III. Ecological Sustainability C: Nuclear Issues

Ohio Green Party Platform Proposal – Nuclear Issues

Approved: Date: Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 4:28 PM

SPONSOR(S):
Ohio Green Party

CONTACT(S):

Philena Farley pifbits@ohiogreens.org
Daryl Davis, Anti-Nuke Committee, daryl237@yahoo.com

SUBJECT/TITLE: Nuclear Issues – Platform Amendment 

TYPE OF PROPOSAL: Platform Amendment

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: 

Amendment is proposed to the plank – III. Ecological Sustainability  C: Nuclear Issues


This Green Party platform amendment focuses on condemning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s labeling of nuclear power as “green,” updating the current issues with nuclear waste disposal, advocating for the phase-out of nuclear technologies, and seeking safer waste management practices. This amendment also highlights opposition to military uses of depleted uranium and the transport of high-level nuclear waste, alongside advocating for transparent nuclear regulation and public education on nuclear issues, by rearranging some of the planks. Also grammar corrections for consistency and updating current legislation that has a direct impact on nuclear issues. 

PROPOSAL:
 
Current version:


  1.  Nuclear Issues
  1. The Green Party recognizes that there is no such thing as nuclear waste “disposal.” All six of the “low-level” nuclear waste dumps in the United States have leaked. There are no technological quick fixes that can effectively isolate nuclear waste from the biosphere for the duration of its hazardous life. Therefore, it is essential that generation of additional nuclear wastes be stopped. 
  2. The Green Party calls for the early retirement of nuclear power reactors as soon as possible (in no more than five years), and for a phase-out of other technologies that use or produce nuclear waste. These technologies include non-commercial nuclear reactors, reprocessing facilities, nuclear waste incinerators, food irradiators, and all commercial and military uses of depleted uranium. 
  3. Current methods of underground storage are a danger to present and future generations. Any nuclear waste management strategy must be based on waste containers being stored above ground and continuously monitored, and the containers must be retrievable and capable of being repackaged. All such strategies must also minimize the transportation of wastes. 
  4. The Green Party strongly opposes any shipment of high-level nuclear waste across the U.S. to the proposed Nevada waste repository at Yucca Mountain, or any other centralized facility. The Green Party believes that this proposal is part of a move to re-fire a fast-track, commercial nuclear industry by providing a means for “safe disposal.” We deny there is such a thing as safe disposal of nuclear waste.

    We propose making spent reactor fuel and other high level wastes safer by vitrification at the site where it is produced or now stored.     
  5. We call for cancellation of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the nation’s first weapons complex nuclear dump in southern New Mexico. 
  6. We call for independent, public-access radiation monitoring at all nuclear facilities
    .
  7. We support applicable environmental impact statements (EIS) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis with citizen participation at all nuclear sites. 
  8. We support an immediate and intensive campaign to educate the public about nuclear problems, including disposal, cleanup, and long-term dangers. 
  9. We oppose the export of nuclear technologies or their wastes to other nations. 
  10. We oppose public subsidies for nuclear power, including Price-Anderson insurance caps and stranded cost recovery bailouts. We oppose federal loan guarantees to enable the construction of a new generation of nuclear reactors. 
  11. We oppose the development and use of new nuclear reactors, plutonium (MOX) fuel, nuclear fuel reprocessing, nuclear fusion, uranium enrichment, and the manufacturing of new plutonium pits for a new generation of nuclear weapons. 
  12. We oppose the deregulation of radioactive materials and wastes, which is allowing such wastes to be recycled into consumer products and to enter municipal waste landfills and incinerators. We call for the strict regulation, tracking, monitoring, and recapturing of radioactive materials and wastes. 
  13. We call on the military to clean up depleted uranium contamination from testing ranges and battlefields and to fully compensate exposed veterans and civilians who have been affected by depleted uranium exposure in the U.S. and elsewhere.

New Version:

