Critics Say Transporting Dismantled Nuclear Power Plants Unnecessary and Dangerous

Interview with Sal Mangiagli, Citizens Awareness Network, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Due to the high cost of nuclear power and concerns about accidents and disposal of nuclear waste, no new nuclear power plants have been ordered in the U.S. since 1977. However, the Bush Administration hopes nuclear power will make a comeback. The White House is pushing for federal funding of a new generation of nuclear reactors in a GOP-sponsored energy bill, which remains stalled in Congress.

Meanwhile, some of the oldest operating nuclear plants have been decommissioned. One of these is Connecticut Yankee, located in the eastern Connecticut town of Haddam. After 28 years of operation, it was shut down in 1996. On Dec. 18, the atomic reactor vessel. which is considered low-level radioactive waste, was loaded onto a barge for the trip to Barnwell, S.C., for burial.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Sal Mangiagli of the Citizens Awareness Network, an environmental justice organization focusing on nuclear issues. He talks about the dangers of shipping nuclear waste to poor, largely minority communities like Barnwell and an alternative called safe-store, which secures nuclear reactors in place for a longer period. He says it's a question of whose backyard the waste is stored -- the host community or a distant recipient community.

Contact the Citizens Awareness Network at (860) 345-2157 or visit their website at www.nukebusters.org

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