Sep 29, 2024: The case against restarting Three Mile Island’s Unit-1

Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island

Did you catch "The Meltdown: Three Mile Island" on Netflix?
TMI remains a danger and TMIA is working hard to ensure the safety of our communities and the surrounding areas.
Learn more on this site and support our efforts. Join TMIA. To contact the TMIA office, call 717-233-7897.

    

Podcast is up

Hi Eric,
 
The podcast with your story about Three Mile Island is up on SoundCloud and other platforms. I hope you like it!
 
Thanks again for being our guest on Green Street News!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Doug Wood
Associate Director
Grassroots Environmental Education
By admin at Sun, 03/05/2023 - 06:50

PRESS RELEASE: Mothers for Peace statement on NRC ruling giving Diablo Canyon exemption

cid:clip_image001.jpg
PO Box 3608
San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-3608
                      http://mothersforpeace.org                            
 
  
 
NEWS RELEASE                    Contacts:      Jane Swanson, Spokesperson    
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             (805) 440-1359
                                                                Linda Seeley, Spokesperson
March 3, 2023                                            (805) 234-1769

 

This statement is in response to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) ruling of March 2 that PG&E is exempt from regulations that have long required a safety review by the NRC before any reactor could operate beyond the date of its operating license.
 
The joint press release by Mothers for Peace, Friends of the Earth, and Environmental Working Group on the MFP website under “latest news”.  See https://mothersforpeace.org/nrc-caves-to-nrc-on-exemption-for-diablo-canyon-license-extension/ explains details of the ruling and reasons why the three organizations oppose it.
 
Mothers for Peace, a local non-profit organization run by volunteers, has acted as Legal Intervenor with the NRC since 1973, with a goal of making California a nuclear-free state. This recent ruling is not surprising, as the NRC has always prioritized the economic interests of the nuclear industry over the safety of those living downwind from nuclear reactors and radioactive wastes. Mothers for Peace, in conjunction with allied organizations, will challenge this unsafe and illegal ruling.
 
Never before has the NRC allowed a plant designed in the 1950s and constructed in the 70’s to continue running past the expiration of its licenses without first conducting a safety review. Such a review is especially urgent in the case of Diablo. PG&E has been maintaining the plant only to keep it running until 2025, since until last spring the company was committed to shut it down in that year. To make matters worse, these reactors are surrounded by 13 earthquake faults, one of which goes directly under the plant.
 
Mothers for Peace is already working with its two attorneys and consulting with potential expert witnesses to force the NRC to comply with federal law and its own regulations. Our organization is planning fund-raising events to support these legal efforts, which might necessitate action in the United States Court of Appeals.
By admin at Sat, 03/04/2023 - 12:38

NRC Seeks Comment on Proposed Revision to Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Renewing Reactor Licenses

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: 23-016 March 3, 2023
CONTACT: Scott Burnell, 301-415-8200
 
NRC Seeks Comment on Proposed Revision to Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Renewing Reactor Licenses
 
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published a proposed rule that would update the license renewal Generic Environmental Impact Statement used by the agency when considering applications to renew operating reactor licenses.
 
The proposed rule is in response to a 2022 Commission order that concluded the license renewal GEIS did not analyze the environmental impacts of a subsequent license renewal term (from 60 to 80 years of operation). The proposed rule amends the relevant rule language to account for intial license renewal and one term of subsequent license renewal, redefines the number and scope of the environmental issues that must be addressed during the review of each application for license renewal, and updates related guidance to fully address subsequent renewal.
 
The GEIS covers environmental topics relevant to all nuclear power plant licensees seeking renewed licenses. The revised document accounts for new or revised environmental impacts, changes in regulations or guidance, and applies what the agency has learned during previous license renewals.
 
The NRC will hold hybrid public meetings to gather comments before finalizing the rule and GEIS for Commission consideration. The first two meetings will be March 16 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road in Rockville, Maryland, from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. The staff will host a 30-minute open house prior to each meeting. In the near future, the agency will announce four additional public meetings across the country. The meetings are one method for submitting comments on the proposed rule before the May 2 deadline. Comments can also be submitted via regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2018-0296, via email to Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov, or via U.S. mail to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
 
By admin at Sat, 03/04/2023 - 12:33

NRC Issues Annual Assessments for Nation's Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: 23-019 March 3, 2023
CONTACT: Scott Burnell, 301-415-8200
 
NRC Issues Annual Assessments for Nation’s Nuclear Power Plants
 
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued annual letters to the nation’s operating commercial nuclear reactors assessing their 2022 performance.
 
Of the 93 reactors currently in the agency’s Reactor Oversight Process, 87 reached the highest performance category in safety and security. Those reactors (including Vogtle Unit 3, which was authorized for operation last year) remain under the NRC’s “baseline” inspection program, involving thousands of inspection hours for each reactor.
 
