Federal Commission Hears Intervenor Arguments in High-Level Nuclear Waste Proposal
Statement of Adrian Shelley, Director, Public Citizen’s Texas Office
Note: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will conduct a hearing in Midland, Texas today to consider applications by Public Citizen and others to offer intervening arguments in a case that would send at least 40,000 tons of the nation’s most deadly nuclear reactor waste to Andrews County, Texas. It would be transported to Texas from sites across the country, posing risks from accidents, leaks and sabotage. The initial applicant, Waste Control Specialists, has declined to say where the shipments would travel except that they would be transported on class one rail routes. The NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will decide which parties have standing in the case, and which contentions they will accept for further consideration.
No Texan, and no American, wants deadly and toxic nuclear waste transported through their backyard. Greed and corporate profits are driving this proposal that would put our children and families at serious risk.
We urge the board to consider the expert testimony that lawyers from Public Citizen and others opposed to this deeply flawed plan will raise in Midland this week.
In the meantime, we urge citizens to speak out against the proposal to dump nuclear waste in Texas by writing to their congressional and state representatives.