Nuclear Energy Forum, Sat. Sept. 2nd, 2pm

Nuclear Power: An Economic Threat to the United States

What: 
A Talk on the costs of nuclear power by Russell Lowes at the Common Sense Forum.

When:
Saturday, September 2, 2006 – The talk begins at 2 p.m.
Refreshments with coffee (made with
CAP Ambassador Blend) and society available at 1:30 PM, forum from 2:00
PM to 4:30 p.m., with talk starting at 2.

Where: 
Tucson’s Main Library on Stone and Alameda Street –
Free
Parking under the Library on Alameda, west of Stone.
In the large
conference room on lower level 1 of the main Tucson Pima Public Library.

Summary:
The largest electric utility in Arizona, Arizona
Public Service Company, is talking about ordering two more nuclear
reactors its nuclear plant west of Phoenix. Already the largest atomic
energy plant in the United States, this would make it the largest in
the world.

The Bush Administration is pushing to revive the nuclear program, to the tune of hundreds of more reactors.

There is much talk of a renaissance in the American
nuclear power business. Most opposition is based on security, safety
and waste issues. But does nuclear power make economic sense? Russell
Lowes will share his discoveries about the Palo Verde reactors, and
updated economic feasibility.

Russell Lowes is the primary author of the book,
"Energy Options for the Southwest, Part I, Nuclear and Coal Power,"
released in 1979. This book covered the economics of the Palo Verde
plant west of Phoenix and was used as the main document in California
to vote down a buying into two additional reactors, that subsequently
were canceled.

Russell is also a regular at the Tucson meeting of Drinking Liberally. If you wish to do some background research prior to, or instead of attending the forum, Russell suggests the work of Charles Komanoff, whom Russell considers the foremost expert on nuclear power economics since the 1970s.

A very recent work on the risks of using nuclear energy to combat global warming is "Insurmountable Risks" by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, a summary of which (PDF) is avaialable online. A good resource for the movement to abolish energy and weapon uses of nuclear energy is the Nuclear Policy Research Institute.