A SECOND de facto permanent, surface storage, "parking lot" dump proceeding to begin at NRC!

Potential radioactive waste transporation routes to WCS, TX. As Eddy-Lea, NM is close by, the routing to there would be very similar.We are gearing up to stop yet ANOTHER bad nuke waste dump that would launch Mobile Chernobyls nationwide!

Beyond Nuclear was already busy fighting the Holtec International/Eddy-Lea [Counties] Energy Alliance centralized interim storage facility (CISF) for 173,600 metric tons of commercial irradiated nuclear fuel, targeted at southeastern New Mexico. In fact, our legal intervention deadline in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing proceeding is September 14th, and we and our legal counsel, Diane Curran of Washington, D.C. and Mindy Goldstein of Emory University's Turner Environmental Law Clinic in Atlanta, GA (and Mindy's students), are working hard to meet it. But now the NRC has announced a second such proceeding is about to commence, and go forward in close parallel: the license application of Waste Control Specialists, LLC in Andrews County, Texas, to "temporarily store" an additional 40,000 metric tons of commercial irradiated fuel, just 40 miles away from the Holtec/ELEA, NM CISF. This is an attempt by the nuclear power industry to turn the Texas/New Mexico borderlands into a nuclear sacrifice area. Given the Hispanic demographics, as well as the heavy pollution of the area due to already concentrated nuclear and fossil fuel activities, this is an environmental injustice. Outrageously, NRC has indicated no environmental scoping public comment period will be carried out re: WCS's renamed "Interim Storage Partners" (ISP) CISF scheme -- the rush job NRC did 18 months ago will suffice, according to the industry-captured regulatory agency.

(WCS/ISP's application has been suspended for over a year due to the company's bankruptcy, but a few months ago, its new ownership indicated to NRC it now wants to proceed.) Apparently, Beyond Nuclear and allies will now face an October 29, 2018 deadline for legally intervening against WCS/ISF's CISF, just six short weeks after the Holtec/ELEA CISF legal intervention deadline! This isn't a David versus Goliath struggle -- this is David versus Two Goliaths, simultaneously!

If constructed and opened, the WCS/ISP CISF in Texas would launch large numbers of high-risk shipments of highly radioactive waste, by road, rail, and/or waterway, through most states, many major cities, and the vast majority of U.S. congressional districts, taking place regularly, over not years but decades. (See maps, above right, prepared by SEED Coalition and Public Citizen Texas Office.) The same would be true if the Holtec/ELEA CISF were to open in New Mexico, and/or if the Yucca Mountain, Nevada burial dump-site on Western Shoshone Indian land were to open. When it comes to radioactive waste transportation, we all live in Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada!   

 

What can YOU do to prevent unnecessary high-level radioactive waste transport and dump risks? Get YOUR city, county, and state to pass resolutions against Mobile Chernobyls and dumps, like Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump has done with gusto against OPG's insane scheme. You can also contact your U.S. Representative, and both your U.S. Senators, and urge them to oppose authorizing and appropriations bills that would open unsuitable, environmentally unjust dumps, and launch unnecessary shipments. You can also be patched through to your Members of Congress's D.C. offices, via the Capitol Switchboard, at (202) 224-3121, and request (working with your group, friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, etc.) in-district, face-to-face meetings on these issues, while your Congress Members are back home for August recess and the Labor Day holiday. To learn more about the risks, and what YOU can do, visit Beyond Nuclear's Centralized Storage, Waste Transportation, and other Radioactive Waste website sections.

Update on September 17, 2018 by admin

On August 31, 2018, NRC announced another round of public comment opportunity, open until October 19, 2018.

As announced by NRC:

You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

·         Federal Rulemaking website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0231. Address questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-9127; email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.

·         Mail comments to: May Ma, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

·         Email Comments to: You may email scoping comments to the Project's email address: WCS_CISF_EIS@nrc.gov.

However, due to serious past problems with Regulations.gov, we urge folks to submit their comments to the email address given immediately above, and hold onto your SEND copy as a receipt of your comments.