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These issues, together with a series of other environmental, technical, and public health questions, made nuclear power the source of acute controversy. Public support, which was strong in the early 1960s, had been shaken. [[Forbes magazine]], in the September 1975 issue, reported that "the anti-nuclear coalition has been remarkably successful ... [and] has certainly slowed the expansion of nuclear power." By the mid-1970s anti-nuclear activism had moved beyond local protests and politics to gain a wider appeal and influence. Although it lacked a single co-ordinating organization, and did not have uniform goals, it emerged as a movement sharply focused on opposing nuclear power, and the movement's efforts gained a great deal of national attention.<ref name=eleven/>
These issues, together with a series of other environmental, technical, and public health questions, made nuclear power the source of acute controversy. Public support, which was strong in the early 1960s, had been shaken. [[Forbes magazine]], in the September 1975 issue, reported that "the anti-nuclear coalition has been remarkably successful ... [and] has certainly slowed the expansion of nuclear power." By the mid-1970s anti-nuclear activism had moved beyond local protests and politics to gain a wider appeal and influence. Although it lacked a single co-ordinating organization, and did not have uniform goals, it emerged as a movement sharply focused on opposing nuclear power, and the movement's efforts gained a great deal of national attention.<ref name=eleven/>


==Anti-nuclear protests==
{{Main|List of anti-nuclear protests in the United States}}
==Anti-nuclear protests==
==Anti-nuclear protests==
{{See also|List of anti-nuclear protests in the United States}}
{{See also|List of anti-nuclear protests in the United States}}
Anti-nuclear campaigns that captured national public attention in the 1970s involved the [[Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant]], [[Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant]], [[Diablo Canyon Power Plant]], [[Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant]], and [[Three Mile Island]].<ref name=protest/> Specific protests have included:<ref>[http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080501/OPINION03/805010312/1039/OPINION03 Wikipedia distorts nuclear history]</ref><ref>[http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=8218 Nuke Fight Nears Decisive Moment]</ref>
Anti-nuclear campaigns that captured national public attention in the 1970s and 1980s involved the [[Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant]], [[Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant]], [[Diablo Canyon Power Plant]], [[Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant]], and [[Three Mile Island]].<ref name=protest/> Specific protests have included:<ref>[http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080501/OPINION03/805010312/1039/OPINION03 Wikipedia distorts nuclear history]</ref><ref>[http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=8218 Nuke Fight Nears Decisive Moment]</ref>


*May 2, 1977: 1,414 protesters were arrested at the Seabrook nuclear power plant in New Hampshire.
*May 2, 1977: 1,414 protesters were arrested at the Seabrook nuclear power plant in New Hampshire.
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*May 1984: about 130 demonstrators showed up for start-up day at Diablo Canyon, and five were arrested.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,955276,00.html?promoid=googlep Testing and Protesting]</ref>
*May 1984: about 130 demonstrators showed up for start-up day at Diablo Canyon, and five were arrested.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,955276,00.html?promoid=googlep Testing and Protesting]</ref>
*June 5, 1989: hundreds of demonstrators at Seabrook Station nuclear power plant protested against the plant's first low-power testing, and the police arrested 627 people for trespassing.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5DB1E3FF936A35755C0A96F948260 Hundreds Arrested Over Seabrook Test]</ref>
*June 5, 1989: hundreds of demonstrators at Seabrook Station nuclear power plant protested against the plant's first low-power testing, and the police arrested 627 people for trespassing.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5DB1E3FF936A35755C0A96F948260 Hundreds Arrested Over Seabrook Test]</ref>
*May 1, 2005: Anti-nuclear/anti-war march past the UN in New York, 60 years after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.<ref>[http://indymedia.us/en/2005/05/6861.shtml Pictures: New York MayDay anti-nuke/war march]</ref>

