Recently the Bush administration announced that the US and Russia will burn plutonium from nuclear weapons in nuclear reactors. While the reduction can be as little as 1% new, pure weapons-grade plutonium is generated. This program gives tax dollars to s
Producer: Maria Gilardin Uploaded by: Maria Gilardin
Burning Warheads as Fuel for Nuclear Reactors? Mary Olson with Jackie Cabasso Recently a significant announcement by the Bush administration reversed a 20-year-old policy. The US and Russia will now re-process plutonium from nuclear weapons as fuel for nuclear reactors.
At a day-long retreat organized by Helen Caldicott, the country's most dedicated anti-nuclear campaigners spoke about the urgent need for public education. Mary Olson is the expert on nuclear reactors with the North Carolina office of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. She is concerned about the prospect of fuelling aging nuclear reactors with plutonium, recognized as the most dangerous substance on earth. In addition to making nuclear power even more dangerous, she says, this new program is also a concealed nuclear weapons program.
The plutonium does not go away in this "burning" process. While the plutonium that is put into the reactor gets reduced, new plutonium is generated, and the net reduction can be as little as 1%. Meanwhile new, pure weapons-grade plutonium is generated inside the reactor. This Bush administration program, she says, is a way to give tax dollars to selected utilities who participate in a national security mission. These subsidies also allow them to out-compete any other form of energy production.
A note to you from Maria: I would really like to hear from you! Please send a note with feedback!
Also: TUC Radio is not funded, based on gift-giving and free to you and all radio stations. If you like our programs please consider sending us a gift. Stamps, money order or checks are all welcome.
TIME OF USEFUL CONSCIOUSNESS A weekly 29-minute Public Affairs Program On Globalization, Local Resistance and Native Nations Box 410009 / San Francisco, CA 94141 phone 415-861-6962
![<?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/rp-navimg.gif)
![Support the <?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/support.png)
