Friday, May 4, 2007

Radioactive Waste Transport in the South

NIRS Southeast Office invites you to join with the allied groups listed below in the release of a NEW set of MAPS of projected high-level radioactive waste transport routes from commercial reactors to two possible sites under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) plan--Savannah River Site and Barnwell in South Carolina. The report, produced by the NC Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads campaign is a case study–and is not intended to dismiss other sites targeted for possible GNEP development.


We are inviting you to sign up now to CO–RELEASE the new maps on May 22nd (or after) in your community/media markets. Please respond to Mary Olson (828-675-1792, nirs@main.nc.us) if you would like to participate!

As you may know, GNEP would require the shipment of highly radioactive irradiated fuel (high-level waste) from reactor sites to a central location (is GNEP just a new name for “centralized interim storage”/parking lot dump?). One of our most powerful tools in organizing opposition to the flawed and unsuitable Yucca Mountain dump has been the maps showing projected routes from the reactors to Nevada.

The new maps have been produced by John Sticpewich, of the Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads campaign. John used the DOE’s database of irradiated fuel assemblies as of 2002, and the DOE mapping program (TRAGIS) that plots primary and alternate routes for truck, train and barge. Because of the scale of the task, John defined a study area – and looked at the shipment of waste from reactors that lie East of the Mississippi River and North of Savannah River Site. The report shows that every state East of the Mississippi River will have transport of waste through it – by road, or by rail, or by barge – however shipments originating at reactors in the states of MS, AL, GA and FL are not included. We regret this–but since 2/3 of the US reactors are covered in the Study area, the decision was to go forward, given limited resources. We have to simply say, this is a “case study.”

It is noteworthy that a number of states with no reactors nor high-level radioactive wastes within their borders–such as Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia–would still see high-level radioactive waste shipments travel through bound for GNEP sites in South Carolina. Also important to point out are the numerous barge routes possible on the Great Lakes, rivers, and Atlantic coastline.

As ever, NIRS brings the transport issue to the fore not because we oppose the movement of nuclear materials in every case–but because we see the transport of nuclear waste for a really bad plan, or for plans that would result in extending or multiplying waste transport (the radioactive waste shell game), as reckless and wrong. We also see that the greatest number of people that will be impacted by (a routine, non-accident) implementation of GNEP are those along the transport corridors.

In May we will supply you with: the maps (hard copy and electronic), the link to the full report (embargoed until May 22), press advisory and press release. You can either use our prepared materials, or create your own. We encourage you to use your own letterhead/logos–and to add local details about the roads, rails and water routes to the materials where possible.

Again, we are inviting you to sign up to CO–RELEASE the new maps on May 22nd (or after) in your community/media markets–a press conference would be great, or simply send the materials to your best media contacts. Please respond to Mary Olson 828-675-1792 (nirs@main.nc.us) if you would like to participate!

This event is intended to be a second edition of a highly successful January 1995 event when the Nevada projection of waste transport routes to Yucca were released in 110 locations on the same day. I hope you will make the time to be part of this event.

Mary Olson
NIRS Southeast Office

P.S. If your group hasn’t already, please consider signing onto the “Statement of Principles for Safeguarding Nuclear Waste at Reactors.” See the statement and current list of groups signed on at: http://www.citizen.org/documents/PrinciplesSafeguardingIrradiatedFuel.pdf

To sign on, email Michele Boyd at Public Citizen at mboyd@citizen.org or Kevin Kamps at NIRS at kevin@nirs.org. This statement, already signed by over 130 groups, urges Congress to require that high-level radioactive wastes stored on-site at reactors be better protected against accidents and attacks, as an alternative to rushing “Mobile Chernobyls” and “dirty bombs on wheels” onto the roads, rails, and waterways bound for “centralized interim storage sites” (radioactive waste shell game) or dangerous and dirty GNEP reprocessing plants.

Co-Releasing Groups so far:

Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads
STOP I-3
NIRS
South Carolina Alliance for Sustainable Campuses + Communities
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
Nuclear Watch South
Atlanta WAND
HIPWAZEE Columbia
Environmentalists Inc.
Citizens For Environmental Justice
South Carolina Chapter, Sierra Club

Nuclear Information & Resource Service
Southeast Office PO Box 7586 Asheville, NC 28802
828-675-1792 nirs@main.nc.us
www.nirs.org

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