We are working on behalf of a project in Andrews County, Texas, to provide a solution to the need for disposal of low-level radioactive waste in Texas and other states. Waste Control Specialists is building a disposal site that will accommodate waste products from such activities as medical imaging and cancer treatments, as well as others that are deemed "low-level" by the federal and state governmental entities charged with regulation and oversight. 

In order to respond to a wide range of rhetorical attacks, WCS has created the Texas Solution Blog, and are utilizing a variety of social media channels to make their case in a transparent manner. During these first weeks of working on the project with them, I've been reinforced in my view that it is absolutely essential to participate on social networks, blog, and do whatever is needed to reach audiences that may have tuned out to traditional media sources.

I have also been reminded just how common it is for opponents of a project like the one in Andrews to use social media to spread rhetoric, hyperbole, ad hominem attacks, and just good old fashioned misinformation in an attempt to sway the public against a project. Attacks on the owner of WCS may feel good, but they are not necessarily relevant to the merits of the project.

The opponents of the WCS project in Andrews, Texas, are just opposed to nuclear energy in general and, therefore, opposed to the disposal facility. It would be so much more honest of them to simply state that.

Instead, they attack the disposal facility, the company working to build it and, as a consequence, the small community that has partnered with them on it. Nowhere in their attacks are there alternative plans for disposal of low-level waste that sits in containers all around us.

Mostly the anti-nuke arguments are inaccurate and mainly based on emotion. Meanwhile, the President of WCS, Rod Baltzer, and the VP for Regulatory Issues, Jeff Skov, are blogging about the facts on the project and the issues surrounding their work. 

Please watch the video below to get a good sense of the community of Andrews, Texas, and their perspective. And please visit the blog, follow them on Twitter, check out their Google Profile, and join them in spreading the facts about low-level waste disposal and its role as a part of a sustainable energy strategy. 

~ Mike Chapman