Mothball Millstone! Connecticut Coalition Against the Millstone Nuclear Power Reactor

Union of Concerned Scientists
Citizens and Scientists for Environmental Solutions
www.ucsusa.org

Three Mile Island 29 Years Later: Nuclear Safety Problems Still Unresolved
Adding New Plants to Aging Fleet Will Increase Risk Without Safety Reform, Science Group Says Nuclear Reactor Security Walking A Nuclear Tightrope
WASHINGTON (March 27, 2008) — The partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant began on March 28, 1979. Since the accident, not a single new nuclear power plant has been ordered in the United States. Indeed, 74 plants under construction at the time of the accident were cancelled. But in just the past year, the nuclear industry has stepped up its efforts to secure government funding for a new fleet of nuclear power plants. Unfortunately, over the last three decades, neither plant owners nor the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have adequately addressed the basic flaws in U.S. nuclear safety that led to the Three Mile Island accident, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
"Three Mile Island was almost 30 years ago so perhaps the industry and the NRC have forgotten about it," said Dave Lochbaum, the director of UCS's Nuclear Safety Project. "But you can bet that even the people who welcome new plants in their communities will want to know if what happened at Three Mile Island could happen to them. As of right now, the industry and the NRC haven't done enough to ensure them it won't."
The Three Mile Island accident was triggered by a loss of reactor cooling water. Before the accident, the plant's cooling system valves had broken down 10 times over the preceding year. Instead of replacing the faulty valves, workers opened them manually to keep the plant operating. When other equipment problems occurred during the eleventh valve failure in March 1979, control room operators were overwhelmed and the plant suffered a partial meltdown.
Since then, the NRC and plant owners have focused more on keeping nuclear plants running over the short-term than ensuring their safety, Lochbaum said. That strategy has allowed a number of safety problems at plants to build up over time. When the accumulated problems cause enough interruptions to harm a plant's profitability, owners shut them down for extensive safety overhauls. Since Three Mile Island, utilities have had to shut down 41 plants for a year or more, a total of 51 times.
Nuclear accidents are most likely to occur at the beginning or end of a plant's operating lifetime, Lochbaum pointed out. When a plant first goes on line, workers have to acclimate to new equipment that has not been tested in real-world situations. Meanwhile, at the end of a plant's life, workers have to compensate for increasingly degraded hardware. Three Mile Island and other major nuclear accidents, including ones at Chernobyl, Browns Ferry in Alabama and Fermi near Detroit, occurred shortly after the plants started operating. Now most of the 104 currently operating U.S. nuclear power plants are entering the high-risk period at the end of their originally intended 40-year lifespans.
If the nuclear industry constructs a new fleet of power plants, Lochbaum said, there will be at a higher risk for a nuclear accident because nearly all of the plants in the United States will be either very new or very old.
"If the industry wants to build a new generation of nuclear plants, it first should prove that it can safely operate the ones currently in operation," he said. "And before the NRC approves any new plants, the agency should make sure the industry isn't as careless with its new plants as it was with its old ones."

Chernobyl, 22 Years Later
CHERNOBYL, Ukraine, March 31, 2008
(CBS) Twenty-two years after the world's worst nuclear accident, radiation danger at Chernobyl is still so severe that a 16-mile area remains sealed - reached only through two checkpoints. CBS News correspondent Bill Plante was allowed inside with a camera crew.
The meltdown left a simmering stew of toxic radioactivity under the rubble, covered by a hastily built shelter that's crumbling.
"There's still a massive inventory of radionucleides inside the shelter - and the shelter is far from being airtight," said project manager Laurin Dodd.
Work is finally underway on a permanent solution, but Chernobyl today is still a very dangerous place.
Special protective clothing is required. The radiation level is so high that you can't stay long.
The construction equipment cabs have lead sheeting; every bucket of rubble is monitored for radiation.
The solution, 10 years in the planning, is an enormous steel arch, to be built in sections, then moved on tracks over the reactor.
At 345 feet, it'll be taller than the statue of liberty - and wider, at 840 feet, than the St. Louis Gateway Arch.
Not only is the project huge, but so is the cost: almost $1.5 billion. And the United States is the largest-single country donor. Why? Not just to help Ukraine, but also to help guarantee the future of nuclear power.
"Nuclear power will always have a shadow over it as long as Chernobyl is a message of concern," said U.S. ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor.
CBS News was on the site less than 10 minutes when one member of the group went over his exposure limit.
"Right now the dose rate is 200 times the background of what you'd have in Washington, D.C.," Dodd said.
The steel arch is supposed to keep the radiation contained for at least 100 years - while future generations figure out how to dispose of the mess.

