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« Opponents of nuke site near Carlsbad call for delay on permitting amid COVID-19 outbreak | Main | NM's U.S. congressional delegation urges NRC to postpone Holtec CISF DEIS meetings, extend public comment deadline »
Wednesday
Mar252020

50 environmental & EJ groups urge NRC to indefinitely extend Holtec CISF DEIS public comment period till after pandemic emergency, add meetings across country

A coalition of 50 environmental and environmental justice groups has written the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regarding Holtec International's proposed Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) for irradiated nuclear fuel targeting New Mexico. See the letter, here.

The coalition urges NRC to:

indefinitely extend, for the duration of the national COVID-19 pandemic emergency, the ongoing public comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Holtec CISF planned for development in Lea County, New Mexico. At the formal termination of the national emergency as declared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), we request that the public comment period be extended for a period of 199 days. We further request that when in-person hearings again become possible that the NRC conduct plenary-style public hearings in 5 already- proposed cities in New Mexico as well as in each of 18 other cities listed later in this letter.

The 199-day public comment period (as opposed to NRC's current 60-day public comment period, set to end on May 22, 2020), and 23 public comment meetings in a dozen states, would match the U.S. Department of Energy's public comment proceeding at the DEIS phase of the proposed Yucca Mountain, Nevada permanent repository scheme, targeted at Western Shoshone Indian lands.

The environmental coalition letter comes five days after the entire New Mexico U.S. congressional delegation wrote NRC, also urging public comment meetings across the Land of Enchantment be delayed until after the pandemic emergency ends, and the public comment period be held open until after the in-person meetings are held.

Of the 50 groups on the NGO letter, 7 are from NM: Alliance for Environmental Strategies (AFES); Citizen Action New Mexico; Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety; Indigenous Rights Center; Multi-Cultural Alliance for Safe Energy; Nuclear Issues Study Group (NISG); and Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter.

Of these, AFES, NISG, and Sierra Club officially intervened against Holtec's CISF.

Terry Lodge, an attorney based in Toledo, Ohio, represents seven grassroots environmental groups nationwide (including NISG), which have officially intervened in the NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board proceedings in opposition to the Holtec CISF.

Regarding the coalition letter to NRC, Lodge said: "The NRC's official position, that tens of thousands of extremely dangerous radioactive waste shipments are not even worth discussing in a scientific and public manner, is a dramatic red flag. There is zero justification to rush this ill-considered cash cow to licensing. The NRC must not be allowed to take advantage of the pandemic to ramrod a decision in the shadows."

Beyond Nuclear is also an official intervenor in the NRC ASLB proceedings, opposed to Holtec's CISF.

DateMarch 25, 2020 | Print ArticlePrint Article | |