By Cyrus Reed
In the United States, there are nearly one hundred nuclear reactors in nuclear power plants operating in 30 states. These power plants produce both low and high-level radioactive waste. From highly radioactive fuel rods to used medical and cleaning supplies that have been exposed to radiation, nuclear power plants produce waste that continues to be dangerous for hundreds and even thousands of years.
For many years, the long term plan for the high-level nuclear waste that the US has already produced was to store it in Nevada at a site called Yucca Mountain. Due to political opposition from a variety of stakeholders and questions of safety, that plan has been delayed indefinitely and thus the question of where to permanently store the waste has been left unanswered.
Meanwhile, in West Texas, a company called Waste Control Specialists (WCS), which already has a license to store low-level nuclear waste, is jumping at the chance to oversee the storage of all that high-level waste -- for at least 50 years. The opportunistic company -- just as they did on low-level waste, on depleted uranium, on DOE low-level waste and on basically any kind of “lower than Class C” radioactive waste from all over the country -- essentially plans to take the waste over our highways and potentially our railways, store it for 50 years or so, then ship it somewhere else, increasing the opportunities for spills, accidents, terrorist attacks and leaks.
Just days after Donald Trump became President, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced that the agency had administratively accepted a proposal by Waste Control Specialists, to store “high-level” nuclear radioactive waste -- 5,000 metric tons of “spent” uranium from nuclear power plants.
According to the NRC, the agency’s review will proceed on two parallel tracks – one on safety issues, the other on environmental issues. Both the safety and environmental reviews must be completed before the NRC makes a final licensing decision on the application.
Our perspective
While there may be individual cases where interim storage makes sense, the WCS plan to import the most dangerous of all radioactive waste and dump it on poor communities on the Texas/New Mexico border is representative of environmental racism and creates the risk of accidents, terrorism, and potential contamination along the transport routes throughout the country. The WCS location is close to the Ogallala Aquifer, the nation’s largest aquifer, that lies beneath eight states, as well as the Dockum Aquifer which serves agricultural needs in New Mexico. A single train car load with dry casks of radioactive waste would contain as much plutonium as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Needless to say, water and radioactive waste do not mix.
We are also concerned that WCS will get all the profit and later leave Texans facing any clean up costs -- similar to the looming disaster by abandoned and unplugged oil and gas wells. Then there is the site itself. WCS operations contain many different waste streams, equipment, and trucks -- all activities occurring in the same area, which is also next to a municipal trash operation, oil and gas development, and gravel pits. All these activities involve truck traffic and potential accidents. The town of Eunice, New Mexico is only about three miles away.
A state report, the Assessment of Texas’ High-Level Radioactive Waste Storage Options, says that "spent nuclear fuel is more vulnerable to sabotage or accidents during transport than in storage because there are fewer security guards and engineered barriers, and that the consequences could be higher since the waste could travel through large cities." All of the spent nuclear fuel would travel over major highways in Texas and New Mexico in close proximity to major population centers.
Where you come in -- Attend public hearings on proposal to turn West Texas into a high-level nuclear waste site
The NRC will hold two public meetings near the site of the proposed facility to take public comments on the scope of the environmental review. The meetings will be held
- 7-10 p.m. Mountain Time, Feb. 13, at the Lea County Event Center, 5101 N. Lovington Highway, in Hobbs, N.M.
- 7-10 p.m. Central Time, Feb. 15, at the James Roberts Center, 855 TX-176, in Andrews, Texas.
Anyone interested in attending or speaking is encouraged to pre-register by calling 301-415-6957 no later than three days prior to the meeting. The public may also register in person at each meeting. The time allowed for each speaker may be limited, depending on the number of registered speakers.
What if you can’t go?
The NRC will be taking public comment on the proposal through March 13th. Written comments on the EIS scope should refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0231. Comments will be made publicly available and should not include identifying or personal information you do not wish to be disclosed. Comments can be filed via the federal rulemaking website; or by mail to Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: OWFN-12 H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.