Activists warn nuclear damage could reach Warren County
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“There are several risks,” said Bill Badger, media spokesman of the anti-nuclear group Citizens for Smart Choices. “The proposed truck routes for bringing the uranium in and out passes near Warren County. Also, the prevailing wind could easily carry radiation leaks that are common at these types of facilities there.
“And the greatest risk — though not likely — is the terrorist angle,” said Badger. “Eight thousand tons of radioactive waste a year stored on the edge of the Cumberland River poses a real attractive target.”
Hartsville, located in Trousdale County approximately 70 miles northeast of Warren County, has been at the center of a nuclear controversy that began last July when Louisiana Energy Services (LES), a consortium of British, Dutch, German and American nuclear power companies, expressed interest in purchasing a site near the small town. It’s the same site where TVA attempted to build the world’s largest nuclear reactor in the 1970s-80s.
The company wants to use the site to build an uranium enrichment facility. It was unsuccessful in previous attempts to build such a plant in Unicoi County and Homer, La., due to community protests.
If allowed to open, the Hartsville plant would enrich Canadian-mined uranium, using a gas centrifuge, to 5 percent, which would make it strong enough for it could be used as fuel for nuclear power plants. Uranium must be enriched to at least 93 percent to be used for nuclear weapons.
Of primary concern to Citizens for Smart Choices is the 90 percent of uranium brought in an enrichment facility which ends up as radioactive, or toxic, waste.
“No one wants this stuff,” said Badger. “It’s very expensive to dispose of so it mostly just sits at the facility where it’s produced for decades. The problem is it’s known to be corrosive and leak out, like at the facility in Paducah, Ky.”
He added LES has stated it will not store the waste at the Hartsville facility permanently, but have not stated how long and how much waste there will be.
LES says the concerns are groundless.
“We’re disappointed they have chosen to ignore the facts and try and mislead people,” said George Byers, LES’s vice president of government relations, who noted to get an operating license his company must pass an exceptionally rigorous process put forth by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the federal agency created to regulate civilian nuclear material use and ensure public safety.
“We’re also working with TDEC (Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation) and TEMA (Tennessee Emergency Management Association). They know it’s a safe facility. TEMA said they wish there could be one in every county.”
Among the misinformation put out by CSC concerning the proposed facility, Byers said, is the term “radioactive waste,” which is not applicable to the material to be produced by the plant, as defined by the NRC.
A decision on whether to allow the proposed uranium enrichment plant to be built near Hartsville will be made soon as the Trousdale County Planning Commission and the Trousdale County Commission are set to discuss later this month the rezoning of the proposed facility site from M-1 to M-3 zoning, which in addition to allowing uranium enrichment facilities, would also allow, CSC says, hazardous waste dumps, arsenals and chemical plants.