Environmental Justice and Nuclear Waste: The Road from Vermont Yankee to Texas
Do you know where our Vermont Yankee nuclear waste goes? Although the nuclear industry and federal government committed to create a solution for high-level nuclear waste disposal, no acceptable solution exists. The sites targeted for “disposal”, like Andrews County, Texas (interim storage site) and Yucca Mountain (permanent storage site) pits nuclear communities against each other; reactor communities fear inadequate storage casks, lack of onsite protections and abandonment of high level nuclear waste. Communities targeted for nuclear waste disposal don’t want dangerous nuclear waste in their backyard, particularly given the abysmal record of leaks and inadequate environmental protections. Waste communities face unconscionable choices – short-term economic survival or long-term health and safety.
