ML20045B425
| ML20045B425 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Claiborne |
| Issue date: | 06/17/1993 |
| From: | Whitcomb S AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | Selin I, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9306170339 | |
| Download: ML20045B425 (1) | |
Text
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N8 Susanne Whitcomb 1
6320 Jerseydale Rd.
Mariposa, CA 95338 Ivan Selin, Chairman United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission 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 g y e constructed.
Residents of these low-income, predominantly black communities are ad9mangym pposed,to the facility because it poses very o
signi$1 cant environmental and safety $hreatsnto the area.
The LES plant would convert natural uranium into fuel (U-235) for nuclear power reactors, in the process creating 4,000 tons of 1
radioactive U-238 waste each year.
U-238 remainschazardous for mil 1-ionsrofsyears.u The waste would probably be stored on the pldhEls 450-acre site.
Pollutingewater from the plant would be discharged *intb*ths"take Clairborne watershed, affecting local 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 that are only operating at 50% of capacity, and producing enriched uranium at a 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 oftenvironmentalrracisar" 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 cignificant threat to the health and safety of the community, and the massive amounts of nuclear waste to be produced, I stronglyeurge+you tordeny*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, Susanne Whitcomb 150115 9306170339 930617 i
PDR ADOCK 07003070 f
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