Loading....

Tell Your Senators - NO to Bad Nuclear Waste and Uranium Bills

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Wyoming Senator John Barrasso are attempting to pass dangerous legislation on nuclear waste and uranium mining.

These bills would be huge giveaways to the nuclear industry. Manchin’s bill would put thousands of hazardous shipments of highly-radioactive nuclear waste on our roads, rails, and waterways at taxpayers’ expense. It would also target Indigenous peoples, people of color, and poor, rural communities for supposedly temporary (but probably permanent) above-ground radioactive waste dumps. People in over 80% of Congressional districts along the transportation routes would face radiation exposure and disaster risks for decades. Manchin’s bill also tries to exempt nuclear waste from basic environmental laws and would also open up the potential for widespread commercial reprocessing of nuclear fuel, which would be environmentally disastrous.

Sen. Barrasso’s bill would expand toxic and unjust uranium mining and increase the risk of proliferating nuclear weapons. It would remove environmental and human rights protections for the production of more highly-enriched uranium fuel (called HA-LEU) to be used in new types of nuclear power reactors. Specifically, the bill would allow uranium for HA-LEU to be mined on Indigenous lands (which is currently prohibited), and eliminate protections for drinking water. Enriching uranium fuel to HA-LEU levels would also set a bad example for the rest of the world, potentially making it harder to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

ACT NOW! Tell your senators to STOP radioactive dangers

First Name*

Last Name*

Email Address*

Address, line 1*

City*

State*

Zip Code*

I'd like to receive updates from this organization

Take Action

Background:

NIRS:

National Radioactive Waste Coalition

Nuclear Waste on the Frontlines: False Solutions and Guiding Principles

HA-LEU: Nonproliferation Policy Education Center

Fact Sheet: Advanced Reactors, Nuclear Security and Nonproliferation Concerns

US Senate

Subject: Say NO to Dangerous Nuclear Bills: S.4066 and “Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2022” (un-numbered)

Message:

Please oppose two bills that will be reviewed at a hearing of the Energy & Natural Resources Committee (ENR) on 7/28, and which may come before the committee and the full Senate for a vote: S.4066, the “Fueling Our Nuclear Future Act of 2022”; and the un-numbered “Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2022” (NWAA). The bills would be environmentally destructive, socially and environmentally unjust, dangerous to public safety, compromising to national security, and contribute to the spread of nuclear weapons. Sen. Manchin’s NWAA would fundamentally compromise national policy.The bill declares without basis that nuclear waste is not actually considered “waste” under federal law. This would gut the bedrock principle of federal policy for 40 years. The NWAA casts aside another central goal of nuclear waste policy: ensuring the government stays focused on protecting public safety and environmental health over the vast timeframes in which nuclear waste is dangerous. To this end, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act prohibits the siting of centralized interim storage (CIS) facilities until a permanent repository is in operation, so waste does not end up permanently stranded in CIS. The NWAA would also continue the predatory and unjust practice of targeting Indigenous peoples and other marginalized communities for nuclear waste sites. The nuclear industry and federal agencies have a long track record of corrupt practices and financial inducements to get tribal leaders and municipal officials to accept nuclear facilities. The bill would do nothing to prevent the same practices from being carried out under the moniker of ill-defined and inadequate “consent-based siting” requirement. S.4066 would eliminate essential environmental and human rights protections in the production of a more concentrated uranium fuel (HA-LEU) for new types of nuclear reactors. The Energy Policy Act of 2020 directed DOE to develop commercial HA-LEU production, under certain conditions. The bill would remove the prohibition on DOE procuring uranium from sources that harm Tribal communities, drinking water, and public lands. DOE’s track record of procuring uranium is deplorable, contributing to the 15,000 abandoned uranium mines that disproportionately harm Indigenous peoples and public lands. If DOE does not guarantee that HA-LEU is produced without continuing the egregious harms of uranium mining, then it has no business doing so. Please oppose these two bills: S.4066, the “Fueling Our Nuclear Future Act of 2022”; and the un-numbered “Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2022.”

Characters remaining:

Tell Your Senators - NO to Bad Nuclear Waste and Uranium Bills

ACT NOW! Tell your senators to STOP radioactive dangers

Background:

Sorry, we're not targeting any representatives in your district.

The comment period for this document is now closed. But, you can still help!