From Savannah River to DC: WILPF in Action with the ANA Against Nuclear Threats and Greenwashing

12/3/24 ANA Group Photo 

by Ellen Barfield and Ellen Thomas

December 2024

Two WILPF US members toured the Savannah River Site (SRS) on December 5, 2024, the final day of the annual Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) fall meeting. While video was only permitted inside the building where they received their tour badges, Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear shared important background information before the van arrived. You can view it here.  

For a glossy perspective, SRS offers its own greenwashing tour video. Get on the Bus - Savannah River Site.

We encourage you to attend next spring’s ANA DC Days and consider becoming a member of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability! Learn more here.
 
Further Information
by Ellen Barfield 

The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) Fall Meeting, held in Atlanta from December 3-5, was a powerful gathering that brought together seasoned activists and new, young nuclear opponents. Founded in 1987 as the Military Production Network, ANA was created by neighbors of U.S. nuclear weapons plants who directly faced radiation and other health threats. These early activists, including myself, had to educate ourselves about nuclear policies and learn how to challenge the government’s negligence toward its own people and the world. My own early activism began at the Peace Farm, directly across the highway from the Pantex nuclear warhead assembly plant near Amarillo, Texas.

Today, ANA has grown broader in scope, with members covering a wider geographic area and addressing diverse nuclear issues. The network includes national anti-nuclear power, anti-weapons organizations, and anti-war allies like WILPF.

At this year’s meeting, we strategized for the future—discussing fundraising, resisting the return of nuclear war threats and new weapons designs, and confronting the dangerous fantasy that nuclear power can solve the climate crisis. We also continued pushing for proper handling of nuclear waste and contaminated sites, demanding they not be “cleaned up” and dumped onto impoverished, politically marginalized communities. ANA remains a critical hub for information on nuclear issues and is working to archive and preserve oral histories from long-time members about their sites and efforts.
 

The meeting’s host, Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions (Ga WAND), has long fought the nuclear dangers in the region surrounding the Savannah River Site, located near Augusta, GA, and Aiken, SC. SRS was originally built to produce tritium and plutonium for bombs. Now, its future includes plans to produce 50 new plutonium pits per year by 2032 for new nuclear bomb designs—another step in the reckless nuclear arms race. Nearby, the Vogtle nuclear power plant is the only facility in the country with new reactors under construction, and the Barnwell nuclear waste site looms just southeast of SRS. Residents in rural and small-town communities around these facilities face ongoing threats while also relying on the limited jobs they provide. Ga WAND works carefully to educate residents, sharing critical information while recognizing their few economic options.

The Tour

Following two days of ANA business, about 15 of us boarded a bus for a guided tour of the Savannah River Site. We asked hard questions of the tour guide, who—drawing on his former broadcast news experience—delivered a skillful greenwashing narrative about SRS’s operations being “under budget, ahead of schedule, clean, and safe.” While remaining friendly, we challenged his carefully curated script.

Join us for DC Days!

One of ANA’s most impactful annual events is DC Days, a spring lobbying effort likely taking place in May 2025. Participants meet with members of Congress, federal agencies, the EPA, NNSA, and DOE to advocate for more responsible nuclear policies and the urgent phase-out of nuclear activities in the U.S. Tara Vassefi of the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) WILPF Branch is working on forming a strong local delegation for DC Days. WILPF members from farther afield should also consider joining this critical event.