Published: March 9th, 2012 at 8:31 am ET
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Title: Survey: Americans Not Warming Up to Nuclear Power One Year After Fukushima
Source: Bradenton Herald
Author: Civil Society Institute and ORC International
Date: March 7, 2012
Contrary to Industry Predictions, Reactor Disaster Seen As Having a “Lasting Chill” on Perceptions;
It’s Not All Fukushima: 3 in 5 Americans Less Supportive Due to Woes of U.S. Nuclear Industry in Last Year.
One year after the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, Americans continue to want to keep the brakes on more nuclear power in the United States, according to a major new ORC International survey conducted for the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (CSI).
To gauge any shift in public attitudes, the new survey was benchmarked to an earlier poll carried out by ORC International in March 2011 for CSI. Conducted February 23-26 2012, the new survey of 1,032 Americans shows that:
Nearly six in 10 Americans (57 percent) are less supportive of expanding nuclear power in the United States than they were before the Japanese reactor crisis, a nearly identical finding to the 58 percent who responded the same way when asked the same question one year ago. This contrasts sharply with pre-Fukushima surveys by Gallup and other organizations showing a 60 percent support level for nuclear power.
More than three out of four Americans (77 percent) say they are now more supportive than they were a year ago “to using clean renewable energy resources – such as wind and solar – and increased energy efficiency as an alternative to more nuclear power in the United States.” This finding edged up from the 2011 survey level of 76 percent.
More than three out of four Americans (77 percent) would support “a shift of federal loan-guarantee support for energy away from nuclear reactors” in favor of wind and solar power. This level of support was up from the 74 percent finding in the 2011 survey.
In response to a new question in the 2012 survey, more than six in 10 Americans (61 percent) said they were less supportive of nuclear power as a result of reports in the U.S. during 2011 and so far in 2012 of nuclear reactors that had to be shut down due such factors as natural disasters, equipment failure and radioactive leaks.
About two thirds (65 percent) of Americans now say they would oppose “the construction of a new nuclear reactor within 50 miles of [their] home.” This figure was roughly the same as the 67 percent opposition level in the March 2011 survey.Pam Solo, founder and president, Civil Society Institute, said: “It is clear that Fukushima left an indelible impression on the thinking of Americans about nuclear power. The U.S. public clearly favors a conservative approach to energy that insists on it being safe in all senses of the word – including the risk to local communities and citizens. These poll findings support the need for a renewed national debate about the energy choices that America makes.”
Peter Bradford, former member of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, former chair of the New York and Maine utility regulatory commissions, and currently adjunct professor at Vermont Law School on Nuclear Power and Public Policy, said: “This survey is another piece of bad news for new nuclear construction in the U.S. For an industry completely dependent on political support in order to gain access to the taxpayers’ wallets (through loan guarantees and other federal subsidies) and the consumers’ wallets (through rate guarantees to cover even canceled plants and cost overruns), public skepticism of this magnitude is a near fatal flaw.The nuclear industry has spent millions on polls telling the public how much the public longs for nuclear power. Such polls never ask real world questions linking new reactors to rate increases or to accident risk. Fukushima has made the links to risk much clearer in the public mind. This poll makes the consequences of that linkage clear.”
Pollster Graham Hueber, senior researcher, ORC International, said: “I would summarize these findings as follows: We see here a lasting chill in how the public perceives nuclear power. The passage of one year since the Fukushima nuclear reactor crisis in Japan has neither dimmed concerns in the U.S. about nuclear power nor has it made Americans more inclined to support an expanded federal focus on promoting more nuclear reactors in the U.S.”
Robert Alvarez, senior scholar, Institute for Policy Studies, where he is currently focused on nuclear disarmament and environmental and energy policies, and former senior policy advisor, U.S. Secretary of Energy, where he coordinated the effort to enact nuclear worker compensation legislation, said: “Nuclear power remains expensive, dangerous, and too radioactive for Wall Street. This survey shows why the industry has no future unless the U.S. government props it up and forces the public to bear the risks.”
