[Peace-discuss] Nuclear power? "Dispelling" myths at Friday forum

[Paul Mueth]

A gentleman from the local nuke faculty, Prof Dave Ruvic, got himself invited to speak at University Y's Friday Forum, which means it gets rebroadcast on weft next monday .. .

I'm planning on leafleting with material from the Rocky MOuntain Institute here's the text so far . .

In a recent NY Times blog post, Amory Lovins, co-founder and chief scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute, says, "Central thermal stations have become like Victorian steam locomotives: magnificent technological achievements that served us well until something better came along."

  Forget Nuclear 
 By Amory B. Lovins, Imran Sheikh, and Alex Markevich
	Nuclear power, we’re told, is a vibrant industry that’s dramatically reviving because it’s proven, necessary, competitive, reliable, safe, secure, widely used, increasingly popular, and carbon-free—a perfect replacement for carbon-spewing coal power. New nuclear plants thus sound vital for climate protection, energy security, and powering a growing economy.  . . . .
 http://www.rmi.org/images/PDFs/Newsletter/NLRMIspring08.pdf
Above is a link to RMI's spring 2008 newsletter.. Volume xxiv #1

>From their website:
Rocky Mountain Institute's position on nuclear power is that:
	It's too expensive. Nuclear power has proved much more costly than projected — and more to the point, more costly than most other ways of generating or saving electricity. If utilities and governments are serious about markets, rather than propping up pet technologies at the expense of ratepayers, they should pursue the best buys first.
 	Nuclear power plants are not only expensive, they're also financially extremely risky because of their long lead times, cost overruns, and open-ended liabilities. 
 	Contrary to an argument nuclear apologists have recently taken to making, nuclear power isn't a good way to curb climate change. True, nukes don't produce carbon dioxide — but the power they produce is so expensive that the same money invested in efficiency or even natural-gas-fired power plants would offset much more climate change.
 	And of course nuclear power poses significant problems of radioactive waste disposal and the proliferation of potential nuclear weapons material. (However, RMI tends to stress the economic arguments foremost because they carry more weight with decision-makers.)

The Y suggests it's unwelcoming to the speaker to leave leaflet on the chairs, so they need to be handed out in person, if anyone has the notion to help with that or ask a question..  it begins at noon friday these days. . 


cheers