*October 16, 2006: 26 people were arrested outside the Brattleboro offices of Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Nuclear; the demonstration drew about 200 people.<ref>[http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/10/28/vermont_yankee_nuke_plants_critics_still_at_it_34_years_later/ Vermont Yankee nuke plant's critics still at it, 34 years later]</ref>
Recent campaigning has related to the [[Indian Point Energy Center]], [[Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station]],<ref>[http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2007/0628/Front_Page/016.html Oyster Creek's time is up, residents tell board]</ref> [[Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station]],<ref name=pil>[http://www.pilgrimwatch.org/ Pilgrim Watch]</ref> [[Salem Nuclear Power Plant]],<ref name=sal>[http://www.unplugsalem.org/ UNPLUG Salem]</ref> [[Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant]],<ref name=Ver>[http://www.newenglandcoalition.org/issues.html Vermont Yankee License Renewal]</ref><ref name=eleven/> [[Idaho National Laboratory]],<ref name=yellow>[http://www.yellowstonenuclearfree.com/about_us/ Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free]</ref> proposed [[Yucca Mountain]] waste repository,<ref name=yucca/> the [[Hanford Site]],<ref name=hanford/> the [[Nevada Test Site]],<ref name=nev/> [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]],<ref name=law/><ref name=more/> and transportation of nuclear waste from the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]].<ref name=LANL/> Many different groups have been involved in various protests and demonstrations over the years.
There is an annual protest against U.S. nuclear weapons research at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] in California and in the 2007 protest, 64 people were arrested.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0626080620070406 Police arrest 64 at California anti-nuclear protest] ''Reuters'', April 6, 2007.</ref> There have been a series of protests at the [[Nevada Test Site]] and in the April 2007 [[Nevada Desert Experience]] protest, 39 people were cited by police.<ref>[http://www.lvrj.com/news/6826942.html Anti-nuclear rally held at test site: Martin Sheen among activists cited by police]</ref> There have been anti-nuclear protests at [[Naval Base Kitsap]] for many years, and several in 2008.<ref>[http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-14798707_ITM For decades, faith has sustained anti-nuclear movement]</ref><ref>[http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/Jan/19/bangor-protest-peaceful-17-anti-nuclear-detained/ Bangor Protest Peaceful; 17 Anti-Nuclear Demonstrators Detained and Released]</ref><ref>[http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/Jun/01/twelve-arrests-but-no-violence-at-bangor-anti/ Twelve Arrests, But No Violence at Bangor Anti-Nuclear Protest]</ref> Also in 2008, there have been protests about several proposed nuclear reactors.<ref>[http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/10/protest-against-nuclear-recator.html Protest against nuclear reactor] ''Chicago Tribune'', October 16, 2008. </ref><ref>[http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/08/405999.html Southeast Climate Convergence occupies nuclear facility] ''Indymedia UK'', August 8, 2008.</ref>


==Specific Groups==
==Specific Groups==

Revision as of 01:45, 15 November 2008

The anti-nuclear movement in the United States is comprised of more than forty loosely-affiliated largely-grass roots anti-nuclear groups opposing (see Nuclear debate) the generation of nuclear power either locally, nationally or worldwide.

The movement succeeded in delaying construction of or halting commitments to build some new nuclear plants.[1][2][3] Anti-nuclear campaigns that captured national public attention in the 1970s involved the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, and Three Mile Island.[2]

A number of scientists and engineers have expressed reservations about nuclear power, including: Barry Commoner, S. David Freeman, John Gofman, Amory Lovins, Arjun Makhijani, Gregory Minor and Joseph Romm.

More recent campaigning has related to several nuclear power plants, the proposed Yucca Mountain waste repository,[4][5] the Hanford Site,[6] the Nevada Test Site,[7] Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,[8][9] and transportation of nuclear waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory.[10]


Concerns of the movement

Main article: Nuclear power

The growth of the nuclear industry in the U.S. occurred as the environmental movement was being formed. Environmentalists saw the advantages of nuclear power in reducing air pollution, but became critical of nuclear technology on other grounds. The view that nuclear power was better for the environment than conventional fuels was partially undermined in the late 1960s when major controversy erupted over the effects of waste heat from nuclear plants (not the only kind of power plant to eject waste heat) on water quality. The nuclear industry gradually and reluctantly took action to reduce thermal pollution by building cooling towers or ponds for plants on inland waterways.[11]

