Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

1AC

Inherency

SMRs require technology licensing changes and waste disposal solutions

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, and Nicolas D. Loris is a Research Associate in the Roe Institute, at The Heritage Foundation. A Big Future for Small Nuclear Reactors?, Heritage Foundation. February 2, 2011 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/02/a-big-future-for-small-nuclear-reactors#_ftnref16

While some designs are closer to market introduction t

AND

efficient and sustainable nuclear waste management strategy.

Without effective waste policies States will prevent nuclear power

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

Today, many states exercise significan

AND

Public commissions and referenda can impose additional restrictions.

Plan Text

United States Congress should abandon the waste confidence rule, remove the mandate that specific nuclear technologies be wedded to specific plant design, and pass legislation voiding Presidential Directive 8.

Solvency

We solve in four ways:

First, tech neutrality – Congress Must remove NRC mandate that specific technology be wedded to specific plant designs-- this is key to new nuclear tech

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Pitts Bill Could Be Nuclear Energy Game Changer, Heritage Foundation. July 31, 2009 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/07/pitts-bill-could-be-nuclear-energy-game-changer

It Would Open the Marketplace to New Technologies.

AND

a significant step toward building a more diverse and competitive nuclear industry.

And, NRC is customer driven, regulatory uncertainty prevents nuclear development because companies can't predict results

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, and Nicolas D. Loris is a Research Associate in the Roe Institute, at The Heritage Foundation. A Big Future for Small Nuclear Reactors?, Heritage Foundation. February 2, 2011 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/02/a-big-future-for-small-nuclear-reactors#_ftnref16

Establish a new licensing pathway. The current licensing pathway

AND

the necessary regulatory support on which commercialization ultimately depends.[14]

Second way we solve is voiding Presidential Directive 8-- this is critical to allow nuclear recycling

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

The U.S. government even banned entire commercial technologies

AND

This technology has since been transferred overseas and is being used safely by other countries, such as France and Japan

And, Without waste recycling the waste disposal problem is ensured— that would prevent reactor development

Jack Spencer, Senior Research Fellow, Nuclear Energy Policy. Introducing Market Forces into Nuclear Waste Management Policy, Heritage Foundation. August 31, 2010 http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/introducing-market-forces-into-nuclear-waste-management-policy

The United States has 60,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste

AND

technologies such as storage and recycling, Yucca could last almost indefinitely.

Third way we solve is removing the waste confidence rule which is used to prevent new licensure

Cornelius Milmoe is a lawyer and nuclear energy expert who has worked in the government and private sector. AND Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Obama Administration: No Confidence in Nuclear Energy, Heritage Foundation. March 5, 2012 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/03/obama-administration-no-confidence-in-nuclear-energy#_ftnref14

Fortunately, there is a way forward. The courts first required the NRC to make a “waste confidence”

AND

allows reactor opponents to use the waste confidence rule to block new reactors.

The fourth way we solve is congressional powers-- Without waste storage there will be a strong executive powers

The Hill, House preparing to slap Obama administration on Yucca Mountain. June 05, 2012. http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/231005-house-preparing-to-slap-obama-administration-on-yucca-mountain

"The fact is we passed a law that was signed by

AND

to evade congressionally mandated legal obligations."

Having Congress abandon the waste confidence rule it forces the NWPA to be followed and waste storage created

Cornelius Milmoe is a lawyer and nuclear energy expert who has worked in the government and private sector. AND Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Obama Administration: No Confidence in Nuclear Energy, Heritage Foundation. March 5, 2012 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/03/obama-administration-no-confidence-in-nuclear-energy#_ftnref14

Time for Congress to Act Congress can provide

AND

should begin with Congress simply demanding that America’s government bodies follow the law.

Lack of congressional power has lead to regulatory uncertainty and made the price of nuclear power skyrocket

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

The public-private relationship worked until

AND

Yet the commission continued to issue regulation after regulation.

These NRC regulations have empirically been unnecessary and quadrupled the cost of plants

Bernard L. Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Physics University of Pittsburgh. THE NUCLEAR ENERGY OPTION. September 30, 2004 http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc/book/chapter9.html

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and its predecessor,

AND

dozens of partially constructed plants to be abandoned.

And, SMRs can be ready for sale at the end of 2013 if certified

REBECCA SMITH. Small Reactors Generate Big Hopes, Wall Street Journal. February 18, 2010 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703444804575071402124482176.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle

Many obstacles remain. The NRC still is

AND

four small-reactor designs in the next two or three years.

Advantage 1- Desalination

Water demand is increasing and desalination isn't cheap enough for agriculture

JEFFREY MARLOW. The Pursuit of Cost-Effective Desalination, The New York Times. September 21, 2009 http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/on-the-pursuit-of-cost-effective-desalination/

Water demand is increasing in many parts of the

AND

affordable for all applications, new technology will likely play a critical role.

Substantial increase in demand over water-- wars will be fought over it in the squo

World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Desalination. June 27, 2012. http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf71.html

It is estimated that one fifth of the world's population does not hav

AND

Further demand in the longer term will come from the need to make hydrogen from water.

SMRs are critical to desal across the globe

The Energy Policy Institute is an integral part of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, which is a public/private partnership between the Idaho National Laboratory, Boise State University, the University of Idaho, Idaho State University. and private industry.

Economic and Employment Impacts of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors.June 2010. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vandq=cache:aF6hj4lwuxIJ:https://smr.inl.gov/Document.ashx%3Fpath%3DDOCS%252FReading%2BRoom%252FEconomic%2Band%2BEmployment%2BImpacts%2Bof%2BSMRs.pdf+andhl=enandgl=usandpid=blandsrcid=ADGEESihzQYEp_ECvsDP7cw3iE2WVhUWARw3B9Ryj-4Of_htCtoi8vWT08kYSwn3zDQaH8IboyEm0eeaS9LyU0vQ-ecRi1U4xns3RYkfX1JhokqPFf9BCqSPJNMrDG6w_S2D2cki2wJFandsig=AHIEtbTmFXYlBBYGL2EZHGxb7_95kUNhJQ

Desalination. The IAEA has identified desalination

AND

if they can successfully compete with conventional nuclear plants and other sources of generation (Arthur, 2010).

Research proves that desalination is key to sustainable crop yields

DandWR, May 29, 2012

The International Desalination and Water Reuse Quarterly industry website, NF desalinated water 'improves marginal agriculture'. 29 May 2012. http://www.desalination.biz/news/news_story.asp?id=6541andtitle=NF+desalinated+water+'improves+marginal+agriculture'+

Agricultural experiments conducted at Ben-Gurion University

AND

membranes to treat the local brackish water and produce high-quality irrigation water.

Starvation causes nuclear war

MICHAEL MANDELBAUM is Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, and Director of the Project on East-West Relations at the Council on Foreign relations. Lessons of the next nuclear war, Foreign Affairs. March 1995 vol. 74, issue 2; p. 22

One possible basis, which has come to be known as t

AND

if the alternative is starvation; nations will acquire and use forbidden weapons if they deem it necessary for survival.

Water shortages lead to nuclear war and extinction

NASCA, National Association for Scientific and Cultural Appreciation, 2004, “Water shortages - Only a matter of time,” http://www.nasca.org.uk/Strange_relics_/water/water.html

Water Shortage According to the latest estimates nearly 70% of the Earth’s

AND

a nightmare situation for which there will be no obvious answer.

Empirically, self-interest drives resource policies –that means no cooperation in extreme scarcity

CFR 11 (United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, “AVOIDING WATER WARS: WATER SCARCITY AND CENTRAL ASIA’S GROWING IMPORTANCE FOR STABILITY IN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN” a majority staff report prepared for the committee on foreign relations, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CPRT-112SPRT64141/pdf/CPRT-112SPRT64141.pdf, 2/11/12)

During the Soviet era, the central government

AND

growing water con- sumption and its implications for regional stability.

Intelligence and Defense analysts conclude water shortages cause war

Arsensault 8/26 (Chris, B.A. History and Economics, M.A., history in progress, guest lecturer the University of Toronto, Queen’s University, York University, Laurentian, Saint Mary's University currently reporting for Al-Jazeera on geopolitics, energy markets, and social movements, “Risk of water wars rises with scarcity”, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/06/2011622193147231653.html, 8/26/12)

The author Mark Twain once remarked that "whisky is for drinking;

AND

And Syria and Iraq have fought minor skirmishes over the Euphrates River.

Wars now can be resolved easily—in the future they won’t be stopped—prefer our evidence its comparative on this issue

Michael N Dobkowski, professor of religious studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Isidor Wallimann, senior Lecturer in sociology at School of Social Work based m Basel Switzerland. The coming age of scarcity preventing mass death and genocide  in the twenty-first century. 1998 p. 13

In times of growth and system expansion, potential conflicts

AND

economically much harder to find in times of general scarcity and contraction.

Advantage 2- Warming

Warming is real and human induced – drastic emissions reductions are key to avoid dangerous climate disruptions

-now is key

-AR4 = IPCC

Somerville 11 – Professor of Oceanography @ UCSD

Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group I for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 3-8-2011, “CLIMATE SCIENCE AND EPA'S GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS,” CQ Congressional Testimony, Lexis

1n early 2007, at the time of the publication of WG1 of AR4,

AND

and then start to decline rapidly within the next five to ten years, reaching near zero well within this century.

If SMRs make it to market they will replace Coal power plants

Mr. John J. Licata, Founder and Chief Energy Strategist, Blue Phoenix Inc. America, It’s OK to favor Small Modular Reactors and phase out coal, Blue Phoenix. April 16, 2012. http://www.cmegroup.com/education/files/america-its-ok-to-favor-small-modular-reactors-and-phase-out-coal.pdf

A case can be made that building a new coal-fired power plant

AND

it is our view SMRs are a smarter choice over coal-fired plants.

Replacing Coal is most important – without solving coal warming is ensured – nuclear can do that

Steve Kirsch. The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) project, skirsch.com. August 10, 2008 http://www.skirsch.com/politics/globalwarming/ifr.htm

I first heard about the IFR on August 4, 2008, in an email

AND

waste from other nuclear plants that we can’t figure out how to get rid of.

Tipping points coming soon – risk extinction

Hamilton 10 – Professor of Public Ethics @ ANU

Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics in Australia, 2010, “Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Change,” pg. 1-2

One of the most striking features of the global

AND

be gone and humans will enter a long struggle just to survive.