OTHER KEY SURVEY FINDINGS
72 percent of Americans do not “think taxpayers should take on the risk for the construction of new nuclear power reactors in the United States through billions of dollars in new federal loan guarantees for new reactors.” This level of opposition was nearly identical to the 73 percent opposition level reported in the March 2011 survey.
Nearly four out of five Americans (78 percent) would favor Congress reviewing a 1957 law indemnifying nuclear power companies from most disaster clean-up costs. Instead, Americans would hold the companies “liable for all damages resulting from a nuclear meltdown or other accident.” This figure is up 5 percentage points from the 73 percent support level seen in 2011.
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Read the release here
Published: March 9th, 2012 at 8:31 am ET
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sending...
Now only if GE.gov would listen
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GE is listening.
Haven't you seen the money GE is throwing at TV ads recently – we provide jobs, we provide money for business, we provide fantastic medical products, blah blah blah
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Yeah this is the best one.
GE Turbine = cold beer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds5hVzrkoKI
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I don't think the US-GE goverment gives a rats ass…..boycott nuclear energy!
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People in the Western World, need to reexamine the "way" they view Japan and that includes not only how that Country is governed but what actual "say" the Japanese people have in their Governments process!
It has taken almost a year to realize that Japan is actually being "run" by its Powerful Utility Companies and this "business" relationship extends in a "Control Continuum" that extends at one end, from actual Utility direct financial support of the highest Government Leaders in the Country, to the widely known use of organized gangs to keep citizens in line at the other!
The idea that individual Japanese people actually have a say in how they are governed, much less the way their Energy is generated, is just a well publicized fantasy that the Utilities uses to put a nuclear "smily face" on the grim reality that ever facet of Japanese life is less important than what is good for these Utilities! These Powerful Utilities ARE Japan, and the Japanese people are only "forced" customers of these Utilities since they have no other choice of providers when it come to basic needs like electricity, at lest until now! Solar panels have allowed many to get the electricity they need and this is a huge threat to these Utilities, that must be "crushed" ASAP if they are to maintain their complete control over the Japanese people!
Ever since 3/11, the rest of the World's attention has been focused on the Trillion Dollar Eco-Disaster at Fukushima and Japan's response to their triple melt down. What we have learned is that the Government has allowed TEPCO to not only remain in Control of this debacle but they have actually enabled the Utility to place huge numbers of Japanese citizens at risk rather than demand that the Utility think first of human health instead of Corp. shareholder profits. The fact that radioactive pollution has now spread Globally and is affecting the rest of the Planet is hardly mentioned in MSM which points to an even greater…
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Re-Starting idled reactors in Japan seems to be a condition for Tepco receiving loans from Japanese banks
The question is are the banks dictating this start-up or is it Tepco's idea?
I think CaptD demonstrates in his argument the nature of the control continuum
Here is some background on the mandated start-ups
http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/people-of-japan-are-being-sacrificed-to.html
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Unfortunately it is GE,Westinghouse,Bectel,B+W. Siemans,Exxon and hundreds of other companies/gov. They will only listen to the bottom line. If perceptions are bad then they will spend more on Public Relations. If they need more government support they will spend more on lobbying and political campaigns. As I said in a prior post a compliance officer from an east coast utility company told me that Fukushima had no impact on his company since they had Westinghouse PWR's and not GE reactors. How's that for clueless!!
It will be a long battle for anti nuclear activists because the fight is over much more than just nukes, it's about our government giving power back to the people, and taking power away from corporations whose only goal is to make money.
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I think people will fast become anti nuke when their friends and relatives start falling ill from the crap floating towards the west coast shore.
The goverment will say it's harmless but we will see (I think that it=s the big difference seeing…)the people collecting the trash from the beaches in radiation gear….it will be very clear what has happened to the USA.
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Moons How exactly did the floating stuff get more radiation than the water it's floating in?