Millstone Downwinders:
Inhale Deeply - Until March 31

Snow and rain caused a malfunction in the Millstone meteorological tower and associated instrumentation for measuring gaseous radioactive releases to the environment for at least seven days in January, according to a report Dominion filed with the NRC on January 30, 2008. [1]
When workers tried to perform tests on the tower and instrumentation, they were unable to do so because the climbing apparatus had deteriorated so seriously it could not be used to reach the broken equipment 374 feet high.
Dominion has ordered a new climbing system. Dominion informed the NRC it expected to return the tower and instrumentation to operability by March 31.
The silver lining for the community:
"All releases of gaseous radioactive material from the Millstone Unit 2 radwaste decay tanks have been suspended until the . . . instrumentation has been restored to OPERABLE status," according to Dominion's report to the NRC.
[1] Dominion letter to NRC, January 30, 2008 (ADAMS ML080390313)

For immediate release: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
For further information: Arjun Makhijani (301) 270-5500 or (301) 509-6843 (cell)

3,000+ Organizations and Individuals Urge President Bush
"Protect Most Vulnerable from Radiation Exposure"

Request Executive Order to Shift Federal Regulation Basis from "Reference Man" to Groups Most At Risk -- Pregnant Women, Children

Takoma Park, Md., February 20, 2008: More than 3,000 groups and individuals today sent a letter to President Bush urging him to shift the basis of many U.S. radiation health protection standards from an adult Caucasian male model, called "Reference Man," to those most at risk, specifically including children and pregnant women.

Signers include elected officials, including Georgia State Senators Nan Grogan Orrock and Regina Thomas; health professionals' organizations, including the American Public Health Association; faith-based groups, including the National Council of Churches; well-known environmental advocate Lois Gibbs; and many physicians, children's health advocates, environmental justice organizations, women's groups, and more.

The letter calls on President Bush to direct all federal agencies -- including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- to review their exposure standards and bring them into line with the spirit of Executive Order 13045 on the Protection of Children From Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks. Many federal radiation protection standards are based on "Reference Man;" however, other groups -- including women, children, and the embryo/fetus -- are often more sensitive to the harmful effects of radiation.

"Reference Man" is officially defined as a Caucasian male who is 20 to 30 years old, weighs 154 pounds, is five feet seven inches tall, and is "Western European or North American in habitat and custom." Reference Man is often used to set federal rules and regulations, such as limits on how much residual radiation will be allowed after a contaminated site is cleaned up. Reference Man is part of EPA's Federal Guidance Report No. 11, which is still widely used as the basis of radiation dose calculations.

"A central principle of environmental health protection -- protecting those most at risk -- is missing from much of the U.S. regulatory framework for radiation," explained Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D., president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), which initiated the letter. "Women's higher cancer risk per unit of radiation exposure is not properly reflected in current regulations. Neither is the possibility of early miscarriages or fetal malformations potentially caused by radiation exposure."

"It is essential that our government take the necessary steps to not only acknowledge the risk differential when looking at the dangers of radiation exposure among pregnant women and children, but to also protect the health of these vulnerable populations," said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), executive director of the American Public Health Association.

"Georgians are concerned about radioactive contamination of the Savannah River from waste at the federal Savannah River Site," said Georgia State Senator Nan Grogan Orrock. "People catch and eat fish from the river. Many communities depend on the river for their drinking water. As an elected official, a woman, and a mother, I ask the federal government to do its job and set health standards that protect all of us, not just adult men."

The signers are asking President Bush to issue a Presidential Executive Order requiring all federal agencies and departments to:
- Review their definitions of "Reference" persons and modify them as necessary so that all rules protect those most at risk;
- Review their rules regarding protection of prospective parents and pregnant women in the workplace;
- Update the computer models used to estimate dose and risk for regulatory purposes to take into account the embryo/fetus and children; and,
- Prohibit workplace discrimination based on genetic information.

In addition, the letter seeks support for legislation requiring federal health and environment regulations to protect those most at risk as well as funding for research on the human health effects of combined exposure to radiation and toxic chemicals.

The letter is also being sent to key members of Congress with a cover letter asking them to hold federal agencies accountable for radiation exposure standard-setting processes. It is also being sent to presidential candidates to ask what they will do if elected to protect the most vulnerable from harm from radiation exposure.