Short-term years of cooling don’t disprove the warming trend

Somerville 11 – Professor of Oceanography @ UCSD

Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group I for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 3-8-2011, “CLIMATE SCIENCE AND EPA'S GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS,” CQ Congressional Testimony, Lexis

The 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4)

AND

This is equivalent to about one third of a degree Fahrenheit per decade.

Negative feedbacks are just untrue-- there would be a net positive feedback

Stern 7 – Professor of Economics and Government

Nicholas Stern, Head of the British Government Economic Service, Former Head Economist for the World Bank, I.G. Patel Chair at the London School of Economics and Political Science, “The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review”, The report of a team commissioned by the British Government to study the economics of climate change led by Siobhan Peters, Head of G8 and International Climate Change Policy Unit, Cambridge University Press, pg. 3

In the future, climate change itself could trigger additional.

AND

Further research is urgently required to quantify the combined effects of these types of feedbacks.

Climategate doesn’t disprove consensus – media cherry-picking and letters are taken out of context

Somerville 11 – Professor of Oceanography @ UCSD

Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group I for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 3-8-2011, “CLIMATE SCIENCE AND EPA'S GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS,” CQ Congressional Testimony, Lexis

In late November 2009, at about the same time that The Copenhagen Diagnosis

AND

something altogether different to dog trainers. Context matters.

Adaptation is a myth – only works for rich countries, assumes linear climate change and ignores biodiversity loss

Hamilton 10 – Professor of Public Ethics @ ANU

Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics in Australia, 2010, “Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Change,” pg 29-30

Underlying the discussion of adaptation is an unspoken belief that one way

AND

out and die.  In the type of scenario I have described, mass extinctions are likely.

Only US action gets other nations on board

Appleby 10 – MBA from UMass-Amherst

Andrew Appleby, Graduate Tax Scholar in the LL.M. in Taxation program at Georgetown University Law Center, “TRANSPORTATION ENERGY POLICY IN NATIONAL AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE: A NEW BEGINNING?: PAY AT THE PUMP: HOW $ 11 PER GALLON GASOLINE CAN SOLVE THE UNITED STATES' MOST PRESSING CHALLENGES,” Cumberland Law Review, Lexis

The United States needs to be a catalyst to encourage

AND

follow through on President Obama's pledge. 562

Not inevitable – even if temporarily over the tipping point, can be brought back down

Dyer 9 – PhD in ME History

Gwynne, MA in Military History and PhD in Middle Eastern History former  @ Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Climate Wars

There is no need to despair. The slow-feedback effects

AND

the concen­tration back down to 350, so let us focus here on how to stop it rising past 450.

We control uniqueness – ag collapsing now

Gillis 11

Justin Gillis, Editor @ NYT, 6-11-2011, “A Warming Planet Struggles to Feed Itself,” Factiva

Sitting with a group of his fellow wheat farmers,

AND

rainy season, but it will rain in the nonrainy season,” he said. “The cold season is also shrinking.”

CO2 Ag fails-- real world experiments prove

Gillis 11 (Justin, Staff Writer at New York Times, “A warming planet struggles to feed itself”, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/science/earth/05harvest.html?_r=1andpagewanted=all, 6/4/11)

For decades, scientists believed that the human dependence on fossil fuels,

AND

said Andrew D. B. Leakey, another of the Illinois researchers.

Tournament: UNLV | Round: Round 3 | Opponent: Fullerton CT | Judge: 

It is impossible to understand the world outside of narrative—everything we know, understand and partake in is rooted in story because that’s the only thing we can understand

David R. Loy, A Zen practitioner for many years, he is qualified as a teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. The World is made of Stories. 2010  p. 3-5

The universe is made of stories, not atoms. ~Muriel Rukeyser  Not atoms? Of course it is made

AND

our accounts of the world become different, the world becomes different.

Thus the advocacy statement:

We affirm every story, every perspective, and every understanding of Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially reduce restrictions on and/or substantially increase financial incentives for energy production in the United States of one or more of the following: coal, crude oil, natural gas, nuclear power, solar power, wind power.

By affirming the profusion of stories in the resolution breaks away from the idea that there is only one truthful narrative that must be affirmed—this offers the opportunity of human liberation because all stories transform and change us, just as we transform and change the stories told

David R. Loy, A Zen practitioner for many years, he is qualified as a teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. The World is made of Stories. 2010  p. 58-63

In medieval Europe a God story was enforced by

AND

the book says is the proof of the book's truth. ~Marcel Proust

The use of rational, critical discourse to discover truth methodologically demands racism, elitism, and sexism to continue. Instead we need a compassionate approach that embraces all the beliefs – mark this card, call for it, and don't fall asleep.

Mark Lawrence McPhail, Associate Professor of Communications in the Department of Communication at the University of Utah. Zen in the Art of Rhetoric; An Inquiry Into Cohereence. 1996 p. 48-63

Reviewer Martha Nussbaum suggests that Bloom has philosophical myopia

AND

offers the possibility of social and psychological transformation.

This creates human liberation, the ability to accept the material realities of the world and the inevitability of our suffering – this acceptance allows us to release our trapped human potential.

Ken Jones, lifelong activist and a Zen practitioner for over 30 years and founding member of the UK Network of Engaged Buddhist. The New Social Face of Buddhism; a Call to action. 2003 p 39-41 

1n 1859, in the Preface to his Critique of Political Economy,

AND

needs sociology, and sociology Buddhism, in order to make this translation credible, comprehensible -and liberative.

The root of suffering lies in the mind and only acceptance of that fact can liberate us from it.

Thubten Chodron, studied and practiced Buddhism in India and Nepal since 1975and resident teacher at Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle. Buddhism for Beginners 2001 p 104

In addition, we must remember that difficulties and

AND

it will ultimately lead to the cessation of our own and others' suffering

We need to be more flexible with our stories, this flexibility allows the recognition of our emptiness and thus our interdependency. This is human liberation as it deals with our root fear that our ego “I” selves are not static separate entities.

David R. Loy, A Zen practitioner for many years, he is qualified as a teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. The World is made of Stories. 2010  p. 36-44

One becomes a person with the molding of a persona

AND

to free us from wherever we are stuck.

The acceptance of the fact that the self does not exist and impermanence will allow us to die happy

Thubten Chodron, studied and practiced Buddhism in India and Nepal since 1975and resident teacher at Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle. Buddhism for Beginners 2001 p. 40-1

Contemplating impermanence and death also eliminates

AND

and will avoid such regrets at the time of death.

The only way to understand the resolution is to understand the multiplicity of stories that surround it—this has the ability to recognize the incompleteness of all stories and grasp perspectivelessness

David R. Loy, A Zen practitioner for many years, he is qualified as a teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. The World is made of Stories. 2010  p. 10-11

Stories do not have sharp edges. They never

AND

transcend this world by being able to story it differently.

The affirmation of perspectives that dissolves the self creates a universal friendship that recognizes the equality of all sentient beings.

Hayes, Richard. "Buddhist Views on Overcoming Obstacles to

Universal Friendship" 2003. University of New Mexico. 8 Oct. 2008 http:~/~/www.unm.edu/~~rhayes/hayes_pdf

One of the principal themes of the Conference on Actualizing

AND

or people from a different people or a foreign nation

Tournament: UNLV | Round: 2 | Opponent: Trinity  | Judge: Ely
United States Congress should abandon the waste confidence rule, remove the mandate that specific nuclear technologies be wedded to specific plant design, and pass legislation voiding the part of Presidential Directive 8 that indefinitely defers the commercial reprocessing and recycling of plutonium in the United States.  

Tournament: Emporia | Round: Octos | Opponent: KU KS | Judge: 

1AC

Inherency

SMRs require technology licensing changes and waste disposal solutions

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, and Nicolas D. Loris is a Research Associate in the Roe Institute, at The Heritage Foundation. A Big Future for Small Nuclear Reactors?, Heritage Foundation. February 2, 2011 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/02/a-big-future-for-small-nuclear-reactors#_ftnref16

While some designs are closer to market introduction than

AND

to an economically efficient and sustainable nuclear waste management strategy.

Without effective waste policies States will prevent nuclear power

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

Today, many states exercise significant

AND

commissions and referenda can impose additional restrictions.

Plan Text

United States Congress should abandon the waste confidence rule, remove the mandate that specific nuclear technologies be wedded to specific plant design, and pass legislation voiding Presidential Directive 8.

Solvency

We solve in four ways:

First, tech neutrality – Congress Must remove NRC mandate that specific technology be wedded to specific plant designs-- this is key to new nuclear tech

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Pitts Bill Could Be Nuclear Energy Game Changer, Heritage Foundation. July 31, 2009 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/07/pitts-bill-could-be-nuclear-energy-game-changer

It Would Open the Marketplace to New Technologies

AND

significant step toward building a more diverse and competitive nuclear industry.

And, NRC is customer driven, regulatory uncertainty prevents nuclear development because companies can't predict results

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, and Nicolas D. Loris is a Research Associate in the Roe Institute, at The Heritage Foundation. A Big Future for Small Nuclear Reactors?, Heritage Foundation. February 2, 2011 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/02/a-big-future-for-small-nuclear-reactors#_ftnref16

Establish a new licensing pathway. The current

AND

commercialization ultimately depends.14

Second way we solve is voiding Presidential Directive 8-- this is critical to allow nuclear recycling

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

The U.S. government even banned entire commercial technologies outright.

AND

transferred overseas and is being used safely by other countries, such as France and Japan

And, Without waste recycling the waste disposal problem is ensured— that would prevent reactor development

Jack Spencer, Senior Research Fellow, Nuclear Energy Policy. Introducing Market Forces into Nuclear Waste Management Policy, Heritage Foundation. August 31, 2010 http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/introducing-market-forces-into-nuclear-waste-management-policy

The United States has 60,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste

AND

such as storage and recycling, Yucca could last almost indefinitely.

Third way we solve is removing the waste confidence rule which is used to prevent new licensure

Cornelius Milmoe is a lawyer and nuclear energy expert who has worked in the government and private sector. AND Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Obama Administration: No Confidence in Nuclear Energy, Heritage Foundation. March 5, 2012 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/03/obama-administration-no-confidence-in-nuclear-energy#_ftnref14

Fortunately, there is a way forward. The courts first required the

AND

allows reactor opponents to use the waste confidence rule to block new reactors.

