Minutes - 12-06-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

fire directly. Also, he would like to hear Dr. Thompson's comment about the fuel and its ability to disintegrate and release a lot of the material inside it. Dr. Thompson said that when the intervention process was started in February 1999, CP&L and the staff were saying that pool fires would not occur. They have now changed their mind and have said that a fire would occur with a loss of water. The ACRS did play a role in changing the opinion of the staff in the industry. The other issues could be significant in terms of the amount of radioactivity that is released in a fire. The ACRS atone time speculated that high burner fuel would be pyrophoric, which means that, if exposed to air, it would ignite naturally even at low temperatures. He said that this probably would not occur. Wells Ettleman said that he was prepared to believe that the industry would oppose anything that they think is damaging to their interest. He asked for Dr. Thampson's comments on the NRC. He asked if they did not understand the risks or if they were corrupt and in the pockets of the industry. Dr. Thompson said that he has wondered about the same questions for many years. He sees no evidence of corruption within the NRC. There is some strong pressure from the Congress. He said that there was a lot of interchange of staff from the industry and the NRC. There are people in the NRC who believe that public resources can be wasted by giving overly much attention to safety issues where probability is low. The agency has a very low level of curiosity. 6. CLOSING REMARKS Commissioner Gordon thanked Dr. Gordan Thompson for sharing his expertise and for all of his work far Orange County. She thanked the citizens who came to the public forum and those in the viewing audience that have shown support. She also thanked the elected officials in the audience from neighboring jurisdictions that have shown support -Durham County Commissioner Joe Bowser, Chapel Hill Tawn Council Member Bill Strom, and State Senator Ellie Kinnaird. She said that Orange County believes that there are serious safety questions that should be addressed to the public, with all of the evidence publicly debated. The only way these safety questions can be answered is to pursue this legal process called intervention. This has been done for almost two years. The Orange County Commissioners want the public to knave that they are concerned about the public safety of Orange County citizens and all of the citizens in North Carolina. 7. ADJOURNMENT Chair Halkiotis thanked the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrbaro and the County of Durham far joining hands with the County of Orange to show a clear commitment to the health, safety, and welfare of our citizens and our land. He adjourned the meeting. The next meeting on the regular meeting calendar will be held on December 9 at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina beginning at 9:04 a.m. Stephen H. Halkiotis, Chair Beverly Blythe, CMC