--30--

The letter to President Bush and other documentation are available online atwww.healthyfromthestart.org
About IEER
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) is a non-profit organization in Takoma Park, Maryland, that provides the public and policy-makers with clear, thoughtful studies on a variety of energy, security, and environmental issues. www.ieer

While New London Slept . . . [1]

All hell was breaking loose at Millstone
On November 10, 2007, while operating at full power, Millstone Unit 3 exceeded its licensed limit for thermal power generation, risking damage to the nuclear fuel cladding and possible release of dangerous levels of radiation to the environment. [2]
For four minutes on November 10, 2007, while testing valves at full power, the nuclear reactor became frighteningly unstable.
The unexpected event occurred when the reactor increased reactivity after its power was lowered to perform the control valve testing and a high alarm went off in the control room.
The NRC inspection report states:
“Dominion personnel did not stop the test following an unexpected response after the turbine control was transferred to ‘load set,’ believing in error that the change in the thermal generation was caused by a disturbance on the grid.”
“Regardless of the specific cause, the magnitude of the reactivity change was not expected.”
NRC inspectors’ report kept the peak MWTH the Unit 3 reactor reached a secret - but reported thermal power reached an average of 3482.6 megawatts thermal (MWTH)
Millstone Unit 3 is bound by its federal license not to exceed 3411 MWTH.
The NRC concluded Millstone operators violated Dominion procedures which direct: ‘Do not proceed in the face of uncertainty.’
Dominion violated its procedures requiring “Plant personnel stop and question unexpected situations involving reactivity, criticality, power levels, or core anomalies at all times and resolve the situation before proceeding,” according to the NRC inspection report.
Astonishingly, the NRC determined the emergency to be of “very low safety significance (Green) because it only involved the potential to affect the fuel cladding barrier.”
The NRC will not bring an enforcement action to hold Dominion accountable for its serious breach of its license limitations.
The November 7, 2007 emergency event first came to public light on February 7, 2008, when the NRC released to public view its inspection report for the fourth quarter of 2007, a report documenting dozens of equipment, operator errors and nuclear fuel failures, including recurring problems shutting the main valves at Millstone Unit 3. (Problems with shutting the main valves at Millstone Unit 3 led to the Class II emergency declared at Millstone Unit 3 in April 2005, which led to heightened releases of radiation to the air.)
Adding fuel to the fright, the NRC cited Dominion for allowing one of two control room operators with an inactive license to assume control room watchstanding duties, also in violation of Dominion’s federal license.
The NRC inspection report states:
“This finding is more than minor because the issue is associated with the human performance attribute of the Mitigation Systems Cornerstone and affected the cornerstone’s objective of ensuring the availability, reliability, and capability of systems that respond to initiating events to prevent undesirable consequences (i.e., core damage).”
Translation: Dominion’s decision to man the control room with an unqualified operator heightened the risk of a nuclear reactor core meltdown because of inappropriate response to initiating events - such as the unexpected escalation of thermal power generation on November 7, 2007.
The NRC will not bring an enforcement action to hold Dominion accountable for its serious breach of its license condition which requires that only fully qualified operators perform control room duties.
The NRC inspection report further discloses how Dominion’s reckless daily operations expose the public to grave danger.
In the event of a “missile launch” by tornado, the door to a Millstone Unit 3 building holding critical safety components to guard against damage to the nuclear reactor core probably would not have closed as required by Dominion’s federal license.
The NRC inspection report states:
“In August 2007, the inspectors questioned whether the normally open Unit 3 ESF [engineered safety features] building could be closed in a timely manner, in order to protect safety-related equipment from a design basis tornado. The inspectors noted it appeared that shutting these relatively large rolling doors could be a challenge due to their size and existing material condition (i.e., rust and dirt in the door tracks). The inspectors noted that Abnormal Operating Procedure (AOP) 3569, ‘Severe Weather Conditions,’ Revision 016-00, required these doors to be shut upon the station’s receipt of a tornado watch or tornado warning. The AOP noted that maintenance support may be required to close the doors. The inspectors noted that, on May 16, 2007, an actual tornado watch was issued at 4:37 P.M. and the specified ESF doors were not shut prior to the tornado watch expiring at 6:10 P.M. The inspectors noted that a condition report (CR) was not written to address the fact that the doors were not shut, as required by station procedures.”
“From September 2007 to November 2007, the inspectors questioned whether Dominion could meet design basis and procedural requirements. Specifically, the inspectors questioned the timeliness of shutting the ESF building tornado doors given that maintenance may have to be called into the station during backshift hours or weekends. Additionally, the inspectors questioned whether or not the outdoor work could be performed given a tornado watch or warning and related weather conditions. On November 13, 2007, Dominion initiated CR-07-11274 to evaluate the potential impact of the material condition on the ability to close the doors. Dominion determined that the tornado doors were operable based on the fact that they could not find specific closure time requirements in the plant’s licensing basis documents and the doors had been shut during past preventative maintenance (PM) activities.”
On November 14, 2007, the inspectors observed Dominion close two of the doors using a fork lift. During the activity, the inspectors observed that a significant and repetitive force was required to shut the doors. In the case of the ‘B’ Safety Injection/Quench Spray system room door, the fork lift could not be utilized in the same manner as it had been used in the past, since metal staging had been attached adjacent to the door. The inspectors identified that this staging had not been considered as a potential time delay in shutting the door (CR-07-11707). In addition, the inspectors identified an additional delay since the fork lift would have to be brought into a radiologically controlled area (RCA).”
In summary, the report states, “the inspectors identified multiple, unrecognized, delays that the station would have encountered in shutting the ESF building tornado doors during an actual event.”
The NRC found:
“Specifically, Dominion did not ensure safety-related systems and components were adequately protected against postulated missiles generated by a design basis tornado.”
Dominion’s failure to ensure the integrity of the door as a barrier to the engineered safety feature building was a violation of its license and had potential to heighten the risk of damage to the Millstone 3 nuclear reactor core during a tornado, but the NRC decided not to initiate an enforcement action - despite finding that Dominion “had missed multiple opportunities from May 2007 through November 2007 to identify significant challenges in shutting the normally open ESF building tornado doors.”
The inspection report does not address what would happen if a non-tornado-generated missile were aimed at the building and the doors could not be closely timely.
The inspection report further details the recurrence at Unit 2 of significant fuel failures and Dominion’s inability to prevent recurrence of fuel failures. When nuclear fuel fails, the physical barrier to guard against harmful releases to the environment is broken down, heightening levels of radioactive leakage to the Long Island Sound and the public beaches of the Connecticut shoreline, popular retreats for families with young children.

