Charger Features

Uranium, nuclear discrimination

Dana Johnson, Charger Staff

Louisiana Energy Services is a group of some of the major nuclear power companies of the world. Louisiana Energy Services has a goal of building a new nuclear power plant in the United States. The plant would be used for uranium enrichment. This uranium would then be sold for use in things such as commercial atomic power reactors.

For many years LES has been looking at different sites across the country and trying to get various states to agree to let them build the plant.

In 1997, they were forced to withdraw from their hopeful site of Homer, Louisiana, because of a federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s ruling that their building site (between two poor and mostly African American neighborhoods) was racist.

Time and time again court rulings and investigations have proven that LES bases their site choices on three main things: an area that is close to a nuclear fuel fabrication plant, available land, and a poor rural community.

In September of 2002, Louisiana Energy Services announced its plan to build a plant in Hartsville, Tennessee.

The land they want to build on is owned by the Four Lake Regional Industrial Development Authority. There are around 250 acres in question.

On January 20, LES finally released a computer drawing of what the proposed $1.1 billion facility would look like to the public.

Many of Hartsville’s citizens are against building the plant. Having the plant brings jobs, but it also brings things like pollution, traffic, and toxic waste.

A group of opponents including the Tennessee Environmental Council are even searching for evidence to find out if the governor and top economic commissioner encouraged LES to come to Tennessee. State officials deny any recruiting or bargaining with LES.

Local leaders plan on a decision about selling the land by early March.

~Article prepared for web by Steven Linger and Joy Wheeler~