Anti-nuclear movement

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Anti-nuclear protests in the United States have occurred since the development of nuclear power plants in the United States. Examples include Clamshell Alliance protests at Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, Abalone Alliance protests at Diablo Canyon Power Plant, and those following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.^[1]

Beginning with the Manhattan Project (1942–46), the discussion surrounding nuclear energy and power has been a prominent part of American Society. According to the American Nuclear Society, the first U.S. city to use nuclear power for electricity was Arco, Idaho, in 1955. Due to the nuclear warfare of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, American citizens associated nuclear power with the destruction and deaths of many people. The main two reasons for opposition to nuclear power are expense, and danger for humans and the larger environment. Another one of the main concerns around nuclear energy is cost. Opponents argue that the cost to build a nuclear reactor is significantly higher than other renewable energy alternatives such as windmills. The anti-nuclear movement reached its peak in the 1970s and aimed to close nuclear power plants as well as stop new construction.^[2]

In the 1950s Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed Atoms for Peace to the United Nations, which sought to increase the sharing of international nuclear materials. This proposal led to increased nuclear weapons development in other countries. Critics of nuclear power were becoming increasingly vocal, expressing concerns about the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, radioactive fallout, and the potential for radiation to cause genetic mutations. The first World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs was held in Hiroshima in 1955.

The most influential antinuclear protest happened in Seabrook, New Hampshire in April 1977. The town of Seabrook, New Hampshire was the proposed site of a nuclear power facility. The people formed the Clamshell Alliance, which proceeded to train people in nonviolent tactics in order to protect against the construction of a nuclear power plant. On April 30, 1977 the Clamshell Alliance held a protest to shut down construction of the Seabrook power plant. 2,000 people attended, leading to one of the largest mass arrests in the US. On 13 May 1977, the 550 protestors still being detained were released without bail. The protest was non-violent and raised international awareness.^[3]

Another influential anti-nuclear power organization was the Abalone Alliance, which organized against the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. They used nonviolence and brought attention to the fact that building a power plant next to a fault line could generate an earthquake. During a two-week period, they blocked nuclear plant employees from going to work. The protest ended when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission revoked the Diablo Canyon operating license.

Accidents at nuclear power plants also allowed for the anti-nuclear movement to grow. The accident at Three Mile Island in PA in 1979 sparked further fear, and, combined with protests, led to the halting of construction of further nuclear plants. In 1973, the Nixon Administration launched the “Project Independence” initiative to build 1,000 domestic nuclear power plants by the year 2000. However, the number of reactors peaked in the 1990s at 112, and that number continues to dwindle.

References

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demonstrations and protests against nuclear technology in the United States.

Brown, Jerry and Rinaldo Brutoco (1997). Profiles in Power: The Anti-nuclear Movement and the Dawn of the Solar Age, Twayne Publishers.
Cragin, Susan (2007). Nuclear Nebraska: The Remarkable Story of the Little County That Couldn’t Be Bought, AMACOM.
Dickerson, Carrie B. and Patricia Lemon (1995). Black Fox: Aunt Carrie's War Against the Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant, Council Oak Publishing Company, ISBN 1-57178-009-2
Fradkin, Philip L. (2004). Fallout: An American Nuclear Tragedy, University of Arizona Press.
Giugni, Marco (2004). Social Protest and Policy Change: Ecology, Antinuclear, and Peace Movements in Comparative Perspective, Rowman and Littlefield.
Jasper, James M. (1997). The Art of Moral Protest: Culture, Biography, and Creativity in Social Movements, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-39481-6
Lovins, Amory B. and Price, John H. (1975). Non-Nuclear Futures: The Case for an Ethical Energy Strategy, Ballinger Publishing Company, 1975, ISBN 0-88410-602-0
McCafferty, David P. (1991). The Politics of Nuclear Power: A History of the Shoreham Power Plant, Kluwer.
Miller, Byron A. (2000). Geography and Social Movements: Comparing Anti-nuclear Activism in the Boston area, University of Minnesota Press.
Natti, Susanna and Acker, Bonnie (1979). No Nukes: Everyone's Guide to Nuclear Power, South End Press.
Ondaatje, Elizabeth H. (c1988). Trends in Antinuclear Protests in the United States, 1984–1987, Rand Corporation.
Peterson, Christian (2003). Ronald Reagan and Antinuclear Movements in the United States and Western Europe, 1981–1987, Edwin Mellen Press.
Polletta, Francesca (2002). Freedom Is an Endless Meeting: Democracy in American Social Movements, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-67449-5
Price, Jerome (1982). The Antinuclear Movement, Twayne Publishers.
Smith, Jennifer (Editor), (2002). The Antinuclear Movement, Cengage Gale.
Surbrug, Robert (2009). Beyond Vietnam: The Politics of Protest in Massachusetts, 1974–1990, University of Massachusetts Press.
Walker, J. Samuel (2004). Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective, University of California Press.
Wellock, Thomas R. (1998). Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978, University of Wisconsin Press, ISBN 0-299-15850-0
Wills, John (2006). Conservation Fallout: Nuclear Protest at Diablo Canyon, University of Nevada Press.

