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For Immediate Release
March, 22 2022, 05:22pm EDT
Contact:
Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist, Beyond Nuclear, kevin@beyondnuclear.org, (240) 462-3216
Mindy Goldstein, attorney for Beyond Nuclear, director, Emory University’s Turner Environmental Law Clinic, magolds@emory.edu, (404) 727-3432
Michael Keegan, co-chair, Don’t Waste Michigan, mkeeganj@comcast.net, (734) 770-1441Terry Lodge, attorney for Don't Waste Michigan, et al., tjlodge50@yahoo.com, (419) 205-7084
Briefs Filed in Federal Appeal Against NRC Licensing of Interim Storage Partners Radioactive Waste Dump in Texas
Environmental Coalition* Cites Numerous Violations of Nuclear Waste, Environmental, and Administrative Laws
WASHINGTON
Beyond Nuclear, Don't Waste Michigan et al. (a seven-group national grassroots environmental coalition), and Sierra Club filed initial briefs at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on March 18, 2022, challenging the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval, last September, of a construction and operating license for the Interim Storage Partners, LLC (ISP) irradiated nuclear fuel and highly radioactive waste consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) at Waste Control Specialists, LLC (WCS) in Andrews County, Texas. ISP plans to store up to 40,000 metric tons of commercial irradiated nuclear fuel, and highly radioactive Greater-Than-Class-C waste, nearly half the total amount that currently exists in the U.S.
Beyond Nuclear's brief focused on NRC violations of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), and associated violations of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Specifically, the NWPA prohibits the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from taking title to commercial irradiated nuclear fuel (often euphemistically called spent or used nuclear fuel) at an interim storage site, unless and until a permanent geologic repository is licensed and operating. Despite this legal prohibition, ISP's license allows for storage of DOE owned waste.
"No federal agency is above the law," said Mindy Goldstein, director of Emory University's Turner Environmental Law Clinic in Atlanta, GA, and an attorney for Beyond Nuclear. "On Friday, we filed a brief with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the court to strike down a license issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because it ignored the unambiguous mandates of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act."
Diane Curran of Harmon, Curran, Spielberg and Eisenberg, LLP of Washington, D.C. also serves as an attorney for Beyond Nuclear. Beyond Nuclear has published a series of factsheets, laying out its legal and technical arguments in opposition to CISFs.
Don't Waste Michigan et al., and Sierra Club, filed a joint initial brief. In addition to the violations of the NWPA and APA, this environmental coalition has raised a large number of challenges alleging NRC violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), including inadequate consideration of: transportation risks to and from the CISF; earthquake risks at the CISF due to very nearby oil and natural gas extraction in the Permian Basin; alternatives to the CISF, including Hardened On-Site Storage at nuclear power plants; impacts on threatened species; the risk of extremely long-term, or even de facto permanent, surface storage at the CISF; and the risk of radiological impacts on the area's ecology, geology, and groundwater, including the adjacent or even underlying Ogallala Aquifer. This coalition of environmental groups seeks the court to order NRC to re-do the ISP Environmental Impact Statement so that it complies with the legal requirements of NEPA.
Wally Taylor of Cedar Rapids, IA serves as legal counsel for Sierra Club. Terry Lodge of Toledo, OH serves as legal counsel for Don't Waste Michigan et al.
"NRC has segmented off the transportation risk issue from the ISP Environmental Impact Statement, a blatant violation of the National Environmental Policy Act," said Terry Lodge, legal counsel for Don't Waste Michigan et al. "The Region of Influence for routine, incident-free shipments is a half-mile on both sides of transport routes, due to hazardous gamma and neutron radiation emissions, while for accidents and attacks that breach the container, it is 50 miles on both sides of the route, due to hazardous radioactive releases," Lodge said.
"NRC has concealed road, rail, and waterway routes to be used to transport over 3,000 shipments of highly radioactive waste from nuclear power plants across the nation to Texas," said Michael Keegan, co-chair of Don't Waste Michigan. "These shipments amount to 'Mobile Chernobyls' as potential dirty bombs on wheels. Shipments by barge on the Great Lakes and Hudson River must be excluded. These are for certain mobile X-ray machines that can not be turned off as they pass through countless communities past millions of Americans," Keegan said.
The States of Texas and New Mexico also oppose the ISP CISF. Texas has appealed NRC's license approval at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, while New Mexico has appealed at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Initial briefs were filed in those cases on February 7 and March 10, 2022, respectively. Fasken Land and Minerals, Ltd. and Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners have appealed against the ISP CISF in both the D.C. and 5th Circuits.
The same parties opposing the CISF in Texas also oppose Holtec International's CISF targeted at southeastern New Mexico, just over 40 miles from ISP. NRC will likely approve Holtec's 173,600 metric ton CISF license by mid-2022. The opposing parties have already filed federal appeals against Holtec's CISF in the D.C., 5th, and 10th Circuit Courts of Appeals. NRC's approval of the Holtec CISF license would likely prompt the D.C. Circuit Court to regard the case, which has been held in abeyance, as then ripe for active consideration, as well.
Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic.