The fourth way we solve is congressional powers-- Without waste storage there will be a strong executive powers

The Hill, House preparing to slap Obama administration on Yucca Mountain. June 05, 2012. http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/231005-house-preparing-to-slap-obama-administration-on-yucca-mountain

"The fact is we passed a law that was signed by the

AND

agencies to evade congressionally mandated legal obligations."

Having Congress abandon the waste confidence rule it forces the NWPA to be followed and waste storage created

Cornelius Milmoe is a lawyer and nuclear energy expert who has worked in the government and private sector. AND Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Obama Administration: No Confidence in Nuclear Energy, Heritage Foundation. March 5, 2012 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/03/obama-administration-no-confidence-in-nuclear-energy#_ftnref14

Time for Congress to Act Congress can provide significant

AND

simply demanding that America’s government bodies follow the law.

Lack of congressional power has lead to regulatory uncertainty and made the price of nuclear power skyrocket

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

The public-private relationship worked until nuclear power

AND

commission continued to issue regulation after regulation.

These NRC regulations have empirically been unnecessary and quadrupled the cost of plants

Bernard L. Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Physics University of Pittsburgh. THE NUCLEAR ENERGY OPTION. September 30, 2004 http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc/book/chapter9.html

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and its predecessor

AND

dozens of partially constructed plants to be abandoned.

And, SMRs can be ready for sale at the end of 2013 if certified

REBECCA SMITH. Small Reactors Generate Big Hopes, Wall Street Journal. February 18, 2010 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703444804575071402124482176.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle

Many obstacles remain. The NRC still is reviewing

AND

four small-reactor designs in the next two or three years.

Advantage 1 – Desalination

Water demand is increasing and desalination isn't cheap enough for agriculture

JEFFREY MARLOW. The Pursuit of Cost-Effective Desalination, The New York Times. September 21, 2009 http:~/~/green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/on-the-pursuit-of-cost-effective-desalination/http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/on-the-pursuit-of-cost-effective-desalination/**

Water demand is increasing in many parts of the world,

AND

all applications, new technology will likely play a critical role.

Severe water shortages coming now – diplomacy won't resolve them.

Bolton, Kerry Raymond; World Affairs; 2010; org/; “Water Wars: Rivalry Over Water Resources”; http:~/~/www.mimts.org/World%20Affairs%20-%20The%20Journal%20of%20International%20Issues/11-Water%20wars-%20Rivalry%20over%20water%20resources.pdf**

The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

AND

thence, the cycle of competition would resume.

SMRs are critical to desal across the globe

The Energy Policy Institute is an integral part of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, which is a public/private partnership between the Idaho National Laboratory, Boise State University, the University of Idaho, Idaho State University. and private industry.

Economic and Employment Impacts of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors.June 2010. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vandq=cache:aF6hj4lwuxIJ:https://smr.inl.gov/Document.ashx%3Fpath%3DDOCS%252FReading%2BRoom%252FEconomic%2Band%2BEmployment%2BImpacts%2Bof%2BSMRs.pdf+andhl=enandgl=usandpid=blandsrcid=ADGEESihzQYEp_ECvsDP7cw3iE2WVhUWARw3B9Ryj-4Of_htCtoi8vWT08kYSwn3zDQaH8IboyEm0eeaS9LyU0vQ-ecRi1U4xns3RYkfX1JhokqPFf9BCqSPJNMrDG6w_S2D2cki2wJFandsig=AHIEtbTmFXYlBBYGL2EZHGxb7_95kUNhJQ

Desalination. The IAEA has identified desalination as

AND

compete with conventional nuclear plants and other sources of generation (Arthur, 2010).

Research proves that desalination is key to sustainable crop yields

DandWR, May 29, 2012

The International Desalination and Water Reuse Quarterly industry website, NF desalinated water 'improves marginal agriculture'. 29 May 2012. http://www.desalination.biz/news/news_story.asp?id=6541andtitle=NF+desalinated+water+'improves+marginal+agriculture'+

Agricultural experiments conducted at Ben-Gurion University

AND

water and produce high-quality irrigation water.

Starvation causes nuclear war

MICHAEL MANDELBAUM is Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, and Director of the Project on East-West Relations at the Council on Foreign relations. Lessons of the next nuclear war, Foreign Affairs. March 1995 vol. 74, issue 2; p. 22

One possible basis, which has come to be known as

AND

acquire and use forbidden weapons if they deem it necessary for survival.

Water shortages lead to nuclear war and extinction

NASCA, National Association for Scientific and Cultural Appreciation, 2004, “Water shortages - Only a matter of time,” http:~/~/www.nasca.org.uk/Strange_relics_/water/html

Water Shortage According to the latest estimates nearly 70% of the

AND

nightmare situation for which there will be no obvious answer.

Wars now can be resolved easily—in the future they won’t be stopped—prefer our evidence its comparative on this issue

Michael N Dobkowski, professor of religious studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Isidor Wallimann, senior Lecturer in sociology at School of Social Work based m Basel Switzerland. The coming age of scarcity preventing mass death and genocide  in the twenty-first century. 1998 p. 13

In times of growth and system expansion, potential

AND

to find in times of general scarcity and contraction.

China is already water stressed – damming projects in tibet prove.

Bolton, Kerry Raymond; World Affairs; 2010; org/; “Water Wars: Rivalry Over Water Resources”; http:~/~/www.mimts.org/World%20Affairs%20-%20The%20Journal%20of%20International%20Issues/11-Water%20wars-%20Rivalry%20over%20water%20resources.pdf**

He also points out that there should be greater concern “for potential

AND

proceeding while information from Beijing on them remains sparse (ibid).

China controls central and southeast Asia's water supply.

Bolton, Kerry Raymond; World Affairs; 2010; org/; “Water Wars: Rivalry Over Water Resources”; http:~/~/www.mimts.org/World%20Affairs%20-%20The%20Journal%20of%20International%20Issues/11-Water%20wars-%20Rivalry%20over%20water%20resources.pdf**

Chellaney in a detailed article for Japan Times (“China Aims for

AND

through the depletion of nature’s water storage and absorption cover”.

China will use water management policy for aggressive posturing in the region that will cause Sino-Indian War.

Bolton, Kerry Raymond; World Affairs; 2010; org/; “Water Wars: Rivalry Over Water Resources”; http:~/~/www.mimts.org/World%20Affairs%20-%20The%20Journal%20of%20International%20Issues/11-Water%20wars-%20Rivalry%20over%20water%20resources.pdf**

It is of interest to note in this respect that the swift rise

AND

Southeast Asia”, The Asia–Pacific Journal, Vol 30, July 27, 2009).

Sino-Indian war goes nuclear

Caryl 10 (Christian, Senior Fellow at the Legatum Institute and the editor of Foreign Policy's Democracy Lab website, “Don't Even Think About It,” 7-13,http:~/~/www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/07/13/dont_even_think_about_it?page=0,1url:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/07/13/dont_even_think_about_it?page=0,1)

China and India have built up a $60-billion-per-year

AND

tensions can spiral out of control." You can say that again.

China will cut off the Ili and the Irtysh Rivers – 2 Impacts

A) Chinese territory disputes with Kazakhstan escalate.

Bolton, Kerry Raymond; World Affairs; 2010; org/; “Water Wars: Rivalry Over Water Resources”; http:~/~/www.mimts.org/World%20Affairs%20-%20The%20Journal%20of%20International%20Issues/11-Water%20wars-%20Rivalry%20over%20water%20resources.pdf**

In 2004, China opened a hydroelectric power station

AND

history lists the same parts of Kazakhstan as Chinese territory”.

Central Asian war goes nuclear

Ahrari 1 (M. Ehsan, Professor of National Security and Strategy of the Joint and Combined Warfighting School at the Armed Forces Staff College, August 2001, “Jihadi Groups, Nuclear Pakistan and the New Great Game,” http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub112.pdf)

South and Central Asia constitute a

AND

thus representing a gain for all concerned.

B) Independently causes Russia-China War.

Bolton, Kerry Raymond; World Affairs; 2010; org/; “Water Wars: Rivalry Over Water Resources”; http:~/~/www.mimts.org/World%20Affairs%20-%20The%20Journal%20of%20International%20Issues/11-Water%20wars-%20Rivalry%20over%20water%20resources.pdf**

The conflict over water while most obviously

AND

with India over the last thirteen years.

Russia-China war causes extinction

Alexander Sharavin 1, Director of the Political and Military Analysis Institute, October 1, 2001, What The Papers Say (Russia), Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie, No. 28, “The Third Threat,” Translated by Andrei Ryabochkin

Now, a few words about the third t

AND

it is a realistic prospect - just like a war against NATO or Islamic extremists.

Tournament: ESU | Round: Octos | Opponent: KU SK | Judge: 

Nanotechnology Require SMR's – tech neutrality is key to development regardless of commercialization.

Techtonick 9' http:~/~/www.techtonick.com/html

Sure, nanobots can move around on a surface

AND

ny possible tract to be formed.

NRC Regulates All Civilian Nuclear Power Development and Use in the U.S.

NRC September 25, 2012 http:~/~/www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/html**

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended in

AND

damage to property caused by nuclear accidents.

China is about to pass the US in nanotechnologies

Alexis Madrigal. The Chinese Government’s Plans for Nanotechnology, Wired Science. February 17, 2008 http:~/~/www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/02/the-chinese-gov/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/02/the-chinese-gov/

BOSTON, MA – China aims to leapfrog the United States

AND

increasing domestic research capacity ("indigenous innovation" or zizhu chuangxin).

U.S. development of nanoweapons is the only way to prevent their use

John Robert Marlow, freelance journalist, nanotech author, member of the Scientific Advisory Board, April 04 (“Nanosecurity and the Future (if Any)” NanoNews Now Monthly Report, http://www.johnrobertmarlow.com/sa__art--nanosecurity%20and%20the%20future%20if%20any.html)

"If the United States developed molecular nano

AND

Post-Nuclear Super-Weapons: Interview with Lev Navrozov. 18

Nanowars lead to extinction

Eric Drexler, PhD - Molecular Nanotechnology, MIT, 1986. “Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology” http://www.e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Table_of_Contents.html

States could use advanced AI systems to similar

AND

states will be able to consolidate their power over people.