[1] Southeastern Connecticut’s major daily newspaper, the New London Day, did not report on any of the events described in this posting.

[2] This posting references the NRC’s “Millstone [Nuclear] Power Station Integrated Inspection report 05000336/2007005 and 05000423/2007005" issued on February 7, 2008.

Settlement Offered to Some Residents Near Pa. Nuke Fuel Plant
February 08, 2008 (Associated Press)
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/47998a270c32014d0ea65af94faaa0a2.htm
NEW YORK - Atlantic Richfield Co. has offered $27.5 million to settle claims that pollution from a nuclear fuel processing plant damaged
nearby residents' property and caused cancer and other illnesses.
ARCO and plaintiff attorneys asked a federal judge to approve the proposed settlement in a joint motion filed in U.S. District Court in
Pittsburgh this week.
The case concerns the former Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp., or NUMEC, which processed uranium and plutonium for nuclear
submarines and other purposes at a plant in Apollo borough and another in neighboring Parks Township, about 35 miles northeast of
Pittsburgh. The Apollo plant was built in 1957, and the Parks plant was built a few years later.
Residents say they inhaled white radioactive dust for three decades and that microscopic particles of uranium from the plant caused an
unusually high cancer rate. A doctor once testified that 351 of Apollo's 1,895 residents, or nearly one in five, had been diagnosed
with some form of cancer.
Atlantic Richfield Co. bought both plants in 1967 and sold them to Babcock & Wilcox Co. in 1971.
The settlement provides "a fairly nice cash award to each of our clients," said Frederick M. Baron, a Dallas attorney who also represented Karen Silkwood in her radiation-poisoning case. "But more importantly, they retain their ability to continue against Babcock & Wilcox. They are the most responsible party in our view."
More than 300 people filed claims that fell into three groups: property damage, personal injury and wrongful death.
Personal injury and wrongful death claims under the proposed settlement are "by and large are in the six-figure area," Baron said
Friday. Property damage claims would be $10,000 or less.
An attorney for ARCO declined to comment Friday.
But in court documents, attorneys for both sides called the proposed settlement fair because it's not known what, if anything, the plaintiffs might ultimately win from ARCO.
Attorneys for the various companies who ran the nuclear plants have argued that radioactive emissions had been filtered out and that, even if residents had been exposed, radiation levels were too low to cause cancer or other illnesses.
In a 1998 U.S. District Court trial in Pittsburgh, eight test plaintiffs won $36.7 million from ARCO and Babcock & Wilcox. A judge,
however, ordered a retrial after determining that she had wrongly allowed some evidence in the case.
The retrial was delayed when Babcock & Wilcox filed bankruptcy, largely because of unrelated asbestos litigation. ARCO opted to settle claims against it before they can be retried.
Earlier this year, former workers at the Apollo site became part of a special compensation class for sick nuclear workers. The fund
entitles them to $150,000 each.
To qualify for the compensation, former workers must have worked at the Apollo plant for at least 250 days between 1957 and 1983 and have
one of 22 different cancers. Sick workers who do not have one of the 22 cancers may be eligible for compensation, but must meet different criteria.
Atlantic Richfield is owned by BP plc.

