ML20267A647

Comment (4382) E-mail Regarding Holtec-CISF Draft EIS

ML20267A647
Person / Time
Site:	HI-STORE
Issue date:	09/22/2020
From:	Public Commenter Public Commenter
To:	NRC/NMSS/DREFS
NRC/NMSS/DREFS
References
85FR16150
Download: ML20267A647 (3)

Text

From: Joyce Falcone <falcone.joyce@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2020 1:06 PM To: Holtec-CISFEIS Resource

Subject:

[External_Sender] Docket ID NRC-2018-0052 public comment Public comment re: Docket ID NRC-2018-0052 Sept. 22, 2020 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Holtec interim waste disposal project that utterly fails to meet its mandate.

New Mexico has long hosted toxic industrial and military experiments that have taken a breathtaking toll on the health of its residents, notably communities of color. Adding to that list with a poorly-conceived, politically expedient waste disposal project that neither addresses safe disposal nor protects populations and resources would be a tragic mistake.

I am particularly galled by the flawed concept of interim storage that depends on some entity in the future to come back and remove the waste decades later. I do not have faith in any government agency, corporate interest, or collaboration between the two to honor this plan. Instead I see the waste languishing and leaking.

I do not consent to this vision for our state! We are not the throwaway lands, the sacrifice zone, the poor state that will say yes to any toxic experiment in the name of job creation. (Incidentally, this project creates laughably scant employment for that tired argument to be trotted out again.)

The DEIS should, to comply with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, have fully addressed cumulative impacts on health and resources from decades of sloppy nuclear-materials practices. As citizens, we have educated ourselves about: the Rio Puerco tailings spill; Trinity detonation long-term exposure in the Tularosa Basin; Native uranium miners health problems never addressed nor their ruined lands compensated for; contemporary (and inevitable future) releases from WIPP; decades of liquid effluent from LANL weapons production sucked up into the trees in the canyons surrounding Los Alamos and released as airborne contamination during the Cerro Grande and Las Conchas fires; contaminants released from Kirtland Air Force Base and the Mixed Waste Landfill into the aquifer which serves Albuquerque, our most populous city; the list goes on and on. Recently we have learned of radioactive wastewater from fracking operations being used for dust control on roads that people unknowingly drive over, adding to their lifetime exposure.

The DEIS should have fully investigated the risks of rail transportation of the waste from spent fuel rods across numerous states. These risks would obviously include accidents, container failure, terrorism, or weather events. The damage to our environment, wildlife, cultural resources and economy can hardly be estimated were a breach to occur during transportation.

Beyond Nuclears excellent comments:

Finally, under current U.S. law, this project is illegal. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as Amended, does not allow the federal government to take title to the high-level radioactive waste (commercial irradiated nuclear fuel) until a permanent geologic repository is operating. Legally, the license cannot be issued until a permanent repository is operating.

Deny this license.

Its time to defer to the current thinking of most informed nuclear scientists: that on-site storage, suitably protected, places the public at far lower risk than transporting waste across the country to an unsound facility.

Thank you for your consideration.

Joyce Falcone Bernardsville, NJ USA Falcone.joyce@gmail.com

Federal Register Notice: 85FR16150 Comment Number: 4382 Mail Envelope Properties (0D7A9ABB-86F0-4D2E-8A1D-275004B1DE8D)

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