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8 Anti-Nuclear Power Sources

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War

When it comes to bringing anti-nuclear persons around to the pro-nuclear side, it’s arguably more important to have a good understanding of their talking points and beliefs than your own.

Without understanding the foundation of the opposite belief, and the nuance, you can’t properly refute the arguments. Understanding the anti-nuclear case better than someone who is against nuclear is how you arm yourself to change minds.

It should go without saying this means a deeper understanding than, ‘they are afraid of nuclear waste’ or ‘they think nuclear power takes too long to build to solve the climate issue’.

There are a number of groups and individuals of various profile that stridently oppose nuclear power. Some focus exclusively on nuclear, while others tackle numerous unrelated issues as well. Motives, funding, and research depth vary as well. With that said, here are the 10 most active anti-nuclear websites I could find:

Below is a summary of what you’ll find on the webpage and any central arguments, explore the sources for yourself! Please notes that while the author is pro-nuclear, the purpose of this article is solely to outline anti-nuclear sources, arguments, and research.

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)

CND is a network of British organizations that oppose nuclear power and weapons proliferation. The group, which traces its roots back to 1958, is a non-profit that supports itself through fundraising. The primary focus is nuclear weapons proliferation, though they also have anti-nuclear power and anti-NATO campaigns. Kate Hudson has her own blog on the website, served as the chair from 2003 – 2010, and the General Secretary from 2010 – Present.

When CND does focus on nuclear power, they take a clear stance against it for the following stated reasons, ‘nuclear power is expensive, nuclear power is dirty, nuclear power is dangerous, nuclear weapons proliferation, alternatives are available’.

The majority of their writing is opinion pieces reviewing political developments in the UK, often linking statements by politicians or other leaders on energy policy.

The Sierra Club

One of the largest environmental organizations in the US, the Sierra Club focuses on green agenda issues such as climate change, environment and wildlife conservation, social justice, and energy.

The ‘Nuclear Free Future’ section of the Sierra Club website, and relevant articles/ blog posts are relatively concise. They state, ‘reactor safety, nuclear proliferation concerns, and long term waste storage make nuclear power uniquely dangerous’.

The most recent blog post on the topic titled, ‘The Fiction of a Nuclear Silver Bullet‘, by the Sierra Club executive director, Ben Jealous, expresses a view that nuclear power is too expensive, unreliable, and a distraction from renewables, which can get the net-zero job done. He leans on the popular Lazard ‘levelized cost of energy’ report, and sites the possibility of weather events and maintenance interfering with uptime.

Greenpeace

Greenpeace is an international organization with branches all over the globe. The model is to gather donations and contributions from each branch, and then put that money to work by giving out loans and hiring staff to work on specific causes. Broadly, Greenpeace focuses on climate, energy, biodiversity, socioeconomic issues.

Greenpeace holds no punches in their statement on nuclear power: ‘The only solution is to halt the expansion of all nuclear power, and for the shutdown of existing plants… end the nuclear nightmare and tackle the inequity of fuel poverty… We must chose efficient and safe renewable energy sources over dirty and dangerous nuclear power.

Notable among the blog posts is a technical briefing on ‘The vulnerability of nuclear plants during military conflict’, which provides an overview on Ukrainian nuclear power infrastructure and the potential for a variety of adverse advents, their impact, and ways to mitigate risk.

Friends of Earth International (FOEI)

Focused not only on environmental issues, FOEI has a focus on democracy and justice as well. This multinational organization is made up of 70+ member groups, and traces its history back to 1971, when France, Sweden, Britain, and the US founded it.

The US branch has recently focused on Diablo Canyon, the California nuclear plant that was recently planned for closure, and then offered an extension. FOE US is taking taking the decision to court and fighting hard to shut down the old plant. Otherwise, they report extensively on any and all spending and tax policies that support the nuclear power industry.

The more interesting resources they provide focus on the dismal failure of South Carolinas V.C. Summer nuclear power plant, and perceived flaws in Congresses 2021 CLEAN Future Act (H.R. 1512).

Nuclear Information and Resource Service  (NIRS)

A national non-profit founded in 1978 to organize information for those concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation, and sustainable energy. Their complete focus on nuclear power is unique for such a large organization, and they provide many long form pieces arguing for the complete abandonment of nuclear power.

They point to nuclear waste and environmental damage as the reasons they are staunchly opposed to nuclear power. Environmental concerns are: the process of uranium mining, radiation from plants, improper handling of nuclear waste, poorly done mine closures, use and contamination of water, and contamination of adjacent items such as clothing, glass, and other that enter/ leave nuclear plants regularly.

This is a great place to read about anti-nuclear ideas and arguments. They have many pieces on the German transition, nuclear waste, radiation, accidents, and the fuel chain. It would be nice if there were citations included for some of their bigger claims made in the FAQ, such as Indian Point power plant killing over a billion fish and other organisms per year, that people wouldn’t notice a difference if we shut down all our nuclear plants, and that redirecting funds from nuclear power to wind and solar would be enough to completely phase out nuclear and fossil fuel use.

World Nuclear Status Report (WNSR)

WNSR is an organization producing a popular annual report on the status of the nuclear power industry. In their own words, “The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2023 (WNISR2023) assesses on 549 pages the status and trends of the international nuclear industry. It provides a comprehensive overview of nuclear power plant data, including information on operation, production, fleet age, and construction.”

The organization also collects and presents some of the best data on nuclear reactor builds in a free easy to read way. This may be the single best informed anti-nuclear group on the list. They present criticisms and questions for the industry that are legitimate and have no easy answer.

Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER)

This is a wonderful website that does research and studies on the impact different energy sources have on the environment. Compared to some news articles and opinion pieces, this is a breath of fresh air for the more empirically driven minds. The lead researcher is highly qualified, and supported by a board of lifelong academics.

The website provides a free link to the book, ‘Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for US Energy Policy’. There are also many reports and studies on interesting pieces of the renewable and nuclear industry. Highly recommend for those wanting the informed academic anti-nuclear viewpoint.

World Information Service on Energy (WISE)

Contrary to what the name suggests, WISE is exclusively focused on organizing and supporting grassroots anti-nuclear activity. Based in Netherlands and founded in the 70s, WISE is goes for a wide and shallow approach. They have short blog posts and FAQs that make statements about the nuclear power industry, without supplying sources or research, like IEER.

The main offering of WISE is the newsletter, ‘Nuclear Monitor’, which aggregates anti-nuclear news and grassroot activity. Additionally they lobby and campaign on anti-nuclear issues. There is a solid map on their website of past and present nuclear reactors. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament