Monday, October 12, 2009

Army seeks license to possess depleted uranium on Big Island's Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA)

By letters dated November 6, 2008, and July 8, 2009, the U.S. Army Installation Command submitted a Source Material License application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), for the Schofield Barracks and Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) sites in Oahu and the Island of Hawaii, Hawaii.

This license application is for possession of depleted uranium (DU) due to the potential for residual DU to be at various Army Installations where testing of the M101 Spotting Round has occurred. See Notice of License Application Request of U.S. Army Installation Command for Schofield Barracks, Oahu, HI, and Pohakuloa Training Area, Island of Hawaii, HI; and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing published in the Federal Register.

The license would be an after-the-fact permit to allow the army to “legally” possess depleted uranium that was unleashed into Hawaii’s environment over 40 years ago.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held what they referred to as “informal” public meetings on August 26th in Kona and August 27th in Hilo. See New Pacific Voice for links to the public comments.

The deadline for submitting public comments and requesting a hearing is Oct. 13, 2009. Members of the public may e-mail comments to the NRC project manager, John J. Hayes, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, John.Hayes@nrc.gov.

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