Another concern was the effect of radiation emissions from nuclear plants. Several scientists challenged the prevailing view that the small amounts of radiation released by nuclear power plants during normal operation were not a problem. They argued that the routine releases were a severe threat to public health and could cause tens of thousands of deaths from cancer each year. This exchange of views about radiation risks caused further uneasiness about nuclear power, especially among those unable to evaluate the conflicting claims.[11]

Another issue was reactor safety. The large size of nuclear plants ordered during the late 1960s raised new safety questions and created fears of a severe reactor accident that would send large quantities of radiation into the environment. In the early 1970s a contentious controversy over the performance of emergency core cooling systems in nuclear power plants, designed to prevent a core meltdown. The often popularly sited China syndrome was discussed in the popular media; however this and many other 'potential accidents' are completely mythical and have no scientific foundation.[12]

These issues, together with a series of other environmental, technical, and public health questions, made nuclear power the source of acute controversy. Public support, which was strong in the early 1960s, had been shaken. Forbes magazine, in the September 1975 issue, reported that "the anti-nuclear coalition has been remarkably successful ... [and] has certainly slowed the expansion of nuclear power." By the mid-1970s anti-nuclear activism had moved beyond local protests and politics to gain a wider appeal and influence. Although it lacked a single co-ordinating organization, and did not have uniform goals, it emerged as a movement sharply focused on opposing nuclear power, and the movement's efforts gained a great deal of national attention.[12]

Anti-nuclear protests

Main article: List of anti-nuclear protests in the United States

Anti-nuclear protests

See also: List of anti-nuclear protests in the United States

Anti-nuclear campaigns that captured national public attention in the 1970s and 1980s involved the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, and Three Mile Island.[2] Specific protests have included:[13][14]

  • May 2, 1977: 1,414 protesters were arrested at the Seabrook nuclear power plant in New Hampshire.
  • June 1978: some 12,000 people attended a protest at Seabrook.
  • August 1978: almost 500 people were arrested for protesting at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California.
  • May 1979: an estimated 70,000 people, including the governor of California, attended a march and rally against nuclear power in Washington, D.C.
  • June 2, 1979: about 500 people were arrested for protesting construction of the Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant in Oklahoma.
  • June 3, 1979: some 15,000 people attended a rally at the Shoreham nuclear power plant on Long Island, N.Y. and about 600 were arrested.
  • June 30, 1979: about 38,000 people attended a protest rally at Diablo Canyon.
  • September 23, 1979: some 167 protesters were arrested at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.
  • June 22, 1980: about 15,000 people attended a protest near the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California.
  • September 1981: more than 900 protesters were arrested at Diablo Canyon.[15]
  • May 1984: about 130 demonstrators showed up for start-up day at Diablo Canyon, and five were arrested.[16]
  • June 5, 1989: hundreds of demonstrators at Seabrook Station nuclear power plant protested against the plant's first low-power testing, and the police arrested 627 people for trespassing.[17]
  • May 1, 2005: Anti-nuclear/anti-war march past the UN in New York, 60 years after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[18]
  • October 16, 2006: 26 people were arrested outside the Brattleboro offices of Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Nuclear; the demonstration drew about 200 people.[19]

There is an annual protest against U.S. nuclear weapons research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and in the 2007 protest, 64 people were arrested.[20] There have been a series of protests at the Nevada Test Site and in the April 2007 Nevada Desert Experience protest, 39 people were cited by police.[21] There have been anti-nuclear protests at Naval Base Kitsap for many years, and several in 2008.[22][23][24] Also in 2008, there have been protests about several proposed nuclear reactors.[25][26]

Specific Groups

Main article: List of anti-nuclear groups in the United States

More than fifty anti-nuclear groups are operating, or have operated, in the United States. These include:

Political parties

The Platform adopted by the delegates of the membership of the Greens/Green Party USA (G/GPUSA) at their annual Green Congress, meeting in Chicago, May 26-28, 2000, reflecting the majority views of the G/GPUSA membership, includes the creation of self-reproducing, renewable energy systems and use of federal investments, purchasing, mandates, and incentives to shut down nuclear power plants, and phase out fossil fuels.[27]

