PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 2, 2024
Contact:
Kara Colton, Director of Nuclear Policy
kara.colton@energyca.org; (703) 864-3520
ECA Consent-Based Siting Consortia Awards Funding for Community-Driven Discussions on Nuclear Waste Management
Local Governments in Northern Colorado, South Carolina, Georgia, and the Tri-Cities in Washington, to Build Outreach and Engagement
Initiatives
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) has awarded grants to three local community entities – the Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado (AGNC); the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO); and the Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC) – to
develop avenues for inclusive public engagement and discussions of consent-based approaches to site nuclear storage or disposal missions.
Each grant recipient will receive funding of up to $150,000 for a period of performance of up to twelve (12) months. See more on the winning proposals below:
As part of community outreach
efforts to assist the transition away from coal towards clean and sustainable energy, AGNC will develop education, knowledge exchange and mutual learning; utilizing surveys, focus groups, and interviews to engage community members in discussions about the potential siting of an interim storage facility.
SRSCRO will convene community members, key stakeholders, and experts in a dialogue around consent-based siting. The SRSCRO will produce
reports, create a webpage and develop educational materials related to consent-based siting approaches, assessing local/regional concerns and addressing how they can be mitigated.
Working with the Hanford Site Community Reuse Organization and the local utility, TRIDEC will create an education and outreach program using social media, workshops and informational materials, to
foster an inclusive community dialogue around nuclear waste management. A key topic to be addressed is the distinction between commercial used fuel and the defense waste at Hanford.
These awards support the two goals laid out by the ECA Consortia:
- To build capacity in communities interested in consent-based siting and ensure they have the information – and informed representatives - to meaningfully engage on the issues a community will address as a potential host of a nuclear waste facility.
- To facilitate deeper engagement and (re)create momentum by distributing resources for qualifying individual communities that demonstrate readiness to begin localized education and outreach to determine the potential for consent or to capture information that can help define the elements of consent.
ECA will release additional grant opportunities for individual, qualifying communities this summer (visit ECA's Consent-Based Siting Webpage for more details) along with hosting broader public and regional events to help build trust among the public, industry, policymakers and concerned parties - based
on experience - that nuclear waste can be safely managed in a way that is protective of human health and the environment, and in a way that offers community-driven and risk based economic opportunity.
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Energy Communities
Alliance (ECA) is a non-profit membership organization of local governments adjacent to or affected by U.S. Department of Energy activities. The mission of ECA is to bring together local government officials to share information, establish policy positions, and promote community interests to address an increasingly complex set of constituents, environmental, regulatory, and economic development needs. Additional information is available at www.energyca.org.