I think the radiated garbage floating idea is misinformation – so they can say when it arrives – see it wasn't really bad after all…
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James2, many moons has a very good point. As you might recall, past discussions were about where the floating debris field was located after the reactors blew 80% of their radioactive waste out over the Pacific ocean, what was the rain pattern for bringing down radioactive particles onto the debris raft over the course of its travel to the West Coast, and would the rain also wash away some radiation off of the debris and into the ocean where it was more likely to sink. The oceans surface water SHOULD be less radioactive given the radioactive particles tendency to sink over time, as is evidenced in the ocean sediment samples compared to ocean water around Japan. The raft of debris, presenting a hard and resistive surface, WOULD carry more radioactive particles should they land on the debris.
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If they could only see how sick the seals are from a "mysterious illness" . Losing hair bleeding from eyes and nose, etc. Now we know what is causing this so called mystery yet the scientist claim they don't have a clue? I hope i"m wrong and that it is not radiation but…
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many moons, one of my neighbors actually brought up that very image you just gave today in a passing conversation, and she doesn't even want to know about the possibility of radioactive debris. Yet, the image persists for her. I think you are correct. This will provide many photo opts for a photojournalist to get that one picture that ends up on the television news and magazine covers throughout the US.
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Yes, have you noticed the new good for you GE televised commercials? No mention of power plant design and construction.
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I thought it was "imagination at work" GE they just make the products. Thus buyer beware? I don't know everyone is always trying to place blame but we are where we are and need to try and figure out how to prevent any more suffering and the destruction of our one and only planet.
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The industry is pushing "New Nuclear" but it is like the ice men telling folks to buy new ice boxes instead of the new fangled refrigerators that put the ice men out of business! If people have a real choice and are not made to swallow Nuclear Baloney (NB) by the Industry and or their powerful lobbyists then America and the world will be a much safer place by starting to Shift to Solar (of all flavors) ASAP!
Remember America cannot afford a Trillion Dollar Eco-Disaster…
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The headline is an understatement.
Americans don't yet know how much of a lasting impact Fuku will have on them yet
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@James2: you got it dude! This story illustrates that they've lost the war; not just this battle! Like the last days in the Fuehrer's bunker, they're telling one another what they want to hear. But guess what assholes?! It makes – no – difference now! Why? Because you can't create toxins that last hundreds-of-thousands of years and then dump them in our morning cereal! People are starting to get this now.
People like you (and the others on this site) have only to present the cold-hard facts and history, itself, will fill-in the blanks. I am so eff-n happy that these revelations are coming down the way they are! This is truly like manna from heaven!
And like you've pointed out: the average Joe doesn't know a fraction of what we're getting here! It's on baby!
This is just so awesome!!!
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Most people don't want to know as the facts are too much to wrap their heads around. This is so very dire and we are in unchartered territory. I actually wish I did not know as much as I do. To realize that we are possibly facing an ELE although we all face that journey at some juncture. I'm married to a chemist who tears up when he speaks about Fukushima and it's future impact on people and our planet. Seeing him tear up, knowing the facts and watching the suffering of the Japanese just breaks my heart. I wish I had the solution to this nuclear nightmare. I still hang onto hope no matter how futile and try not to get too sad. Thus I can't say I'm happy about recent revelations. I would rather we all be wrong and over reacting and that this wasn't such a catastrophic event. In fact I keep hoping that things are going to be resolved, who knows maybe a miracle will happen, who knows. JMHO
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There is a birth happening, and at the same time, a death…
The death is the old top down, male energy dominated, hierarchy, ego driven stuff.
The birth is the feminine, intuitive, community based, bottoms up what is good for all of us while living in the heart energy..
There is still time to join us over where it feels good, where love is the norm, where happiness is easy to find and fulfillment is the norm, rather than the exception.
Follow your heart; it is that simple. All laws are written inside of it.
Anyone NOT doing this will just suffer more and more as this new energy takes hold. People not in their hearts at this point are little more than the walking dead. They may own stuff, and be rich and have lots of power, but they are dead, spiritually speaking.
Where we are all going, none of this physical 'stuff' will count for anything.
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Well stated AGreenRoad I feel the same.
