ML20044G602
| ML20044G602 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Claiborne |
| Issue date: | 05/11/1993 |
| From: | Mirabella W AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | Selin I, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9306030376 | |
| Download: ML20044G602 (1) | |
Text
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[M ;O W2ndi Mircbelin g
834 Huntley Dr. #2 West Hollywood, CA 90069 Ivan Selin, Chairman United States. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Jpr/8 Washington, D.C. 20555
Dear Mr. Selin,
The uranium enrichment plant which Louisiana Energy Services proposes to build'in Homer, Louisiana, near Forest Grove and Center Springs, should Ep1 be constructed.
i 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 nuclear power reactorc, in the process creating 4,000 tons'of-l radioactive U-238 waste each year.
U-238 remains hazardous for millions of years.
The waste would probably be stored on'the plant's 450-acre site.
Polluting water from the plant would be discharged into the Lake clairborne watershed, affecting local j
~
wells relied on for drinking water.
Uranium hexafluoride used in the plant's centrifuges would, if accidentally released, mix with air to create a deadly cloud of-hydrogen fluoride.
The need for this dangerous project is questionable.
Currently,.
the Department of Energy operates enrichment' plants thatlare only l
operating at 50% of capacity, and producing enriched uranium at a j
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 racism.
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.
LES also plans to close and reroute.the only road that services Forest Grove and Center Springs.
Considering the local opposition, the questionable need for this facility, the significant threat to the health and safety of the community, and the massive amounts of nuclear waste to'be produced, I strongly-urge you to deny LES'-application.to 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.-
Most sincerely,
/
Wendi~Mirabella 9306030376 930511 1 9 PDR ADDCK 07003070 C
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