Tournament: ESU | Round: Round 5 | Opponent: OU   | Judge: 

Fusion is Possible and Would Provide Limitless Energy – Mass Energy Conversion

Environmental News Network 2010 The mission of ENN Environmental News Network is to to provide a global perspective on environmental issues, and to promote thought, discussion, and awareness among their readers. http:~/~/blog.cleantechies.com/2010/11/01/nuclear-fusion-power-energy/http://blog.cleantechies.com/2010/11/01/nuclear-fusion-power-energy/__

It has been called the holy grail of energy technology; a perfectly clean source

AND

innovative uses of electricity. It would no doubt, launch humanity into a new era.

Removing PD8 is Key to Fusion Technology

OECD/IEA 2011 The IEA provides support for over 40 international co-operation and collaboration agreements in energy technology RandD, deployment and information dissemination. OECD Member countries, non-Member countries and international organizations http:~/~/www.iea.org/techno/iaresults.asp?id_ia=30http://www.iea.org/techno/iaresults.asp?id_ia=30__

Nuclear Technology of Fusion Reactors.

AND

and programmes of the ITER project.

Mass Energy Conversion Key to Warp Drives

MATT PECKHAM 2012 Matt Peckham writes about games and technology for TIME. His work has appeared in Variety, The Washington Post, The New York Times, ABC News, MSNBC, The Sci-Fi Channel, Yahoo Tech, PC World (his column was nominated for a Maggie Award) and many others. He has an M.A. in English from Creighton University and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. http:~/~/techland.time.com/2012/09/19/nasa-actually-working-on-faster-than-light-warp-drive/http://techland.time.com/2012/09/19/nasa-actually-working-on-faster-than-light-warp-drive/__

According to NASA physicist Harold White, the energy

AND

as little as “weeks or months.”

Warp Drive Key to Colonizing Other Solar Systems – Subsumes All Other Impacts

Reuters Thu, 30 Nov 2006 http:~/~/www.sott.net/article/122595-Humans-must-colonize-other-planets-Hawkinghttp://www.sott.net/article/122595-Humans-must-colonize-other-planets-Hawking__

Humans must colonize planets in other solar systems

AND

which takes you instantly to your destination," said.

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

United States Congress should abandon the waste confidence rule, remove the mandate that specific nuclear technologies be wedded to specific plant design, and pass legislation voiding the part of Presidential Directive 8 that indefinitely defers the commercial reprocessing and recycling of plutonium in the United States.

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Warming is real and human induced – drastic emissions reductions are key to avoid dangerous climate disruptions

-now is key

-AR4 = IPCC

Somerville 11 – Professor of Oceanography @ UCSD

Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group I for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 3-8-2011, “CLIMATE SCIENCE AND EPA'S GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS,” CQ Congressional Testimony, Lexis

1n early 2007, …this century.

If SMRs make it to market they will replace Coal power plants

Mr. John J. Licata,  Founder and Chief Energy Strategist,  Blue Phoenix Inc. America, It’s OK to favor Small Modular Reactors and phase out coal, Blue Phoenix. April 16, 2012. http://www.cmegroup.com/education/files/america-its-ok-to-favor-small-modular-reactors-and-phase-out-coal.pdf

A case can …are a smarter choice over coal-fired plants.

Replacing Coal is most important – without solving coal warming is ensured – nuclear can do that

Steve Kirsch. The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) project, skirsch.com. August 10, 2008 http://www.skirsch.com/politics/globalwarming/ifr.htm

I first heard about …figure out how to get rid of.

Tipping points coming soon – risk extinction

Hamilton 10 – Professor of Public Ethics @ ANU

Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics in Australia, 2010, “Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Change,” pg. 1-2

One of the most …enter a long struggle just to survive.

Short-term years of cooling don’t disprove the warming trend

Somerville 11 – Professor of Oceanography @ UCSD

Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group I for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 3-8-2011, “CLIMATE SCIENCE AND EPA'S GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS,” CQ Congressional Testimony, Lexis

The 2007 IPCC …a degree Fahrenheit per decade.

Adaptation fails

Hamilton 10 – Professor of Public Ethics @ ANU

Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics in Australia, 2010, “Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Change,” pg 29-30

Underlying the discussion …extinctions are likely.

Not inevitable – even if temporarily over the tipping point, emissions can be brought back down

Dyer 9 – PhD in ME History

Gwynne, MA in Military History and PhD in Middle Eastern History former  @ Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Climate Wars

There is no need to despair. …how to stop it rising past 450. 

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

CP

Can't solve the affirmative

A) congressional power is key to solve, two reasons

1st- NRC control ensures non compliance law suits and increasing capital costs. There were 430 law suits between 75 and 83 and 2,349 proposed rules that required changes by the nuclear industry. These caused skyrocketing costs and prevents business confidence in nuclear. That is Spencer 7 evidence

2nd- NRC quadrupled cost of nuclear. They never loosened regulations, only increased them even when experience showed the regulations weren't necessary. Only a few regulations after three mile increased safety  but most NRC regulations weren't driven by science and not needed for safety.  That is Cohen 4 . And, Now is key – NRC will be gearing up to give licenses to SMRS and only congressional power can prevent cost escalating regulations.

Conditionality bad

Time Skew- The 2ac is strategically limited to the amount of offense that can be applied to negative worlds

Destroys Ground- The 1ac is a criticism of the status quo, when multiple worlds are used it negates the ability of the 1ac to generate offense which places the aff in a strategically bad place

Not Reciprocal- The aff always has to uphold that the plan text is a good thing, the negative gets to uphold a multiplicity of worlds which ensures a moving target that avoids 2ac offense

It’s a voting issue for fairness, and education, the abuse has already occurred

Agencies can't solve the presidential directives

Harold C. aRelyea, Specialist in American National Government. Presidential Directives:  Background and Overview, Report for Congress. February 10, 2003 http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/crs-98-611.pdf

Executive orders are one ... Pacific coast defense areas.

The impact is not solving any of the aff-- Without recycling storage would fill up too quickly, the only way to sustainably store waste is a recycling and storage mixture-- that is our spencer 10 evidence.  This would prevent states from granting construction permits needed as per our spencer 7 evidence.

Perm Do Both

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Great-Power War (Short)

No wars would occur in the squo

Fettweis 6—political science professor @ Tulane

(Christopher, professor of political science @ Tulane, International Studies Review, 8, 677-697, EBSCO)

However, one need …should believe that it could not.

It’s all hyperbole – no one would risk extinction

Ferguson 06 – Professor of History at Harvard University, Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford. (Niall, “WWIII? No, but still deadly and dangerous”, LA Times, July 24, 2006, http:~/~/articles.latimes.com/2006/jul/24/opinion/com/2006/jul/24/opinion/oe-ferguson24, Callahan)

Could today's …ethnic conflicts -- across the region.’

Won't pass – specific tax reforms

Dwyer 11/7 (Devin, Devin Dwyer is a digital reporter and producer for ABC News covering the White House with a focus on President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. Dwyer is a regular contributor to ABCNews.com and network broadcasts, including "Good Morning America," "World News with Diane Sawyer" and "Nightline." He is a frequent on-air contributor to "Top Line," a daily live political show broadcast on ABC News Now and the Web. Dwyer joined ABC News after several years as a public radio reporter and producer in Atlanta, Ga., and New York City. His feature radio and video stories have aired on NPR, American Public Media's "Marketplace" and PBS-Frontline's series "Digital Nation." Prior to a career in journalism, Dwyer was a high school social studies instructor and distance running coach in Atlanta. He is an avid runner and food blogger. Dwyer, a Minneapolis, Minn., native, is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Dartmouth College.    “Obama 2.0: Deficit Deal Tops Day-One Agenda,” http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/obama-victory-term-deficit-deal-tops-agenda/story?id=17655646#.UJsLPOOe828,  11/7/12)

But despite that …Wednesday afternoon.

Boehner ensures that Republicans will not cooperate on tax increases for wealthy.

Japan Today 11-8  (Covers latest news, politics, business, sports, new products, technology, environment and weather. With analysis and commentary http:~/~/www.japantoday.com/smartphone/view/world/com/smartphone/view/world/house-gop-will-work-with-obama-to-avoid-fiscal-cliff(%%) 11/8/12)

Laying down …fought much over the same issues.

Won’t pass and no impact – Congress will fix the cuts

Ehley 10/2 BRIANNA EHLEY is a writer for the Fiscal Times, “Why Not Head Over the Cliff and Dive into the Abyss?”, October 2, 2012, http:~/~/www.thefiscaltimes.com/Blogs/Fiscal-Cliff-Notes/2012/10/02/Why-Not-Head-Over-the-Cliff-and-Dive-into-the-Abyss.aspx#aspx#page1

Should America …in the next Congress.”

Winners win

Marshall and Prins 11 (BRYAN W, Miami University and BRANDON C, University of Tennessee and Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy, “Power or Posturing? Policy Availability and Congressional Influence on U.S. Presidential Decisions to Use Force”, Sept, Presidential Studies Quarterly 41, no. 3)

Presidents rely …capital at home (Fordham 2002). 

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Global nuclear expansion now despite Fukushima

BI 12 (Breakthrough Institute on The Energy Collective, July 31, "Worldwide Nuclear Energy Expansion Continues", theenergycollective.com/breakthroughinstitut/98406/worldwide-nuclear-energy-expansion-continues)

Global production …likely to be advanced models.

Nuclear power isn’t dangerous – their evidence is anti-nuclear propaganda

Spencer 8 (Jack, Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy at The Heritage Foundation, 2/1, “Nuclear Safety Paranoia,” http:~/~/www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/020108a.cfm)

On January 4, The …the public. Repeatedly.

No impact to meltdowns

Adams 12 (Rod, Former submarine Engineer Officer, Founder, Adams Atomic Engines, Inc., “Has Apocalyptic Portrayal of Climate Change Risk Backfired?”, May 2, http:~/~/atomicinsights.com/2012/05/has-apocalyptic-portrayal-of-climate-change-risk-backfired.html?utm_source=feedburnerandutm_medium=feedandutm_campaign=Feed%3A+AtomicInsights+%28Atomic+Insights%29url:http://atomicinsights.com/2012/05/has-apocalyptic-portrayal-of-climate-change-risk-backfired.html?utm_source=feedburnerandutm_medium=feedandutm_campaign=Feed%3A+AtomicInsights+%28Atomic+Insights%29)

Not only was the …fear and trembling.