Power Reactor Event Number: 43951
Facility: MILLSTONE
Region: 1 State: CT
Unit: [1] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [1] GE-3,[2] CE,[3] W-4-LP
NRC Notified By: LENNY MAUSPELLER
HQ OPS Officer: BILL HUFFMAN Notification Date: 02/01/2008
Notification Time: 13:47 [ET]
Event Date: 02/01/2008
Event Time: 10:24 [EST]
Last Update Date: 02/01/2008
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
OTHER UNSPEC REQMNT
Person (Organization):
HAROLD GRAY (R1)
TERRENCE REIS (FSME)
Unit SCRAM Code RX CRIT Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode
1 N N 0 Decommissioned 0 Decommissioned
Event Text
LOSS OF SPENT FUEL POOL COOLING
Millstone Unit 1 is in a decommissioning status but still maintains spent fuel in the spent fuel pool. On January 30, 2008, the normal power to the Unit 1 spent fuel pool was lost due to a fault (overcurrent trip) in the "Trayer Switch" (an auto disconnect switch) in the electrical supply line to the spent fuel pool cooling bus. A backup diesel generator was started and was being used to power the spent fuel pool cooling system until the "Trayer Switch" was repaired. At approximately 0840 EST today (2/01/08), alarms were received indicating low decay heat pump low flow and low spent fuel pool cooling pump low flow and discharge pressure. Investigation revealed that the backup diesel generator was operating at a frequency of 57.5 Hz rather than the normal 60 Hz. The technical staff was unable to get the diesel generator to maintain the normal 60 Hz output frequency. The licensee elected to secure the spent fuel pool cooling system pumps at 1024 EST based on concerns that the pumps could be damaged if operated at under frequency for an extended period of time.
Licensee technicians are currently engaged in repairing the diesel generator frequency controls and estimate that it could be returned to service this afternoon. The licensee has also ordered a temporary skid mounted diesel generator which should also arrive this afternoon. The repairs to the normal power source are not anticipated to be completed until Monday (2/04/08).
The spent fuel pool temperature has increased 1 degree to 86 F in approximately 4 hours. The tech spec limit on spent fuel pool temperature is 150 F. The licensee states that other unit electrical systems powered off the diesel, such as lighting and rad monitors, continue to operate normally at the reduced output frequency of the diesel. One security tower has been slightly impacted but appropriate compensatory measures were implemented.
A Millstone Unit 2/3 Resident Inspector has been notified. The licensee has attempted to contact the Regional Inspector.

Where Have All the Children Gone:

High incidences of fetal death, prematurity, distressed pregnancy, birth defects, early childhood mortality, thyroid cancer and leukemia - all associated with exposure to low-level ionizing radiation - have taken a terrible toll on the young of our community.
Southeastern Connecticut's largest-circulation newspaper, The Day of New London, suppresses the truth about the ill effects of Millstone operations.
The Day crossed the line on December 15, 2007, when it published a false and defamatory article, later followed by a poisonous editorial, excoriating Nancy Burton, director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone, and deliberately portraying her in a false light, for posting on this website the names of children who have been the subjects of paid obituaries published in The Day. Some of the obituaries attributed death to cancer. The Coalition expressed its grief over the heartbreaking loss of any child.
The Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone has never broken a confidence nor revealed sensitive private information without permission and never will.
The Day is committed to nuclear power and nuclear weapons, regardless of the human, environmental and social costs.
The Coalition is dedicated to exposing the truth about Millstone.
A Superior Court judge will conduct a hearing in the Hartford Superior Court on Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at 9:30 A.M. on Nancy Burton's application for a temporary injunction which, if granted, would direct The Day to remove its libelous articles from its website. The case is entitled Nancy Burton v. Patricia Daddona et al., CV 08 4034528.
The public - and all who care about truth and the welfare of our children and our community - is encouraged to attend.

