Fentress County Board of Commissioners formally rejected proposal for a potential nuclear repository Monday, passing a resolution to protect the community from the storage or disposal of nuclear materials.
Chairman Jacob Rosenbaum said the county currently lacks sufficient evidence to prove that a nuclear waste site would be safe for local residents. Rosenbaum said the proposal stems from a state response to a federal request for information regarding a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus.
“When a proposal could carry consequences for our people that are this substantial,” Rosenbaum said, “The burden of proof that is upon those making the proposal is extremely high and in my opinion, that burden has not currently been met.”
Rosenbaum said the Department of Energy has not yet awarded the project or determined a final location for the campus. The chairman said he is working with state officials to obtain more specific data about the safety of such facilities.
“But if there’s ever been a time to fight, it’s now,” Commissioner Jeff Green said. “I mean this is something we need to oppose more than we’ve ever been opposed to anything that happened in Fentress County.”
Commissioner Leon Stepp said the county does not know what kind of funding might accompany the project. Stepp said he is concerned that a repository would negatively impact property values and the local tax base.
“Whatever money they want to offer us, what kind of price tag you put on your family’s health, potentially?” Stepp said. “And from our point of view, this would not improve the tax base.”
Fentress County Attorney Amber Clark said the county does not have a substantive answer on what the next steps for the project will be. Clark said that while the county cannot control state or federal actions, the commission can make its opposition clear.
“We obviously do not control what the state does, but we can make it very clear what our position is right now,” Clark said.
Rosenbaum said a petition opposing the repository is currently circulating throughout the community and is available for signatures at his office. Rosenbaum said Pickett County is considering a similar resolution, while Morgan County has already issued a petition in opposition.
