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The nuclear crisis in Japan has raised alarming questions about the safety of nuclear power plants in our own backyard. There's good reason for all of us to be worried.
Reduce the Risks
U.S. policymakers must make securing spent fuel and eliminating crowded pools a top priority.
According to new analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies and the Project On Government Oversight, our nation's stockpile of radioactive spent fuel is stored in such unsafe conditions that the lives of millions of people who live near nuclear reactors in this country are at risk.
Act now! Tell your member of congress to secure our nuclear fuel.
In a worst case scenario, a catastrophic fire at a nuclear plant could cause untold cancer deaths and render uninhabitable an area 60 times larger than the area affected by the Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear accident of all time.
The problem is most spent fuel is being stored in cooling pools that, despite containing some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet, are made from materials designed to withstand little more than a bad thunderstorm.
These pools were only intended to serve as temporary storage for the spent fuel. But not only have the original plans for a permanent facility been delayed by more than two decades - they've now been scrapped entirely. Meanwhile, the risk of a storage pool fire continues to grow as pools become crowded, cooling systems become taxed, and the pools begin to show signs of deterioration.
If there's anything to learn from the crisis in Japan, it's that we need to take nuclear safety issues very seriously. U.S. policymakers must make securing spent fuel and eliminating crowded pools a top priority.
Add your voice by taking action now. The cost of doing nothing is unimaginable.
Reduce the Risks
U.S. policymakers must make securing spent fuel and eliminating crowded pools a top priority.
According to new analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies and the Project On Government Oversight, our nation's stockpile of radioactive spent fuel is stored in such unsafe conditions that the lives of millions of people who live near nuclear reactors in this country are at risk.
Act now! Tell your member of congress to secure our nuclear fuel.
In a worst case scenario, a catastrophic fire at a nuclear plant could cause untold cancer deaths and render uninhabitable an area 60 times larger than the area affected by the Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear accident of all time.
The problem is most spent fuel is being stored in cooling pools that, despite containing some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet, are made from materials designed to withstand little more than a bad thunderstorm.
These pools were only intended to serve as temporary storage for the spent fuel. But not only have the original plans for a permanent facility been delayed by more than two decades - they've now been scrapped entirely. Meanwhile, the risk of a storage pool fire continues to grow as pools become crowded, cooling systems become taxed, and the pools begin to show signs of deterioration.
If there's anything to learn from the crisis in Japan, it's that we need to take nuclear safety issues very seriously. U.S. policymakers must make securing spent fuel and eliminating crowded pools a top priority.
Add your voice by taking action now. The cost of doing nothing is unimaginable.