The MaryPIRG Foundation has reissued a report on energy markets to counter industry proposals to increase use of nuclear power. As Congress creates new subsidies for nuclear power and energy companies propose a new reactor in Maryland, the study demonstrates that we can meet our energy needs and address global warming without building new nuclear reactors.

The MaryPIRG Foundation commissioned the study last year together with other state PIRGs to detail a clean energy plan for the country. The report, titled “A Responsible Electricity Future,” is available at www.marypirg.org/reports. It finds that taking advantage of energy efficiency opportunities could level off our growth in electricity demand, while developing renewable sources could slowly replace aging power plants.

The most cost-effective efficiency measures cost two to ten times less than electricity generation and transmission. Investing in renewables and efficiency could save $32 billion by 2020.

Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs facility is one of six nuclear power plants nationwide bidding for a new reactor, the first to be built in more than three decades. At a cost of $3 billion, with subsidies of at least $1 billion, building a new reactor would be a misguided energy policy that will only deepen our nation’s dependency on dangerous and uneconomic energy technologies.

In addition to direct subsidies, the nuclear energy industry has stuck taxpayers with the tab for insuring against disaster. The federal government covers 98 percent of the industry’s insurance liability. Also, once operations end, the company will no longer be responsible or liable for the radioactive site.

Source: Public Citizen

Radioactive waste is probably the most dangerous substance known, and there is no safe place to put it. Right now, there are 923 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste sitting in pools and casks right next to the Calvert Cliffs reactors, 50 miles from our nation’s capital. Each year, 44 tons are added.

In its “Ecology Book,” the Nuclear Energy Industry says that Calvert Cliffs has not adversely affected marine life populations, even suggesting that a little radiation is good for oyster growth. However, Calvert Cliffs has acknowledged that its operations kill 250,000 blue crabs and finfish annually. Furthermore, plant expansion could allow the U.S. Department of Energy to implement its plan to allow 326 barges carrying high-level nuclear waste to criss-cross the bay.

Every potential kilowatt from a new nuclear reactor could be achieved through energy efficiency at lower cost. Subsidies for clean energy solutions of the magnitude given to the nuclear industry would reduce demand sharply and transform our power system.