(301) 270-2209LATEST NEWS
'Depraved Response to a Depraved Act': Netanyahu Blames Attack on Australia Recognizing Palestine
"This is an atrocious downplaying of real antisemitism at a time when rampant Jew hatred is killing people," said an American congressional candidate and school shooting survivor.
Dec 14, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was swiftly criticized around the world on Sunday for trying to connect a deadly shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney to the Australian government's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu referenced a letter he sent to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August, after Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong announced the decision, which followed similar moves from Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, amid Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, which has been widely condemned as genocide.
As Netanyahu noted, he wrote to Albanese: "Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorists. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets."
The Israeli leader shared a video and transcript of his commentary on the social media platform X, where Jasper Nathaniel, who reports on the illegally occupied West Bank, called it a "depraved response to a depraved act."
"Obviously massacring unarmed men, women, and children at a Hanukkah celebration is antisemitic terror," Nathaniel added in a separate thread. "Just like massacring unarmed men, women, and children in Gaza and the West Bank is anti-Palestinian terror. There are no moral exceptions regarding the slaughter of civilians."
Electronic Intifada director Ali Abunimah said, "Basically Netanyahu is saying that Australia got what it had coming for not supporting his genocide in Gaza even more than it already does."
Avi Meyerstein, founder of the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Middle East Peace, declared: "This is absurd. Calling to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with peace, security, and self-determination for all, recognizing Israel and Palestine both, is a call to reduce the flames and put everyone on a path toward a better future."
Cameron Kasky, who survived the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and is now running for Congress as a Democrat in New York, also blasted Netanyahu over his comments, saying that "this is an atrocious downplaying of real antisemitism at a time when rampant Jew hatred is killing people."
The death toll in Australia has risen to 16, including one of at least two gunmen, and dozens more people were injured in the attack. A bystander who wrestled a gun away from one of the shooters has been identified by Australian media as Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old fruit shop owner and father. His cousin said that he was shot twice and had to get surgery.
Even Netanyahu recognized that in Australia, "we saw an action of a brave man—turns out a Muslim brave man, and I salute him—that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews," but the Israeli leader then doubled down on what he called Albanese's "weakness."
Responding to Netanyahu, Assal Rad, a fellow at the Arab Center Washington, DC, said that "blaming Palestinian statehood, while committing genocide against them, is just another reminder that you want to erase Palestinians from existence."
"If you condemn the horrific, antisemitic attack in Bondi Beach while still defending genocide in Gaza, you're not actually outraged by the killing of innocent people," Rad also said. "It's not hard to condemn both, unless you think some lives are more valuable than others."
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16 Dead After Shooters Target Hanukkah Celebration at Australia's Bondi Beach
"The images out of Bondi Beach in Australia this morning of a vile, antisemitic massacre at a Hanukkah celebration are shocking, disgusting, and heartbreaking," said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a US Senate candidate.
Dec 14, 2025
This is a developing story… Please check back for updates…
At least 16 people are dead, including a gunman, and dozens of others were transported to various hospitals for injuries after shooters attacked a Hanukkah celebration at the iconic Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
New South Wales Police confirmed that one suspect was killed and another is in custody, and a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) was found in a nearby vehicle, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"One of the gunmen has been identified as Naveed Akram from Bonnyrigg in Sydney's southwest," ABC also reported. "An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says Mr Akram's home in Bonnyrigg is being raided by police."
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the shooting "a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith," and "an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism, that has struck the heart of our nation."
"There is no place for this hate, violence, and terrorism in our nation," he continued, noting that many people remain alive "because of the courage and quick action of the New South Wales Police, and the first responders who rushed to their aid, as well as the courage of everyday Australians who, without hesitating, put themselves in danger in order to keep their fellow Australians safe."
A video of one such bystander has swiftly circulated online: A man identified as Ahmed al Ahmed tackled one gunman and took his weapon. A 7NEWS reporter spoke with a cousin of the 43-year-old Muslim fruit shop owner and father of two at the hospital. The "hero," as his cousin and many others have called him, was shot twice and had surgery, but should be OK.
The video garnered attention around the world. Democratic congressional candidate and outgoing New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is Jewish, acknowledged the "extraordinary courage" of the man who "bravely risked his life to save his neighbors celebrating Hanukkah." Lander added: "Praying for his full and speedy recovery. And so deeply inspired by his example."
As the Associated Press noted Sunday:
Mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.
Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014, and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.
In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.
The attack in Australia followed a deadly shooting Saturday at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island in the United States, where such incidents are far more common.
In the largest US city, the New York Police Department said Sunday that "we are in touch with our Australian partners, and at this time we see no nexus to NYC. We are deploying additional resources to public Hanukkah celebrations and synagogues out of an abundance of caution."
American leaders and political candidates also condemned the Sunday attack, including Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic US Senate candidate in Michigan who said that "the images out of Bondi Beach in Australia this morning of a vile, antisemitic massacre at a Hanukkah celebration are shocking, disgusting, and heartbreaking. The shooters deliberately attacked families celebrating a holiday because of their faith. There is no justification for such a cowardly act of terrorism."
