Petition for Safe Energy

Dear Safe Energy Advocate,

We, the undersigned safe energy advocates, have been
speaking out about the risks and dangers posed by nuclear
power for years – many since before the 1986 Chornobyl
and 1979 Three Mile Island accidents as well as the
hundreds of other radioactive releases, unplanned shut-
downs, and other mishaps that have continuously plagued
both the U.S. and the international nuclear industries since
their founding.

While nuclear power’s unacceptable safety, environmental,
public health, economic, and national security risks should
have been self-evident long before now, the latest
unfolding nuclear disaster in Japan once again underscores
the following:

Nuclear plants can never be designed to withstand all
potential “acts of God.”

Nuclear plants can never be designed to withstand all
instances of “human error.”

Nuclear plants can never be designed to withstand all types
of “mechanical malfunction.”

Nuclear plants can never be designed to withstand all
forms of “terrorist attack.”

There is no such thing as “safe” nuclear power.

There is no such thing as “clean” nuclear power.

There is no such thing as “cheap” nuclear power.

Consequently, all proposed governmental financial and
regulatory incentives for new nuclear plant construction -
including loan guarantees, accelerated licensing, and
inclusion in a “clean energy standard” - should be rejected,
and no new reactors should be built.

Existing nuclear reactors should be phased out as rapidly as
possible, beginning with the oldest and/or most unsafe,
and no presently-licensed reactors should have their
operating lives extended.

Safety standards for existing reactors should be
substantially tightened while they continue to operate and
federal nuclear funding should be redirected to the orderly
phase-out of those reactors as well as the safe
decommissioning of closed reactors and disposal of
radioactive waste.

National energy policy and funding should be refocused on
greatly improved energy efficiency and the rapid
deployment of renewable energy sources which are far
cleaner, safer, and cheaper than nuclear power.

Sincerely, Mark R. Bielby BA.s.d.s