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You are correct!
Consciousness is swinging into positive unity again. Will we see another Golden Age here on Earth?
The morally important issues will be understood by the majority sooner than later.
The EPA vs Constitutional Property Rights for example.
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AGreenRoad
Yes yes yest,
but, the challenge is that the old way is killing us quickly and we may not have enough time to transition to new ways unless we do it very promptly
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People would be numb with no feelings, and stupid if this disaster did have an impact on us.
Nuclear industry has no feelings, if they did they would have ended nuclear power when they realized how dangerous this is, that they cannot control this power, and they know they can't control the accumulation of waste it causes.
Nuclear industry is a business who is run by people who are looking for the highest profits and that is all.
End the corruption and greed. Corporations are not people. Get back to protecting the people and the environment that we all need to live in.
~END NUCLEAR POWER~
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I saw a video clip of a guy who fell through the ice in below 0 temps. He was flailing his arms trying to grab onto ice that would keep breaking off and you could see in his eyes that his reactive mind was in total control of his actions. This is what the nuclear industry would look like if it was a person. 100% reactive mimd behavior that is reaching for the wildest solution to an unsolvable problem. If an equation on the optimum solution is drawn up, it would have survival of the most human beings as it's goal. All action and precious energy would be spent to that end. The dinasaurs are extinct because they were up against a suppressor that overloaded their defense and offense abilities. Has our arrogance, indifference, and failure to see cause and effect started us on the stairway to heaven?
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I'd like to know what our plan is to clean out the overloaded spent fuel pools at the 100 plus reactors in the USA. Bad way to boil water.
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Plan??? What plan? They haven't figured that out in the last 60 years. The plan is to run this shit as long as they can, blow as much smoke as is necessary to keep it all rollin. I'll bet they still see Fuku as a temporary thorn in their side. Yucca Mt. didn't even fly.
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Solar power may be cheaper than electricity generated by fossil fuels and nuclear reactors within three to five years because of innovations, said Mark M. Little, the global research director for General Electric Co. (GE) May 26, 2011 http://is.gd/L0V2hP
Then consider Japan as a test case; they are a major nuclear "user" and now they have a Trillion Dollar Eco-Disaster that is affecting their entire Country, how would California (and or the USA) pay for a similar event? Where would people relocate to and what would they do for housing, since their home owners insurance has a nuclear exclusion? If this happened in San Onofre, the "coastal" real estate loses alone would be more than a trillion dollars and remember the rest of the "HEARTLAND" of the USA is downwind.
If people really knew the true cost of Fukushima, the people would demand CHANGE and that is something that some of those in Government and the entire Nuclear Industry want to avoid at all cost!
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Yes the entire US has been living a lie since its inception.
The health care costs are now 20% of GDP and they are that high for a reason and its because of the lies now found everywhere. The entire country was downwind from the nuclear test site located in Nevada and the jet stream moves only one way west to east. So the entire country was sprayed with constant Nuclear Radiation Contamination poison and it was not the citizens fault. It was solely the government's fault. This contamination is accumulative in the biosphere and we now add to it daily.
A new day of Love would be nice but with all these years of constant lies on top of lies everywhere and deeply ingrained inside all the prestigious US Institutions, where does one start for creating a new day?
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One thing that the individual can do is to boycott all things G.E. And remind your friends to do the same.
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Thank you Jack. Consumer boycotts in a capitalistic system are very powerful. I've participated in many of them since the 1960's. They don't dethrone the rich and powerful, but, it makes them take notice and mend a few of their ways – thus – better working conditions for farm and factory labor, cleaner air and water, greater civil rights, and the list goes on.
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Japan Earthquake Anniversary: Canada's Nuclear Industry Stands Pat In Fukushima's Wake
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/03/09/japan-earthquake-anniversary-canada-fukushima_n_1324790.html?ref=canada
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I am still perplexed by Japan buying GE reactors, and the US buying Mitsubishi reactors. Is there something about shipping extremely large items we are unaware of? Or is there something about lack of inspections and reduced liabilities?
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