Victoria Residents Speaking Up About Nuclear

On August 7, over 400 community members, advocates, professionals and SWU representatives gathered In Victoria, TX to hear the Unities States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conduct a public outreach meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the application planned to be submitted by Exelon for two new nuclear reactors just 12 miles south of downtown Victoria. The NRC is the regulatory body that reviews license applications, performs safety reviews and conducts environmental impact assessments. There was a strong turnout by pro and anti nuclear advocates including Nuclear Energy for Texans (pro-nuclear) and Speak Up Victoria (anti-nuclear). The steering committee for Nuclear Energy for Texans includes Exelon and San Antonio’s very own CPS. Speak Up Victoria is a coalition of citizens with a mission to ask the hard questions around nuclear energy.

The most debated topic that the design proposed for the Victoria plant, an Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR), has not yet been certified by the NRC and will be under review simultaneously while they review the combined license application. Citizens worried about an uncertified reactor being built in their town and did not want to be ‘guinea pigs’ for such a potentially dangerous situation.

Another important question raised was water rights. Nuclear plants require a vast amount of water especially to cool nuclear waste for an unknown period (up to 1,000 of years!). The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority asked residents to curtail their water supply just 2 years ago but are now offering 75,000 acre-feet of water supply to Exelon, leaving citizens uneasy with the proposal.

Nuclear energy is not a quick-fix to our global warming crisis or a necessary part of our energy future. Conservation, efficiency and renewable sources are safe, clean and econoically stimulating options. SWU works alongside South Texas communities that are fighting to stop uranium mining and the hazardous expansion of nuclear reactors.