November 1, 1999

Dear Senator:

On behalf of Public Citizen’s 150,000 members, I write to urge you to OPPOSE S1287, The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1999. This bill sacrifices public health and safety in order to appease the nuclear industry. It strips the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its authority to set radiation release standards for a permanent repository for nuclear waste, set forth in the Energy Policy Act. S1287 would hand this authority over to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). President Clinton has promised to veto this legislation because it does not preserve the authority of the EPA.

Both the EPA and the NRC have published proposed standards for a permanent repository, and the NRC’s standard is clearly not intended to protect public health (indeed, protecting public health is not even part of the NRC’s mission!). Not only does the NRC propose a standard well above the range recommended by the National Academy of Sciences, it also refuses to set a separate groundwater standard, which is absolutely crucial to ensure the health of future generations.

Further, S1287 would launch the largest nuclear waste shipment campaign in world history, with 100,000 shipments of radioactive waste travelling through 43 states over 25 years. This incredibly dangerous waste would travel by truck or train through over 100 cities with populations of 100,000 or more, exposing 50 million Americans to radioactivity and the threat of catastrophic accidents.

S1287 is not the answer to America’s nuclear waste problem. Vote against this bill, and make a commitment to America’s future generations to begin a serious and comprehensive review of federal nuclear waste policy.

Sincerely,

Wenonah Hauter