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Proposed Uranium Plant Critics Say Federal Documents Should Disclose Risks
EUNICE, NM (AP) - Opponents of a proposed uranium enrichment plant say federal
government fears of terrorism are trampling on their right to know about potential
health and safety risks of the factory.
But a Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff member says certain information
contained in a draft environmental impact statement about the plant could be
useful to
terrorists, so security concerns should come first.
Louisiana Energy Services - a consortium of largely European backers - wants
to build the plant near Eunice in southeastern New Mexico to refine uranium
for nuclear reactors.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is considering whether to license
the plant, removed information about the consequences of accidents associated
with
it from a draft environmental impact statement and other documents.
For example, if a train shipping radioactive waste from a proposed nuclear
fuel factory crashed and burned in Albuquerque, there is a “very remote” chance
that 28,000 people could suffer “adverse health effects.”
Or, if a container inside the factory overheated and ruptured - a remote,
worst-case scenario - workers in the building would be killed instantly, and
a dangerous
radioactive cloud would spread upwind.
“I don’t know how the public can grapple with these issues with that
kind of secrecy,” said Lindsay Lovejoy, attorney for two groups that
oppose the project.
Tim Johnson, an NRC staff member, said, “The commission has decided that
that’s information where the sensitivity of it for security reasons is
greater than the public’s right to know.”
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