Federal government discloses it already shipped plutonium to Nevada, without state’s knowledge or consent
January 30th, 2019
Federal officials have disclosed that they shipped radioactive plutonium to Nevada in spite of the state’s vehement opposition to the idea and concerns that doing so would be a slippery slope to opening the state up to further nuclear waste dumping.
In a federal court filing on Wednesday, National Nuclear Security Administration General Counsel Bruce Diamond stated that the agency sent about half a metric ton of the substance sometime before November 2018, prior to Nevada suing over the proposed move. The transfer was done after a U.S. District Court in South Carolina ordered the material be removed from that state.
Gov. Steve Sisolak accused the government of lying to the state and said he was irate over the move, which was first reported by national defense reporter Dan Leone.
The Most Dangerous and Deadly Radioactive Waste Could Come Through Major Texas Cities and Be Dumped on West Texas
The Public Can Speak Out Until November 19th Against Plan to Dump the Most Dangerous of All Radioactive Waste in West Texas; Public Involvement Has Stopped Risky Waste Dumps Before
November 16, 2018
Austin – The most dangerous radioactive waste in the nation may be dumped in West Texas if a license is granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This waste could be coming from more than 100 nuclear reactors around the country. The NRC is accepting public comments on this license until November 19th Members of the public can send an editable letter here.
Waste Control Specialists (WCS) seeks to store 40,000 tons of irradiated reactor fuel rods at their existing low-level radioactive waste site for 40 years, although their application says that the waste could remain "until a permanent repository is found." In other words, we could get stuck with it forever, at inadequate site that isn’t designed for the long-term. A de facto permanent disposal facility could be created for deadly waste that must remain isolated from people and the environment for literally a million years. Exposure to radiation can cause cancer, genetic damage and birth defects. Exposure to unshielded high-level radioactive waste is lethal.
On Tuesday, November 12, the conservative Midland City Council approved a resolution (6-0) opposing consolidated interim storage or permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste in West Texas and New Mexico or the transportation of this radioactive waste through or around the corporate limits of the City of Midland. Read the Press Release….
- Read the Press Release 11/16/18
- Federal Radioactive Sites With Leaks – Can You Trust the Federal Government to Protect Your Community Against Contamination from Radioactive Waste? (Fact Sheet)
- Summary of Petition to Invervene
Protect Texas from Radioactive Waste Tour – Thanks to all who participated! Sept. 24th – Oct. 1st
The Protect Texas from Radioactive Waste Tour visited major cities across the state with an inflatable full-scale mock radioactive waste transport cask. We held press conferences at railroad crossings where the radioactive waste could travel and hosted community meetings. The tour kicked off in Houston on Sept. 24, and then traveled to San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, Midland and Andrews, wrapping up on Oct. 1st. We were joined by friends and allies across the state. Many people are now in motion, organizing locally to halt high-level radioactive waste plans that endangers their community.
The tour was sponsored by SEED Coalition, Public Citizen, Beyond Nuclear and NIRS – Nuclear Information and Resource Services. Sierra Club members and local organizations joined in. Special guest, Kerstin Rudek, shared the successful experiences of her community’s fight against radioactive waste in Gorleben Germany.
A Texas waste storage plan is back. So is the opposition
September 11, 2018 Edward Klump, E&E News reporter
A proposal to send used nuclear fuel to West Texas didn’t end last year, but it did stall during a trip to corporate purgatory.
Now a joint venture called Interim Storage Partners LLC has the plan moving forward again. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently restarted its review of a consolidated interim storage application for a site in Andrews County, Texas. And the NRC staff’s safety, security and environmental reviews could be finished in summer 2020.
Critics are worried about what’s brewing. They’re asking questions and hoping for more public meetings. Some would like to halt the project. One of the chief opponents knows the proposal won’t be easy to stop, but she’s working to rally Texans and others against the plan.