Half of NRC Nuke Waste Con Game public comment meetings yet to go

North Anna watchdog Erica Grey, and Diane D'Arrigo of NIRS, unfurl a banner at NRC's first Nuke Waste Con Game meeting, held Oct. 1st in the NRC Commissioners conference room at NRC HQ in Rockville, MD. Photo by Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps.The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Nuclear Waste Confidence Directorate has held about half of its scheduled public comment meetings on the draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS). The GEIS was court-ordered, by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, in June 2012. A coalition of environmental groups (Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Riverkeeper, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, as well as Natural Resources Defense Council) and states (CT, NJ, NY, VT, as represented by their attorneys general) won the court victory.

In the meantime, please continue to submit your public comments to NRC via email, webform, fax, and/or snail mail.

You can submit as many public comments as you want, between now and the final public comment deadline (Dec. 20th).

Sample comments, which you can use to help you write your own, have been provided by Beyond Nuclear and NIRS.

At a press conference on Oct. 2nd, D.C. attorney Diane Curran, and experts Dr. Gordon Thompson (President of Institute for Resource and Security Studies) and Bob Alvarez (Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies), also provided insights into the potentially catastrophic risks of high-level radioactive waste storage pool fires, which NRC is currently ignoring. Curran and the experts are preparing sample comments, on behalf of an environmental coalition comprised of two dozen groups, including Beyond Nuclear, so watch for those in weeks ahead, as well.

If you plan to attend and make oral testimony at NRC public comment meetings, NRC requests that you pre-register.

Here are the remaining public comment meetings yet to come:

Tuesday, November 12	Oak Brook, Illinois Chicago Marriott Oak Brook 1401 West 22nd Street Oak Brook, IL 60523 Presentation Open House Posters Meeting Notice	Open House 6:00-7:00 p.m. CST Meeting 7:00-10:00 p.m. CST
Thursday, November 14	Rockville, Maryland (webcast/teleconference) U.S. NRC Headquarters Commission Hearing Room 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD  20852 To listen to the meeting or provide comments by telephone, please dial 1-888-603-9749 and provide the operator with passcode 5132332. To view the webcast, please go to http://video.nrc.gov Presentation Open House Posters Meeting Notice	Open House 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST Meeting 2:00-5:00 p.m. EST
Monday, November 18	Carlsbad, California Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa 5480 Grand Pacific Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 Presentation Open House Posters Meeting Notice	Open House 6:00-7:00 p.m. PST Meeting 7:00-10:00 p.m. PST
Wednesday, November 20	San Luis Obispo, California Courtyard by Marriott San Luis Obispo 1605 Calle Joaquin Road San Luis Obispo, CA  93405 Presentation Open House Posters Meeting Notice	Open House 6:00-7:00 p.m. PST Meeting 7:00-10:00 p.m. PST
Monday, December 2	Perrysburg, Ohio Hilton Garden Inn Toledo/Perrysburg 6165 Levis Commons Blvd., Perrysburg, OH 43551 Presentation Open House Posters Meeting Notice	Open House 6:00-7:00 p.m. EST Meeting 7:00-10:00 p.m. EST
Wednesday, December 4	Minnetonka, Minnesota Minneapolis Marriott Southwest 5801 Opus Parkway Minnetonka, MN 55343 Presentation Open House Posters Meeting Notice	Open House 6:00-7:00 p.m. CST Meeting 7:00-10:00 p.m. CST
Monday, December 9	Public Teleconference to Receive Comments on Waste Confidence DGEIS and Proposed Rule (Teleconference only – facilitated and transcribed.) Prior to the start of the meeting, please dial 1-888-603-9749 and provide the operator with passcode 5132332 Meeting Notice	Teleconference 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. EST