Citizens Awareness Network

In December 2021, the group co-signed a letter opposing the nuclear power production tax credits offered in the U.S. House of Representatives proposal for the Build Back Better Act. ²

Background

Anti-nuclear activists founded the Citizens Awareness Network in 1991. The activists claimed to be afraid the Vermont Yankee and Yankee Rowe nuclear reactors would melt down after being struck by lightning. The group accused the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of allowing the reactor to run with a 1-in-10,000 chance of an accident rather than 1-in-1,000,000. ¹

The group claims to oppose the use of zero-carbon nuclear energy due to the toxic waste generated while also claiming that nuclear power plants harm the health of their communities. The group instead urges the adoption of intermittent, weather-dependent sources of energy generated by each individual homeowner and community. ¹

Opposition To Nuclear Power

Closing Power Plants

The Citizens Awareness Network claims credit for the closure of four nuclear power plants in New England: Yankee Rowe, CT Yankee, Millstone Unit 1, and Vermont Yankee. The group fought the license transfer of the Indian Point, Fitzpatrick, and Vermont Yankee reactors. ¹

Yucca Mountain

The Citizens Awareness Network opposes the creation of a centralized nuclear waste depository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The group also opposes other nuclear waste storage sites. ³

Nuclear Infrastructure

The Citizens Awareness Network was one of more than 100 co-signatories on a November 2020 letter to the U.S. Senate that expressed opposition to S. 4897, the “American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020.” The letter stated that nuclear power “amplifies and expands the dangers of climate change” and denounced it as an example of “false solutions to the climate crisis that perpetuate our reliance on dirty energy industries.”  ⁴

Nuclear Power as Clean Energy

The Citizens Awareness Network opposes the treatment of nuclear power as “clean energy,” despite the fact that nuclear reactors do not produce any carbon dioxide emissions. The group opposed a bill in the Massachusetts legislature that would have allowed utilities to sign long-term contracts of up to 30 years, calling them a subsidy to the Seabrook and Millstone nuclear power plants. It also opposed legislation designating both nuclear fusion and fission as “clean energy.” ³

In December 2021, the Citizens Awareness Network was one of more than 100 groups that co-signed an open letter opposing the nuclear power production tax credits offered in H.R. 5376, the House of Representatives proposal for the Build Back Better Act. The groups identified nuclear power as a one of several “unproven and unnecessary technologies” and “harmful energy sources” that “would extend demand for fossil fuels.” ²

Weather-Dependent Energy Mandates

In May of 2021, the Citizens Awareness Network was one of 715 groups and businesses listed as a co-signer on a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House and Senate that referred to nuclear energy as a “dirty” form of energy production and a “significant” source of pollution. The letter asked federal lawmakers to reduce carbon emissions by creating a “renewable electricity standard” that promoted the production of energy from weather-dependent power sources such as wind turbines and solar panels but did not promote low-carbon natural gas and zero-carbon nuclear energy. ⁵

Leadership

The Citizens Awareness Network’s executive director is Deborah Katz. Katz has been the executive director since 1996. ⁶

The group’s president is Tim Judson ⁶ who is also the executive director of the anti-nuclear power group Nuclear Information and Resource Service. ⁷

One of the group’s consultants is Claire Chang, who works for Greenfield Solar. ⁶

Finances

According to the Citizens Awareness Network’s 2022 tax return, the group had $46,339 in revenue, $54,738 in expenses, and $30,489 in assets. ⁸

Executive director Deborah Katz received $18,156 in compensation from the group. ⁸