Have you ever overheard a conversation where two people are talking about two different things but still think there is a dialog going on? For me, two recent Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) public meetings on the licensing process for the MOX program were just that kind of experience.

In both meetings, Columbia and North Augusta, the NRC described their structure to inform and move any project they are considering licensing, which includes things like how the National Environmental Policy Act works, the role and timing of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), and the various points at which they accept public views along the way. (In this case, a scoping hearing in January 2001, public input after the scoping summary but before the draft EIS, and public comments prior to the Final EIS.)

On the public's end the dialog was not about the process of how MOX facilities would be licensed - but instead a steady stream of very serious concerns about the safety, environmental and nuclear proliferation consequences of MOX itself. A profound disconnect.

When issues about MOX were raised (some 70 people spoke against it and only two in favor), the NRC repeatedly told us they did not have enough information to answer the question, and yet throughout, they acted as if the MOX project were a certainty. How can that be if it must be licensed first and they do not have enough information to make a license decision? If they have determined the MOX project is going forward before they have seen any data, how can we trust this process?

Aside from the inadequate response from NRC, the meetings were a good demonstration of the growing opposition to MOX in the Southeast. On July 12 in Columbia, SC the voices of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), Carolina Peace Resource Center (CPRC), Environmentalists Inc., Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), Women's Action for New Directions (WAND), and other citizens and organizations were heard. We highlighted the weakness of the Draft Standard Review Plan (NUREG 1718 issued in January - see past Nix MOX Bulletins for details), the financial connection between licensees and the NRC, disregard of President Carter's decision not to proceed with a commercial plutonium fuel program in the US on nonproliferation grounds, the history and ongoing problem of contamination at the Savannah River Site (SRS), the sensitivity of information about weapons plutonium, looming security issues, and others.

In North Augusta, these groups were joined by Physicians for Social Responsibility, Georgians Against Nuclear Energy, Campaign for a Prosperous Georgia, Food Not Bombs, 20/20 Vision, Sierra Club, and more local groups and citizens who raised many similar issues, including concerns about Cogema's safety and environmental record. (The NRC claims their record is inadmissible because they are dealing with the consortium DCS - Duke, Cogema, Stone & Webster - not with Cogema per se.) Other issues raised were the marginalization of local communities whose health is threatened by MOX and SRS, exclusion of input from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, plutonium transportation fears, and more.

The fact that so many people voiced so many objections and in such an adamant way but received only cursory answers is disturbing. Yes, the meeting was to provide information about the licensing process. But we, the public, have few if any other outlets to voice our concern about the big picture. If the NRC has a mandate to protect the public, then we are left with little recourse than to raise our voices when and how we can.

To fully understand the disconnect at these meetings you had to be there. And perhaps that is the point. You DID have to be there - and at every other public comment opportunity. The process for public input as defined by our government will not allow us to raise the questions that need to be raised about a program as dangerous as MOX. That means we have to define the process on our own for it to have any meaning. NRC is not going to stand up to the nuclear industry for us - some would say they only listen to us in order to better spin future information to reduce our effectiveness.

My question to you is: Shall we make a difference? My answer is YES! Look for future opportunities to act, and get involved in Nixing MOX!

• Return to Nix MOX Bulletin Board
  
• Go to Nix MOX Bulletin Board Index