Government Accountability Project: Media Advisory: New Comprehensive Report Lambastes GNEP – Press Conference Next Monday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2008
1:10 PM

CONTACT: Government Accountability Project
Dylan Blaylock, GAP Communications Director Phone: 202.408.0034 ext 137, cell 202.236.3733
Email: dylanb@whistleblower.org
 
Media Advisory: New Comprehensive Report Lambastes GNEP – Press Conference Next Monday
 

WASHINGTON, DC - March 27 - Next Monday, March 31, 2008, a coalition of public interest, environmental and policy groups will release a groundbreaking report detailing the severe shortcomings and false assertions posed in the Global Energy Nuclear Partnership (GNEP). The new report, Risky Appropriations: Gambling US Energy Policy on the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, finds that GNEP is “an ill-conceived, poorly supported, rushed, and technically and economically risky program.”

When: Monday, March 31st, 12:00 – 12:45 p.m.

Where: Cannon House Office Building, Room 122

Who:

  • David A. Schlissel, the report’s lead author, is a Senior Consultant at Synapse Energy Economics. Since 1973, he has served as a consultant, expert witness, and attorney on complex management, engineering, and economic issues, primarily in the fields of energy and the environment.
  • Robert Alvarez is a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies. He is considered one the nation’s top experts regarding civilian and military nuclear policy issues. Between 1993 and 1999, Alvarez served as Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, as which he was responsible for national security, environmental, safety and health issues.
  • Brent Blackwelder is President of Friends of the Earth, and is the most senior environmental lobbyist in Washington. He has served as an environmental advocate in our nation’s capital for over 30 years, having testified in front of Congress on pressing environmental issues more than 100 times.
Congressman Ed Markey (D-Ma) has also been invited to attend the press conference.

GNEP is a key component of the Bush administration’s plan to expand America’s use of nuclear power. The crux of the plan involves the United States importing and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel from other countries to harness nuclear energy. The Bush administration and Department of Energy (DOE) claim that GNEP would reduce America’s dependence on fossil fuels in a safe manner. Specifically, many pro-nuclear power proponents have been pushing the plan as adequately addressing the rising issue of global warming and rapid climate change.

However, Risky Appropriations details how the plan will actually exacerbate these critical challenges to mitigate climate change, halt nuclear proliferation and meeting energy demand at home and abroad. Key findings of the report include:
  • The Bush administration has presented no economic analysis of the costs and benefits of the GNEP plan.
  • None of the proposed GNEP technologies and processes currently exist in commercially viable applications. Few technologies that GNEP requires have ever been shown to be viable in any large engineering-scale demonstration projects. 
  • The current proposed schedule for GNEP is not feasible – the technologies that would be required to implement GNEP successfully would take decades to develop if, in fact, they can be made technically and commercially viable at all.
  • GNEP would be an unreasonably expensive and slow option for addressing global climate change.
  • GNEP would lock the United States into decisions to deploy certain nuclear technologies and processes much before research and development phases are completed, demonstration projects are tested, and technologies are shown to be feasible. 
  • GNEP will likely worsen the radioactive waste disposal problem and would make the United States the dumping ground for nuclear waste from the other participating nations.
For a more detailed look at some of these findings, please see the GNEP Fact Sheet attached to this email.

The report is available on an embargoed basis to any accredited journalist who would like to receive it. Please email GAP Communications Director, Dylan Blaylock for a copy. The report was commissioned and sponsored by: Friends of the Earth USA, the Government Accountability Project, Institute for Policy Studies, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.


Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth (www.foe.org) is the U.S. voice of the world’s largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 70 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has been at the forefront of high-profile efforts to create a more healthy, just world.

Government Accountability Project

The Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, GAP’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, GAP is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

Institute for Policy Studies

The Institute for Policy Studies turns Ideas into Action for Peace, Justice and the Environment. IPS strengthens social movements with independent research, visionary thinking, and links to the grassroots, scholars and elected officials.

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes responsible energy choices that solve global warming problems and ensure clean, safe and healthy communities throughout the Southeast.

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