It takes massive exposure to radiation to cause death – and current meltdowns are closely monitored to prevent harmful exposure

Chris Goodall, author of  the book winning the 2007 Clarion Award for non-fiction and was described by the New Scientist as ‘the definitive guide to reducing your carbon footprint  and Mark Lynas, He is also a Visiting Research Associate at Oxford University’s School of Geography and the Environment. The dangers of nuclear power in light of Fukushima, marklynas.org. March 29, 2011. http://www.marklynas.org/2011/03/the-dangers-of-nuclear-power-in-light-of-fukushima/

The fire and …suffered by Fukushima workers.

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Extinction comes first the right to life is the highest value to uphold in extreme situations based upon a consequentialist loose utilitarianism

Kateb 1992
 George, professor of politics @ Princeton University.  "The Inner Ocean:  Individualism and Democratic Culture."

What does a theory of rights …end the threat.)

Debates by non-government actors about future crises are critical distopian visions that can mobilize transnational movements that are effectively pressuring governments into preventing nuclear annihilation

Kurasawa, 04 (Professor of Sociology, York University of Toronto, Fuyuki, Constellations Volume 11, No 4, 2004).

In the twenty-first …human rights violations).

Just because we cannot predict the future with total certainty does not mean that we cannot make educated guesses.  And, scenario planning is key to making responsible choices. We are obligated to take care of the planet if we have a significant role to play.

Kurasawa, 04 (Professor of Sociology, York University of Toronto, Fuyuki, Constellations Volume 11, No 4, 2004).

A radically …action on the global stage.

Science will make good predictions because of its process of establishing truth-- Not using science will ensure inaction on global warming

Tad Johnson, a graduate of UW-Madison in Computer Science and currently work in the IT field, but my interests include urban planning, energy policy, photography, and entrepreneurship. Science, TadFad.com. Nov 14th, 2006  http:~/~/www.tadfad.com/2006/11/14/science/http://www.tadfad.com/2006/11/14/science/

Science is one of the …fundamental difference.

Human nature ensures capitalism is inevitable

Wilkinson 5 – MA in Philosophy

Will Wilkinson, MA in Philosophy, former Academic Coordinator of the Social Change Project and the Global Prosperity Initiative at The Mercatus Center at George Mason University, “Capitalism and Human Nature,” 1-2005, http:~/~/www.cato.org/research/articles/html

Tragically, human …only beautiful, but will endure.

U.S. transition from cap sparks great power wars and omnicide

Nyquist 5

J.R. renowned expert in geopolitics and international relations, WorldNetDaily contributing editor, “The Political Consequences of a Financial Crash,” February 4, www.financialsense.com/stormw...2005/0204.html

Should the United …now we must die.”

Venture capitalists are key to nanotechnology

Alan Leo, Technology Review, “The State of Nanotechnology”, June 2002, http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/12862/?a=f,

Three years ago, …than we thought we'd be a year ago."

Nanotechnology would provide a utopia

Drexler, 86

(Eric, Nanotechnologist, “Engines of Creation,” Accessed 7/13/08, http://www.e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Chapter_15.html) KMH

This, then, is …but to seek a chance to try.

Inevitable asteroid impact is coming that will cause human extinction

Philip Plait, is an astronomer and skeptic who runs the website BadAstronomy.com. He formerly worked at the physics and astronomy department at Sonoma State University and President of the James Randi Educational Foundation. Death from the Skies, 2008 p. 14-19

Sixty-five million ..our own day may yet come.

Nanotechnology solves asteroids

The Futurist, January 10, 2002, ‘Our Molecular Future’ is a bright one, book’s author says, http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=5299/ (HARVOC5408)

Mulhall prefers to …down to nothing

Capitalist privatization is key to space exploration and colonization

Garmong, 5 – PhD in philosophy

(Richard, Cap Mag, “Privatize Space Exploration,” http:~/~/www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4327url:http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4327)

As NASA scrambles …lobby on their behalf.

Space is necessary to solve multiple scenarios for extinction

Stephen Hawking, Worlds Smartest Person.  Stephen Hawking: Humans Must Colonize Space Or Risk Extinction, Pleasant Morning Buzz. June 14, 2006 http://www.pleasantmorningbuzz.com/blog/614061

Astrophysicist Stephen …have not yet thought of."

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Inherency

SMRs require technology licensing changes and waste disposal solutions

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, and Nicolas D. Loris is a Research Associate in the Roe Institute, at The Heritage Foundation. A Big Future for Small Nuclear Reactors?, Heritage Foundation. February 2, 2011 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/02/a-big-future-for-small-nuclear-reactors#_ftnref16

While some designs are closer to market introduction t

AND

efficient and sustainable nuclear waste management strategy.

Without effective waste policies States will prevent nuclear power

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

Today, many states exercise significan

AND

Public commissions and referenda can impose additional restrictions.

Plan Text

United States Congress should abandon the waste confidence rule, remove the mandate that specific nuclear technologies be wedded to specific plant design, and pass legislation voiding the part of Presidential Directive 8 that indefinitely defers the commercial reprocessing and recycling of plutonium in the United States.

We solve in four ways:

First, tech neutrality – Congress Must remove NRC mandate that specific technology be wedded to specific plant designs-- this is key to new nuclear tech

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Pitts Bill Could Be Nuclear Energy Game Changer, Heritage Foundation. July 31, 2009http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/07/pitts-bill-could-be-nuclear-energy-game-changer

It Would Open the Marketplace to New Technologies.

AND

a significant step toward building a more diverse and competitive nuclear industry.

And, NRC is customer driven, regulatory uncertainty prevents nuclear development because companies can't predict results

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, and Nicolas D. Loris is a Research Associate in the Roe Institute, at The Heritage Foundation. A Big Future for Small Nuclear Reactors?, Heritage Foundation. February 2, 2011 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/02/a-big-future-for-small-nuclear-reactors#_ftnref16

Establish a new licensing pathway. The current licensing pathway

AND

the necessary regulatory support on which commercialization ultimately depends.14

Second way we solve is voiding Presidential Directive 8-- this is critical to allow nuclear recycling

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

The U.S. government even banned entire commercial technologies

AND

This technology has since been transferred overseas and is being used safely by other countries, such as France and Japan

And, Without waste recycling the waste disposal problem is ensured— that would prevent reactor development

Jack Spencer, Senior Research Fellow, Nuclear Energy Policy. Introducing Market Forces into Nuclear Waste Management Policy, Heritage Foundation. August 31, 2010 http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/introducing-market-forces-into-nuclear-waste-management-policy

The United States has 60,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste

AND

technologies such as storage and recycling, Yucca could last almost indefinitely.

Third way we solve is removing the waste confidence rule which is used to prevent new licensure

Cornelius Milmoe is a lawyer and nuclear energy expert who has worked in the government and private sector. AND Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Obama Administration: No Confidence in Nuclear Energy, Heritage Foundation. March 5, 2012 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/03/obama-administration-no-confidence-in-nuclear-energy#_ftnref14

Fortunately, there is a way forward. The courts first required the NRC to make a “waste confidence”

AND

allows reactor opponents to use the waste confidence rule to block new reactors.

The fourth way we solve is congressional powers-- Without waste storage there will be a strong executive powers

The Hill, House preparing to slap Obama administration on Yucca Mountain. June 05, 2012. http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/231005-house-preparing-to-slap-obama-administration-on-yucca-mountain

"The fact is we passed a law that was signed by

AND

to evade congressionally mandated legal obligations."

Having Congress abandon the waste confidence rule it forces the NWPA to be followed and waste storage created

Cornelius Milmoe is a lawyer and nuclear energy expert who has worked in the government and private sector. AND Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Obama Administration: No Confidence in Nuclear Energy, Heritage Foundation. March 5, 2012 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/03/obama-administration-no-confidence-in-nuclear-energy#_ftnref14

Time for Congress to Act Congress can provide

AND

should begin with Congress simply demanding that America’s government bodies follow the law.

Lack of congressional power has lead to regulatory uncertainty and made the price of nuclear power skyrocket

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

The public-private relationship worked until

AND

Yet the commission continued to issue regulation after regulation.

These NRC regulations have empirically been unnecessary and quadrupled the cost of plants

Bernard L. Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Physics University of Pittsburgh. THE NUCLEAR ENERGY OPTION. September 30, 2004 http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc/book/chapter9.html

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and its predecessor,

AND

dozens of partially constructed plants to be abandoned.

And, SMRs can be ready for sale at the end of 2013 if certified

REBECCA SMITH. Small Reactors Generate Big Hopes, Wall Street Journal. February 18, 2010 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703444804575071402124482176.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle

Many obstacles remain. The NRC still is

AND

four small-reactor designs in the next two or three years.

SMRs are safe, prolif resistant, and cheap.

Cunningham 12 (Nick, Policy Analyst for Energy and Climate at the American Security Project, “Small Modular Reactors: A possible path forward for nuclear power,” http:~/~/americansecurityproject.org/ASP%20Reports/Ref%200087%20-%20Small%20Modular%20Reactors.pdf, October 2012)

There are several features of SMRs that provide greater

AND

uniquely for each project, which can lead to delays and inflated costs. 32

Coal Bad Advantage

SMR's can replace Coal

Mr. John J. Licata, Founder and Chief Energy Strategist, Blue Phoenix Inc. America, It’s OK to favor Small Modular Reactors and phase out coal, Blue Phoenix. April 16, 2012. http://www.cmegroup.com/education/files/america-its-ok-to-favor-small-modular-reactors-and-phase-out-coal.pdf

A case can be made that building a new

AND

So whether we are talking money or pollution, it is our view SMRs are a smarter choice over coal-fired plants.

Scenario 1 – Biodiversity

Absent effective nuclear power, coal will kill ecosystems, crops, and people.

Fred Bosselman (Professor of Law Emeritus, Chicago-Kent College of Law) 2007 “The new power generation: environmental law and electricity innovation: colloquium article: the ecological advantages of nuclear power”, New York University Environmental Law Journal, lexis

Coal Mining Is Destroying Vast Amounts of Natural

AND

technological innovations that will reduce these impacts within the next decade are negligible.