v t e Anti-nuclear movement
Protests and groups	Anti-nuclear organizations Anti-nuclear power groups Anti-nuclear protests Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Greenpeace International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons International Day against Nuclear Tests International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Mayors for Peace Nuclear Information and Resource Service Nevada Desert Experience Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign Peace Action and SANE Physicians for Social Responsibility Pembina Institute Sortir du nucléaire World Uranium Hearing
By country	Australia Austria Canada France Germany India Japan Kazakhstan New Zealand Philippines Poland Russia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Turkey United Kingdom United States
People	Tadatoshi Akiba Daniel Berrigan Albert Bigelow Helen Caldicott Norman Cousins Gordon Edwards Albert Einstein Randall Forsberg John Gofman Jim Green Paul Gunter Otto Hahn Nobuto Hosaka Jackie Hudson Kate Hudson Ole Kopreitan David Lange Amory Lovins Bernard Lown Caroline Lucas Freda Meissner-Blau Gregory Minor Hermann Joseph Muller Kenzaburō Ōe Linus Pauling Mike Pentz C. F. Powell Adi Roche Joseph Rotblat Tilman Ruff Bertrand Russell Jens Scheer Jonathan Schell Albert Schweitzer Christopher Weeramantry
Media	Books about nuclear issues Films about nuclear issues Nuclear holocaust fiction Nuclear weapons in popular culture Songs about nuclear war and weapons
Related topics	Anti-war movement Bikini Atoll Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Defence Secretariat 19 France and weapons of mass destruction Göttingen Manifesto History of the anti-nuclear movement Advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents Mainau Declaration Nuclear-Free Future Award Nuclear-free zone Nuclear power debate Nuclear power phase-out Nuclear weapons debate Peace activists Otto Hahn Peace Medal Peace movement Peace camp Russell–Einstein Manifesto Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Smiling Sun The Bomb
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v t e Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
General	Anti-nuclear groups in the US California movement Great Peace March Nuclear history of the United States Nuclear power in the US Canceled nuclear reactors in the US Nuclear weapons and the US Protests in the US Anti-nuclear advocates in the US
Organizations and groups	Abalone Alliance Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility Clamshell Alliance Committee for Nuclear Responsibility Corporate Accountability International Critical Mass Energy Project Friends of the Earth Greenpeace USA Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Mothers for Peace Musicians United for Safe Energy Nevada Desert Experience Nuclear Control Institute Nuclear Information and Resource Service Physicians for Social Responsibility Plowshares movement Ploughshares Fund Public Citizen Shad Alliance Sierra Club Three Mile Island Alert Women Strike for Peace Kings Bay Plowshares
People	Daniel Berrigan William J. Bichsel Bruce G. Blair Larry Bogart Helen Caldicott Barry Commoner Norman Cousins Frances Crowe Carrie Barefoot Dickerson Paul M. Doty Bernard T. Feld Randall Forsberg John Gofman Paul Gunter John Hall Jackie Hudson Sam Lovejoy Amory Lovins Bernard Lown Arjun Makhijani Gregory Minor Hermann Joseph Muller Ralph Nader Graham Nash Linus Pauling Eugene Rabinowitch Phil Radford Bonnie Raitt Carl Sagan Martin Sheen Karen Silkwood Thomas Louis Vitale Harvey Wasserman Victor Weisskopf
Main protest sites	Black Fox Bodega Bay Diablo Canyon Indian Point Lawrence Livermore Montague Naval Base Kitsap Nevada Test Site Rancho Seco Rocky Flats San Onofre Seabrook Shoreham Three Mile Island Trojan Vermont Yankee White House Peace Vigil Y-12 Weapons Plant Yankee Rowe
Books	Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free Conservation Fallout: Nuclear Protest at Diablo Canyon Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978 The Cult of the Atom The Doomsday Machine (book) Fallout: An American Nuclear Tragedy Killing Our Own Licensed to Kill? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Shoreham Power Plant Making a Real Killing: Rocky Flats and the Nuclear West Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System Nuclear Politics in America We Almost Lost Detroit
Films	Atomic Ed and the Black Hole The China Syndrome Countdown to Zero Dark Circle Nuclear Tipping Point Silkwood

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References

Bibliography