/em/em-clean-energy-land-reuse
Office of Environmental Management – EM Clean Energy Land Reuse
In a June 30, 2023 Federal Register Notice, DOE announced a new initiative to increase energy production by making DOE land available for potential development of Carbon Free Energy (CFE) electricity generation through leases. CFE is defined as electricity produced from resources that generate no carbon emissions, including marine energy, solar, wind, hydrokinetic (including tidal, wave, current and thermal), geothermal, hydroelectric, nuclear, renewably sourced hydrogen, and electrical energy generation from fossil resources to the extent there is active capture and storage of carbon dioxide emissions that meet Environmental Protection Agency requirements.
DOE is undertaking this new initiative under Executive Order 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability.
The department’s goal is to identify and prioritize opportunities where there is potential for onsite energy projects and to solicit feedback from tribes, industry and communities. The Office of Environmental Management (EM) identified about 40,000 acres of potentially available lands for consideration for development for CFE generation and storage projects. EM-owned sites identified with these potential lands include the Hanford site in Washington, Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. Additional land was identified at other DOE sites where EM has cleanup responsibilities including Idaho National Laboratory (Office of Nuclear Energy) and the Nevada National Security Site (National Nuclear Security Agency).
EM Land for Potential Clean Energy Leasing:
Organizations that people can follow and get email updates/alerts from are:
Nuclear Information and Resource Services (NIRS) https://www.nirs.org/sign-up/
Beyond Nuclear: (Check later for a link to their website)
The International Uranium Film Festival is doing a North American Tour and here are links to Washington locations:
Spokane: April 3 and 4 https://uraniumfilmfestival.org/files/2024_iuff_spokane_program_final_.pdf
Seattle: April 12, 13 and 14 https://uraniumfilmfestival.org/files/2024_iuff_seattle_program_final.pdf
Olympia: April 15 and 16 https://uraniumfilmfestival.org/files/2024_iuff_olympia_program.pdf