Where We Go From Where We Came From, Standing Where We Are Pt. 2: Taking on the World for One Another

In the last blog we shared the story of our trip to DC, the climate movement/keeping nukes out of it and some of the divisions that already exist. It was mentioned how the nuke industry has positioned itself as either clean energy or as a pair to fossil fuels to secure space in the future regardless of what path we take. This can be seen in Libertarian talking points around small modular nuclear reactors, to Dems talk around national security, and climate folks’ excitement around “carbon-free,” where’s my eye roll emoji!

This is a stark contrast from the messaging of the folks that have been affected by the uranium fuel chain, nuclear weapons testing, and radioactive waste issues; scientists, ex-nuke folks of all walks, families of workers and military survivors and nuclear abolitionist and people of color all over the world who have taken the brunt of this bullshit for far too long. We have spoken on and lived this since the start and now the call for justice says to include all peoples, well guess what, we are those people. The status quo got us here and it ain’t gonna get us out, the idea of just bullying indigenous peoples out of their lands for extraction, processes, storage, and bomb testing our way into a “cleaner carbon-free future’ sounds like even more bull if ya were to ask somebody!

Natives have been at the forefront of these fights to just simply protect/steward our peoples, lands, water, elements, and earthly relatives in general. I consider myself one of those. A medicine man once told my mom and a group of folks in Oklahoma, during the Blackfox resistance, that this fight against nuclear power was one of the most important in protecting the earth because of how dangerous it is. This was before my birth, but later the community I was raised in and around in the small town of Vian Oklahoma was being affected by the Kerr-McGee uranium conversion plant. The local Keetoowah and Cherokee communities would organize as NACE-Native Americans for a Clean Environment. They would have many fights against things that would violate land and peoples rights. Like in the case of depleted uranium for weapons, be deadly somewhere else during wars in the middle east.

These tales and tragedies have become common among Natives of Turtle Island because of our displacement and colonial disregard for the land and beings usually includes some form of violence against us. We are always Protecting, fighting, and building a different future from the ones oppressors would like to continue, this is my tale and experience with CRAFT and the climate movement in the past few years.

When I began volunteering with CRAFT, I knew a fair amount about the uranium fuel chain and contamination, but I did not know much about the Climate/Energy Movement and what was happening there. As I began to get more involved, interacting and networking with people and orgs, I began to see nuclear energy being considered and pushed as a climate solution under the guise of “carbon-free.”

This goes against knowledge/experience of/from the dangers and the historically tragic Legacy of nuclear energy, bombs and uranium. That includes the environmental racism, injustices, all those different things that had to do with nuclear energy/power and the nuclear fuel chain, as well as the emissions along the way.

Not everyone in the climate movement cared as much or was as informed and this is strange because “no-nuke” folks know about fossil fuels that are considered dangerous pollutants and sources of energy. We also advocate against these dirty energy sources and support folks movements and most pathways towards more green renewable sources of energy and a more conscious humanity.

After a few confrontations meeting this colonial resistance, I began wondering, what the heck it’ll take to get these folks on board and jump the ship of neutrality so we can beat back greedy neo-colonial industry goons bent on continuing these money grabs and earth destruction. Infinite extraction with finite earth to extract is among the most flawed functions in existence, and that is what the uranium fuel chain and the extractive nuclear industry is rooted in.

If we continue this path what will happen? What is already happening?

Compound impacts from climate change intersect with environmental impacts of the nuclear industry and the uranium fuel chain.

Radioactive waste, uranium mining, and contamination place land and water under due stress with added pollution.

Greenhouse gas, fossil fuel emissions, and the hurdles to phase them out seem to be political when we consider the industries and their beneficiaries’ profit from the forms of capital that come along with it.

These beneficiaries are the industry and its advocates, who fight to remain benefitting in all the ways in which the nuclear industry provides; money, power and dominion over earth.