Studies prove biodiversity key to stop extinction

Science Daily, Biodiversity Key to Earth's Life-Support Functions in a Changing World. August 11, 2011 http:~/~/www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110811084513.htm

In an international research group led

AND

that conserving as much biodiversity as possible could be a good precautionary approach."

Scenario 2 – Warming

Warming is real and human induced – drastic emissions reductions are key to avoid dangerous climate disruptions

-now is key

-AR4 = IPCC

Somerville 11 – Professor of Oceanography @ UCSD

Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group I for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 3-8-2011, “CLIMATE SCIENCE AND EPA'S GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS,” CQ Congressional Testimony, Lexis

1n early 2007, at the time of the publication of WG1

AND

rapidly within the next five to ten years, reaching near zero well within this century.

Coal is the biggest internal link to warming

Steve Kirsch. The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) project, skirsch.com. August 10, 2008 http://www.skirsch.com/politics/globalwarming/ifr.htm

I first heard about the IFR on August 4, 2008, in

AND

that we can’t figure out how to get rid of.

Tipping points coming soon – risks extinction

Hamilton 10 – Professor of Public Ethics @ ANU

Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics in Australia, 2010, “Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Change,” pg. 1-2

One of the most striking features of the global

AND

enter a long struggle just to survive.

Short-term years of cooling don’t disprove the warming trend

Somerville 11 – Professor of Oceanography @ UCSD

Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group I for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 3-8-2011, “CLIMATE SCIENCE AND EPA'S GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS,” CQ Congressional Testimony, Lexis

The 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) described

AND

is equivalent to about one third of a degree Fahrenheit per decade.

Adaptation fails

Hamilton 10 – Professor of Public Ethics @ ANU

Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics in Australia, 2010, “Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Change,” pg 29-30

Underlying the discussion of adaptation is an unspoken

AND

I have described, mass extinctions are likely.

Warming isn't inevitable

Dyer 9 – PhD in ME History

Gwynne, MA in Military History and PhD in Middle Eastern History former  @ Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Climate Wars

There is no need to despair. The slow-feedback

AND

so let us focus here on how to stop it rising past 450.

Scenario 3 Ocean Acidification

It's happening now and the ocean can’t self-correct

Kerr 10 - PhD in chemical oceanography

Richard Kerr, 6-2010, “Ocean Acidification Unprecedented, Unsettling,” Science, Science Magazine

Humans are caught up in a grand

AND

they are piling up in surface waters.

Oceans health is key to survival

Robin Kundis Craig, Associate Professor of Law, Indiana University School of Law. Taking Steps Toward Marine Wilderness Protection? Fishing and Coral Reef Marine Reserves in Florida and Hawaii, McGeorge Law Review. Winter, 2003. L/N

The world's oceans contain many resources and

AND

passed on relatively intact to future generations.

No wars would occur in the squo

Fettweis 6—political science professor @ Tulane

(Christopher, professor of political science @ Tulane, International Studies Review, 8, 677-697, EBSCO)

However, one need not be convinced about the potential for ideas

AND

scholars should ask why anyone should believe that it could not.

Liberalism and a broad shift in attitude make major war unthinkable

Fettweis, 6—political science professor @ Tulane

Christopher, National Security Decision Making Department, US Naval War College, 'A Revolution in International Relation Theory: Or, What If Mueller Is Right?,' International Studies Review, 8 (4), 677-697, pg. Blackwell

 The obsolescence-of-major-war argument is familiar enough

AND

to their opponent. Major war has become, in Mueller's words, "sub-rationally unthinkable."

Nuclear war won’t escalate

Kenneth Neal Waltz. The spread of nuclear weapons: more maybe better, Adelphi papers; no 171. 1981 p. 24

For several reasons, then deterrent

AND

bring rapid de-escalation. 

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

United States Congress should abandon the waste confidence rule, remove the mandate that specific nuclear technologies be wedded to specific plant design, and pass legislation that rescinds the part of Clinton's Presidential Decision Directive 13 that forbids the commercial reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel.

Tournament: Districts | Round: 2 | Opponent: KSU BM | Judge: Murillo

Observation I – The big secret

Safer nuclear reactor designs are being secretly restricted because they do not produce weapons grade plutonium for nuclear weapons and nuclear submarines

Longcore in 2012

Russell D. Longcore, owner and editor of DumpDC, also owns Masteriece Energy LLC, Abigail Morgan Austin Publishing Company and Cornerstone Claim Services in Marietta, Georgia.Nuclear Power Secrets RevealedNuclear Power Is Expensive and Bad for the Environment. It’s Being Pushed Because It Is Good For Making Bombs http://dumpdc.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/nuclear-power-secrets-revealed/

Virtually all of the nuclear reactors

AND

just promoters for the nuclear cycle.

These restrictions have produced a technological lock-in that have pushed out any incentive for other types of reactors – Only federal action through the plan can eliminate the risk adverse nature of investors towards new types of nuclear power

Neyfakh in 2011 Leon (Leon Neyfakh is the staff writer for Ideas” ) “Out of Options”
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2011/03/20/out_of_options/?page=full

By 1986, more than 80 percent of all

AND

whole bunch of people and it needs to be loud.”

These restrictions have delayed next generation reactors by 20 years under best case design and implementation scenarios

Scientific American in 2009
Next Generation Nuclear Power New, safer and more economical nuclear reactors could not only satisfy many of our future energy needs but could combat global warming as well ByJames A. cfm?id=1841,Ralph G. cfm?id=1842andJohn F. cfm?id=1843, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=next-generation-nuclear

Future Nuclear Systems In Response

AND

and development of future nuclear energy systems.

Observatation II – The impact of this secretive political restriction

Secrecy within politics is a social process that defines what is considered inside and outside of the web of legitimacy. It defines the conditions of access and denial within political institutions

Reppy in 99
Judith, Cornell Peace Studies Program, “Secrecy and Knowledge Production”

Secrets do not develop in a social

AND

what means, in what settings, with what effects.

Secrecy excludes individuals from taking part in participatory democracy.   It functionally eliminates the ability for effective criticism of institutions.

Schaper in 2006

Annette, Transparency and Secrecy in Nuclear Weapons, Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC)

The WMDC is an independent international commission initiated by the

Swedish Government on a proposal from the United Nations.

Secrecy is principally an undemocratic

AND

traditionally weak or limited, there is no proper basis for external transparency.53

This Destruction of Democracy and blind acceptance of secrecy prevents citizen challenges of hegemonic military and economic dominance.  The impact is total war.

Santos 3, Director of the Center for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra, 2003

Boaventura de Sousa html, Collective suicide or globalization from below?

http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2003-03-26-santos-en.html

This political logic is based on the supposition of total power

AND

costs of the world's poorest countries for four years.

Secrecy within the nuclear power industry has led to militarism and structural violence on an unimaginable scale. The voices of people are being silenced as they deal with cancer, children born with birth defects, and the constant fear of exposure.

Johnston in 2007
“Half-Lives, Half-Truths, and Other Radioactive Legacies of the Cold War”

Barbara Rose, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Political Ecology and occasional lecturer at UCSC. Barbara is an environmental anthropologist who studies the relationships between environmental crisis and human rights. Her current work explores the community dynamics of water resource management; and, the human environmental impacts of the United States Nuclear Weapons Testing Program as conducted in the Marshall Islands. www.sarpress.sarweb.org

First, and foremost, for the communities that hosted the nuclear war

AND

reflect the biases, power struggles, and schisms in society (cf. Liebow, this volume; Petryna 2002)

Next, We will discuss the process of dissociation that sustains the nuclear narrative - Dissociation allows individuals to separate themselves from feeling the harmful effects on others. These secret nuclear programs rely on a system of disassociation in which we are not responsible for our silence because the secrecy allows us to dissociate ourselves from the repercussions of our decisions.

Lifton 90, Professor of Psychiatry and Markusen, Professor of Sociology, 1990

Robert Jay Lifton, Professor of Psychiatry and Eric Markusen, Professor of Sociology, PHD, University of Minnesota, The Genocidal Mentality, 1990, pg 13-14

Both Nazi and nuclear narratives are crucially

AND

deal with the issue of how men and women can be apparently normal and yet killers."

Next, Nuclear power and the subsequent nuclear militarism have caused the individual to ignore his or her own unconscious intentions. Individuals now seek safety and security through the very things that we know makes us insecure.  This fear allows us to distance ourselves from the reality of what does occur on land close to a uranium mine or what would occur should a nuclear exchange take place.  This distancing results in a passive acceptance of nuclear weapons

Mack 85 (John Toward a Collective Psychopathology of the Nuclear Arms Competition Vol. 6, No. 2, Special Issue: A Notebook on the Psychology of the U.S.-Soviet Relationship (Jun., 1985), pp. 291-321 )

Nuclear weapons technology has created nothing new in the

AND

give the nuclear world its psychotic cast.

The ability to dissociate yourself is the condition that allows for all violent conflict to occur.  Without the ability to feel responsible for the violence you normalize you let the system perpetuate conflict under the illusion of necessity.

Lifton 90, Professor of Psychiatry and Markusen, Professor of Sociology, 1990

Robert Jay Lifton, Professor of Psychiatry and Eric Markusen, Professor of Sociology, PHD, University of Minnesota, The Genocidal Mentality, 1990, pg 226-227

Dissociation, then, by occurring consistently

AND

adherents see as necessary and rational.

Thus the plan – The United States federal government should eliminate the restriction that all nuclear power plants must produce materials for use in nuclear submarines or weapons-grade plutonium.

Observation III – Solvency

First, the IAC speech act is important.  Challenging the secretive nature of nuclear programs creates cracks and fissures within the hegemonic discursive order.  This action can create progressive social change.

Bleiker in 2k3 (Roland, School of Political Science @ University of Queensland, Contemporary Political Theory, Discourse and Human Agency)

Confronting the difficulties that arise

AND

transformed discursive practices engender processes of social change. P42-43

Exposing the secrecy  is a response against militarism that focuses on Hope, not fear -~-- It is the only thing that can challenge the depoliticization of the public sphere

Henry A. Giroux, Professor of Education at Boston University, 2004
“WHEN HOPE IS SUBVERSIVE”, 40 TIKKUN VOL. 19, NO. 6

Is it possible to imagine hope for justice and humanity

AND

justice flourish as part of the ongoing struggle for a global democracy

Exposing the impact that secrecy has on participatory democracy and human agency opens up space to challenge militarism. 

