BEYOND NUCLEAR PRESS STATEMENT, by Diane Curran, Legal Counsel (2pm, Midland, TX press conference [see full coalition's press release here]):
My name is Diane Curran, I am an attorney representing Beyond Nuclear. This project is one company’s unlawful and unfair strategy to get a leg up over other competing businesses in this region and position itself to make high-level, extremely dangerous radioactive waste storage the principal business activity, instead of agriculture or oil and gas exploration. The applicant for this license presumes the federal government will take title to the highly radioactive spent fuel to be transported and stored at the proposed facility. But federal law prohibits the government from owning spent fuel unless and until a permanent repository is in place. No permanent repository exists or is even under review at this point. Therefore, the NRC shouldn’t be considering this license application at all.
Why does this matter to the people in this region? Because ISP does not plan to go forward with building a spent fuel storage facility unless and until Congress changes the law to shift liability for the project from the company to the federal government. The company is prepared to bide its time, betting that the law will be changed to favor its proposed waste dump. All this watching and waiting will be at your expense, because lawful businesses in this area will have to operate under a dark cloud of anticipation that this area will become a high-level radioactive waste dump with all of the adverse effects on agriculture, oil and gas exploration, and property values. At the hearing tomorrow we will bring these arguments before the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and urge them to dismiss this unlawful application.