NASHVILLE, Tenn. | State Rep. Kelly Keisling is asking Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to oppose the long-term storage of nuclear waste in the Cumberland Plateau counties he represents, including Scott County.
Keisling, a Byrdstown Republican who represents the 38th District in the state legislature, released a letter he wrote to Lee on Monday, stating his opposition to a long-term nuclear waste repository in Scott, Fentress and Pickett counties, which were identified — along with Morgan County — by the state as a potential location for nuclear storage as part of a recycling program that is attached to Tennessee’s proposal to be named a Nuclear Lifestyle Innovation Campus.
Tennessee is a finalist for the federal initiative, which the Lee administration says could bring billions of dollars in investment, along with thousands of jobs and expanded nuclear research to Oak Ridge.
However, while Oak Ridge would be the location of the bulk of the new jobs and the investment, it was learned on July 28 — when the U.S. Dept. of Energy announced that Tennessee is one of five finalists for the project — that the northern Cumberland Plateau region has been identified as a potential location for storing the nation’s nuclear waste as part of the recycling process.
While the Lee administration has not identified specific areas within Scott, Fentress, Morgan and Pickett counties that it is eyeing for a potential nuclear repository, the region was selected for its close proximity to Oak Ridge, its geology, and its sparse population.
In his letter to the governor, Keisling expressed “strong opposition” to long-term underground storage of nuclear waste.
“These communities should not be viewed simply as suitable locations on a map because of their geology, available land, or proximity to existing nuclear infrastructure,” Keisling said. “They are home to families, farms, businesses, communities, natural resources, as well as a way of life that deserves to be protected. Locating a long-term nuclear waste repository in these communities would carry consequences and stewardship responsibilities extending generations beyond any immediate economic benefit.”
Locating a nuclear repository in Scott County or one of its neighboring counties would not be as simple as the state declaring it so. It’s unclear how much land would be needed for such a repository, but the land would have to already be owned by a state or federal agency, or be acquired by a state or federal agency. Absent a willing seller, the property would have to be acquired by the state through the eminent domain process, which would face stiff legal challenges.
According to The Breakthrough Institute, a global research center that promotes technological solutions to environmental challenges, there are currently 95,000 metric tons of spent fuel rods across the nation — a number that increases by 2,000 tons per year. However, that isn’t as much as it might seen, since uranium is extremely heavy, with a density that is 1.5 times greater than lead. The Breakthrough Institute says that if the entirety of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel rods were stacked on a football field, it would “pile up to a depth of fewer than 10 yards.”
Nevertheless, residents across the Cumberland Plateau region have expressed significant opposition to the possibility of a storage repository here. Scott County Mayor Jerried Jeffers told the Independent Herald earlier this month that he informed a state coalition that the local community will always be opposed to the storage of nuclear waste.
Helping to fuel the local mistrust is years of rumors — some of them substantiated — that nuclear waste from Oak Ridge is being discarded in Scott County. In the Independent Herald‘s first edition, published in June 1976, it was reported that nearly 700 tons of nuclear waste had been discovered improperly stored in a two-acre pond near what is now Tennier Industries in Huntsville. (Tennier Industries was not responsible for the storage; rather, it was sludge that was linked to a nuclear chemical company that had formerly owned the property.) The Industrial Development Board of Scott County applied for and received federal grant funding to clean up the site.
State Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, who has helped lead the Lee administration’s application for the Nuclear Lifestyle Innovation Campus, told the Independent Herald earlier this month that Scott County is not being considered for the permanent storage of nuclear waste. A nuclear waste repository, he said, would be part of a recycling effort.
“I appreciate the concern in preserving the environment,” Yager said, “but I think some of these statements (regarding permanent storage of nuclear waste) are misleading to the point of not being helpful.
“I do not and will never support the permanent storage of nuclear waste on the Cumberland Plateau,” he added.
However, Keisling made it clear that he is joining the region’s residents in opposition to even temporary storage of nuclear waste, although he said that he “strongly supports” the state’s initiative to continue developing nuclear energy.
“Tennessee has an important role to play in advancing nuclear technology, strengthening our energy independence, creating high-quality jobs, and supporting America’s energy security,” he said. “However, there must be a clear distinction between leading the nation in nuclear innovation and locating a long-term nuclear waste repository in rural communities of the Upper Cumberland. Tennessee can, and should, lead the nation in nuclear innovation without requiring Pickett, Scott or Fentress Counties to bear that long-term responsibility.”
