LETTER TO THE
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
AGAINST RADIOACTIVE RECYCLING AND RELEASE
RE: Nuclear Regulatory Commission 10 CFR 20 Release of Solid Materials at Licensed Facilities: Scoping Process for Environmental Issues and Notice of Public Meetings
October 6, 1999
To the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission:
The environmental and public interest communities are declining to participate in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)'s Atlanta rulemaking workshop for two reasons.
First, the concept of release of radioactively contaminated materials
into the marketplace is unconscionable, morally abhorrent and contrary
to the NRC's mission to protect public health and safety.
Second, we told you exactly that in 1990 with the BRC (Below
Regulatory Concern) hearings and again in 1993 when we participated in the NRC rulemaking procedure which established the decommissioning criteria for nuclear power plants. The final decommissioning standard flies in the face of input the NRC was given by public interest groups and the American people to allow zero (0) release (above preexisting natural background). In fact, by the NRC's own estimates, thousands of people could die if NRC's standard is used.
Our position remains: the NRC's enforced standard must be to contain
radioactive wastes--isolate them from the environment.
Two other controversial and environmentally unacceptable practices are showcased in the current NRC process: dumping of so-called "low-level"
radioactive waste and dismantling and landfilling of used nuclear power
plants, the source of massive amounts of contaminated metal and soil.
We share a common concern for the high volume of contaminated metals, materials and earth that have been spoiled for other uses by the nuclear industry. It is high time our species faces the grim reality of nuclear waste and comes to terms with it.
There is no known safe level of exposure to radiation. Let us not be seduced by short-term economic concerns to make decisions that can wreak
irrevocable damage in the gene pools of every species of animal and
plant on our Earth.
The honorable nuclear work is now towards developing and implementing effective technologies for nuclear waste containment.
We call on the NRC to prohibit the release of radioactive materials and wastes to the marketplace and the environment.
Please enter these comments into the National Environmental Policy Act record.
Signed,
REGIONAL, STATE and LOCAL
Glenn Carroll
Georgians Against Nuclear Energy
Ed Arnold
Physicians for Social Responsibility/ Atlanta
Representative June Hegstrom,
District 66
Scottdale, Georgia
Joan O. King
20/20 VISION Georgia
Sally Wylde, Marci McLendoon
Atlanta Women's Action for New Directions-WAND
Bob Darby, Tom Ferguson
Food Not Bombs
Atlanta
Leigh Lytle
Earth Challenge
Decatur, Georgia
Harry L. Williams
Coalition for a Healthy Environment
Tennessee
Jackie Kittrell, Cliff Honicker
American Env’tal Health Studies Project
Knoxville, TN
Tom Phillips
Nashville Peace Action
Tennessee
Ann Harris
We The People, Inc. of Tennessee
Alliance for Public Health & Safety
Mary Byrd Davis
Uranium Enrichment Project
Earth Island Institute
Georgetown, Kentucky
Vina Colley
PRESS-Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security
Ohio
Harry Rogers
Carolina Peace Resource Center
John Runkle
Conservation Council of North Carolina
Jim Warren
North Carolina WARN
David Druding
Peoples' Action for a Safe Environment (PASE)
Fayetteville, Arkansas
B.J. Medley
ECO
Oklahoma
Scott Portzline
Three Mile Island Alert
Harrisburg PA
Jonathan Parfrey
Physicians for Social Responsibility/
Los Angeles
Judith Johnsrud, Ph.D.
Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power
Pennsylvania
Dave Kraft
Nuclear Energy Information Service
Illinois
Jennifer Olaranna Viereck
Healing Global Wounds
California
Leon Glicenstein, Ph.D.
Central Pennsylvania Citizens for Survival
Peg Ryglisyn, Michael Albrizio
Connecticut Opposed to Waste
Madelyn Hoffman
Grass Roots Environmental Organization
New Jersey
Michael Gregory
Arizona Toxics Information
Corinne Carey, Alice Hirt
Don't Waste Michigan
Karl J. Novak
Pennsylvania Environmental Network
Liz Apfelberg
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace
California
Karen Hadden
Peace Action – Texas
Jaime Chavez
Water Information Network
Albuquerque, NM
Bruce A Drew
Prairie Island Coalition
Minnesota
Deb Katz
Citizens Awareness Network
New England
Judy Treichel
Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force
Don Finch
F.A.C.T.S. (For A Clean Tonawanda Site), Inc.
Kenmore, New York
Lea Foushee
North American Water Office
Minnesota
Laurence LaFond
North American Water Office
Oregon
Mark D. Stansbery
Community Organizing Center
Columbus, Ohio
Michael Welch
Redwood Alliance
Arcata, California
Joe Mirabile
EcoBridge
San Francisco, California
Paige Knight
Hanford Watch
Oregon
Chris Williams, Grant Smith
Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana
Robin Richman
Steppin' Out
Chicago, IL
Joseph W. Wilson
Earthwise Co.
