Browse Cases

Showing 1-17 of 17 results

Native American and environmentalist groups block nuclear waste site in Ward Valley, California, 1995-2000

Country
United States
Time period
10 October, 1995 to November, 2000
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Fatimah Hameed 10/02/2013

In March of 1988, U.S. Ecology, a national dump operating company, decided upon Ward Valley, California as the most desired location for building a new nuclear waste dump. Because this was federal land in the state, the government of California needed to buy Ward Valley land from the Bureau of Land Management in order to give U.S. Ecology the rights to build the dump. The Valley, however, is located in the Mojave Desert, an area home to an endangered species of desert tortoise considered sacred to a number of Native American tribes.

U.S. Anti-nuclear activists partially block establishment of nuclear power plant in Limerick, PA, 1977-82

Country
United States
Time period
December, 1977 to May, 1982
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Economic Justice
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
John Pontillo, 24/03/2013, drawing on additional research by Matthew Turner

In the early 1970s, the state of Pennsylvania proposed a plan for building a nuclear power plant in Limerick, PA, to provide power to residents in Montgomery County, PA. Around that time, the Environmental Protection Agency declared that the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) must conduct a study to determine the impact a nuclear power plant would have in the town of Limerick, and the surrounding county.

Oregonians protest and occupy Trojan nuclear power plant, United States, 1977-1978

Country
United States
Time period
August, 1977 to August, 1978
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Total points
1 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Sarah Gonzales, 10/02/2013

When Oregonians received notice in 1968 that the Portland General Electric Company (PGE) planned to install a nuclear power plant in Rainier Oregon, concerned citizens began to work within the political structure to prevent the plant from entering the community.  Based on the anti-nuclear sentiment in the US at the time, many Oregonians were wary of the environmental repercussions of a nuclear power plant.  Many also considered the construction and upkeep of the plant an unwise allocation of state money.  

Residents protest, gain closure of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, USA, 2005-2013

Country
United States
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Elena Ruyter 25/09/2011; updated and edited by Michael Alex Hall, 3/27/14

The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant has been running since 1972 in its home of Vernon, Vermont. Vermont Yankee was born at a time when environmentalists were cracking down on nuclear power. In between the 1970’s and 1990’s, numerous protests took place all across the country against the manufacturing and maintaining of nuclear power facilities. Activists were further ignited by the detrimental accident at Three Mile Island 1979, which marked the worst nuclear meltdown in US history. 

Abalone Alliance campaigns against Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant, California, 1976-1984

Country
United States
Time period
February, 1976 to June, 1984
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Nathalie Schils, 24/06/2011

In 1965 Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) announced its plans to build a new nuclear facility with six reactors and selected Diablo Canyon as the optimal site, even though the site included a sacred burial ground of the Chumash Native Americans and a large costal wilderness area as well as potential zones of seismic activity that could lead to earthquakes and a nuclear disaster.  Construction was projected to cost $162,270,000 and the plant was forecasted to be operational in May 1972.

U.S. citizens campaign to close nuclear power plant in Rowe, Massachusetts, 1991

Country
United States
Time period
4 June, 1991 to 1 October, 1991
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Elena Ruyter, 17/9/2011

The Yankee Atomic Electric Company commissioned the Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in 1960 as a prototype in association with President Eisenhower’s ‘Atoms for Peace’ program. It was the first pressurized water reactor built in New England and only the third in the United States. The plant, nicknamed ‘Yankee Rowe’ was commercialized in 1961, but was only scheduled to be in commission for about six years.

Pennsylvanians campaign against nuclear-related Delaware River pump (Dump the Pump), USA, 1982-1988

Country
United States
Time period
January, 1982 to April, 1988
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kate Aronoff, 25/09/2011

In February of 1981, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) unanimously approved the construction of a $42 million dollar water pump. The proposal claimed the pipeline would bring much-needed water to Montgomery County and areas of Bucks County. Its other purpose would be to funnel half of the 95-million-gallon-a-day flow to cooling the Pennsylvania Electric Company’s new nuclear plant in nearby Limerick. The announcement sparked off a wave of complaints and organization among local citizens.

Allegany County resists nuclear dumping, 1989-1990

Country
United States
Time period
May, 1989 to April, 1990
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Walker Stole, 18/09/2011

The state of New York was required by federal law to have a nuclear waste dump by January 1, 1993. In 1988, a special siting committee formed to determine where to put the dump. The siting commission considered five sites in rural Allegany County, New York, as potential spots to put the nuclear dump. The people of Allegany County linked arms in several acts of civil disobedience to prevent the construction of a nuclear waste facility in their backyard.

