Beyond Nuclear

Beyond Nuclear

About

Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. The Beyond Nuclear team works with diverse partners and allies to provide the public, government officials, and the media with the critical information necessary to move humanity toward a world beyond nuclear.

Personnel

• Paul Gunter is a lead spokesperson in nuclear reactor hazards and security concerns. He acts as the regulatory watchdog over the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the nuclear power industry. He is a 2008 recipient of the Jane Bagley Lehman Award from the Tides Foundation for environmental activism for his work on the nuclear power and climate change issue. He has appeared on NBC Nightly World News, The Lehrer News Hour, BBC World News and Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now." He was a cofounder of the antinuclear Clamshell Alliance in 1976 to oppose the construction of the Seabrook (NH) nuclear power plant through non violent direct action that launched the U.S. antinuclear movement. Prior to joining Beyond Nuclear he served for 16 years as the Director of the Reactor Watchdog Project for Nuclear Information and Resource Service. An environmental activist and energy policy analyst, he has been an ardent critic of atomic power development for more than 30 years. Paul is a New Englander who was born in Mississippi and raised in Detroit, MI.

• Kevin Kamps is a longtime leading opponent of government and industry efforts to dump nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Kevin also has extensive knowledge about the risks of radioactive waste generation and storage at reactor sites, and transportation through communities across the country. In addition, Kevin focuses on eliminating federal subsidies for new reactors and other wasteful nuclear projects such as reprocessing. Prior to joining Beyond Nuclear he was for eight years the Radioactive Waste Specialist at Nuclear Information and Resource Service. Kevin has traveled to Chernobyl in Ukraine and founded a Michigan chapter of the international Chernobyl Children’s Project, which brings child victims of the Chernobyl accident to the United States for medical help. He has also worked with radiation victims in the U.S. and Canada, including those living near uranium mines and downwind from the Nevada Nuclear Weapons Test Site. Kevin has addressed communities in the U.S. and overseas, as well as governmental forums and federal, state, and local government agencies. Kevin is a Michigan native. In March, 2010, Mr. Kamps gave a talk before The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) and in this address, like all guest speakers do, he thankedd the IEER, “…Arjun for having us participate in this IEER news event”. Here is a quick look at the funding of IEER. IEER's work is supported by grants from foundations, concerned individuals and public interest consulting contracts. Foundation funders include Colombe Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kindle Project, Livingry Fund of the Tides Foundation, New-Land Foundation, and the Stewart R. Mott Foundation.

• Cindy Folkers focuses on radiation and health and renewable energy alternatives to nuclear power. Prior to joining Beyond Nuclear, she served as the radiation and health specialist at Nuclear Information and Resource Service. Cindy communicates with members of the public, U.S. Congress, and national and international agencies on radiation and health regulation and science, climate change, and U.S. energy legislation. She is a member of a new international delegation working to establish hearings on the health impacts of nuclear power and nuclear weapons development and use. She has traveled and spoken at public meetings, conferences and academic symposia. On March 18, 2011 Cindy Folkers appeared with Arjun Makhijani in a discussion Japan's nuclear crisis and radiation & health, on the left wing Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) program.

• Linda Pentz Gunter founded Beyond Nuclear in July 2007. She is the international specialist at Beyond Nuclear as well as the director of media and development. Linda researches the French nuclear sector; human rights and the uranium fuel chain; and the nuclear power-nuclear weapons connection and serves as an organization spokesperson in these areas. She is the lead designer and author of the Beyond Nuclear publications and creates and produces short videos. She also manages the Beyond Nuclear website, Facebook and YouTube presence. A former journalist, Linda also writes opeds and occasionally blogs for the organization. She is a jury member for the internationally recognized Nuclear-Free Future Award. In April, 2009 she was reappointed to the Nuclear-Free Takoma Park Committee. On April 4, 2011, she “appeared” on Change.org, an organization that believes, “… that building momentum for social change globally means empowering citizen activists locally. That's why anyone, anywhere — from Chicago to Cape Town – can start their own grassroots campaign for change using our organizing platform.

• Dr. Helen Caldicott has devoted the last 35 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. In the U.S. she co-founded the Physicians for Social Responsibility. The international umbrella group (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. She also founded the Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND and now known as Women's Action for New Direction) in the US in 1980. She is the author of numerous books and currently hosts a radio show in the U.S. - If You Love This Planet. Physicians for Social Responsibility is a non-profit organization that is the medical and public health voice for policies to prevent nuclear war and proliferation and to slow, stop and reverse global warming and toxic degradation of the environment. Founded in 1961, PSR led the campaign to end atmospheric nuclear testing by documenting the presence of Strontium 90, a byproduct of atomic testing, in children's teeth. During the following two decades, PSR's work to educate the public about the dangers of nuclear war grew into an international movement with the founding of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, the PSR lobbied for the banning of the pesticide DDT. In 1985, PSR shared the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to IPPNW for building public awareness and pressure to end the nuclear arms race. PSR receives financial support from the Allstate Foundation, the Beldon Fund, the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, the Colombe Foundation, the Compton Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Ploughshares Fund, the Minneapolis Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, the Turner Foundation, the Bauman Family Foundation, , the Blue Moon Fund, the Bullitt Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trust, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Energy Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Ford Foundation, George Soros's Open Society Institute, and numerous other foundations.