While it remains a critic of nuclear energy, the Natural Resources Defense Council confirmed Wednesday it is scaling back its legal work on nuclear issues.
“While NRDC is paring back our nuclear litigation work, we will continue to advocate for better, safer, cheaper solutions to climate change,” Mark Drajem, a spokesperson for the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a Wednesday email to Exchange Monitor.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that largely due to belt-tightening, NRDC was curtailing its nuclear safety watchdog program in order to devote more resources to climate change. The newspaper also reported NRDC has let go its senior attorney dealing with nuclear issues, Geoffrey Fettus.
Drajem did not respond to Exchange Monitor’s question on Fettus’s status. Fettus was a senior NRDC attorney from September 2002 until last month, according to his LinkedIn profile. He previously worked for the New Mexico Environmental Law Center and the New Mexico attorney general’s office. Fettus would frequently testify for NRDC on issues such as consent-based siting for high-level radioactive waste and proposed changes to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.
“Our institutional position on nuclear energy remains the same: Nuclear power creates significant health and environmental risks for communities near aging nuclear plants, and mining and waste disposal sites,” Drajem said. “And it remains one of the most expensive types of power plant to build and maintain.”
The New York Times article reported NRDC has let go about 40 people out of a staff of about 740. The newspaper said NRDC is one of many big environmental groups undergoing belt-tightening, after enjoying a surge in small donations during the administration of President Donald Trump.