Six reactors were in the second performance category, as they need to resolve one or two items of low safety significance. For this performance level, regulatory oversight includes additional inspection and follow-up of corrective actions. Plants in this category are Calvert Cliffs 1 (Maryland), Davis-Besse (Ohio), Peach Bottom 2 (Pennsylvania), Quad Cities 2 (Illinois), V.C. Summer (South Carolina) and Waterford (Louisiana).
 
There were no reactors in the third and fourth performance categories.
 
Later this spring and summer, the NRC will host a public meeting or other event for each plant to discuss the annual assessment results. A separate announcement will be issued for each public assessment meeting. In addition to the annual assessment letters, plants also receive an NRC inspection plan for the coming year.
 
The NRC’s website outlines oversight of commercial nuclear power on the Reactor Oversight Process page. The NRC routinely updates each plant’s current performance and posts the latest information as it becomes available to the action matrix summary. Assessment letters are posted on the NRC website (click on “2022006” for each plant). Annual construction oversight assessments for new reactors at the Vogtle units 3 and 4 sites are also on the NRC website.
 
By admin at Sat, 03/04/2023 - 12:30

Annual Assessment Letter for Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 (Reports 05000387/2022006 and 05000388/2022006)

Annual Assessment Letter for Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 (Reports 05000387/2022006 and 05000388/2022006)
 
ADAMS Accession No. ML23059A047
 
By admin at Fri, 03/03/2023 - 12:55

Annual Assessment Letter for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 (Reports 05000277/2022006 and 05000278/2022006)

Annual Assessment Letter for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 (Reports 05000277/2022006 and 05000278/2022006)
 
ADAMS Accession No. ML23059A045
 
By admin at Fri, 03/03/2023 - 12:52

NRC to Allow TMI-2 Cleanup to Proceed Without Radioactive Waste Disposal Plan; High-Level Waste to Remain On-Site Indefinitely, (March 2, 2023)

Three Mile Island To Become High-Level Radioactive Waste Site 
 
(Harrisburg, Pa) - The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission ruled against Eric Epstein's Petition  
just hours after getting TMI-2 Solutions Motion
to Strike Epstein's new contentions on water use.
 
Mr. Epstein has 25 days to file an appeal. He is  
studying his options. It is clear TMI-2 Solutions 
is not well suited for this endeavor, and water use
and radioactive water disposal remain unresolved. 
 
The plan to store TMI-2's debris, fuel and
waste at TMI-1 - a separate licensee - is discretionary
and just as precarious as TMI-1's rationing of water 
for the TMI-2 cleanup. TMI-2 Solutions is proposing
to "temporarily" store nine high-level radioactive
casks on-site. The contents were not disclosed at
the hearing.
 
Assuming there is a contract between TMI-1 and 
TMI-2, it was not disclosed the hearing, high-level
radioactive material from the TMI accident will
remain on site indefinitely.
 
If Constellation - which is in no hurry to clean up 
TMI-1 - is being reimbursed by the DOE  to store high-level  
radioactive  waste on the Susquehanna River, then there  
is no incentive to move the radioactive waste  off site. 
In fact it is profitable for Constellation -  which may  
not complete the TMI-1 cleanup  until 2075 - to make
Three Mile Island a high level radioactive waste site.
 
 
Contact: Eric Epstein.
 
By admin at Fri, 03/03/2023 - 12:48

NRC Grants "Timely Renewal" Exemption to Allow Continued Operation of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: 23-015 March 2, 2023
CONTACT: Scott Burnell, 301-415-8200
 
NRC Grants "Timely Renewal" Exemption to Allow Continued Operation of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant
 
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted an exemption to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. that would allow the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant to continue operating while the agency considers its license renewal application.
 
After evaluating the company’s exemption request, the NRC staff determined that the exemption is authorized by law, will not present undue risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common defense and security. In addition, the staff determined Diablo Canyon’s continued operation is in the public interest because of serious challenges to the reliability of California’s electricity grid.
 
The current operating licenses for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2, expire on Nov. 2, 2024, and Aug. 26, 2025, respectively. The exemption granted today will allow those licenses to remain in effect provided PG&E submits a sufficient license renewal application for the reactors by Dec. 31, 2023. The NRC will continue its normal inspection and oversight of the facility throughout the review to ensure continued safe operation. If granted, the license renewal would authorize continued operation for up to 20 years.
 
NRC regulations allow a reactor’s operating license to remain in effect beyond its expiration date contingent upon the licensee submitting a sufficient license renewal application at least five years prior to expiration – a status called “timely renewal.” PG&E requires the exemption because it has not met that five-year requirement.
 
PG&E applied to renew the licenses in November 2009 but withdrew the application in 2018 and announced plans to cease operations and decommission the reactors when the licenses expire. After California enacted legislation last September to support continued operation, PG&E asked the NRC to resume its review of the previous application. In January, the staff informed the company that it would need to submit a new, up-to-date renewal application. That made the current exemption necessary to allow continued operation while the application is under review.
 
PG&E has said it will submit an application by the end of this calendar year. The NRC’s review of a license renewal application typically lasts 22 months.
 