People

Notable individuals who have been associated with the anti-nuclear movement in the US include:[28][29][30][31]

See also

References

  1. ^ Nuclear Politics
  2. ^ a b c Social Protest and Policy Change: Ecology, Antinuclear, and Peace Movements p. 44.
  3. ^ Lights Out at Shoreham: Anti-nuclear activism spurs the closing of a new $6 billion plant
  4. ^ Four Score Organizations Express Opposition to Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Dump
  5. ^ Deadly Nuclear Waste Transport
  6. ^ Hanford History
  7. ^ 22 Arrested in Nuclear Protest
  8. ^ Hundreds Protest at Livermore Lab
  9. ^ More than 80 people arrested at annual protest at Livermore lab
  10. ^ About CCNS
  11. ^ a b Walker, J. Samuel (2004). Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective (Berkeley: University of Califonia Press), p. 10.
  12. ^ a b Walker, J. Samuel (2004). Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective (Berkeley: University of Califonia Press), p. 11.
  13. ^ Wikipedia distorts nuclear history
  14. ^ Nuke Fight Nears Decisive Moment
  15. ^ Arrests Exceed 900 In Coast Nuclear Protest
  16. ^ Testing and Protesting
  17. ^ Hundreds Arrested Over Seabrook Test
  18. ^ Pictures: New York MayDay anti-nuke/war march
  19. ^ Vermont Yankee nuke plant's critics still at it, 34 years later
  20. ^ Police arrest 64 at California anti-nuclear protest Reuters, April 6, 2007.
  21. ^ Anti-nuclear rally held at test site: Martin Sheen among activists cited by police
  22. ^ For decades, faith has sustained anti-nuclear movement
  23. ^ Bangor Protest Peaceful; 17 Anti-Nuclear Demonstrators Detained and Released
  24. ^ Twelve Arrests, But No Violence at Bangor Anti-Nuclear Protest
  25. ^ Protest against nuclear reactor Chicago Tribune, October 16, 2008.
  26. ^ Southeast Climate Convergence occupies nuclear facility Indymedia UK, August 8, 2008.
  27. ^ The Greens/Green Party USA
  28. ^ The Rise of the Anti-nuclear Power Movement
  29. ^ Ancient Rockers Try to Recharge Anti-Nuclear Movement
  30. ^ Beyond Nuclear: A Welcome from Ed Asner, Honorary Chairman
  31. ^ Falk, Jim (1982). Gobal Fission:The Battle Over Nuclear Power, p. 95.

Further reading

  • Cragin, Susan (2007). Nuclear Nebraska: The Remarkable Story of the Little County That Couldn’t Be Bought.
  • Dickerson, Carrie B. and Patricia Lemon (1995). Black Fox: Aunt Carrie's War Against the Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant, ISBN 1571780092
  • Giugni, Marco (2004). Social Protest and Policy Change.
  • Jasper, James M. (1997). The Art of Moral Protest: Culture, Biography, and Creativity in Social Movements, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0226394816
  • McCafferty, David P. (1991). The Politics of nuclear power: A history of the Shoreham power plant.
  • Miller, Byron A. (2000). Geography and social movements: Comparing anti-nuclear activism in the Boston area.
  • Natti, Susanna and Acker, Bonnie (1979). No nukes: Everyone's guide to nuclear power.
  • Ondaatje, Elizabeth H. (c1988). Trends in antinuclear protests in the United States, 1984-1987.
  • Peterson, Christian (2003). Ronald Reagan and Antinuclear Movements in the United States and Western Europe, 1981-1987.
  • Polletta, Francesca (2002). Freedom Is an Endless Meeting: Democracy in American Social Movements, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0226674495
  • Smith, Jennifer (Editor), (2002). The Antinuclear Movement.
  • Wellock, Thomas R. (1998). Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958-1978, The University of Wisconsin Press, ISBN 0299158500
  • Wills, John (2006). Conservation Fallout: Nuclear Protest at Diablo Canyon.
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