No radioactive waste on Native American lands!

In his public comments at their first meeting, Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps urged Energy Secretary Chu's "Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future" to "put a stop, once and for all, to the shameful history of targeting Native American communities and lands with radioactive waste dumps." Kevin thanked President Obama and Secretary Chu for the tremendous environmental justice victory represented by their wise decision to cancel the Yucca Mountain dumpsite proposal targeted at Western Shoshone Indian lands at Yucca Mountain in Nevada (pictured at left through the frame of a Western Shoshone sweat lodge, 2004 photo courtesy of Gabriela Bulisova), and honored Native American leaders such as Corbin Harney and Grace Thorpe, who devoted their lives to stopping radioactive waste dumps targeted at Native lands. In 2005, along with Pubilc Citizen, Kevin documented the history of this radioactive racism, including at Skull Valley Goshutes in Utah. Nearly 450 groups unsuccessfully petitioned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission against licensing the Private Fuel Storage "parking lot dump," but thanks to the tireless efforts of Skull Valley traditionals like Margene Bullcreek and Sammy Blackbear, it was ultimately blocked.