Opponents gird for nuclear waste dump battles in Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas

Political cartoon by Jim Day that appeared in the Las Vegas Review Journal in 2010The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has extended the deadline for public comments on the environmental scoping of Waste Control Specialists' proposed centralized interim storage facility for commercial irradiated nuclear fuel in Andrews County, Texas until April 28th. Please submit comments! You can also make oral comments, on Thurs., April 6 from 7 to 10pm Eastern, during an NRC public comment teleconference/call-in meeting (Bridge Number: (800) 619-9084, Pass Code: 3009542; please register in advance by contacting Ms. Antoinette Walker-Smith at (301) 415-6957, or by email (to <antoinette.walker-smith@nrc.gov>) no later than April 3, 2017.) Please spread the word on these public comment opportunities!

NRC has also just extended the deadline for legal intervention against the WCS de facto permanent high-level radioactive waste parking lot dump, till May 31st; Beyond Nuclear fully intends to intervene, along with a coalition of environmental groups and concerned citizens, not only residing near the dump, but also along transport routes throughout the country.

The Yucca Mountain, Nevada radioactive waste dump zombie is again stirring (see political cartoon, above left; be sure to count the toes!), as: the Trump administration has budgeted $120 million to resurrect its long cancelled licensing proceeding; Energy Secretary Perry made a surprise, secret trip to the site; and congressional Republicans attempt to "Screw Nevada" (the most common name for the 1987 law that singled out Yucca Mountain, despite its already documented scientific unsuitability, and environmental injustice). However, the State of Nevada, its congressional delegation, environmental watchdogs, and the Western Shoshone Indian Nation are girding for battle -- Beyond Nuclear, and a thousand environmental/justice groups nationwide, will stand with them, as we have for three decades. See Nevada's and Beyond Nuclear's websites for more information, and ways to take action.  

(And this late breaking news: Holtec International has just applied to NRC for a Centralized Interim Storage Facility (CISF) construction and operation license in Eddy-Lea County, Southeastern New Mexico -- just like WCS, TX, and only about 50 miles away! Combined with the Louisiana Energy Services/Uranium Enrichment Corporation, immediately adjacent to WCS, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP, for military trans-uranic waste disposal), close to the Holtec/Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance CISF, the nuclear establishment in government and industry is clearly attempting to turn the area into a nuclear sacrifice zone. Our coalition must rise to the challenge of resisting this latest environmental injustice. Stay tuned for updates as they come in, in the weeks and months ahead.)