Senators call for safety inspection, waste studies at VY
By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff Saturday, January 12
BRATTLEBORO -- Windham County's senators are asking their fellow legislators to require Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant undergo an independent safety inspection prior to receiving approval to extending its operation for another 20 years.
Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, are also asking the state to consider alternate locations for the storage of high level nuclear waste, rather than on the banks of the Connecticut River, where it is now stored.
And a third bill, sponsored by White, would penalize Entergy, the owner and operator of Yankee, half its monthly profits if, in that month, fence line radiation levels exceed the state maximum of 20 millirems.
"The bills are not to do with whether you are pro- or anti-Vermont Yankee," said White. "We're simply asking for an independent safety inspection. We, at the legislative level, are going to give permission or not to continue operation. We need all the information we can get."
Entergy has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend Yankee's operating license by 20 years, from 2012 to 2032. Even if the NRC approves Entergy's request, the
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Vermont State Legislature -- in an agreement with Entergy when the company bought the plant -- has the power to keep the plant from operating.
"I'm asking the Senate to do some heavy lifting as the Legislature prepares for its vote on continued operation in 2009," said Shumlin. "I don't want to have any disagreement after the Legislature goes home in May about what we meant by an independent assessment. We will have the Legislature write a bill that defines an independent inspection and send it to the Governor. Vermonters are well served by coming to an agreement on this before the session adjourns."
"There's a group of us working very closely together to offer what we think would be a deep analysis of the plant," said Rep. Sarah Edwards, P-Brattleboro, a member of the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel.
Windham County legislators have been calling for some sort of independent inspection of Vermont Yankee for several years, she said, and after a cooling fan cell collapsed at the plant last August, the need for an independent inspection has been agreed to by many people in state government.
A spokesman for Vermont Yankee said an independent inspection is not necessary.
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has a very thorough process in place for plant oversight and inspection," said Rob Williams, spokesman for Vermont Yankee. "There's no indication in all of the NRC reports on trending, inspections and performance indicators that says an additional inspection would be necessary,"
Activists have been calling for an independent inspection such as one conducted at the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant in Wiscasset in 1996. Though the safety inspection itself did not call for closure, problems discovered during the analysis proved to be too costly to fix for the plant to continue operation.
The independent safety inspection of Maine Yankee "was a long time ago," said Williams. "The lessons learned there have been incorporated into the present federal oversight. To impose a Maine Yankee style inspection here would be a step back in terms of safety benefits compared to resources expended."
"Governor Douglas continues to support an independent safety inspection," said Jason Gibbs, spokesman for Gov. James Douglas. The governor would more than likely sign off on any such legislation after his office has reviewed it thoroughly.
As far as finding a different location to store the nuclear waste, said Williams, the Legislature has many issues to consider.
"Our site is obviously preferable. It's licensed for nuclear operations and that includes fuel storage, and it's in a high-security area."
Both sides of the debate agree that the federal government hasn't met its obligation to take the waste and store it in an appropriate long term facility.
While Yucca Mountain, in Nevada, is the federal government's chosen spot to store spent fuel, the facility hasn't opened due to opposition from residents of the Silver State.
"We intend to make the fuel ready to transport to the U.S. Department of Energy as soon as that federal agency is ready to receive it," said Williams.
"Since any reasonable person now understands that the federal government is going to continue to break its promise to take high-level nuclear waste off the banks of the Connecticut River, the question we need to discuss as a community in Vermont, in conjunction with geologists and scientists, is where is the best worse place to store the waste," said Shumlin.
"It's about physical features," said Edwards. "Just because the plant is located on a river, that doesn't mean that the storage of high level nuclear waste next to the river is an ideal spot."
When the federal government was looking at various locations to site its nuclear waste facility, Vermont was one consideration.
"There was no good place to store it," said Shumlin. "But is there a place better than a flood plain on the banks of the Connecticut River? This is really just a simple safety question that all Vermonters should be concerned with."
White said scientists and geologists might find a better place to store the waste, such as abandoned mines in Rutland and Washington counties.
"We have some nice open fields in Chittenden County that aren't on the waterfront," she said.
The governor believes this is a conversation worth having, said Gibbs, even though he believes the federal government has an obligation to fulfill its promise to take possession of the nuclear waste.
As far as being fined for going over the fence line limits, said Williams, that's not an issue at all.
"We have stayed within the state limits," said Williams. "Vermont Yankee has never gone over the state limit."
"I'm not sure I buy that," said White. "We need to have the conversation about what is the appropriate level and what is the appropriate measuring tool."
Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 273.

Energy and Commerce Committee to Probe Breakdowns in NRC Oversight (January 7, 2008)
Washington, DC – Rep. John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, today announced they will conduct a comprehensive review of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) operations following reports of security guards sleeping on the job at the Exelon Peach Bottom nuclear power plant.
“The NRC’s stunning failure to act on credible allegations of sleeping security guards, coupled with its unwillingness to protect the whistleblower who uncovered the problem, raises troubling questions,” said Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. “It appears that there has been a systematic failure, by both NRC officials and the nuclear plant licensee, to ensure that these high-risk facilities are secure and employees are not discouraged from expressing concerns about safety.”
“The Committee would like to know whether it was the repeated notification from a concerned employee or the threat of a videotape showing security workers asleep on the job appearing on the evening news that prompted the licensee to look into this matter,” said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. “In addition, the Committee wants to know why the NRC remains confident in this same contractor’s ability to secure other nuclear facilities throughout the country.”
Investigations by the NRC’s Inspector General have unveiled questionable decisions by the Commission with respect to nuclear power plant re-licensing. Additional questions have been raised about the adequacy of licensing decisions related to reprocessing facilities in South Carolina and the risk from a red oil explosion. The investigations have also concluded that the NRC failed to test the adequacy of fire protection materials after promising to do so during testimony before the Committee on Energy and Commerce in March 1993.
“The Administration has not complied with the requirements of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2002, which requires the stockpiling of potassium iodide pills in a 20 mile radius around nuclear power plants,” said Dingell. “The Committee will inquire whether objections by the White House and industry have led to foot-dragging by the NRC and the dangerous state of our nation’s nuclear power plants.”
“It is clear that the NRC requires increased oversight by this Committee,” said Stupak. “We will be seeking testimony from the NRC, the inspector general, the Government Accountability Office, scientists, and security force workers to assess what is broken and how best to fix it. We must ensure the NRC is responsive to allegations of security lapses, especially now that there are a number of new license applications for nuclear power plants flowing into the NRC. The American people need to know someone is looking out for their health and safety at new and existing nuclear power plants.”