C. Nuclear Issues

  1.       We condemn the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) blatant attempt to hijack the term(s) “Green”, “Green Energy”, “Green Power” in reference to nuclear power for the purpose of promoting so-called new advanced nuclear reactors and relicensing aging conventional reactors under the guise of sustainability. This misinformation depicts nuclear power as carbon free, in denial of the mining, milling, manufacturing, and transportation of the fuel and its environmental footprint. We see it as a step in the direction of diverting funding from true renewables and efficiency to bolstering the nuclear industry. Nuclear power is not a benign operation that would be classified as clean or sustainable if the truth was being told.
  2.       We recognize that there is no such thing as nuclear waste “disposal.” All six of the “low-level” nuclear waste dumps in the United States have leaked. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) halted operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the country’s first nuclear waste repository dedicated to the weapons complex, situated in southern New Mexico, due to two incidents in 2014. Operations resumed on a limited basis in 2017. The DOE has projected that WIPP’s current capacity will reach its limit by approximately 2025. Additionally, the DOE is confronted with a legal cap on the volume of waste that can be deposited at WIPP. Therefore, it is imperative to permanently seal off the repository chambers, implement continuous monitoring, and address the challenge of managing the radioactive waste currently stored on-site. There are no technological quick fixes that can effectively isolate nuclear waste from the biosphere for the duration of its hazardous life. Therefore, it is essential that generation of additional nuclear wastes be stopped.
  3.       We call for the early retirement of nuclear power reactors as soon as possible and for a phase-out of other technologies that use or produce nuclear waste. These technologies include non-commercial nuclear reactors, reprocessing facilities, nuclear waste incinerators, and food irradiators.
  4.       We strongly object to the utilization of depleted uranium in military applications, including its incorporation into bullet tips, artillery shells, and as armor for tanks and other armed vehicles. Furthermore, we disapprove of its use as counterweights in nuclear weaponry or for adjusting the yield of nuclear explosions through modifications in the weapon’s internal components.
  5.       Current methods of underground storage are a danger to present and future generations. We call for the discontinuation of the use of thin-walled canisters for the storage of high-level radioactive wastes and spent fuel.  These 1/2″ to 5/8″ thick welded sheet canisters can be developed undetected and cannot be prevented from leaking or explosions. Each of the 4,000 loaded canisters contains approximately the same amount of radiation as was released in the 1986 Chernobyl explosion. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has proposed to transport these canisters by rail through municipalities and countryside to an interim storage facility where they cannot be maintained, monitored, or repaired. Any nuclear waste management strategy must be based on waste containers being stored above ground and continuously monitored, and the containers must be retrievable and capable of being repackaged. All such strategies must also minimize the transportation of wastes.
  6.       We strongly oppose any shipment of high-level nuclear waste across the U.S. to any proposed “interim storage” facility or to the previously proposed Nevada waste repository at Yucca Mountain, or any other centralized facility. We believe that this proposal is part of a move to re-fire a fast-track, commercial nuclear industry by providing a means for “safe disposal.” We deny there is such a thing as safe disposal of nuclear waste.

We propose making spent reactor fuel and other high-level wastes safe by vitrification at the site where it is produced or now stored.

  1.       We oppose the use of unaccountable ‘quasi-governmental’ authorities in the nuclear industry with industry-biased structures and limited or no public oversight. We call for all aspects of nuclear regulation, radiation monitoring and waste management to be subject to transparent, democratic processes with full public participation and independent scientific review at all nuclear facilities. We condemn the history of criminal activities by nuclear corporations, including bribery of legislators and regulators, and call for comprehensive reforms to prevent such abuses.  [See Social Justice: Consumer Protection]
  2.       We support an immediate and intensive campaign to educate the public about nuclear problems, including disposal, cleanup, and long-term dangers.
  3.       We oppose the Risch/Manchin bipartisan Civil Nuclear Export Act of 2023 that would allow mass exports of weapons-proliferating Small Modular Reactors (SMR’s)
  4.   We oppose public subsidies for nuclear power, including Price-Anderson insurance caps and stranded cost recovery bailouts. We oppose federal loan guarantees to enable the construction of a new generation of nuclear reactors.
  5.   We oppose the development and use of new nuclear reactors, including so-called ‘advanced’ reactors and Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), plutonium (MOX) fuel, nuclear fuel reprocessing, nuclear fusion, uranium enrichment, and the manufacturing of new plutonium pits for a new generation of nuclear weapons. 
  6.   We oppose the deregulation of radioactive materials and wastes, which is allowing such wastes to be recycled into consumer products and to enter municipal waste landfills and incinerators. We call for the strict regulation, tracking, monitoring, and recapturing of radioactive materials and wastes.
  7.   We call for the immediate extension and expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to provide jurisdiction and procedures for claims for compassionate payments for injuries due to exposure to radiation from nuclear testing.
  8.   We oppose granting patents for engineering that creates or refines nuclear weapon technology, or that facilitates the further proliferation of nuclear power reactors here and around the world.  [See Economic Justice: Advanced Technology]

REFERENCES: 

Current language:
https://www.gp.org/ecological_sustainability/#esNuclear

Final Amended Version Google Document: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19oYngQTvxpdAWVoagO1AGKctt1mJKNdh2FwvOGdcxNY/edit?usp=sharing 

Markup Document:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E5RjZkuWWtWlr4GfUR6rp4NU1qFEYOvCJkHEbILdKuU/edit?usp=sharing