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Stop Holtec from dumping nation's radioactive waste in NM

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As you may know, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected approve a license in February for Holtec to construct a "temporary" storage site for high-level nuclear waste in southeast New Mexico. 

Sen. Jeff Steinborn is proposing legislation preventing state agencies from permitting construction of such a facility. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has called on the Legislature to “deliver a proposal to my desk that protects New Mexico from becoming the de facto home of the country’s spent nuclear fuel and it will have my full support.”

No other states, including those hosting the nuclear plants producing this "spent" fuel, want this waste. Even Texas passed a law prohibiting such facilities last year. There are better solutions than transporting all of the nation's nuclear waste by rail across the country and across New Mexico to a community that is already surrounded by polluting facilities.  

Please urge your legislator to pass legislation protecting New Mexico from becoming the nation's nuclear dump!

A recent poll shows a majority of New Mexicans opposes this high-level nuclear dump. Your voice will help demonstrate that New Mexicans are uniting against this risk-laden project. Thank you for joining us in protecting New Mexico. 

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As your constituent, I urge you to support legislation to prevent permitting of an “interim” storage site for all the nation’s high-level radioactive waste, which would be transported by rail across the state to southeast New Mexico. None of the 33 states where nuclear power plants operate have stepped forward to provide either temporary or permanent storage, nor has any other state, so the proposed Holtec site would likely become a permanent storage site, though it is not licensed for it. High-level nuclear-fuel rods contain dangerous uranium. There are more than 80,000 metric tons of uranium waste in U.S. nuclear fuel, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has advised the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Congress that New Mexico does not consent to storing high-level nuclear waste. I don’t want our communities — or those just over the border in Texas — to be forced into being the nation’s dumping ground for nuclear waste. Transportation to and storage of this waste in this state, which is over 48% Hispanic and 12% Indigenous, is an environmental injustice, as well as an economic injustice to the entire state, which relies on its agricultural, ranching, tourist, industrial and recreational economy. There is no plan to reimburse New Mexico for jobs, revenue and businesses lost due to leaks or accidents at the Holtec facility. Please protect all New Mexicans by supporting legislation to prevent New Mexico from being the nation’s nuclear dumping ground.

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