These same Pro nuke advocates claim the radioactive waste and contamination from nuclear energy is small in comparison to other fossil fuels like coal and gas.

Do their equations consider the process that requires thousands of tons of nuclear material and produces almost just as much radioactive or toxic waste?

Are they telling us about the whole process of getting usable uranium and what happens during that?

We know that uranium becomes toxic as soon as it is extracted from the ground. It becomes even more toxic once the radioactive ore has been leached out. This “Yellow Cake Uranium” is called Uranium-235, this is what is used to create the reaction which causes the bombs and reactors to have power. After processing this thick toxic sludge, up to 75% uranium will be processed and enriched. both of which have their own facilities which usually use and pollute local, land, Waters, regions and sometimes workers.

The levels of the Uranium-235 that is in the final product that has been the standard for civilian nuclear energy generation has been from 3% to 5%. This was up until recently. We here in Michigan were introduced to the new experimental GNF-3 fuel which is a higher burn fuel last year. It is kind of an experimental fuel with higher enrichment of up to 9% which means it will produce more energy per cycle but also it will become more volatile, it will burn hotter, it will be more Radioactive, and it will be more dangerous. it will take a hundred years for the waste to cool down enough to be managed and transported. All the while sitting on our Lake Erie shores in an already degrading spent fuel pond, which we did our best to hold DTE accountable for last year.

For military use, uranium-235 can be enriched more than 90% for nuclear weapons. reprocessing. The plutonium is extracted from the spent fuel rods for more bombs; this has been known to multiply the amount of waste by up to ten times the original amount. Every step has a negative impact, mining to reprocessing, radioactive waste is produced, over 350,000 tons worldwide currently, not including the uranium waste dumps for Mining and processing.

For these hundred thousand tons of high-level radioactive waste, which does not include other levels of radioactive waste, we would have around thirty million tons of radioactive uranium ore disturbed and exposed. Since the mining and processing uses less than 1% of the materials extracted, 99% of it goes back to the tailing ponds. These are usually above ground and have air and runoff issues and are the reason these areas stay radioactive and contaminated long after the mining has left.

Does the nuclear industry and their advocacy include this, does it mention that for every 14 pounds of usable uranium-235, that 10000 tons of earth was mines? Nuclear power is dirty, slow, dangerous, and expensive. all the things we need to avoid moving faster into a cleaner, safer, and less costly futureand it’s not that sacred!

According to the sources, the period to get enuff nuclear power online to “save the climate” is too far off the target goals that get closer to our faces daily. The amount of uranium needed to sustain this far outweighs the amount available.

Tragic, for the industry and the hopes of it being a solution, even if it were as clean as claimed. It’s all been pretty obvious since the start that nuclear has issues and impacts, on all the earth, but, for some reason, the levels of awareness for the general public is mostly separated from the reality of the issue.

Where did the separation begin?

Not sure really, back in the day I believe the Manhattan Project was/and created the first secret and separate state within the United States government by way of all the top secret locations and projects that were involved.

Another explanation may be that up until the 80s the industry and utilities ran ads about nukes like how safe and cheap they were. Those would both become untrue and proven otherwise. Nuclear Energy is no longer the cheapest and has never been the safest. These public run commercials and ads began to disappear and nuclear issues disappeared from a whole generation's eyes, ears, and minds.

Did people forget or even ever know about the abandoned/contaminated uranium mines, the poisoned waters/indigenous peoples, the fallout from the bombs and the elevated cancer rates around these sites?

That’s a tough one to answer too! As the world changes and more folks are wrapped up in the rat races facing the impacts and traumas of colonialism, just tryna survive to see the next sunrise has become a challenge for so many. Folks are barely coping, even those in power and their power structures themselves. It's chaos but I find order in the idea that people care, but like much else, they just don’t know what to do about it. Maybe that's what's going on, folks feel helpless…

I didn’t know if finding the answer to those questions was most important to me or if making sure that that does not continue to happen was more important.