SCANDAL ERUPTS RE: NRC’S LACK OF CONSISTENT STANDARDS
IN RELICENSING NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS;
Millstone Relicensing Debacle Cited

Was the NRC’s review of Dominion’s application to renew the operating licenses for Millstone Units 2 and 3 largely a sham?

In a devastating report issued on September 6, 2007, the NRC’s independent Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) revealed the results of its audit of selected relicensing cases - including Millstone’s from 2004.

Millstone Nuclear Power Station is specially cited in the audit for extreme deficiencies in the NRC’s review process.

The OIG’s audit “revealed a review process so weak that in over 98 per cent of the 458 representative NRC safety reports sampled by the OIG, NRC staff reviewers failed to demonstrate they had conducted an independent safety review,” states a petition by citizens opposing relicensing of the Indian Point, Vermont Yankee, Plymouth (MA) and Oyster Creek (NJ) released on January 3, 2008 in an effort to suspend ongoing NRC proceedings to relicense those nuclear power plants.

‘Disturbingly, well over a third of the report sampled parroted statements by licensees - some of which, in turn, parroted statements in NRC guidance documents - without providing evidence of independent certification,” the petition states.

“In short, the OIG auditors did not find enough documentation to conclude that NRC staff reviewers did, in fact, perform an independent review of license renewal applications,” the petition states.

In the case of Millstone, the OIG report states:

“[The] NRC’s narrative description of operating experience for Millstone’s flow-accelerated corrosion program is nearly identical to the description provided in the licensee’s renewal application. NRC’s Millstone audit report . . . presents information about the trending successes in the Millstone flow-accelerated corrosion program and gives the appearance of the audit team’s independent review and analysis. In fact, this passage is nearly identical to that presented in the license renewal application . . . Moreover, while NRC states that the project team reviewed operating experience, there is no discussion of what precisely was reviewed.”
Of the 46 Millstone safety reports reviewed by the OIG audit, in 100 per cent of the instances, NRC staff reviewers failed to demonstrate they had conducted an independent safety review.
In 12 safety reports involving an aging management program supposedly reviewed by NRC staff, the OIG audit found, “there was no mention of review methodology or no specific support for the staff’s conclusions in the audit, inspection or safety evaluation reports.”
In 34 safety reports, involving an aging management program supposedly reviewed by NRC staff, “the audit, inspection or safety evaluation reports cited anecdotal information provided by the licensee.”
The Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone calls upon the Connecticut Congressional delegation to open hearings on the scandalously inadequate review the supposed federal regulator, NRC, performed before allowing this most dangerous nuclear facility and others to continue to operate for 20 years beyond its original licensing period.
The OIG report is available on the NRC’s website in the ADAMS system as “ML072490486.”

For Riverkeeper's take on the NRC's "cut and paste" approach to nuclear relicensing, go to: http://riverkeeper.org/campaign.php/indianpoint_relicensing/we_are_doing/1406

Tritium Leak at Millstone!

Tritium, a radioactive poison, has seeped into the groundwater at Millstone at a level of concentration 1.7 higher than the federal EPA drinking water standard of 20,000 picocuries per liter - at 34,000 picocuries per liter - according to a report Millstone’s owner, Dominion, filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on November 28, 2007 (1).
According to news reports (2), as of December 29, 2007, the source of the leak and its extent were unknown; the leak may have potential to contaminate residential wells in the vicinity.
Dominion’s public relations spokesman, Peter Hyde, and the NRC’s spokesman, Neil Sheehan, have downplayed the significance of the tritium leak. The news media have parroted their comments.
Yet, it is established science that there is no threshold for cancer risk of radiation; thus, no level of exposure is “safe.” Using risk factors published by EPA in 2002 for mortality from cancer, it has been credibly estimated that ingestion of tritiated water at the rate of 1.5 liters per day at 20,000 picocuries per liter over a lifetime of 70 years would cause a fatal cancer risk of about 4 in 100,000. No account is taken of organically-bound tritium in the calculation. (3) The risk is heightened when the tritium concentration is 34,000 picocuries per liter.
Exposure to tritiated water and organically-bound tritium has other effects, including contributing to the risk of birth defects, genetic defects and miscarriages. (4)
Millstone routinely releases vast quantites of tritiated water directly to the Long Island Sound. Tritium has a half-life of 12.4 years and thus is radioactive for 248 years. Unfiltered, it escapes as a gas into the air as well. Standing in a cloud of triated water on a foggy day near a reactor, the human body absorbs the tritium through the skin. It is readily absorbed through the lungs and the genito-urinary tract. Because tritium is a soft energy beta emitter, the radiation it gives off is readily absorbed by the surrounding cells and thus is biologically highly mutagenic, causing chromosomal breaks and aberrations. “In animal experiments, it has been shown to induce a five-fold increase in ovarian tumors in offspring of exposed parents while also causing testicular shrinkage and atrophy of the ovaries. It causes decreased brain weight in the exposed offspring and mental retardation with an increased incidence of brain tumors in some animals. Increased perinatal mortality was observed in these experiments as well as a high incidence of stunted and deformed fetuses. These effects were observed with surprisingly low concentrations of tritium, becoming three times more dangerous biologically at low doses. Tritium is also more dangerous when it becomes organically bound in molecules of food." (5)
In light of the known serious health consequences of human exposure to tritium, we call on Connecticut’s public officials to safeguard the public by requiring Dominion to eliminate its tritium releases to the environment.

