Nuclear Information and Resource Service

Established	1978
Exec. Dir.	Michael Mariotte
Headquarters	Takoma Park, MD, United States
Homepage	http://www.nirs.org

The Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) is a nonprofit 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).

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 ineffective nuclear waste reprocessing, unsafe transportation of nuclear waste, and the implementation of large-scale nuclear dumps like Yucca Mountain. NIRS also does not view nuclear energy as a remedy for climate change.

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 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."

Famous supporters

NIRS counts the following celebrities among its supporters:

• Bonnie Raitt
• Jackson Browne
• The Indigo Girls
• Bob Weir
• Mary Chapin Carpenter
• Whoopi Goldberg
• Bruce Cockburn
• Dean Stockwell
• Midnight Oil

See also

• Anti-nuclear movement
• Anti-nuclear movement in the United States

External links

• Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS)
• World Information Service on Energy (WISE)
• Beyond Nuclear