Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Encyclopedia
The Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) is an anti-nuclear group founded in 1978 to be the information and networking center for citizens and organizations concerned about nuclear power
, radioactive waste
, radiation
and sustainable energy
issues. The organization advocates the implementation of safe, sustainable solutions such as energy efficiency
, solar power
, wind power
and plug-in hybrids.
As of 2007, NIRS claims to initiate "large-scale organizing and public education campaigns on specific issues," such as to "bring technical expertise and strategic sense to grassroots environmental groups."
In 2000, NIRS' affiliation with World Information Service on Energy
(WISE) turned it into an international organization (NIRS/WISE).
The magazine Nuclear Engineering International has said that it runs easily the best website on uranium mining throughout the world.
.
On 3 August 2004, NIRS issued a report stating that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission may allow the illegal practice of manually shutting down nuclear power plants in the event of fire.
On 17 July 2007, regarding the leakage of water from the spent fuel pool of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant
after the 2007 Niigata earthquake, Michael Mariotte, spoke on behalf of the NIRS and commented "The leak itself doesn't sound significant as of yet, but the fact that it went unreported is a concern, when a company begins by denying a problem, it makes you wonder if there's another shoe to drop."
In October 2010, Michael Mariotte, executive director of NIRS, predicted that the U.S. nuclear industry will not experience a nuclear renaissance
, for the simple reason that “nuclear reactors make no economic sense”. The economic slump has driven down electricity demand and the price of competing energy sources, and Congress has failed to pass climate change legislation, making nuclear economics very difficult.
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
, radioactive waste
Radioactive waste
Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
, radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
and sustainable energy
Sustainable energy
Sustainable energy is the provision of energy that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable energy sources include all renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy, wave power, geothermal...
issues. The organization advocates the implementation of safe, sustainable solutions such as energy efficiency
Efficient energy use
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
, solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
, wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
and plug-in hybrids.
As of 2007, NIRS claims to initiate "large-scale organizing and public education campaigns on specific issues," such as to "bring technical expertise and strategic sense to grassroots environmental groups."
In 2000, NIRS' affiliation with World Information Service on Energy
World Information Service on Energy
The World Information Service on Energy is an anti-nuclear group founded in 1978 to be an information and networking center for citizens and organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues...
(WISE) turned it into an international organization (NIRS/WISE).
The magazine Nuclear Engineering International has said that it runs easily the best website on uranium mining throughout the world.
Issue stances
Some of the policies endorsed by NIRS include strict controls on nuclear waste disposal, bans on nuclear weapons and new power plants. NIRS is opposed to ineffective nuclear waste reprocessing, unsafe transportation of nuclear waste, and the implementation of large-scale nuclear waste repositories like Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. NIRS also does not view nuclear energy as a remedy for climate changeClimate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
.
International Offices
NIRS and WISE have merged their operations and WISE has relay offices in Amsterdam, Argentina, Austria, the Czech Republic, India, Japan, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, and the Ukraine. The bi-weekly WISE News Communique merged with the NIRS Nuclear Monitor and covers the resistance movements working against nuclear power world wide as well as chronicling the failings of the industry. Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian versions of this newsletter are also printed.Press
On 15 May 2007, NIRS issued a report claiming that radioactive scrap, concrete, equipment, asphalt, plastic, wood, chemicals, and soil from U.S. nuclear weapons facilities are being released to regular landfills and could get into commercial recycling streams."On 3 August 2004, NIRS issued a report stating that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission may allow the illegal practice of manually shutting down nuclear power plants in the event of fire.
On 17 July 2007, regarding the leakage of water from the spent fuel pool of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant
The is a large, modern nuclear power plant on a 4.2-square-kilometer site including land in the towns of Kashiwazaki and Kariwa in Niigata Prefecture, Japan on the coast of the Sea of Japan, from where it gets cooling water...
after the 2007 Niigata earthquake, Michael Mariotte, spoke on behalf of the NIRS and commented "The leak itself doesn't sound significant as of yet, but the fact that it went unreported is a concern, when a company begins by denying a problem, it makes you wonder if there's another shoe to drop."
In October 2010, Michael Mariotte, executive director of NIRS, predicted that the U.S. nuclear industry will not experience a nuclear renaissance
Nuclear renaissance
Since about 2001 the term nuclear renaissance has been used to refer to a possible nuclear power industry revival, driven by rising fossil fuel prices and new concerns about meeting greenhouse gas emission limits. At the same time, various barriers to a nuclear renaissance have been identified...
, for the simple reason that “nuclear reactors make no economic sense”. The economic slump has driven down electricity demand and the price of competing energy sources, and Congress has failed to pass climate change legislation, making nuclear economics very difficult.
Famous supporters
NIRS counts the following celebrities among its supporters:- Bonnie RaittBonnie RaittBonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
- Jackson BrowneJackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
- Indigo GirlsIndigo GirlsThe Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
- Bob WeirBob WeirBob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
- Mary Chapin CarpenterMary Chapin CarpenterMary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C. clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records, who marketed her as a country singer...
- Whoopi GoldbergWhoopi GoldbergWhoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
- Bruce CockburnBruce CockburnBruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
- Dean StockwellDean StockwellDean Stockwell is an American actor of film and television, with a career spanning over 65 years. As a child actor under contract to MGM he first came to the public's attention in films such as Anchors Aweigh and The Green Years; as a young adult he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway and...
- Midnight OilMidnight OilMidnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...
- Ani DiFrancoAni DiFrancoAni DiFranco is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, guitarist, poet, and songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums, and is widely considered a feminist icon.-Biography:...
See also
- Anti-nuclear movement in the United StatesAnti-nuclear movement in the United StatesThe anti-nuclear movement in the United States consists of more than 80 anti-nuclear groups which have acted to oppose nuclear power or nuclear weapons, or both, in the United States. These groups include the Abalone Alliance, Clamshell Alliance, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research,...
- List of anti-nuclear protests in the United States
- Paul GunterPaul GunterPaul Gunter is a co-founder of the Clamshell Alliance anti-nuclear group, who was arrested at Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant for non-violent civil disobedience on several occasions. An energy policy analyst and activist, he has been a vocal critic of nuclear power for more than 30 years...
- WISE-ParisWISE-ParisWISE-Paris is the World Information Service on Energy, established in 1983 because of the perceived lack of independent and reliable information in France concerning energy systems and policy, in particular in the nuclear field....