Last Updated on August 27, 2021
Texas Gubernatorial candidate Allen West called out the national security risk posed by a “form of legislation that would allow the above-ground storage of nuclear waste in the Permian Basin.”
Allen West is exposing the national security risks posed by a bill that would allow nuclear waste in the Permian Basin to be stored above-ground. “Texas is once again caught in the crosshairs of a national security risk,” reads a press release by West’s campaign. According to the release, the bill “puts in jeopardy all of Texas as well as the rest of the country.” West is calling for Texans to do everything they can to make sure that “the WCS/ISP and Holtec permits are not granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.”
House Bill 7 introduced by Representative Brooks Landgraf of House District 81 was heard and reported out of the Environmental Regulation Committee this past Monday, August 23. The bill bans transportation, storage, or disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), spent nuclear fuel (SNF), and other nuclear reactor-related waste (RR-GTCC) in Texas.
Chairman Landgraf made it clear that the bill needed to be approved by the House and the Senate ASAP so the Governor could sign the bill into law by September 5, the end of this special session.
West noted that “the concern about having an expanded nuclear waste facility in the Permian Basin is that the long-term energy security of America could be put at risk. Our oil and natural gas resources in Texas are the backbone of America’s energy independence. Risking it to possible nuclear contamination over the long-term is not just bad for our energy sector, but also jeopardizes our national security. Of particular concern is the plan to store nuclear waste on the surface, which would make the Permian Basin a strategic target to terrorists and other bad actors.”
West is urging all Texas house members to support certain amendments to the bill in order to “fortify it, best ensuring that high-level nuclear waste is not brought in from out of state and stored in the Texas Permian Basin.”
Readers can view the list of amendments released by the West Campaign here.