Giroux 4 Henry A., PhD, Professor of Education at Boston Univesrity, "War on Terror, The Militarising of Public Space and the Culture in the United States, Third Text, Vol. 18, Issue 4, 2004. 211-221

As militarisation spreads its influence both at home and abroad

AND

a democratic future both at home and abroad stands in the balance.  

Realization of the effects of nuclear weapons and our current psychological disassociation from those effects is necessary for any world free of conflict.

Lifton 90, Professor of Psychiatry and Markusen, Professor of Sociology, 1990

Robert Jay Lifton, Professor of Psychiatry and Eric Markusen, Professor of Sociology, PHD, University of Minnesota, The Genocidal Mentality, 1990, pg 257-58

At the psychological and

AND

—can we create the responsibility and cooperation necessary to preserve the world

Tournament: District 3 | Round: 4 | Opponent: ESU FT | Judge: Cook

A Monk asks Joshu “Does a dog have Buddha nature?”

Joshu said “Mu”

The Monk confused proceeded “But Buddha said all sentient creatures have Buddha nature, Why do dogs not?”

Joshu responded “It’s because it had karmic consciousness”

What does this mean, Are you affirming?

Mu

Are you negating?

Mu

Are you an instrumental implementation of a plan?

Mu

Do you result in an increase in energy production?

Mu

The Buddhist Koan shows a Monk asking Joshu if a dog has buddha nature-- Joshu responds with the answer MU-- But the story's use of a dog and Joshu is irrelevant-- what is important is the answer MU-- this answer transcends yes and no and all dualisms to ultimately embrace liberation-- conceptions will inevitably prevent this liberation

Zenkei Shibayama, scholar and Rinzai Zen teacher, and a prominent Zen figure in both Japan and the West. Translated by Sumiko Kudo. The Book of MU; essential writings on zen's most important koan. Edited by James Ishmael Ford, a Dharma successor to Houn Jiyu Kennet and John Tarrant. Founding abbot of the Boundless Way Zen school and continues to serve as a senior guiding teacher. Also Edited by Melissa Myozn Blacker, Dharma successor to James Ishmael Ford. Co founder of Boundless Way Zen and serves as senior guiding teacher. 2011 p. 83-87

THIS KOAN is extremely short and simple. Because of this

AND

important here is for him to actually do it himself.

That is why when hailed by the resolution we answer Mu

Mu is a way to stand resolved towards the resolution-- this stance ensures our ego “I” self is broken down

Robert Aitken, studied with Nyogen Senzaki, Soen Nakagawa, and Haku'un Yasutani. Recieved his Dharma transmission from Koun Yamada. Founder of the Diamond Sangha network. The Book of MU; essential writings on zen's most important koan. Edited by James Ishmael Ford, a Dharma successor to Houn Jiyu Kennet and John Tarrant. Founding abbot of the Boundless Way Zen school and continues to serve as a senior guiding teacher. Also Edited by Melissa Myozn Blacker, Dharma successor to James Ishmael Ford. Co founder of Boundless Way Zen and serves as senior guiding teacher. 2011 p. 45-48

THROUGHOUT HIS LONG CAREER Chao-chou taught in a simple manner

AND

old resentments, and persistent habits of thought. We are all ghosts after all!

This only makes sense to break down our ego “I” selves because we are all interdependent-- This means we are not fully seperate static actors-- Just like if you are happy playing a video game and someone comes into the room very angry, it changes the mood and understanding of the world-- an analogy of a piece of paper further illuminates this concept

David Loy, prof on the Faculty of International Studies at Bunkyo University, Japan. Student of Zen for over twenty years and is a qualified Zen Teacher. Lack and Transcendence; The Problem of Death and Life in Psychotherapy, Existentialism , and Buddhism.1996 P. 90-91

Nagarjuna's logical and epistemological analyses

AND

sheet of paper is, it contains everything in the universe in it.⁵⁸

And as long as the conception of the ego “I” self exists it ensures suffering that prevents liberation

David Loy, Besl Professor of Ethics/ Religion and Society at Xavier University and a Zen Teacher in the linage of Koun Yamada. Money, Sex, War, Karma; Notes for a Buddhist Revolution. 2008 p. 21-23

Transforming our karma in this way is very important,

AND

compassionate beings devoted to the welfare and awakening of everyone.

And, Our answer of Mu breaks down our misconceptions because it doesn't make sense-- it confuses one into having no mental conceptions which is what allows liberation

Mitra Bishop, Dharam successor of Philip Kapleau. She continues her studies with Shodo Harada. She is spiritual director at the Hidden Valley Zen Center in San Diego and abbot of the Mountain Gate in Ojo Sarco, New Mexico. The Book of MU; essential writings on zen's most important koan. Edited by James Ishmael Ford, a Dharma successor to Houn Jiyu Kennet and John Tarrant. Founding abbot of the Boundless Way Zen school and continues to serve as a senior guiding teacher. Also Edited by Melissa Myozn Blacker, Dharma successor to James Ishmael Ford. Co founder of Boundless Way Zen and serves as senior guiding teacher. 2011 p. 199-202

“Mu,” as this koan is known, makes no sense at all

AND

experienced by so many other people just like us.

And, Liberation is the beauty of the moment -~-- its perfect in its completeness-- its complete nothing left to be done. Liberation is an experience of absolute contentment-- We just have to get out of our own ways to allow that liberation to take place.

James Ishmael Ford, a Dharma successor to Houn Jiyu Kennet and John Tarrant. Founding abbot of the Boundless Way Zen school and continues to serve as a senior guiding teacher. The Book of MU; essential writings on zen's most important koan. Edited by James Ishmael Ford, a Dharma successor to Houn Jiyu Kennet and John Tarrant. Founding abbot of the Boundless Way Zen school and continues to serve as a senior guiding teacher. Also Edited by Melissa Myozn Blacker, Dharma successor to James Ishmael Ford. Co founder of Boundless Way Zen and serves as senior guiding teacher. 2011 p. 139-142

I have one friend who, many years before she took

AND

Nowhere else. Mu. Easy as falling off a log.

And, Its through liberation that all other impacts become irrelevant-- With liberation and embracement of buddha nature there is contentment for the world-- nothing is left to be done

Haku'un Yasutani, Dharma successor to Harada Sogaku. Established the Sandbo Kyodan which would have enormous influence on the west. .Translated by PhilipKapleau. The Book of MU; essential writings on zen's most important koan. Edited by James Ishmael Ford, a Dharma successor to Houn Jiyu Kennet and John Tarrant. Founding abbot of the Boundless Way Zen school and continues to serve as a senior guiding teacher. Also Edited by Melissa Myozn Blacker, Dharma successor to James Ishmael Ford. Co founder of Boundless Way Zen and serves as senior guiding teacher. 2011 p. 73-75

For the Buddha Shakyamuni this was not mere theory

AND

you construe buddha nature in this manner.

Mu's ontological shift to recognize how life is always changing and how life will never be the same from one moment to another moment allows for us to die happy without regrets

Thubten Chodron, studied and practiced Buddhism in India and Nepal since 1975and resident teacher at Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle. Buddhism for Beginners 2001 p. 40-1

Contemplating impermanence and death also

AND

are alive and will avoid such regrets at the time of death.

This ability to die happy is the biggest impact because how we die is an irrelevant question- the more important question is how we relate to death-- Current strategies to create liberation are ineffective

Ken Jones, lifelong activist and a Zen practitioner for over 30 years and founding member of the UK Network of Engaged Buddhist. The New Social Face of Buddhism; a Call to action. 2003 p 39-41 

1n 1859, in the Preface to his Critique of Political

AND

translation credible, comprehensible -and liberative.

And, As long as the ego “I” self is upheld there will inevitably be war, discrimination and environmental destruction – makes all your impacts non unique

Ken Jones, secretary of the UK Network of Engaged Buddhist. Mindful Politics; edited by Melvin McLeod. 2006 p. 111-112

Second is the truth that the forces that drive

AND

conventional politics knows what they mean.

And even if you propose something that can alleviate some problems – we will still suffer and not achieve liberation. The root of suffering lies in the mind and the status quo strategies can’t liberate us from that suffering

Thubten Chodron, studied and practiced Buddhism in India and Nepal since 1975and resident teacher at Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle. Buddhism for Beginners 2001 p 104

In addition, we must remember that difficulties and

AND

ultimately lead to the cessation of our own and others' suffering

And, Enlightenment doesn't preclude eating, drinking or helping others-- in fact helping others seems appropriate because of our intereconnectedness

Ruben L.F. Habito, is a Dharma successor to Koun Yamada. He is a former Jesuit priest and one of the leaders of the Sanbo Kyodan in the United States. He is founding teacher at the Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas, Texas. The Book of MU; essential writings on zen's most important koan. Edited by James Ishmael Ford, a Dharma successor to Houn Jiyu Kennet and John Tarrant. Founding abbot of the Boundless Way Zen school and continues to serve as a senior guiding teacher. Also Edited by Melissa Myozn Blacker, Dharma successor to James Ishmael Ford. Co founder of Boundless Way Zen and serves as senior guiding teacher. 2011 p. 190-191

Whereas the second fruit may take only a

AND

forth the power of compassion and sustains its activity in a person’s life.

And, the world of predictions fail because it is either wrong or fail to provide knowledge necessary to resolve any impacts – the world is too complex.

Kurt Spellmeyer, award-winning teacher and scholar in the English department at Rutgers University and authorized to teach Zen by Kangan Glenn Webb. Buddha at the Apocalypse; Awakening From a Culture of Destruction. 2010 p.  109-116

Buddhists aren't the only ones to revere some image

AND

And that’s just the one that will catch us by surprise.

Tournament: CEDA | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Inherency

SMRs require technology licensing changes and waste disposal solutions

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, and Nicolas D. Loris is a Research Associate in the Roe Institute, at The Heritage Foundation. A Big Future for Small Nuclear Reactors?, Heritage Foundation. February 2, 2011 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/02/a-big-future-for-small-nuclear-reactors#_ftnref16

While some designs are closer to

AND

and sustainable nuclear waste management strategy.

