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End the Civil Use of Highly Enriched Uranium

July 21, 2008

Speak out to end the civil use of highly enriched uranium

NEW YORK (RUSHPRNEWS) JULY 21, 2008 -Highly enriched uranium is one of the key components used to build nuclear weapons, and a crude nuclear device constructed with highly enriched uranium poses the greatest risk of mass destruction by terrorists. Although constructing an improvised nuclear explosive device is alarmingly easy when provided a sufficient amount of highly enriched uranium, some facilities housing this nuclear material are poorly secured and vulnerable to theft.

The highly enriched uranium most vulnerable to theft is that in commercial and civil use. While it is difficult to reduce this threat abroad, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission can help ensure public safety here by banning the licensing of highly enriched uranium for commercial and other civil uses in the United States, and banning licenses that allow its export for commercial purposes. A ban would not only restrict the availability of this extremely dangerous form of uranium, but also would send a clear message to other countries on the urgent need to eliminate vulnerable sources of highly enriched uranium around the world.

NRDC has petitioned the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to fix a date after which it will no longer license the civil use or export of highly enriched uranium, and the commission is accepting public comments on our petition through August 11th.

== What to do ==
Send a message, before the August 11th comment deadline, urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to end the civil use of highly enriched uranium.

== Additional information ==
To read NRDC's recent "Scientific American" article on highly enriched uranium security, see http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=detecting-nuclear-smuggling

== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission directly from NRDC's Action Center at
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_071808
Or use the contact information and sample letter below to send your own message.

Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications staff Washington, DC 20555
Email: rulemaking.comments@nrc.gov

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