By admin at Fri, 03/03/2023 - 12:43

NRC Names New Resident Inspector at Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: I-23-001 February 28, 2023
CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330
Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331
 
NRC Names New Resident Inspector at Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant
 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, have selected Erin Brady as the resident inspector at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Salem Township (Luzerne County), Pennsylvania. She joins Senior Resident Inspector Chris Highley at the two- unit site, which is operated by Talen Energy.
 
“Erin’s experience in private industry, with the Navy and during her time training and in the field as an NRC inspector will serve the agency well as she begins this new role,” said NRC Region I Administrator Ray Lorson. “She stands ready to put what she has learned to use as part of our front-line inspection team.”
 
Brady joined the NRC in 2021 after working as a quality control and maintenance technician in private industry. Prior to that, she served for eight years as an enlisted nuclear electrician aboard Navy aircraft carriers. Since joining the NRC, she has served as acting resident inspector at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania and completed NRC training qualifications.
 
She holds bachelor’s degrees in nuclear and electrical engineering from Thomas Edison State University in New Jersey.
 
Each operating U.S. commercial nuclear power plant has at least two NRC resident inspectors. They serve as the agency’s eyes and ears at the facility, conducting inspections, monitoring safety-significant work projects and interacting with plant workers and the public. Resident inspectors can serve at a reactor site for up to seven years.
 
By admin at Fri, 03/03/2023 - 12:34

House panel OKs bill opposing nuclear waste storage plan

House panel OKs bill opposing nuclear waste storage plan
By Santa Fe New Mexican
February 25, 2023
By Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican

A bill that would stymie, if not stop, efforts to build a radioactive waste disposal storage site in the southeastern part of the state is getting closer to the legislative finish line.

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee voted 6-3 Saturday to approve Senate Bill 53, which would prohibit the storage and disposal of radioactive materials or waste in New Mexico unless the state has agreed to the creation of the disposal facility and unless the federal government has already created a permanent nuclear waste repository.

The Senate has already passed the bill, which now goes to the House Judiciary Committee. If it clears that committee, it will go to the floor of the House of Representatives for a final vote.

The effort, sponsored by four Democratic lawmakers, is aimed at slowing the efforts of Holtec International from building a proposed storage site between Hobbs and Carlsbad that would hold highly radioactive uranium from reactor sites around the country.

“I don’t want to see New Mexico become the nation’s dumping ground [for radioactive waste],” Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo,  one of the bill’s cosponsors, told committee members.

About 25 people testified in support of the bill while about a half-dozen spoke against it, including a lobbyist for Holtec who said the company has already signed memorandums of agreement with community associations and contractors in New Mexico to build a workforce training facility in the state.

It’s unclear at this point what impact the bill, if it becomes law, would have on Holtec’s plans. Last year, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced it plans to grant Holtec a license to build and operate the facility.

McQueen and cosponsor Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, told the committee the permit has not yet been issued and there is time to send a statement New Mexico does not want the facility.

Holtec has said the facility would be temporary until a permanent repository could be built, but Rep. Janelle Anyanonu, D-Albuquerque, fears that wouldn’t be the case.

“Once it opens it’s going to be permanent no matter what the permit process,” Anyanonu said.

Anyanonu joined both Democrats and Republicans on the committee in expressing concerns that efforts to stop Holtec could lead to a lawsuit. McQueen said he expects Holtec to challenge the bill if it becomes law.

The debate once again shed light on the sometimes controversial crossroads between economic development and community safety when it comes to the issue of radioactive waste sites in New Mexico. The state’s long history with nuclear and radioactive energy also played a role in Saturday’s debate, with some opponents of the Holtec project calling up memories of the first atomic bomb detonation near the Trinity Site in 1945. One report says as many as 1,000 New Mexicans living in communities near the blast may have developed cancer from the radioactive fallout.

One man who spoke in favor of SB 53, Paul Pino of Carrizozo, said his mother and brother died of radiogenic cancer as a result of the atomic test. Noting workers have been contaminated at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, he said, “I hope they don’t die like my mom and brother did.”

Conversely, some testified they support the Holtec project because of its potential to create jobs and inject new financial life into Southeastern New Mexico.

Jason Shirley from the Carlsbad Department of Development said the business community “at large are all in strong support of the project and against this bill moving forward. We think it will be a very good thing for the community.”

Several lawmakers brought up the recent toxic train wreck near East Palestine, Ohio, as evidence hazardous waste could contaminate communities if a similar incident  happened in New Mexico. Holtec has said it will transport all the waste by train.

David Gallegos, who said he is a locomotive engineer, told the committee members that while Holtec could do everything right to protect people and the environment from any nuclear leak, “we cannot depend on the condition of the railroad.” Earlier this month Newsweek reported more than a dozen train derailments to date in 2023.

“Derailments across the country have stopped things … stopped commerce in this country,” Gallegos said.
By admin at Mon, 02/27/2023 - 02:33

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