Anti-nuclear movement in the United States

Anti-nuclear protest at Harrisburg in 1979, following the Three Mile Island Accident.

For many years the anti-nuclear movement in the United States succeeded in delaying or halting commitments to build some new nuclear plants.^[1]^[2]^[3] Anti-nuclear campaigns that captured national public attention in the 1970s involved the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, and the Three Mile Island accident.^[2] More recent targeted campaigning has related to the Indian Point Energy Center, Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station,^[4] Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station,^[5] Salem Nuclear Power Plant,^[6] Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant,^[7]^[8] Idaho National Laboratory,^[9] proposed Yucca Mountain waste repository,^[10]^[11] the Hanford Site,^[12] the Nevada Test Site,^[13] Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,^[14]^[15] and transportation of nuclear waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory.^[16] Many different groups have been involved in various protests and demonstrations over the years.

More than eighty anti-nuclear groups are operating, or have operated, in the United States. These include: Abalone Alliance, Clamshell Alliance, Greenpeace USA, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Musicians United for Safe Energy, Nevada Desert Experience, Nuclear Control Institute, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Public Citizen Energy Program, Shad Alliance, and the Sierra Club.

Anti-nuclear protests reached a peak in the 1970s and 1980s and grew out of the environmental movement.^[17] Campaigns that captured national public attention involved the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, and Three Mile Island.^[2]

Beginning in the 1980s, many anti-nuclear power activists began shifting their interest, by joining a rapidly growing nuclear freeze movement, and the primary concern about nuclear hazards in the USA changed from the problems of nuclear power plants to the prospects of nuclear war.^[18] On June 12, 1982, one million people demonstrated in New York City's Central Park against nuclear weapons and for an end to the cold war arms race. It was the largest anti-nuclear protest and the largest political demonstration in American history.^[19]^[20] International Day of Nuclear Disarmament protests were held on June 20, 1983 at 50 sites across the United States. There were many Nevada Desert Experience protests and peace camps at the Nevada Test Site during the 1980s and 1990s.

More recent campaigning by anti-nuclear groups has related to several nuclear power plants including the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Power Plant,^[21]^[22] Indian Point Energy Center,^[23] Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station,^[24] Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station,^[5] Salem Nuclear Power Plant, and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.^[8] There have also been campaigns relating to the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Plant,^[25] the Idaho National Laboratory,^[9] Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository proposal,^[11] Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,^[14]

Some scientists and engineers have expressed reservations about nuclear power, including: Barry Commoner, S. David Freeman, John Gofman, Arnold Gundersen, Mark Z. Jacobson, Amory Lovins, Arjun Makhijani, Gregory Minor, M.V. Ramana, Joseph Romm and Benjamin K. Sovacool. Scientists who have opposed nuclear weapons include Paul M. Doty, Hermann Joseph Muller, Linus Pauling, Eugene Rabinowitch, M.V. Ramana and Frank N. von Hippel.

Anti-nuclear Movement In The United States Media

A sign pointing to an old fallout shelter in New York City.
Map of major U.S. nuclear weapons infrastructure sites during the Cold War and into the present. Places with grayed-out names are no longer functioning and are in various stages of environmental remediation.
Women Strike for Peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
This view of downtown Las Vegas shows a mushroom cloud in the background. Scenes such as this were typical during the 1950s. From 1951 to 1962 the government conducted 100 atmospheric tests at the nearby Nevada Test Site.
President Jimmy Carter leaving Three Mile Island for Middletown, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1979
The Church Rock uranium mill tailings dam breach. A 20-foot breach in the tailings dam formed around 5:30 am on the morning of July 16, 1979.
Logo of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Members of Nevada Desert Experience hold a prayer vigil during the Easter period of 1982 at the entrance to the Nevada Test Site.
Anti-nuclear protest in Boston, 1977