• Read our analysis of this flawed finding.
• Even the Honolulu Advertiser weighs in against the NRC's finding.
• Read the NRC's environmental assessment.

When stepping off the plane at the Honolulu International Airport, tourists and returning residents expect to be greeted with leis, sunshine, and tropical beaches. Yet, if a Hawaiian produce export company has its way, a food irradiation facility will be built right next to the airport to greet disembarking passengers. This facility would use cobalt-60 to irradiate produce for export. Not only would this dubious venture bring radioactive material to an airport, with its risk of aviation accidents and terrorist threats, but it would also be located near Pearl Harbor and other military bases. And if that is not reason enough to rethink this plan, the irradiation facility would be located in a tsunami evacuation zone!

Earthjustice Hawaii, on behalf of the local grassroots group Concerned Citizens of Honolulu, strongly opposes the plan and successfully petitioned the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to require an environmental review of this proposal. Now the NRC has found in their draft environmental assessment that there would be "no significant impact" of building the irradiator, a decision that has been criticized for failing to consider terrorist attacks, alternative locations, and other issues.