Tell Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam:
"STOP GERMAN RADIOACTIVE WASTE IMPORTS for burning in Oak Ridge!"
Did you think the issue of importing radioactive
waste from foreign countries was settled? Well, think again.
EnergySolutions waste processing corporation was
blocked when it
tried to import 20,000 tons of Italian radioactive waste, incinerate it
and bury the remnants in Utah. Now EnergySolutions has come up with a
new business plan to import 1,000 tons of radioactive waste from
Germany, incinerate it in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and return the ashes,
someday, to somewhere else.
Sound neat and clean? Actually, this is a dirty plan.
Research
shows that the radioactive waste in question is collected from worldwide
sources. Radiation is not destroyed in the incineration process ... it
either escapes through the smoke stack, or remains in the ash in
concentrated form. Other dangerous toxins are created by incineration as
well. In February, the State of Utah fined EnergySolutions for burying
long-lived radioactive wastes in violation of state hazard limits
including waste trucked to Utah from two companies in Tennessee.
EnergySolutions has already applied to TDEC, the
Tennessee
Department of Environment & Conservation, to expand their license on
the Bear Creek Road facilities operations and anticipates much more
radioactive waste coming to Tennessee. If the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) grants the license for which EnergySolutions has
applied, this will open the door not only to 1,000 tons of waste from
Germany, but in the future to untold amounts of radioactive waste from
around the world. Your action is needed to prevent Tennessee from becoming the
radioactive garbage disposer for the world.
If you are concerned about Tennessee’s role in
world-wide
radioactive waste processing and disposal, please tell Tennessee
Governor Haslam to protect Tennessee's health and environment.
TAKE
ACTION!
USE THIS HANDY EMAIL ACTION LETTER!
Experts researched and wrote this handy email action
letter for YOU to send and make a difference! Tell Governor Bill Haslam
of Tennessee to step up and protect public health from German
radioactive waste imports.
You may edit the letter as you wish or send it as it is. There
are many resources and links on nonukesyall.org to help you get more
information about German radioactive waste imports and radioactive waste
incineration.
To sign the letter, GO TO
http://www.nonukesyall.org/action_STOPGermanRadWaste.html
Office of Governor Bill Haslam
1st Floor, State Capitol
Nashville, TN 37243
Dear Governor Haslam,
I am alarmed that Tennessee may become a destination for the processing of
radioactive waste from all over the world. I am concerned that Tennessee has
already become negatively distinguished as a nationwide leader in radioactive
waste processing and disposal. These are not the kind of jobs we want in
Tennessee. We do not want to become known for our radioactive waste processing
industry. That is taking the Volunteer State spirit too far.
Americans and Tennesseans have many environmental health problems already of
our own making. The last thing we need is to import more from Europe.
EnergySolutions, which has several processing facilities in Tennessee, is
trying to do just that. They have applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission for a license to import 1000 tons of radioactive waste, 2,000,000
pounds, from Germany for incineration in Oak Ridge. They would import this
waste from Eckert and Ziegler Nuclitec; a German company which advertises on
their website that they collect radioactive waste from all over the world.
EnergySolutions had previously applied for a license to import 20,000 tons of
radioactive waste from Italy to Oak Ridge for processing, but withdrew the
application due to opposition. If EnergySolutions is granted this new import
license to bring German waste here for incineration, it would set a precedent
to allow other, and more, foreign radioactive waste to be brought to Tennessee.
On February 24, 2011, the State of Utah levied a hefty fine against
EnergySolutions for burying 23 barrels of waste containing radioactivity that
violates state standards. Some of the hot radioactive waste was from companies
in Tennessee. We need for you to exercise your power as Governor to take stock
of the waste, the processes and the companies involved before collaborating in
unsafe radioactive waste processing which risks the health of Tennessee
citizens and long-term deleterious impacts on Tennessee's natural environment.
Germany is a world leader in controversial hazardous waste incineration. Why
aren’t they already burning this radioactive waste in Germany? Do they know
something that we don’t??
Perhaps the German people are aware of the dangers of incineration, which
causes releases of toxins into the atmosphere including dioxins, furans, heavy
metals, and fine particulates which can cause cancer, asthma, birth defects,
heart disease, and disruption of the immune and reproductive systems. The worst
harm is suffered by those most vulnerable, the unborn, the infant, and the
children. (See: The Health Effects of Waste Incinerators, Fourth Report of the
British Society for Ecological Medicine, 2nd Edition, June 2008, Dr. Jeremy
Thompson and Dr. Honor Anthony.) Perhaps the German people are aware of the
increased dangers when the waste to be incinerated is radioactive.
I am writing to ask you to use your influence as Governor to prevent Tennessee
from becoming contaminated by the world’s radioactive waste. The incineration
of radioactive waste will be detrimental to the health of our citizens.
Tennessee will have to pay increased costs in health care as more people become
ill. Please consider the welfare of the citizens of Tennessee, and do all you
can to prevent the importation of any foreign radioactive waste into our state.
Thank you very much.
Yours truly,
cc: Robert Martineau, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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