ML20044G598
| ML20044G598 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Claiborne |
| Issue date: | 05/11/1993 |
| From: | Compinsky D AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | Selin I, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9306030370 | |
| Download: ML20044G598 (1) | |
Text
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Dorothy Compinsky~
2717 Arizona Ave. #5 Santa Monica, CA 90404 Ivan Selin, Chairman United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.
20555-p@7V
Dear Mr. Selin,
The uranium enrichment plant which Louisiana Energy Services proposes to build in Homer, Louisiana,_near-Forest' Grove and Center Springs, should 1191 be constructed.-
Residents of these low-income, predominantly black communities are adamantly opposed to the facility because it poses very significant environmental and safety threats to the area.. The LES plant would convert natural uranium into fuel (U-235) for r
nuclear power reactors, in the process creating 4,000. tons of j
radioactive U-238 waste each year.
U-238 remains hazardous for i
millions of years.
The. waste would probably.beLstored on the i
plant's 450-acre site.
Pollr. ting water from the plant'would be
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discharged into the Lake Clairborne watershed, affecting lccal-l wells relied on for drinking water.
Uranium'hexarl.uoride used in the plant's centrifuges would, if accidentally released, mix with air to create a deadly cloud of hydrogen fluoride.
I i
The need for this dangerous project.is questionable.
Currently, l
the Department of Energy operates enrichment-plants that are only j
operating at 50% of capacity, and producing enriched uranium at a i
lower cost than that to be produced by LES. _There is currently a worldwide overcapacity for producing enriched uranium.
The proposal to locate this plant near low-income, black communities smacks very strongly of environmental re.cism.
l According to a 1987 study'by the United Church of Christ's-Commission for' Racial Justice, an overwhelming proportion of toxic waste sites, incinerators, and hazardous chemical _and industrial operations are' sited in poor, minority communities.
I LES also plans to close and reroute the only road that services i
Forest Grove and Center Springs.
1 Considering the local opposition, the questionable need for this l
facility, the significant threat to the health and safety _of the I
community, and the massive amounts.of nuclear waste to be
.j produced, I strongly urge you to deny'LES' application to i
construct this facility.
I also urge.you to look very closely at the role that environmental racism may.have played'in the decision to site this plant in Homer.
270057' Host sincerely, h
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