Key Issues
Nuclear plant proponents overlook drought’s reality
Two recent Express-News articles were highly predictive of South Texas’s future: “This dry spell may be the drought of record” and “Energy giant wants to keep Guadalupe River water rights.” The two highlight the relationship between nuclear power and water.
Global warming studies predict South Texas will experience longer and more severe droughts.
The future is here and its reality is staring us in the face.
Water Supply
The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority recently asked residents to curtail their water use, but the proposed nuclear power plant has reserved 75,000 acre-feet of water anyway.
- How will this affect our supply?
- Does the GBRA even have enough water rights to be promising this water to Exelon and supply all the other regional water needs like the Lower Guadalupe Water Supply Project?
- What long-term effect could a nuclear power plant’s reservation and use of this water have downstream on the bay, wetlands, estuaries, fish and whooping cranes?
Nuclear Waste
The NRC requires that nuclear waste be stored safely for 1000 years. Currently, there are no facilities for permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste in the United States, yet Exelon is proposing new plants without a long-term storage solution in place.
- Where is all the nuclear waste going to go?
- If the waste is stored on-site, how long will it be stored there and what impact will that have on safety?
- Do we know that the site of this proposed nuclear power plant geologically sound or does it have unstable faults? Could contaminated water leak into the groundwater?
Nuclear Safety
Accidents happen. As recently as July 2008, Uranium-bearing liquid leaked from a broken underground pipe at a nuclear plant in southeastern France, a leader in nuclear power generation.
- What are the dangers and safety concerns? If there is a nuclear accident, how will area residents be evacuated – especially those in schools and medical facilities?
- What is the safety record of the technology? Can it be secured?
- Do we know that the site of this proposed nuclear power plant is geologically sound or does it have unstable faults?
Economy
Nuclear power plants belong to a category known as “undesirable facilities” and are often referred to as LULUs, or “locally unwanted land use.”
- Will a nuclear power plant effect the reputation of the community as a safe place to live?
- How will it impact property values and other businesses considering Victoria?
- Will there be enough water for future economic development?
Exelon
Exelon leaked radioactive tritium at its Braidwood, IL nuclear power plant and did not publicly disclose the contamination for years.
- Can you trust they won’t do the same here?
- Can we trust an employer who ignores security-related warnings from its own team only to acknowledge failure when a video tape surfaces?
- Is this the kind of neighbor and employer we want?
News & Events
Nuclear plant proponents overlook drought’s realityTwo recent Express-News articles were highly predictive of South Texas’s future: “This dry spell may be the drought of record” and “Energy giant wants to keep Guadalupe River water rights.” The two highlight the relationship between nuclear power and water.
Global warming studies predict South Texas will experience longer and more severe droughts.
The future is here and its reality is staring us in the face.
Paper water rights deceptiveCentral Texas is experiencing one of the worst natural droughts of the last 50 years. It’s dry and we all know it - we feel it. And during such times, it makes a lot of sense to seriously question our state and local water policies. When it rains, we have enough for all of our dreams. It is when we are dry that reality appears.
TSEPA: GBRA Sells Guadalupe Water Rights to Exelon Amidst Basin-Wide DroughtVICTORIA, TX - Texans for a Sound Energy Policy Alliance (TSEPA) today questioned the logic of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority’s (GBRA) decision to extend its water reservation agreement with Exelon while simultaneously requesting others to conserve.
With the Guadalupe River Basin experiencing Stage 2 drought conditions, GBRA encouraged all users to limit their water usage. Additionally, GBRA was forced to increase the release rate from Canyon Lake into the Guadalupe River in order to meet the current water supply demands for its downstream user, the City of Victoria. At the same time, GBRA accepted $1.1 million from Exelon to reserve 75,000 acre-feet from the Guadalupe for its proposed nuclear power plant near Victoria.