Below is an article that was posted on the Tennesseean.com website on November 22nd. We are not paying attention while this type of thing is happening.
I often speak at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's hearings when they take public comment on nuclear related issues. They need to hear from more people in order for us to protect ourselves from this type of situation.
Please require that your member of Congress demand that this insanity ends. None of us are safe with this type of thing going on. Demand that no new licenses be issued until the waste that we already have in this country is dealt with. We have not disposed of the very first nuclear waste that we generated over 50 years ago and we are going to give out licenses so that we can accept it from other countries????
Write and call the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, any Congressional Committee dealing with nuclear issues, energy, waste, transportation, our ports, health & safety, your local, state, and federal representatives and be very clear that we will not accept this. Fill their phone lines and inboxes with your concerns about the licensing of this process. Don't let this precedent be set.
Dick Cheney and his secret deals and secret meetings with his energy industry friends is selling us down the river in a canoe with no ores, headed directly toward a barge carrying foreign nuclear waste.
We can't let them do this to us without our voices being heard. They may have more money, but we have more people, more voices. Make your voice heard on this issue. Remember in Dr. Suisse's Horton Hears a Who it took that one extra voice, that one small voice to proclaim; "We Are Here, We Are Here!". We must exercise and exert our collective will.
Please read the article below and get on the phone and on email to those listed above.
Peace,
Dianne
Thursday, 11/22/07
Firm wants to process overseas nuke waste in Tennessee
Associated Press
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A company that disposes of radioactive nuclear waste by burying it wants to ship 20,000 tons of the material from overseas through ports in Charleston and New Orleans, raising fears because of the large amount.
EnergySolutions Inc. wants to ship about 200,000 cubic feet of waste into the United States, process it in Tennessee before burying it at a site in Clive, Utah, where the company is based.
"That's a lot of waste," said Arjun Makhijani, executive director of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, a nuclear watchdog group.
"As far as I know, it's unprecedented for such a large amount to come to this country for disposal."
In a statement Tuesday, EnergySolutions argued that licenses had been grantedto companies that import radioactive items from France and the Czech Republic.
The company also said it is a leader in safe handling and disposal of radioactive materials.
However, two congressmen wrote in a letter to federal regulators who will ultimately decide if the material can be shipped to the U.S. that EnergySolutions had not said exactly where the waste would come from, other than "reactors, fuel cycle facilities, research facilities, and material licenses or facilities equivalent to U.S. Superfund sites."
Limits may be exceeded
Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Ed Whitfield, R-Kentucky, also argued that some of the waste could exceed federal radiation limits, meaning it would not be allowed to enter the country and would have to be shipped back to Italy.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman David McIntyre said the agency will begin taking public comments on EnergySolutions' application soon.
The approval process typically takes six months.
EnergySolutions, which handles radioactive waste for hospitals, universities and companies, has operated a nuclear waste landfill site in South Carolina since 1971.
But under legislation passed earlier this year, that landfill will close to all but three states next year — South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut.
If EnergySolutions gets approval, it's not clear where the materials would be unloaded in Charleston.
"We don't handle any radioactive materials," said Byron Miller, spokesman for the State Ports Authority.
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