Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
43 <br />of spent nucleaz fuel rods from all of its plants is to complete the two pools at Shearon Harris and <br />continue using Shearon Hams facilities to store all of its spent fuel rods. CP&L has petitioned the NRC <br />for permission to complete construction of the storage pools at Shearon Harris. The fuel storage <br />capacity at Sheazon Harris is, according to CP&L, intended solely for its own use and CP&L will not <br />accept spent fuel rods from other utilities. <br />In summary, the primary elements of the controversy surrounding the Sheazon Harris plant stem from: <br />1) the past, present and future use of Shearon Harris as a long term storage site for high level radioactive <br />waste, an existing practice and future plan that were essentially unknown to the citizens of this azea until <br />recently; 2) the proposal to increase both the capacity and utilization of on-site storage; 3) the use of <br />Shearon Harris to store radioactive waste from other areas; and 4) the number of people living in the <br />nucleaz accident impact azea (that azea within a fifty mile radius of Sheazon Hams). CP&L is <br />appazently very sensitive to public reaction from both the general public and local governmental entities <br />to its waste storage proposals and plans. A spokesperson from CP&L's public affairs division met with <br />BOCC Chair Brown and myself to discuss the situation at Sheazon Harris and CP&L's proposal. An <br />offer was extended to provide the elected officials and policy makers of Orange County with a guided <br />tour of Shearon Harris facilities. As the Sheazon Harris plant is currently shut down for refueling, the <br />tour was proposed for some time in eazly January 1999. The purpose of the tour would be to: <br />a) demonstrate CP&L's high level of concern for and expertise in safety and security matters at the <br />plant; and b) reassure elected officials that CP&L is not proposing a storage strategy that would pose a <br />danger or a threat to the citizens of this azea. It also appears that CP&L may hope to persuade the <br />BOCC to let CP&L make its case to the Boazd before the Boazd adopts a posture similaz to that <br />evidenced by the Rosemary Waldorf/Chapel Hill Town Boazd and the Margaret Pollazd/Chatham <br />County BOCC letters to Wayne McDevitt. <br />If I may provide additional information or clarification, please advise. <br />