There are two nuclear power plants in Texas: 1) Comanche Peak owned by TXU
and supplies 16% of Dallas’s power and 2) South Texas Nuclear Project
which supplies electricity to Austin, Houston, and Corpus Christi.
Nuclear Power Plants Are Air Polluters
Although nuclear power has been touted as a "clean" energy alternative
to combat global warming, the truth is that a typical nuclear power reactor
produces 376,000 to 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually—mostly
from uranium mining and enrichment for fuel. In fact, uranium enrichment is
one of the most CO2-intensive industrial operations on earth. The uranium
enrichment plant in Kentucky is the nation’s single largest emitter of
banned chorloflourocarbons.
Nuclear Power Kills US Civilians
The Bush energy bill makes relicensing the vast majority of the nation’s
103 nuclear reactors a priority. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledges
that 12 people are expected to die as a direct result of each nuclear reactor
that is relicensed and operates for its 20-year license extension period.
The NRC has said it expects as many as 100 reactors to apply for license extensions;
this would result in some 1200 cancer deaths, not including deaths due to
storage, transportation and disposal of high-level radioactive waste or accidents.
Nuclear Power Creates Waste That’s Deadly for Millions of Years
Each reactor produces an annual average of about 20 tons of highly radioactive
spent fuel and 50-200 cubic meters of low level radioactive waste. Both high
and low level waste contain isotopes that remain radioactive for millions
of years. No one on earth has figured out a safe way to isolate this waste
from humans and the environment.
Nuclear Power Plants are Prime Targets for Terrorist
Attacks
After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the terrorists wrote to the New
York Times to warn that "150 suicide soldiers" would hit "nuclear
targets" in the US. A terrorist strike at any nuclear power plant could
easily spread deadly radiation clouds across the US. Nuclear power plants
are also the sole producers of plutonium, used to make nuclear bombs.
According to 1980 figures from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
an accident at Comanche Peak would result in 1,200 deaths and at South Texas
in 18,000 deaths.
For more information contact the Sierra Club at 512-477-1729
The Right Answer for Texas
Wind, Solar, & Efficiency:
Quicker, Cleaner, Cheaper, Safer
The Texas legislature requires that 3% of our electricity come from renewable
sources by 2009. On November 1, more than 130 public interest groups called
on the Bush Administration and the US Congress to shift from a reliance on
nuclear power to a reliance on abundant and affordable energy efficiency and
renewable energy resources.
Wind: In Texas, wind power generators
have been able to deliver wind power to the grid wholesale for less than 3
cents per kilowatt-hour. With nearly 280 megawatts of output, the $300 million
King Mountain Wind Ranch, located on a 3,141-foot mesa to the northeast of
McCamey, is the largest wind farm in the world in terms of the power it generates.
Wind energy could provide 20% of America’s electricity (the share currently
provided by nuclear plants) with turbines installed on less than 1% of its
land area. Texas, South Dakota, and North Dakota have enough wind to provide
electricity for the entire United States.
Sun:When appropriately sited, solar energy
creates no pollution and is the most environmentally friendly source of power
currently available. It is already used by 200,000 homes in the United States.
Texas leads the nation in the ability to generate energy with solar power.
Setting a goal of having 10% of our nation’s energy coming from renewable
energy by 2010 will put Texans to work—and create a new energy boom.
Efficiency: Energy efficiency can save
Americans more energy that we import annually or will generate with new nuclear
plants. Study after study has shown that by using energy more efficiently,
we could save 25-30% of the energy we use in the average home or office. New
energy efficiency standards for all appliances can save consumers over $22
billion and will eliminate the need for more than 170 new power plants. If
Americans bought only Energy Star appliances such as refrigerators and washing
machines, we would shrink our energy bills by more than $100 billion.
For more information contact Sierra Club at 512-472-9094, the SEED Coalition
at 512-479-7744,or Public Citizen at 512-477-1155