Without effective waste policies States will prevent nuclear power

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

Today, many states exercise significant authority

AND

commissions and referenda can impose additional restrictions.

Plan Text

United States Congress should abandon the waste confidence rule, remove the mandate that specific nuclear technologies be wedded to specific plant design, and pass legislation that rescinds the part of Clinton's Presidential Decision Directive 13 that forbids the commercial reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel.

Solvency

We solve in four ways:

First, tech neutrality – Congress Must remove NRC mandate that specific technology be wedded to specific plant designs-- this is key to new nuclear tech

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Pitts Bill Could Be Nuclear Energy Game Changer, Heritage Foundation. July 31, 2009 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/07/pitts-bill-could-be-nuclear-energy-game-changer

It Would Open the Marketplace to New Technologies.

AND

more diverse and competitive nuclear industry.

And, NRC is customer driven, regulatory uncertainty prevents nuclear development because companies can't predict results

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, and Nicolas D. Loris is a Research Associate in the Roe Institute, at The Heritage Foundation. A Big Future for Small Nuclear Reactors?, Heritage Foundation. February 2, 2011 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/02/a-big-future-for-small-nuclear-reactors#_ftnref16

Establish a new licensing pathway. The current

AND

commercialization ultimately depends.14

Second way we solve is voiding Presidential Directive 8-- this is critical to allow nuclear recycling

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

The U.S. government even banned entire commercial technologies

AND

by other countries, such as France and Japan

And, Without waste recycling the waste disposal problem is ensured— that would prevent reactor development

Jack Spencer, Senior Research Fellow, Nuclear Energy Policy. Introducing Market Forces into Nuclear Waste Management Policy, Heritage Foundation. August 31, 2010 http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/introducing-market-forces-into-nuclear-waste-management-policy

The United States has 60,000 tons of high-level nuclear

AND

Yucca could last almost indefinitely.

Third way we solve is removing the waste confidence rule which is used to prevent new licensure

Cornelius Milmoe is a lawyer and nuclear energy expert who has worked in the government and private sector. AND Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Obama Administration: No Confidence in Nuclear Energy, Heritage Foundation. March 5, 2012 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/03/obama-administration-no-confidence-in-nuclear-energy#_ftnref14

Fortunately, there is a way forward. The courts

AND

opponents to use the waste confidence rule to block new reactors.

The fourth way we solve is congressional powers-- Without waste storage there will be a strong executive powers

The Hill, House preparing to slap Obama administration on Yucca Mountain. June 05, 2012. http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/231005-house-preparing-to-slap-obama-administration-on-yucca-mountain

"The fact is we passed a law that was signed

AND

evade congressionally mandated legal obligations."

Having Congress abandon the waste confidence rule it forces the NWPA to be followed and waste storage created

Cornelius Milmoe is a lawyer and nuclear energy expert who has worked in the government and private sector. AND Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Obama Administration: No Confidence in Nuclear Energy, Heritage Foundation. March 5, 2012 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/03/obama-administration-no-confidence-in-nuclear-energy#_ftnref14

Time for Congress to Act Congress can provide

AND

Congress simply demanding that America’s government bodies follow the law.

Lack of congressional power has lead to regulatory uncertainty and made the price of nuclear power skyrocket

Jack Spencer is Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes, Heritage Foundation. November 15, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/11/competitive-nuclear-energy-investment-avoiding-past-policy-mistakes#_ftnref16

The public-private relationship worked until nuclear power

AND

Yet the commission continued to issue regulation after regulation.

These NRC regulations have empirically been unnecessary and quadrupled the cost of plants

Bernard L. Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Physics University of Pittsburgh. THE NUCLEAR ENERGY OPTION. September 30, 2004 http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc/book/chapter9.html

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and its predecessor,

AND

and dozens of partially constructed plants to be abandoned.

And, SMRs can be ready for sale at the end of 2013 if certified

REBECCA SMITH. Small Reactors Generate Big Hopes, Wall Street Journal. February 18, 2010 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703444804575071402124482176.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle

Many obstacles remain. The NRC still is reviewing

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the next two or three years.

SMRs solve nuclear downsides

Ringle 10 John, Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Engineering at Oregon State University, "Reintroduction of reactors in US a major win", November 13, robertmayer.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/reintroduction-of-reactors-in-us-a-major-win/

Small nuclear reactors will probably be the mechanism

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a loss-of-coolant accident could occur.

SMR's can be domestically produced.

MSCR 11 US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration Manufacturing and Services Competitiveness Report, February 2011, “The Commercial Outlook for U.S. Small Modular Nuclear Reactors”, http:~/~/trade.gov/mas/ian/build/groups/public/@tg_ian/@nuclear/documents/webcontent/tg_ian_003185.pdf

A primary advantage of SMRs is in

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economic growth in the United States.

We could commercialize SMR’s within 5 years

Freed 10 (Josh Freed, Director of the Third Way Clean Energy Program, Elizabeth Horwitz, Policy Advisor at Third Way’s Clean Energy Program, Jeremy Ershow, Third Way Clean Energy Program, Sept 2010, Thinking Small On Nuclear Power, http:~/~/content.thirdway.org/publications/340/Third_Way_Idea_Brief_-_Thinking_Small_On_Nuclear_pdf)

Several U.S. companies are in the advanced stages

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and go global soon after.

Coal advantage

Nuclear’s inevitable globally but won’t solve warming until the US develops SMR’s

Shellenberger 12 – et al and Ted Nordhaus—co-founders of American Environics and the Breakthrough Institute a think tank that works on energy and climate change – AND – Jesse Jenkins-Director of Energy and Climate Policy, the Breakthrough Institute (Michael, Why We Need Radical Innovation to Make New Nuclear Energy Cheap, 9/11, thebreakthrough.org/index.php/programs/energy-and-climate/new-nukes/)

Arguably, the biggest impact

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we will need to get that job done.

SMR's can replace Coal

Mr. John J. Licata, Founder and Chief Energy Strategist, Blue Phoenix Inc. America, It’s OK to favor Small Modular Reactors and phase out coal, Blue Phoenix. April 16, 2012. http://www.cmegroup.com/education/files/america-its-ok-to-favor-small-modular-reactors-and-phase-out-coal.pdf

A case can be made that building a new coal-fired

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smarter choice over coal-fired plants.

Scenario 1 – Biodiversity

Absent effective nuclear power, coal will kill ecosystems, crops, and people.

Fred Bosselman (Professor of Law Emeritus, Chicago-Kent College of Law) 2007 “The new power generation: environmental law and electricity innovation: colloquium article: the ecological advantages of nuclear power”, New York University Environmental Law Journal, lexis

Coal Mining Is Destroying Vast Amounts of Natural

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within the next decade are negligible.

Studies prove biodiversity key to stop extinction

Science Daily, Biodiversity Key to Earth's Life-Support Functions in a Changing World. August 11, 2011 http:~/~/www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110811084513.htm

In an international research group led by Prof. Dr.

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maintaining Earth's life-support functions.

No redundancy

Science Daily, Biodiversity Critical for Maintaining Multiple 'Ecosystem Services'. August 19, 2011. http:~/~/www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110819155422.htm

By combining data from 17 of the

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be a good precautionary approach."

Scenario 2 – Warming

Warming is real and human induced – drastic emissions reductions are key to avoid dangerous climate disruptions

-now is key

-AR4 = IPCC

Somerville 11 – Professor of Oceanography @ UCSD

Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group I for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 3-8-2011, “CLIMATE SCIENCE AND EPA'S GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS,” CQ Congressional Testimony, Lexis

1n early 2007, at the time of the publication

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reaching near zero well within this century.

Coal is the biggest internal link to warming

Steve Kirsch. The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) project, skirsch.com. August 10, 2008 http://www.skirsch.com/politics/globalwarming/ifr.htm

I first heard about the IFR on August

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nuclear plants that we can’t figure out how to get rid of.

Tipping points coming soon – risks extinction

Hamilton 10 – Professor of Public Ethics @ ANU

Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics in Australia, 2010, “Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Change,” pg. 1-2

One of the most striking features of the

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enter a long struggle just to survive.

Short-term years of cooling don’t disprove the warming trend

Somerville 11 – Professor of Oceanography @ UCSD

Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group I for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 3-8-2011, “CLIMATE SCIENCE AND EPA'S GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS,” CQ Congressional Testimony, Lexis

The 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report

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of a degree Fahrenheit per decade.

Adaptation fails

Hamilton 10 – Professor of Public Ethics @ ANU

Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics in Australia, 2010, “Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Change,” pg 29-30

Underlying the discussion of adaptation is an

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mass extinctions are likely.

Warming isn't inevitable

Dyer 9 – PhD in ME History

Gwynne, MA in Military History and PhD in Middle Eastern History former  @ Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Climate Wars

There is no need to despair. The

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here on how to stop it rising past 450.

Scenario 3 Ocean Acidification

It's happening now and the ocean can’t self-correct

Kerr 10 - PhD in chemical oceanography

Richard Kerr, 6-2010, “Ocean Acidification Unprecedented, Unsettling,” Science, Science Magazine

Humans are caught up in a grand planetary

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are so rapid that they are piling up in surface waters.

Oceans health is key to survival

Robin Kundis Craig, Associate Professor of Law, Indiana University School of Law. Taking Steps Toward Marine Wilderness Protection? Fishing and Coral Reef Marine Reserves in Florida and Hawaii, McGeorge Law Review. Winter, 2003. L/N

The world's oceans contain many resources and

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passed on relatively intact to future generations.

No wars would occur in the squo

Fettweis 6—political science professor @ Tulane

(Christopher, professor of political science @ Tulane, International Studies Review, 8, 677-697, EBSCO)

However, one need not be convinced about the

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should ask why anyone should believe that it could not.

Liberalism and a broad shift in attitude make major war unthinkable

Fettweis, 6—political science professor @ Tulane

Christopher, National Security Decision Making Department, US Naval War College, 'A Revolution in International Relation Theory: Or, What If Mueller Is Right?,' International Studies Review, 8 (4), 677-697, pg. Blackwell

The obsolescence-of-major-war argument is familiar

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"sub-rationally unthinkable."

Nuclear war won’t escalate

Kenneth Neal Waltz. The spread of nuclear weapons: more maybe better, Adelphi papers; no 171. 1981 p. 24

For several reasons, then deterrent strategies

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involved and thus bring rapid de-escalation.