Texans defend Sierra Blanca community against nuclear waste disposal, 1996-1998

Country
United States
Time period
05 June, 1996 to 22 October, 1998
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Lydia Bailey and Rebecca Contreras, 20/4/2013 and 10/5/2011

In 1991, the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority (TLLRWDA) began searching for a disposal site for dangerous toxic waste in the Hudspeth County area. According to the 1983 La Paz agreement, Hudspeth County falls in a no-contamination zone surrounding the Mexican border. Regardless, the TLLRWDA selected Sierra Blanca, a small low-income town in an environmentally fragile region. 

Montague, Massachusetts, citizens stop nuclear power plant construction, United States, 1974

Country
United States
Time period
February 22, 1974 to September, 1974
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Carmen Smith-Estrada, 18/09/2011

In 1973, the Northeast Utilities (NU) company began developing plans to build a nuclear power plant in the small town of Montague, Massachussets. The company’s investment in the plant totaled $1.52 billion, roughly thirty times the assessed value of the whole town. The project’s only vocal adversaries were a group of organic farmers who called themselves the Nuclear Objectors for a Pure Environment (NOPE). One of the group’s most active participants was Samuel Lovejoy, an organic farmer and longtime resident of Montague.

U.S. anti-nuclear activists campaign against restarting Three Mile Island nuclear generator, 1979-1985

Country
United States
Time period
March, 1979 to October, 1985
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Thomas Fortuna, 18/09/2011

At 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 28 March 1979 began the worst accident in the history of United States commercial nuclear power, when the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station experienced a failure that would ultimately lead to the release of “approximately 2.5 million curies of radioactive noble gases” into the surrounding areas.  This mishap, in turn, sparked the largest string of anti-nuclear protests in the country’s history. That weekend, activists held rallies across the country.

Oklahomans prevent completion of Black Fox Nuclear Plant, 1973-1982

Country
United States
Time period
May, 1973 to February, 1982
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Nancy Liu, 18/09/2011

In May of 1973, the Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) announced plans to install Oklahoma’s first nuclear power plant in Inola, just east from Tulsa. It was to use two General Electric boiling-water reactors and the project was to cost $450 million.  With the support of U.S. Senator Henry Bellmon, PSO advertised that the nuclear power plant could provide unlimited power and help economic growth in the area.

California anti-nuclear activists occupy governor's office (Rancho Seco Sit-Ins), 1979-80

Country
United States
Time period
28 November, 1979 to 5 January, 1980
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Alexander Blocker, 26/9/2011

After the meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power facility in March 1979, northern Californian residents feared that a similar incident could occur at their local nuclear plant, Ranch Seco.  Located 25 miles southeast of Sacramento, the Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station operated a system of reactors that was a technological twin to the facility at Three Mile Island, both designed by General Electric.  With the U.S.

U.S. anti-nuclear activists and community members force closure of Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, 1976-1989

Country
United States
Time period
1976 to 1989
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Pauline Blount, 05/10/2011

In 1965 Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) president John J. Tuomy announced the intent to open a nuclear power plant in East Shoreham on Long Island New York at LILCO’s annual shareholders' meeting.  Construction on the site commenced in 1973.

In 1976 local residents held their first protest against the construction of the Shoreham Plant, but details of this action are difficult to ascertain. About this time however, Nora Bredes and other local mothers began voicing specific concerns about the community’s health at local county meetings.

Clamshell Alliance campaigns against Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, New Hampshire, 1976-1989

Country
United States
Time period
30 June, 1976 to June, 1989
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Total points
7.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Matt Turner, 26/09/2011

In July 1976, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the construction permit for the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant. Leading up to this point, local activists in the small New Hampshire town had attempted to prevent the establishment of a nuclear plant via legal methods such as regulation agencies, the court systems, and a town meeting vote in opposition of the project.

Citizens protest against Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, Wiscasset, Maine, 1979-87

Country
United States
Time period
April, 1979 to November, 1987
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Elliana Bisgaard-Church, 25/09/2011

Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant was Maine’s only nuclear plant, located in Wiscasset. The plant began running in late 1972 and throughout its operation accounted for one-third of the state’s electric power.

U.S. citizens prevent construction of nuclear power plant in Bodega Bay, California 1962-64

Country
United States
Time period
Fall, 1962 to October, 1964
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Elliana Bisgaard-Church, 19/09/2011

In 1954, Congress approved the Atomic Energy Act in an attempt to jumpstart nuclear energy in the United States.  The Atomic Energy Commission was charged with creating a positive image of the peaceful applications of nuclear power as well as with regulating safety measures.