Minutes - 19990116 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

County Engineer Paul Thames said that the essential thing for Orange County right now is to decide if they want to go into a formal "intervention" process (formally ask for a public hearing). CP&L is only required to abide by the rules and regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The comment period ends February 12. Commissioner Brown introduced Mary MacDowell, Jim Warren and County Engineer Paul Thames. Mary MacDowell from Chatham County said that it would be beneficial to move ahead with the process if only to gather information. The NRC staff has determined "no significant hazard". In talking with nuclear experts, she found out that the current setup is not safe. Jim Warren from NC WARN said that these pools were not going to be used long-term but it has turned out that the longer they keep this storage, the greater the risk of an accident. CP&L knows that several entities are considering legal intervention. We know that getting accurate and technical information would be helpful in a formal intervention process. He intends to have a public hearing whether CP&L does or not. CP&L is in a situation where their public image is very important because they are moving to a competitive market in a couple of years. They do have a plan B and plan C. However, the NRC does cater to this industry. NCWARN predicted two months ago that it would be rubber-stamped after two weeks. He would not suggest continuing with legal intervention if after a couple of months, nothing is done about opening the process. He would at that point abandon the idea. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he is proud of the action we took early on. He asked that County Engineer Paul Thames stay active and play a leadership role in all future endeavors. Mary MacDowell said that she did not realize that it would take a consultant fulltime for three weeks to gather information for an intervention. The Chatham County Board of Commissioners has indicated to her that they do not intend to spend money on this issue. She believes it is important to get the technical information from someone not associated with the industry. Chatham County Commissioners will hear a presentation from CP&L on Tuesday evening. This prevents Chatham County from intervention because there is not enough time. It would help if Orange County would start the process and then ask Chatham County to join them. moved Geoffrey Gledhill noted that when this storage is open, regardless of what is promised, it will never be Commissioner Carey said that he would like additional information on the amount of money we are talking about and how long it would take an expert to generate the information. Chair Gordon said that one possibility is to decide by January 19 if we want to fund a consultant and to decide on February 2 if we want to intervene. Commissioner Halkiotis supports putting this item on the agenda. Paul Thames distributed an agenda abstract entitled "Funding for process to obtain standing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the permitting process for expanded storage of waste nuclear fuel rods at Shearon Harris nuclear power plant". Commissioner Jacobs said that we need to express to Chatham County our support and ask them to join us. Also, we need to ask the other counties and municipalities which have shown support for this process to help with the funding of this consultant. He feels that the more we publicize this the more responsive CP&L will be. Paul Thames will draft a letter to other jurisdictions informing them that we plan to move forward with hiring a consultant and asking for their support. Geoffrey Gledhill said that "standing" is a concept having to do with a court challenge. In order to have standing you must intervene in the regulatory process. He will find out the complete process.