A Texas woman last week sued the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in federal court, alleging the commission illegally regulates naturally occurring radioactive material generated by oil and gas industries, according to a complaint filed March 13.
Elizabeth Padilla alleges that only the Railroad Commission of Texas can regulate naturally occurring radioactive material from oil and gas activity. She wants the court to voice Waste Control Specialists’ 2023 license amendment and block TCEQ from sending more naturally occurring radioactive material to the site. Padilla did not reply to an email seeking comment.
Padilla sued after TCEQ in 2023 allowed Waste Control Specialists to dispose of naturally occurring radioactive material at its radioactive waste site in Andrews County, Texas, according to the complaint. TCEQ had not filed an answer to the complaint as of Friday. Padilla is a local activist who has also opposed storage of spent nuclear fuel at Waste Control Specialists’ Andrews site. She is also the treasurer of the group Citizens against Federal Corruption, which last year funded a political ad urging locals not to reelect Andrews County Commissioner Jeneane Anderegg, who according to unofficial results narrowly lost a primary election in March to Vernon Joseph Hobbs, who goes by “Buddy.”
During a members-only question-and-answer session in the Australian Senate this week, the Minister for Defence Richard Marles said Australia’s Labor government “won’t rule out any state or territory” as the future host for long-term storage of decommissioned reactors from Aukus submarines.
“The one statement that we’ve made up to this point in time about where is that it will happen on the current or future Defence estate,” Marles said.
The Australian Government Department of Defence on Friday announced that a joint venture of Australian submarine builder ASC Pty Ltd and the U.K.’s BAE Systems will build the country’s indigenous nuclear-powered, conventionally armed attack submarines in Osborne, South Australia. Australia’s first nuclear-powered attack submarines under the trilateral AUKUS pact will be U.S.-made Virginia-class submarines that the commonwealth plans to acquire in the 2030s. It plans to field its own boats, powered by U.K.-made Rolls-Royce reactors, in the 2040s.
