Activist Matthew Berdyck Demands Federal Review of Depleted Uranium Project After DOE Report Found “Critically Incomplete”
On Tuesday, ToxicWasteSites.org founder, Matthew Berdyck, issued a legal demand letter to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to withdraw their recent Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for a depleted uranium manufacturing project in Tennessee, citing “major, document-proven omissions” in the federal government’s Final Environmental Assessment (EA-2252), released in November 2024.
The project would involve processing depleted uranium metal at a commercial facility near Jonesborough. The Final 2024 Environmental Assessment (EA) shows that DOE did not conduct any site-specific accident modeling for the Jonesborough location. Instead, the agency relied on decades-old analyses from unrelated facilities in other states.
The EA also contains no plume modeling, no off-site health impact calculations, and no analysis of nearby schools or residential neighborhoods, despite multiple schools and subdivisions located within a few miles of the proposed site. “DOE issued a no-impact finding without performing the basic analyses the law requires,” Berdyck said. “There is no accident model for this community, no chemical release modeling, and no evaluation of transportation risks through the Tri-Cities region.”
The Environmental Justice section of the EA also relied on statewide demographic averages and a 50-mile radius, instead of evaluating the census blocks immediately surrounding the BWXT Tennessee facility. Berdyck, who conducted the review of the EA, says “this approach hides real impacts behind regional statistics, it’s a direct attempt to fudge the reports, force a project through the proverbial pipeline without a proper review. It appears Washington County officials blindly accepted this and used no due diligence during the process.”
Public comments warning of known uranium metal fire hazards received no new analysis; DOE instead cited older Environmental Impact Statements from unrelated locations.
On Thursday, the Department of Energy NEPA compliance officer, Chloe Costanzo, responded, “Thank you for your letter detailing your concerns with the Off-site Depleted Uranium Manufacturing Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact. NNSA takes these matters seriously and will thoroughly review your assertions. Due to the nature and extent of the information provided, our response will take some time in order to respond accordingly.”
“The National Environmental Policy Act has a legal requirement called ‘hard look’,” the activist said. “This EA doesn’t meet legal requirements, minimum effort to protect the public was made, and citizens deserve real analysis before depleted uranium processing begins in this community.”
The activist then served Washington County, Tennessee with a legal notice warning that his organization would initiate litigation if the Washington County Zoning Appeals Board does not postpone the pending January 2026 vote which would allow the project to begin at the BWXT site.
Berdyck said, “It’s nothing but disturbing that the Washington County officials made zero effort to watchdog BWXT and the Department of Energy. They didn’t read or evaluate the environmental assessment before setting the matter for a vote. This is egregious negligence or what is better known as utter stupidity."
NEPA Demand Letter: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NvuoDedCNN96kUYfJWuiFSacUKWa1mut/view?usp=drive_link
Washington County Demand Letter: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A7ORC-P1nWiOD3ZJ-koe1u3bmsF0iLgC/view?usp=drive_link
Media Contacts:
Matthew Berdyck
Founder: ToxicWasteSites.org
berdyckmatthew@gmail.com
424-202-0477
