Oppose Re-nomination of Svinicki as Head of NRC

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YOUR ACTIONS MATTER!

TELL YOUR SENATORS--AND PRESIDENT OBAMA--TO OPPOSE RE-NOMINATION OF KRISTINE SVINICKI TO NRC

April 24, 2012

Dear Friends,

Under heavy pressure from Republicans in Congress, President Obama has said he will re-nominate Kristine Svinicki to a second term as a Commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Environment Committee Chair Barbara Boxer and Senator Bernie Sanders already have come out in opposition to Svinicki for her consistent and uniform pro-industry votes at the expense of public health and safety.

We call upon all anti-nuclear activists and friends to also come out against Svinicki by contacting your Senators and President Obama here.

Organizations: we also will be submitting an organizational sign-on letter to Sens. Boxer and Inhofe (chair and ranking member of the Senate Environment Committee, which must first approve any NRC nomination) and President Obama. A draft of the letter can be found here. If your organization (please, organizations only) can sign this letter, please send your name, title, organization, city and state to [email protected] by 9 am eastern time, Monday, April 30, 2012. We will be submitting the letter later that day.

We all know the NRC is absurdly pro-nuclear, and a majority of the Commissioners have been attempting for many months to block even the mild post-Fukushima safety improvements pushed by the NRC staff and Chairman Greg Jaczko. But Commissioner Svinicki's votes have been the most pro-industry of them all. Her term is scheduled to end June 30, 2012, and that's not a moment too soon.

Let's help send her out the door by telling our Senators and President Obama to oppose the Svinicki re-nomination.

Note: We are told by knowledgeable sources on Capitol Hill that while the President has said he intends to re-nominate Svinicki at GOP insistence, he has not yet done so (NRC Commissioners traditionally are divided 3-2 by political party, and the President normally nominates the person the party wants. The GOP has said it wants Svinicki). Therefore it's important that he hear from us as quickly as possible. Your letters will go both to your Senators and to President Obama.

Svinicki's nomination must go through Sen. Boxer's Environment Committee and to reach the Senate floor, must go through Senate Majority Leader Reid. We need them to stand strong against this re-nomination should it be submitted.

You can find background information on just how bad Svinicki's (and for that matter, the Commission majority's generally) voting record is here.

And here is an article with background information on why Sens. Reid and Boxer are opposed to Svinicki's re-nomination (hint: she lied to Congress). And here is a statement from Sen. Sanders on why he is opposed to Svinicki (hint: Vermont Yankee!).

Your actions now can help send Commissioner Svinicki back to private life and out of the NRC. Don't delay! Thank you!

Thanks for all you do,

Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
[email protected]
www.nirs.org


P.S. your activism and financial support are what keeps us going. Seriously. Please make a tax-deductible contribution if you can (maybe you're getting a tax refund this year?) here, or after you take action.

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