Missoula County, MT Nuclear Free Zone

Missoula County, MT, US

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Type: County Code

Status: Updated on 9/1/07

Source File: http://tinyurl.com/35fadb (Select Chapter 2, Zoning Districts)

Text:

SECTION 2.20 - NUCLEAR-FREE ZONE

A. Intent

This district establishes a "nuclear free" zoning district encompassing the whole of Missoula County in which the construction or operation of nuclear power plants or any other nuclear power facilities is prohibited. The people of Missoula County find that nuclear power facilities are incompatible with the stated purposes of zoning to: promote health, safety, and general welfare; secure safety from dangers; and stabilize and conserve the value of buildings and land within the county; for the following reasons:

1. The liability of nuclear power facilities to sudden, catastrophic accidents which could render the county uninhabitable for generations;

2. The generation of waste from nuclear facilities which remains a severe radiological hazard for many thousands of years and for which no means of containment assuring the protection of future generations exists;

3. The susceptibility of nuclear waste and materials to theft and the manufacture of nuclear weapons from those wastes and materials;

4. The probability that the need for security in a nuclear power economy would result in a large loss of our civil liberties and individual freedoms;

5. The large and wasteful use of our water resources by nuclear facilities;

6. The spending of scarce capital to pay the rapidly increasing costs of nuclear facilities, preventing the use of that capital to finance sustainable energy sources which hold more promise for supplying useful energy, providing jobs, and holding down energy costs; and,

7. The negative impact of nuclear facilities on property values and quality of life in the County.

B. Definition

1. Nuclear Facility or Nuclear Power Facility - Each plant, unit, or other facility and associated facilities designed for, or capable of:

a. generating electricity by means of nuclear fission;
b. mining, milling, converting, enriching, fabricating, or reprocessing uranium minerals or nuclear fuels for a nuclear facility as defined in (a) above; or,
c. storing or disposing of radioactive wastes or materials from a nuclear facility as defined in (a) and (b) above.

2. Nuclear Facility and Nuclear Power Facility do not mean any small-scale medical or research facility not connected in any way with the generation of energy.

C. Prohibition of Nuclear Facility

There is hereby established a zoning district whose boundaries are the boundaries of Missoula County in which a person may not construct or operate a nuclear facility.

D. Impact

1. The county-wide zoning district hereby established may not be used for any purpose other than the purpose stated in this section.

2. The restrictions of this section shall not affect any other zoning restriction except as noted in (3) below.

3. Pursuant to Section 1.03 of Chapter I of Missoula County Zoning Resolution, Resolution No. 76-113, the restrictions of this section supersede and control any less restrictive rule, resolution, regulation, or provision to the contrary.