Lawsuit on EPA Radiation Emission Standards for Yucca Mt. Repository |
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| HOME joined other groups in a lawsuit challenging the EPA safety standards for the Yucca Mt. Repository for many reasons. On Thursday, July 8th, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against many of the issues involved. However, the court invalidated a key EPA requirement that the repository be able to contain radioactive materials safely for at least 10,000 years. Since Congress had stated that EPA standards must comply with recommendations by the National Academy of Sciences that standards should cover the period of peak exposure (see chart); the 10,000 year limit was ruled insufficient. EPA was now told to develop new standards for 1,000,000 years. Read more about the case, testimony and decision. | |
EPA Revises Emission Standards, 2005EPA made no changes in the standards for the original 10,000 period. It recommended new vague standards for the period from 10,000 to one million years. |
EPA's own Yucca Mt. site VIEW |
| 1. The new rule allows the limit to jump from 15
millirem a year to an unprecedented 350 millirem a year after 10,000 years, in
addition to background radiation & fallout. 2. This is 14-35 times more than other Western countries allow. 3. Over a 70 year lifetime, 1 in 40 men and 1 in 30 women would get cancer. Half of these would be fatal. 4. The rule does not include tons of toxic metals from canister deterioration at all, which will occur before and during radiation leaks. 5. The safety levels for water depend on us NOT drinking our well water for at least 1/2 of our liquid intake needs! Also, do animals and plants drink soda? 6. The State of Nevada opposes the proposed EPA rule, and has recommended instead that EPA: "extend the 15 millirem per year maximum exposure threshold, together with the 4 millirem groundwater protection requirement, through the period of maximum projected releases for the Yucca Mountain facility. |
Environment
News Service, 8/9/05 Million Year Yucca Mountain Safety Standards Proposed Las Vegas Sun, 8/9/05, Suzanne Struglinski- NEW EPA RADIATION STANDARD IS CALLED OUTRAGEOUS |
| NV Nuclear Waste Task Force
Responds: Talking Points IEER responds: READ PRESS RELEASE NIRS responds: COMMENTS & TALKING POINTS Public
Citizen's comments pdf |
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| Actual exposure from drinking water would be much higher than EPA levels suggest. | |