Back to the story of interacting more with diverse groups from the climate movement and learning more about how they were only focused on fossil fuels, getting rid of them, and bringing in forms of “clean energy”. It did not seem like anyone was clear on what that energy would be. I showed up increasingly often, experiencing folks who did not know anything about nuclear and had been swayed to believe that nuclear was a clean energy source and/or were only focused on carbon in the climate issue. These folks did not think about the greenhouse gasses and other anthropogenic sources contributing to climate issues.

And of course, the industry Representatives and organizations Pro nuke were in the mix as well. There are few who will stand with us. We would soon find out that many of the people in the climate movement had actually been working with these Pro nuke groups in tandem and weren't concerned because they either were ignorant to the issues or they are lowkey nukes hiding under a justice guise. I still don't know what's more important: finding the answers to those questions or making sure that these dangerous violations do not continue to happen.

I mean why is this important and what's at stake?

People's lives, livelihoods, and fundamental connections with the earth through the spirit are at stake. Globally, life is at stake, the status quo continues to produce problem after problem and seek solutions through the same method used in their original problematic practices. We cannot let chances be taken on behalf of ruthless science and its institutions, the repercussions most always fall on the poor, working class, indigenous and people of culture(color).

Myself and CRAFT understands the importance of being in balance with the earth our provider. We see promise in a future where humanity and the land are healing. Especially here in the Great Lakes, where our state of Michigan is important in creating and supporting functional relationships with our environment so that all relative species and commerce are in balance.

We see Michiganders and all Turtle Island inhabitants breathing air free from emissions and having rights to access drinkable usable water free from pollution. Also, growing and eating uncompromised foods, safe from degradation caused by pesticides, fertilizers, fossil fuel extraction and upstream/downstream impacts of the nuclear fuel chain like those associated with the Fermi 2 facility.

We see the restoration of the wholeness of Michigan and the Great Lakes, especially those communities and ecosystems burdened by the fossil fuel and nuclear industry. We see one of the pathways being a transformation in our energy system and our thinking around it.

What’s the path then?

Can we see green renewable energy at the forefront powering our community’s homes, a distributed energy grid, battery storage capacity, powering commercial buildings, industrial manufacturing plants and government offices? The transition would be just with opportunities for all to be involved and benefit.

We see the number of jobs associated with the Just Transition to be far great in numbers and measurably safer for the workforce. This is sustained over time as this energy infrastructure is built out and supported while we continue to push forward into this safer future free from nuclear energy and powered by renewables.

Renewable Energy has seen an enormous amount of growth in recent times. Green jobs continued to grow to 11.5 million worldwide with a long-term growth trending, more inclusive and gender balanced, training and job education will produce more green jobs on the frontlines than dirty, slow dangerous energy. Throw in the ability for a community to have power over the decision making and the possibilities increase.

Of course, the status quo would like to keep continuing the colonial system’s path of extraction and violations of earth rights by force to dominate over the land. We can find ways past these ways of thought as we always have and begin to really shift into a new light.

Can nuclear really advance ecological resilience, reduce resource consumption, restore biodiversity, and shift away from extraction?

Hell No. An Indigenous Just Transition can.

What energy will produce and sustain the most jobs in the future while giving humanity more of a chance in general?

I do not know the answers, but the data and real world events says the green renewable sector will and I believe it. Even then, the approach to humanity and its existence may still need to be altered away from the capitalist greed and more towards the universal consciousness. This awareness and respect for one another and the elements of the world is needed for us to root out and reclaim more balance systems. If we use thes more renewable technologies we need to be aware to not let the injustices of the status quo spill over into our hopes and dreams by oppressing and polluting new groups of peoples.

As we move into a more clean, safe, and just future we all thrive in, we need to think clearly and remember the real story of nuclear power and forget the myth of climate-friendly nuclear energy.

Wado and Migwetch,

Donadagohvi (until we meet again)