1) NRC Event No. 43813
2) Associated Press, reported at www.Boston.com
3) Memorandum of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, March 20, 2006
4) Id.
5) “Nuclear Emissions,” Dr. Helen M. Caldicott, October 17, 2007

Dominion Investing $500 million in closed cooling system - at Brayton PT:

Dominion is telling Connecticut it doesn't want to pay to convert Millstone to a closed cooling system, thereby dramatically reducing its thermal impact to the Long Island Sound, entrainment of billions of marinelife and discharge of radioactive and toxic poisons to the Long Island Sound.
Dominion will have to pay to protect the Connecticut environment if Connecticut public officials deem the Connecticut environment worth protecting. The battle lines are drawn for an epic conflict in 2008.
Read Dominion's Decemnber 21, 2007 press release:
Dominion To Minimize Thermal Impact On Mt. Hope Bay From Brayton Point Power Station
$500 million cooling system to reduce water use by more than 90 percent
Dominion's environmental investments at Brayton Point to total $1.1 billion
Agreement clears the way for long-term operation of a key generating facility
RICHMOND, Va. – A unit of Dominion (NYSE: D) has agreed to invest approximately $500 million to reduce dramatically the amount of cooling water its Brayton Point Power Station uses from Mt. Hope Bay, thereby minimizing the station's thermal impact on the bay.
This investment by Dominion New England, combined with previously announced air emissions equipment being installed at the station, will bring the company's investments in environmental improvements at Brayton Point to approximately $1.1 billion since the station was acquired in 2005.
"As one of the largest electricity generators in New England, Brayton Point plays a vital role in ensuring reliable electric service for the region," said Thomas F. Farrell II, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Dominion's investments to improve air and water quality also will help ensure that it is one of the most environmentally advanced facilities of its kind. We now have established a clear path for operating these generating units well into the future and supplying much-needed electricity to New England."
Working in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and several environmental groups, Dominion has agreed to install a closed-loop system that will reduce the amount of cooling water Brayton Point requires by more than 90 percent. Dominion also dropped its appeal of the EPA permit filed in federal court.
Brayton Point now uses about 1 billion gallons of water each day from Mt. Hope Bay.
Dominion will construct two natural draft cooling towers for all four electricity generating units to comply with the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Dominion is committed to completing the construction in an expeditious fashion to achieve the necessary reduction outlined in the permit.
Brayton Point is New England's largest fossil-fueled power station, with two coal-fired units and one oil-fired unit generating a total net summer capability of 1,568 megawatts. It is located about 30 miles south of Boston and 13 miles east of Providence, R.I. and is capable of burning coal, natural gas and oil. Brayton Point supplies 16 percent of the electricity used in Massachusetts and 8 percent of New England's needs.
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 26,500 megawatts of generation, 7,800 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline and 1 trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe) of proved natural gas and oil reserves. Dominion also owns and operates the nation's largest underground natural gas storage system with about 960 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in 11 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at http://www.dom.com.

Connecticut's Congressional Delegation: You Let The People Down in 2007

On this site and in telephone calls in 2007, we vigorously appealed to Connecticut's Congressional delegation to reject the Bush Administration's scheme to make taxpayers guarantee loans for construction of new nuclear power plants.
Unfortunately, the entire Connecticut Congressional delegation that voted - all but Senator Chris Dodd, who moved to Iowa and did not appear in the Senate Chamber to cast a vote - stood in lockstep with the Bush Administration and the money-wielding nuclear industry to approve a $25 BILLION LOAN GUARANTEE for new nukes. Their votes mean that Wall Street will now help finance a new round of pre-deployed nuclear terrorist targets rather than commit those funds to sane, clean, renewable energy.
SHAME ON YOU JOE COURTNEY, CHRIS MURPHY, ROSA DeLAURO, JOHN LARSON, CHRIS SHAYS, JOE LIEBERMAN AND CHRIS DODD.
You compromised the public interest.
See you at the polls.