Biden supports nuclear power and the nuclear industry has been very effective in lobbying Senators and contributing to their campaigns. All of which, coupled with the vast amount of government money available through the Inflation Reduction Act, has set the stage for some Senators to push for relaxing nuclear safety regulations. 

Relaxing safety standards is a non partisan effort and about the only thing Democrats and Republicans have been able to agree on for this whole term. There has been very little in the news as this is all part of a larger “must pass”  appropiations bill. 

Now is the time to call both of your Senators and demand that they do whatever they can to stop this dangerous move. Hopefully, by now you have their phone numbers and emails in your contacts; you will need it as we get closer to November.

Please help amplify the message that we need nuclear safety, not dangerous, industry friendly regulation for something tremendously expensive, costs more per kilowatt hour than renewables and won’t be ready until we have passed the climate change deadlines.

You are welcome to use the letter below in anyway that is helpful to you.

Please amplify this message in any way you can and send it on to anyone else who might be interested.

In Solidarity,
Marilyn Elie
Senator Joe Manchin on Nuclear Power

Imagine a world with no stoplights, safety belts, speed limit enforcement and no requirements for the auto industry. The death toll would be astronomical. That is the effect of what Senator Joe Manchin and some other Senators who are nuclear advocates want for the nuclear industry. 

We have been down this road before. The NRC was established in 1974 after the accident at Three Mile Island because its predecessor was guilty of promoting the nuclear industry over public safety. My 25 year observation with NRC meetings, regulations and enforcement dealing with the Indian Point nuclear reactor  have convinced me that this agency is already a captive of the industry.

Manchin’s promise to block the reappointment of  the last NRC Commissioner concerned about public safety — Jeff Baran or  anyone else concerned with public safety is disgraceful and endangers us all.

“We’re just looking for people who understand that we have to have nuclear energy in the mix,” he said.

Public safety does not start with what is good for the industry.  It starts with what is good for the millions of people who live near a nuclear power plant. Clever people solve problems. Smart people and smart regulators avoid them. We need a smart Nuclear Regulatory Agency that sticks to its original mission – protecting public safety, not industry profits.

Marilyn Elie
Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition
www.ipsecinfo.org