ML20269A127

Comment (4595) E-mail Regarding Holtec-CISF Draft EIS

ML20269A127
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: ML20269A127 (3)

Text

From: Protecting NM From All Things Nuclear

<protectnewmexico@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2020 11:05 PM To: Holtec-CISFEIS Resource Cc: Cynthia Weehler

Subject:

[External_Sender] Docket ID NRC-2018-0052 Draft Environmental Impact Statement Comment

Dear NRC Staff,

The following comments were transcribed from the video recording of the Peoples Hearing held by the Nuclear Issues Study Group on Wednesday, September 16, 2020 (Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfCBsXCQyOU). These written comments are being submitted with the consent of the commenters. The transcription was made possible by the work of the Nuclear Issues Study Group volunteers.

Comment sent on behalf of:

CYNTHIA WEEHLER It's nice to see some familiar faces, and it's really nice to see a whole lot of unfamiliar faces. And I mean Kai, you just said it. I'm just shocked at how many people don't know about this, and it's not their fault. It's just hard to find this stuff out. So just quickly, I'm Cindy Weehler. I live in Santa Fe, and grew up in Roswell. Just a few of the issues that I kind of want to go over and not take too much time is this, the plan for transporting that high level radioactive waste should be intricately planned and spelled out, and it is not.

Holtec in the DEIS spends some time describing the small impact that employees will have as they are going to work and and back home but barely mentions the 40 years of shipments on the rails that are going to be going through 44 states. The railroad infrastructure, a 2017 study by the American Society of Civil Engineers gives our infrastructure a grade of D+ overall, and they want to be carrying this waste on that system. [Moderator speaks.] This is reckless and risky to use an infrastructure thats in such poor shape. Much of the fuel is high burn-up fuel and thats not discussed in the DEIS at all. High burn-up fuel is not your grandparents nuclear waste. Its a different kind. Its much hotter both thermally and radioactively. Its much harder on canisters and much more likely to well, i dont know, i dont want to say what its more likely to do because Im not sure. But it is, it definitely puts more stress on canisters and weakens them. And the thin-walled canisters that Holtec wants to use are almost always scratched every time theyre moved and thats according to the NRC. The canisters are predicted to last for around 20 to 25 years although some have already been found cracked at 16 years. And if they want to keep this facility open for 40 years but the canisters are only really expected to last for 20 or 25 years, how are they planning on repackaging that. They dont mention it in the DEIS. They dont have a hot cell anywhere on site where they could do that. So, its really not well thought out.

Monitoring of radiation from the site is inadequate. I dont know what would happen if

there were a release and there were a radioactive cloud going towards Roswell, or Carlsbad, or El Paso. I think if the NRC had surveyed populations within those areas that might be contaminated, they would have found that not many people would agree to being unwittingly tested. And the fact that Holtec repeatedly states the claim that the impacts of the facility on the surrounding environment would be small" it strains credulity. These comments are just a fraction of the flaws in the DEIS. With so many flaws there will inevitably be accidents on a project this dangerous over this many years.

Id like to quote Dr. Jonas Salk who was the inventor of the polio vaccine. And he said, Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors. And i cant imagine Kris Singh or John Heaton caring about their ancestors, but i can imagine someone at the NRC willing to question the flaws, give credit to the people who stand to lose so much from this project, and speak up. And to them I want to say, we we need your courage now and your ancestors need you now. Thank you.

Nuclear Issues Study Group www.fb.com/NuclearIssuesStudyGroup

Federal Register Notice: 85FR16150 Comment Number: 4595 Mail Envelope Properties (09F2E099-8219-4A43-82D5-897AF78CDD0E)

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