[NukeNet] Close Oyster Creek! ZANNONI part 2

Sun Apr 1 15:58:57 EDT 2007

Coalition for Peace and Justice; UNPLUG Salem Campaign, 321 Barr Ave,
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From: Jeffrey Brown [mailto:jbnj at comcast.net] 
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2007 1:42 PM
To: Edith Gbur; Willie deCamp; Suzanne Leta; Richard Webster; Peggi
Sturmfels; Paula A Gotsch; Michele Donato; Janet Tauro; Crystal Snedden;
Adam Garber; Julia Huff
Cc: Eric Epstein; Norm Cohen
Subject: ZANNONI part 2

Oyster Creek plant hasn't lived up to promises

Posted by the Asbury <http://www.app.com/>  Park Press on 04/1/07

BY DENNIS ZANNONI

Story ChatPost Comment
<http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20070401&Category=OPINION&Art
No=704010309&SectionCat=&Template=printart#comments> 

Go back 40 years. You agree to support the construction of one of the first
commercial nuclear plants in the country - Oyster Creek in Lacey. You are
told the electricity would be cheap and reliable. You are told the plant
would bring jobs and keep your taxes low. You are told it would not operate
more than 40 years. You are told the spent fuel would be removed from the
site after it is used. You are told the plant is safe and that an accident
was almost impossible. You are told an emergency response plan wasn't
needed. You are told no state oversight was needed since the federal
government would take care of the plant.

Fast forward 40 years. Our electricity rates are high, the plant is
unreliable and unsafe, the spent fuel will be in town forever, Three Mile
Island happened, we have a massive emergency response plan that doesn't
work, the state Bureau of Nuclear Engineering has 20 staffers watching
Oyster Creek and we have a weak federal regulator. Time is up. Here's why:

Economy

The economic impact to the region from closing Oyster Creek is not a
significant reason for keeping Oyster Creek open. There will be more money
circulating in the economy after it shuts down. AmerGen will spend around
$650 million over a 10-year period to clean up the site. They will employ
around 300 workers, mostly unionized. Others will have opportunities at
other Exelon nuclear power plants and at the PSEG nuclear power plants in
New Jersey. The Lacey revenue from the plant won't change since it is set by
the Legislature. Finally, the site will eventually be used by some business
that will generate economic activity, employ people and pay taxes.

Electricity

Losing Oyster Creek's electrical generation is not a significant reason for
keeping Oyster Creek open. New Jersey needs safe and reliable electricity
generation. Oyster Creek is neither reliable nor safe. First Energy's
combustion turbines, behind Oyster Creek, generate 100 megawatts safely and
reliably. Also, PSEG will increase the Hope Creek nuclear plant electrical
output by 150 megawatts next year and to 200 megawatts within three years.

Environment

The environmental impact from the operation of Oyster Creek is a significant
reason for closing Oyster Creek. The impacts to the bay are at the top of
the list. If state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa
Jackson requires cooling towers at Oyster Creek, AmerGen will close the
plant.

Security

The lack of spent fuel pool security at Oyster Creek is a significant reason
for closing Oyster Creek. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission required plants
to spend billions after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, the NRC
forgot about unprotected spent fuel pools. We were attacked from the air and
the NRC ordered plant owners to protect the plants from a ground attack,
which was never the intention of the terrorists.

The 9/11 Report, the National Academy of Sciences and most reasonable people
agree that nuclear power plant spent fuel pools are vulnerable from the air,
not only because terrorists have struck from the air before, but because it
is easy to do. You can use a plane (big or small), a helicopter (which can
land right on top of the spent fuel pool), or other methods to cause a spent
fuel pool accident.

Spent fuel

The accumulation of spent fuel at Oyster Creek is a significant reason for
closing Oyster Creek. If Lacey permits more safety canisters and the plant
continues to operate, the amount of spent fuel stored in Lacey will continue
to accumulate.

Even if Oyster Creek closes, the U.S. Department of Energy, which owns the
spent fuel, has nowhere to put it. Lacey will have the spent fuel for a very
long time. Most of it will remain in a pool of water, never designed as a
storage facility, 100 feet above the ground, with only sheet metal between
it and you. I have seen the safety canisters dropped, burned, sunk in water,
hit by trains, planes and trucks but the spent fuel pools magically became
permanent storage facilities overnight.

The safest course of action is to close Oyster Creek, remove all the spent
fuel from the spent fuel pool and put it in safety canisters, and force the
Energy Department to take it all away.

Emergency preparedness

The emergency response plan is a major reason for closing Oyster Creek. It
lacks the confidence of the citizens it is intended to protect. The
population, escape routes and fear make the plan unworkable. I have no
confidence in the ability of the Oyster Creek operators to take proper
emergency response actions after a nuclear accident. In addition, Gov.
Corzine requested a review of the Oyster Creek emergency plan, which was not
done. The plan has not considered the consequences of a spent fuel pool
attack because the NRC will not let us review the available NRC analysis.
Finally, the public will be surprised to learn that compensation from a
plant accident will come only if "substantial" radiation releases occur. You
are on your own otherwise.

The NRC

The current state of the NRC is a major reason for closing Oyster Creek. I
have no confidence in the NRC's ability to make sure Oyster Creek remains
safe. After Congress forced the NRC to make the NRC nuclear power plant
oversight process more nuclear industry friendly, the NRC lost its clout to
make the plants safer. I see the effects of this weakness all the time.
Thank goodness the New Jersey Legislature created the Bureau of Nuclear
Engineering after the Three Mile Island accident.

The plant

I have been involved with Oyster Creek for 20 years. My goal was to do what
I could to make the plant safer. During that time, I have seen plant owners,
managers and operators, NRC regulators and inspectors, and government
officials come and go. I have remained, and I have the best understanding of
the overall picture of Oyster Creek. Oyster Creek's time is up. Close Oyster
Creek, clean up the site and ready the property for the next business.

Dennis Zannoni, Florence, was reassigned from his position as chief nuclear
engineer for the Department of Environmental Protection in January in
response to what he says is an unspecified complaint from a Nuclear
Regulatory Commission staffer. He has been on personal leave since then but
said he is returning to the DEP this week in a role involving risk
reduction.

StoryChat

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As usual Dennis, you neglected to include a few pertinent facts: 
1. Until Yucca mountain or a suitable replacement opens, Oyster Creek's
spent fuel will be stored onsite. Shutting Down Oyster Creek Won't change
that fact. 
2. The price of electricity generated by natural gas fueled sources is the
most expensive way to generate electricity, nuclear is one of the cheapest.
Shutting the plant down will only cause electricity prices to rise more. 
3. The majority of the other historical reasons you list for shutting the
place down occurred while the utilities running it were state regulated. 

Given these long running lapses in state oversight (where you were the only
constant), Perhaps they should have fired you a long time ago. Is that why
NO ONE from the state publicly supports your opinions?

Posted by: bl3ccch on Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:43 am

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