Lewisville, Texas
Kate R. Lozier, CPA
KRLCP, Inc. / TuffBaggs
East Greenbush, NY
Diane Klostermeier
Safeguard Our State Committee
Arizona
Chuck Johnson
Center for Energy Research
Salem, Oregon
David Ellison
Green Party of Ohio
Bob Brister
Madera County Greens
California
Lisa Guido
The Catholic Worker Organization of Ithaca
New York
Sara Shannon
MothersAlert
New York, New York
Molly Johnson
Save Ward Valley
California
Bill Smirnow
Nuclear Free New York
Carole Starkes
e-ESL/Maple School
San Francisco, California
Susan Clark
Americans for a Safe Future
California
Tim Judson
Central New York--Citizens Awareness Network
Henry Peters
Radiological Evaluation and Action Project-Great Lakes
Susan Griffin
Chenango North Energy Awareness Group
South Plymouth, N.Y.
Stephen M. Brittle
Don't Waste Arizona, Inc.
Frank C. Subjeck
Air, Water, Earth, Org.
Arizona
Betty Schroeder
Arizona Safe Energy Coalition
Linda Lynch
Hudspeth Directive for Conservation
Texas
Shean Bjoralt
Earth Cycles, LTD
Minneapolis, MN
Chris Drew
Uptown Multi-Cultural Art Center
Chicago, Illinois
Chris Trepal
Earth Day Coalition
Ohio
Terry Lodge
Toledo Coalition for Safe Energy
Kathryn Cumbow
Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination
Citizens for a Healthy Planet
Michigan
Kyle Rabin
Environmental Advocates
New York
Frank McLaughlin
Environmental Response Network
Ocean View, NJ
Amy Manel
Stockton Peace Action
Pomona, NJ
Lloyd Marbet
Don't Waste Oregon
Norm Cohen
Unplug Salem Campaign
Linwood, NJ
Jane Williams
California Communities Against Toxics
Jenny Carter
Vermont Public Interest Research Group
Jessica Hopper
Hyper PR
Chicago, Illinois
LaNell Anderson
Grandparents of East Harris County
Texas
Harvey Wasserman
Citizens Protecting Ohio (C-PRO)
Loren Olson
Tippecanoe Environmental Council
West Lafayette, Indiana
Greg Wingard
Waste Action Project
Seattle, Washington
Roger Snyder
SHAD (Sound & Hudson against Atomic Development)
Huntington, NY
Janet Marsh Zeller
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
North Carolina
Maite Diez
The Inner Ear
Hull, MA
Diane A. Burton
Heartland Operation to Protect the Environment
Nebraska
H.G. (Skip) Brack
Center for Biological Monitoring
Hulls Cove, ME
Ray Shadis
Friends of the Coast - Opposing Nuclear Pollution
Edgecomb, Maine
Richard Geary
Citizens Action for Safe Energy
Oklahoma
Richard Boren
Southwest Toxic Watch
Tucson, AZ
Robert Lepley
Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives
NATIONAL
Susan Shaer, Pat Ortmeyer
Women's Action for New Directions-
WAND
Arlington, Massachusetts
Diane D’Arrigo
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Washington, DC
Wenonah Hauter
Public Citizen
Washington, DC
Anna Aurilio
US Public Interest Research Group
Washington, DC
Scott Denman
Safe Energy Communication Council
Washington, DC
Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
New York, New York
Jay M. Gould, Ph.D.
Radiation and Public Health Project
New York, New York
Bonnie Urfer, John LaForge
Nukewatch
Wisconsin
Patricia Birnie
GE Stockholders' Alliance
Arizona
INTERNATIONAL
Dr. Helen Caldicott
Founding President
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Damon Moglen
Greenpeace
Alexander B. Kuzma
Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund
Pamela Ransom
Women's Environment and Development Organization
Barbara Wiedner
Grandmothers For Peace International
Francis U. Macy
Center For Safe Energy
Earth Island Institute
Paxus Calta
Friends of the Earth International
Mary Beth Brangan, Jim Heddle
The Nuclear Democracy Network
California
Laurie Grossman
Y2K World Atomic Safety Holiday –WASH Campaign
Wendy Oser
Nuclear Guardianship Project
Berkeley, California
Peer de Rijk
World Information Service on Energy-WISE International
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Pascal Braud
Reseau Sortir du Nucleaire
Lyon, France
INDIVIDUALS
Kev Hall
Dunedin, FL.
Marvin Lewis
Philadelphia, PA
J.A. Savage
Oakland, CA
Howard Siegel
Bronx, NY
Peggy Pryor
Andrews, Texas
Amy Cockerill
Dayton, Ohio
Eric Strahan
Fullerton, California
Barbara S. Richardson
Cherokee, NC
Debbie Ortman
Duluth, MN
Graham Gerdeman
Nashville, TN
Jennifer Nagy
Columbus, Ohio
Karen Bloustine
El Paso, TX
Scott Shively
Seattle, WA
Karen Charman
New York, New York
Richard Dawson
Torrance, CA
David W. Chappell
Penryn, California