ML20303A282
| ML20303A282 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Consolidated Interim Storage Facility |
| Issue date: | 10/29/2020 |
| From: | Public Commenter Public Commenter |
| To: | NRC/NMSS/DREFS |
| NRC/NMSS/DREFS | |
| References | |
| 85FR27447 | |
| Download: ML20303A282 (3) | |
Text
From:
John Barnes <jbarnes107@gmail.com>
Sent:
Thursday, October 29, 2020 11:37 AM To:
WCS_CISFEIS Resource
Subject:
[External_Sender] Docket No. 72-1050 (NRC-2016-0231)
Comment: Halt Licensing of this Proposal I join Texas Governor Greg Abbott in requesting the rejection of the license for the proposed Interim Storage Partners(ISP) high-level nuclear waste (HLW) interim storage repository in Andrews, Texas. I do not want Texas to be the nations HLW repository, particularly one owned by a private limited liability company with ties to France, a major producer of HLW. I also do not want high level nuclear waste (HLW) traveling through Tarrant County, Texas, for the reasons stated below.
I request that, at a minimum, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hold in-person public hearings along the proposed transportation routes, including one in Tarrant County, Texas, once COVID-19 is under control. This would mean delaying the comment period for ISP from November 3, 2020, to allow for adequate public input on the transportation issues associated with this proposal. At present, most residents and elected officials in Tarrant County have no idea that high-level nuclear waste might be transported on their railroad tracks, because the current Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) ignores the impact the transportation of high-level nuclear waste (HLW) would have on communities along the likely rail routes.
ISP proposes to store over 40,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) over a 20-year period, which translates into 400 casks being transported each year.
A significant portion of the HLW that the ISP facility would store would probably travel on the Union Pacific rail lines. The NRC defines the exposed population as a band approximately 0.5 miles on either side of the transportation route (the Union Pacific railroad tracks), in part because the containers continuously emit a small amount of radioactivity, and even minor accidents, slow-moving rail cars, or stopped rail cars, would increase emissions.
The Union Pacific Railroad tracks run through the middle of Tarrant County, from east to west and from north to south. The tracks on the east and south sides of downtown Fort Worth are within one-half mile of parts of downtown Fort Worth, including the Tarrant County Convention Center and Fort Worth City Hall.
Union Pacifics Davidson Yard, Southwest of downtown Fort Worth, borders a large natural gas well site and the Clear Fork of the Trinity River (a major water supply). Well-used trails border the river and the railyard. Upscale apartments, homes, Colonial Country Club, and commercial uses are within one-half mile of the yard.
The Arlington main library, Arlington City Hall, Arlington Police Headquarters, Watauga library, Watauga City Hall, and nineteen schools lie within 0.5 mile of the tracks, along with numerous residential, industrial, and commercial uses. The rail route through urban Tarrant County has many at-grade street crossings. These include one in front of the Arlington Library and one at Sylvania Avenue in North Fort Worth that is less than 100 yards from a natural gas tank farm.
The nuclear waste rail cars are readily identifiable, given their huge dumbbell-like shape, size, and weight estimated by the NRC at 150 tons. One single railcar would carry more plutonium than was in the bomb dropped on Nagasaki and more Cesium than was released with the Chernobyl disaster.
A fifty-mile radius is termed the area of influence, presumably because of the possibility of a major accident or terrorist attack. Such an accident could be catastrophic to the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex and its almost 7.6 million residents.
Licensing the ISP facility would lead to tens of thousands of shipments of deadly radioactive waste coming through Tarrant County, creating risks from accidents, container cracks, and sabotage. Radioactive releases could threaten the health of people and businesses near the railroad tracks during transport, as well as creating ongoing risks for people living near the proposed interim storage sites. Local fire departments would likely be first responders.
Hopefully, the NRC will provide first responder training and funding, but the EIS does not mention that.
I consider this license to be a threat to the safety of my family and my community. Please request funding for hardened storage at existing nuclear power plants until a permanent waste site is approved, preferably one owned and operated by the Federal Government. And then find transportation routes that do not travel through high-population areas like the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Transporting HLW through highly populated areas is an unacceptable risk.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely, John Barnes Box 100836, Fort Worth, TX 76185-0836
Federal Register Notice:
85FR27447 Comment Number:
7519 Mail Envelope Properties (CA+Kvhx+ZDqxQ70dJhR+FBNTy6ELGm7b5iZFJq_zHwAo0VwjBKA)
Subject:
[External_Sender] Docket No. 72-1050 (NRC-2016-0231)
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10/29/2020 11:36:47 AM Received Date:
10/29/2020 11:37:02 AM From:
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