Local community activists in a small US state remind us why we must oppose Labour’s nuclear plans for Scotland

By Professor John Robertson, OBA

Yesterday, in a report from the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, a grassroots environmentalist group with 7 000 members, in the US state of Iowa alone:

Sierra Club Iowa Chapter urges legislators and the public to oppose the restart of the Duane Arnold nuclear plant and to support Iowa’s transition to safe, clean, and renewable energy sources.

On September 29, 2025, the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club hosted a press conference to address NextEra Energy’s proposal to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant, which has been in decommissioning since 2020. Experts in nuclear energy, public health, and environmental law provided insight into the risks of nuclear power and Iowa’s proven success with renewables. 

Speakers highlighted that Iowa has the tools and proven capacity to meet its energy needs safely, affordably, and sustainably through renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Experts emphasized that the state can continue to lead with clean energy while avoiding the safety and financial risks of nuclear power. This amplified importance of science backed decision-making and public participation to ensure Iowa’s energy future is secure, clean, and renewable.

“Before Duane Arnold began operating, cancer rates in nearby counties were 6.5% below the state average. But after decades of operation, those same counties showed cancer rates more than 12% higher. That translates to nearly 500 additional cancer cases among local residents under age 40,” said Joseph Mangano, Executive Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project. 

“Nuclear power is not clean or renewable. Uranium mining leaves radioactive waste, reactors routinely leak tritium into groundwater, and the spent fuel remains dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years with no solution in sight,” said Wally Taylor, Conservation Chair and Legal Chair of the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club. 

https://www.sierraclub.org/iowa/blog/2025/10/risks-restarting-duane-arnold-nuclear-plan

Earlier reports here on nuclear waste:

Stanford research finds Labour’s preferred small modular reactors will produce even more highly radioactive nuclear waste
‘They didn’t know their backyard creek carried nuclear waste. Now, they’re dying of cancer’ – new evidence from the USA of how similar Sellafield waste and Scotland’s higher cancer deaths are likely to be connected
Nuclear Waste Threat! One reason why South Ayrshire voters should never trust the Tories
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5 thoughts on “Local community activists in a small US state remind us why we must oppose Labour’s nuclear plans for Scotland”

  1. Good to hear that local activism is alive and well in Iowa. I wish them luck with their opposition to what is one of the most determined and aggressive lobby organisations in the world. Never forget Karen Silkwood and Willie McRae and the excellent TV drama Edge of Darkness.

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  2. One interesting comparative I stumbled across on a US discussion over renewables was that nuclear deaths per kWh were the lowest of all methods of generation because of the higher safety standards applied, but for construction and operation, without any cognisance of damage to the public over the next millenia – I suspect there were multiple generations of sheep dead on the Galloway hills overlooking Winscale all singing in chorus from beyond the grave, “Baah humbug” it was Chernobyl after all”, courtesy of a Tardis…

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  3. Another victim of the nuclear lobby was, of course, Stephen Salter and his renewable wave energy “ducks”.

    Due to the 1980s oil glut, the perceived need for immediate alternative energy sources subsequently declined, and in 1982 the Wave Energy programme was shut down, ending the hope of Salter’s duck becoming a mainstay in the alternative energy campaign.

     After later investigation, it was discovered that the Energy Technology Support Unit’s cost determinations had mis-estimated the cost of building Salter’s duck by more than double the actual cost. The Energy Technology Support Unit was set up in 1974 as an agency on behalf of the Department of Energy; though its function was to manage research programmes on renewable energy and energy conservation, it was operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

    Cost considerations based on the findings were among the main factors in the ducks not being put into widespread production under the Wave Energy programme in the late 1970s.

    The other major factor was that a consulting firm tasked with distributing government grants passed over the 9.5 million pounds that had been allocated to Salter’s research and the improvement of Salter’s duck, so the funds were never actually granted to Salter and his group.

    Salter’s duck – Wikipedia

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  4. Did you know that part of Starmer’s recent nuclear deal with Trump includes an agreement that if a reactor has already passed RIGOROUS safety checks in one country, that can be used to fast track the assessment and approval in the other.

    This when Trump is busily dismantling various environmental protection agencies on the grounds that they are a waste of time and money.

    Personally, I have no particular faith in America’s rigorous testing of anything and that’s historic and pre-Trump. I don’t believe environmental issues have ever been high on their agenda either. But now, even more so.

    J & J

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  5. Westminster Gov spending £13Billion a year decommissioning nuclear. For ten years. £130Billion.

    Trident dumped in Scotland. Kennedy and McMillan. Polaris. The monies wasted. £Billions.

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