Updated action alert, extended sign-on deadline, re: Request to Withdraw, Revise and Re-Publish Request for Information on Using a Consent-Based Siting Process to Identify Federal Interim Storage Facilities, 86 Fed. Reg. 68,244 (Dec. 1, 2021)
February 11, 2022
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Thank you very much to the following organizations and individuals who have already signed-on to this letter --

Organizations: Beyond Nuclear; Citizens Awareness Network; Citizens Resistance at Fermi Two; Council on Intelligent Energy & Conservation Policy; Don’t Waste Arizona; Earthkeeper Health Resources; Hudson River Sloop Clearwater; Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment; National Nuclear Workers for Justice; Northeastern New Mexicans United Against Nuclear Waste; Nuclear Energy Information Service; Nuclear Information and Resource Service; Nuclear Watch South; Nukewatch; On Behalf of Planet Earth; Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security; Southwest Research and Information Center; Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance.

Individuals: Alice Evans; Stephanie Bilenko; Kathleen Russell.

Beyond Nuclear's legal counsel, Diane Curran, has drafted a letter to DOE, re: Request to Withdraw, Revise and Re-Publish Request for Information on Using a Consent-Based Siting Process to Identify Federal Interim Storage Facilities, 86 Fed. Reg. 68,244 (Dec. 1, 2021)

See the text of the request letter, here.

In short, the letter requests DOE start this public comment proceeding over again, because its rollout has been so fatally flawed thus far. The letter requests a re-do: withdrawal, revision, and re-publication of the Request for Information.

Diane Curran and Beyond Nuclear are seeking endorsements from other organizations and individuals. Please consider signing onto this letter with us. The sign on deadline has now been extended, till Monday, February 14th, at 12pm Noon Eastern Time.

To sign on as an organization, please send your complete contact information to <kevin@beyondnuclear.org>.

Native American NGOs in particular are encouraged to consider signing on. This is because DOE has the responsibility, under law, to undertake government-to-government consultation with Native American tribal governments, and has utterly failed to do so adequately in this proceeding. In this regard, DOE is repeating its own past, infamous environmental justice violations, when it targeted scores of Native American reservations with Monitored Retrievable Storage sites, now called Consolidated Interim Storage Facilities.

Also, re: the section labeled DESCRIPTION OF BEYOND NUCLEAR AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS REQUESTING EXTENSION, please include a short summary about the following:

DESCRIBE NAME AND PURPOSE OF ORGANIZATION, ANY INVOLVEMENT ORGANIZATION HAS HAD IN THIS PROCESS OR RELATED PROCESSES – SUCH AS SUBMISSION OF COMMENTS ON 2015 FED. REG. NOTICE, COMMENTS ON 2017 DRAFT REPORT, PARTICIPATION IN MEETINGS, ANYTHING ELSE?

Here is how Beyond Nuclear has answered that question, to serve as a model in writing your own group's description:

Beyond Nuclear is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abolish both to protect public health and safety, prevent environmental harms, and safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an end to the production of nuclear waste and for securing the existing reactor waste in hardened on-site storage until it can be permanently disposed of in a safe, sound, and suitable underground repository. For more than 10 years, Beyond Nuclear has worked toward its mission by regularly intervening in U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) licensing proceedings for the proposed Holtec International and Interim Storage Partners, L.L.C. (“ISP) consolidated interim storage facilities. Beyond Nuclear has appealed NRC’s issuance of the ISP license for violating the Nuclear Waste Policy Act in Don’t Waste Michigan, et al. v. NRC, No. 21-1048. The case is pending.

ANY AND ALL involvement in past related proceedings is helpful for including in your group's description.

Individuals who would like to endorse this letter are also welcome to do so. Please email <kevin@beyondnuclear.org> by the extended deadline -- 12pm Noon ET, Mon., Feb. 14. Please include your name and full contact info., as well as a short summary of any past involvement in related proceedings, as well.

Thanks for considering signing onto this! Please spread the word!

Article originally appeared on Beyond Nuclear (https://archive.beyondnuclear.org/).
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