10-03-2025
Group plans protest at Tucson Electric after utilities propose new nuclear plant
With a new nuclear reactor in Arizona now a possibility, a grassroots group is planning a protest in Tucson on the 14th anniversary of the start of the Fukushima accident in Japan.
The Nuclear Resister, which bills itself as an educational group opposed to nuclear power and weapons, said it plans to hold a curbside press conference and demonstration at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday in front of the downtown headquarters of Tucson Electric Power near Broadway Road and Sixth Avenue. The group advocates for a "nuclear-free future" with nonviolent protests and other actions.
TEP, along with metro-Phoenix utilities Arizona Public Service and Salt River Project, announced that they are looking into the feasibility of building or operating a new reactor in Arizona to help meet the state's growing energy needs. The utilities have not announced a location or timetable for such a project and say they aren't yet officially proposing a new reactor to complement the Palo Verde Generating Station in the West Valley, but they are jointly examining whether the project might be doable.
APS, which operates Palo Verde, will spearhead the effort. Smaller modular nuclear reactors are among the possibilities, perhaps to be located on the site of an abandoned coal plant.
The five members of the utility-regulating Arizona Corporation Commission, all Republicans, favor nuclear power as part of a diversified energy mix for the state.
Members of the Nuclear Resister plan to garnish the Tucson demonstration with signs reading, "Tell TEP No New Nuclear Power in Arizona' and 'Nuclear Power — No Thanks!'
The group also reports on protests such as one held March 5 against nuclear weapons outside a Raytheon factory in Tucson.
Self-described local nuclear experts Russell Lowes and Jack Cohen-Joppa will speak on why they consider nuclear power to be too expensive, too slow to build and too risky, and a Tucson musician, Ted Warmbrand, will sing anti-nuclear folk songs.
In 1979, Tucson resident Lowes was the principal author of an economic analysis that, he said, correctly predicted the Palo Verde plant would end up costing consumers much more than what its owners projected. Lowes plans to discuss the projected costs and questionable reliability of new nuclear plants.
Cohen-Joppa, co-coordinator since 1980 of the Nuclear Resister, will discuss the potentially harmful impacts on front-line communities around uranium mines, nuclear fuel-processing plants, existing nuclear reactors and radioactive waste dumps. He also plans to rebut what he considers unproven claims being advanced by proponents of new nuclear reactors.
The Fukushima disaster, triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami off the Japanese coast north of Tokyo, left an estimated 20,000 or so people dead, according to the Associated Press.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Group that advocates for nuclear-free future sets up Tucson protest
