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Seven Reasons to Vote Against
S1287 |
- S1287 Threatens Public Health And Safety
This bill strips the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority
to protect public health by setting a radiation release standard for a
nuclear waste repository. S1287 will hand this authority over to the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which has already shown with its
proposed standard that it is only interested in satisfying the nuclear
industry. President Clinton has promised to veto S1287 because it does
not ensure the protection of public health and safety.
- S1287 Ignores Scientific Evidence That Yucca Mountain Is Not A Safe
Place To Store Radioactive Waste
Earthquakes are a common occurrence in the Yucca Mountain region,
with 621 occurring at magnitudes of 2.5 or higher within 50 miles of the
Yucca Mountain site from 1976 to 1996. In 1992, a 5.6 earthquake struck
on a previously unmapped fault line only eight miles from the repository
study site, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to a
Department of Energy building.
- S1287 Would Launch The Largest Nuclear Waste Shipment Campaign In
World History
The bill’s "backup storage" provision could put nuclear waste on our
roads and rails as early as 2007, beginning a transportation program of
100,000 shipments of nuclear waste through 43 states for 25 years, and
exposing 50 million Americans to dangerous levels of radiation in their
communities. Radioactive waste would be shipped through over 100 cities
with populations of 100,000 or more. The Department of Energy projects
that a nuclear waste transportation accident with a small release of
radioactive material (1380 curies) in a rural area would contaminate 42
square miles and require 460 days to clean up at a cost of $620 million.
To view the potential truck and rail transportation routes in your
state, visit the Atomic Atlas web site at www.citizen.org/cmep (click on
the Atomic Atlas icon).
- Environmental Groups Oppose S1287
Over 200 environmental organizations petitioned the DOE to disqualify
Yucca Mountain from consideration as a permanent repository for nuclear
waste in November 1998. In addition, environmental groups are
specifically opposed to S1287 because of its blatant sacrifice of public
health and environmental standards to appease the nuclear industry.
- S1287 Threatens Groundwater Resources
S1287 would have the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) set the
radiation release standards for Yucca Mountain. The NRC has published a
draft standard and specifically refused to set a separate standard for
radiation release into groundwater. This decision not to protect
groundwater is a result of recent scientific evidence showing that
radionuclides from the nuclear waste storage site could leak into the
aquifer below Yucca Mountain, thus contaminating the region’s sole
source of drinking water. The NRC has made it clear that they are
willing to reduce their standards in order to ensure that Yucca Mountain
can meet them.
- S1287 Goes Against U.S. Non-Proliferation Policy
S1287 will establish an "Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research" with
the mission of researching and developing technologies to reprocess
irradiated nuclear fuel. Further, this office would fund and collaborate
with other countries that want to develop these same technologies.
Reprocessing technologies could be used to produce weapons-usable
material and are contrary to more than 20 years of U.S.
non-proliferation policy.
- S1287 Perpetuates 50 Years of Bad Nuclear Policy
Rather than continuing to allow politics alone to shape America’s
decisions about nuclear energy and nuclear waste, Congress should
initiate a comprehensive review of federal nuclear policy. Lawmakers
should commit to making decisions based on sound science, citizen
involvement, and protection of public and environmental health. S1287
will not allow this—it is a bill written by the nuclear industry for the
nuclear industry, and it forces bad decisions in order to perpetuate bad
policy.
Oppose S1287 and protect our nation, our environment,
and future generations!
For more information, contact Amy Shollenberger at
Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy Project, 202-454-5118.
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