"Our family is praying for the victims and their families—and for Jewish communities in Australia and around the world," added El-Sayed, who is Muslim. "I join my Jewish sisters and brothers grieving these attacks. And we stand resolved to stamp out antisemitism and hate in all its forms."
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'We Don't Have to Live This Way': Deadly Brown Shooting Spurs Calls for Action on Guns
"Our lawmakers fail us every day that they refuse to take action on gun violence," said Students Demand Action.
Dec 13, 2025
With at least two people dead, several others in critical but stable condition at Rhode Island Hospital, and a suspect at large after a Saturday shooting at Brown University in Providence, gun violence prevention advocates and some US lawmakers renewed calls for swift action to take on what the nonprofit Brady called "a uniquely American problem" that "is completely preventable."
"Our hearts are with the victims, survivors, their families, and the entire community of Brown University and the surrounding Providence area in this horrific time," said Brady president Kris Brown in a statement. "As students prepare for finals and then head home to loved ones for the holidays, our all-too-American gun violence crisis has shattered their safety."
"Guns are the leading cause of death for youth in this nation. Only in America do we live in fear of being shot and killed in our schools, places of worship, and grocery stores," she continued. "Now, as students, faculty, and staff hide and barricade themselves in immense fear, we once again call on lawmakers in Congress and around the country to take action against this uniquely American public health crisis. We cannot continue to allow politics and special interests to take priority over our lives and safety."
Despite some early misinformation, no suspects are in custody, and authorities are searching for a man in dark clothing. The law enforcement response is ongoing and Brown remains in lockdown, according to a 9:29 pm Eastern update on the university's website. Everyone is urged to shelter in place, which "means keeping all doors locked and ensuring no movement across campus."
The Ivy League university's president, Christina H. Paxson, said in a public message that "this is a deeply tragic day for Brown, our families, and our local community. There are truly no words that can express the deep sorrow we are feeling for the victims of the shooting that took place today at the Barus & Holley engineering and physics building."
US Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said on social media that he was "praying for the victims and their families," and thanked the first responders who "put themselves in harm’s way to protect all of us." He also echoed the city's mayor, Brett Smiley, "in urging Rhode Islanders to heed only official updates from Brown University and the Providence Police."
In a statement, US Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) also acknowledged everyone impacted by "this horrific, active, and unfolding tragedy," and stressed the importance of everyone listening to law enforcement "as they continue working to ensure the entire campus and surrounding community is safe, and the threat is neutralized."
The state's two Democratic congressmen, Brown alumnus Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo, released similar statements. Amo also said that "the scourge of mass shootings is a horrific stain on our nation. We must seek policies to ensure that these tragedies do not strike yet another community and no more lives are needlessly taken from us."
Elected officials at various levels of government across the country sent their condolences to the Brown community. Some also used the 389th US mass shooting this year and the 230th gun incident on school grounds—according to Brady's president—to argue that, as US House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) put it, "it's past time for us to act and stop senseless gun violence from happening again."
Both Democratic US senators from Massachusetts also emphasized on Saturday that, in Sen. Elizabeth Warren's words, "students should be able to learn in peace, not fear gun violence." Her colleague Sen. Ed Markey said that "we must act now to end this painful epidemic of gun violence. Our children should be safe at school."
New York City's democratic socialist mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, noted that this shooting occurred just before the anniversary of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut:
This senseless violence—once considered unfathomable—has become nauseatingly normal to all of us across our nation. Tonight, on the eve of the anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, we find ourselves in mourning once again.
The epidemic of gun violence stretches across America. We reckon with it when we step into our houses of worship and out onto our streets, when we drop our children off at kindergarten and when we fear if those children, now grown, will be safe on campus. But unlike so many other epidemics, we possess the cure. We have the power to eradicate this suffering from our lives if we so choose.
I send my deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and to the Brown and Providence communities, who are wrestling with a grief that will feel familiar to far too many others. May we never allow ourselves to grow numb to this pain, and let us rededicate ourselves to the enduring work of ending the scourge of gun violence in our nation.
Fred Guttenberg has been advocating against gun violence since his 14-year-old daughter was among those murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida nearly eight years ago. He said on social media that he knows two current students at Brown and asserted that "IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE THIS WAY!!!"
Students Demand Action similarly declared: "Make no mistake: We DO NOT have to live and die like this. Our lawmakers fail us every day that they refuse to take action on gun violence."
Gabby Giffords, a former Democratic congresswoman from Arizona who became an activist after surviving a 2011 assassination attempt, said that "my heart breaks for Brown University. Students should only have to worry about studying for finals right now, not hiding from gunfire. Guns are the leading cause of death for young people in America—this is a five-alarm fire and our leaders in Washington have ignored it for too long. Americans are tired of waiting around for Congress to decide that protecting kids matters."
John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, warned that "we either take action, or we bury more of our kids."
The Associated Press noted that "Rhode Island has some of the strictest gun laws in the US. Last spring the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed an assault weapon ban that will prohibit the sale and manufacturing of certain high-powered firearms, but not their possession, starting next July."
Gun violence prevention advocates often argue for federal restrictions, given that, as Everytown's latest analysis of state-level policies points out, "even the strongest system can't protect a state from its neighbors' weak laws."
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