Agenda - 03-29-2007- - Laserfiche WebLink

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In January of 1999, Dr. Thompson and another nuclear safety expert, David Lockbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, advised the BOCC that: A the NRC has never investigated or evaluated safety issues related to the storage of densely packed spent nuclear fuel rods; and ■ should there be a loss of water in the fuel storage pools, densely packet nuclear fuel rod assemblies could spontaneously combust and burn, discharging Cesium 137 and other very dangerous nuclear isotopes to the atmosphere; and ■ there were a number of events that could occur - including. reactor meltdown, other accidents and acts of terrorism - that could cause such a loss of cooling, water with a resulting fire; and ■ the fuel storage capacity planned for Shearon Harris would be larger than any storage site in the U.S. other than the planned federal permanent storage facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada-, and ■ densely packed waste fuel rods stored in pools are more susceptible to fire than are rods in dry storage; and ■ the ultimate permitting and development of a permanent storage facility at Yucca Mountain or anywhere, else is far from certain, meaning that temporary storage may become permanent storage; and ■ a spent fuel fire involving the quantity of fuel that could ultimately be stored ' at Shearon Harris could release 50 times more Cesium 137 than was released by the Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union and render 6 I.and area larger than the state of North Carolina virtually uninhabitable. By mid-January, 1999; ' the NRC staff gave: every indication of rubber stamping CP&UProgress Energy's request for a permit application (publishing its intent to issue the permit amendment after less than three-weeks review during the 1.998 Christmas/New Year holiday season). The County's consulting attorney, Diane Curran, advised the County that the only process available under NRC rules for the County to compel CP&L/Prog . ress Energy and the NRC to respond to the County's questions and concerns was an arcane and expensive legal pro6eeding (very similar to a civil suite) called an "intervention". The BOCC felt compelled to try to protect the welfare of the two million or more individuals, numerous businesses, schools, public and private universities, etc., within the potential impact area since it was apparent that the NRC would not act to do so voluntarily. Accordingly, in February 1999,.the BOCC (with' financial support from * m Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham County and the NC Waste Awareness & Reduction Network [NCWARN] and the moral support of a number of other local governments) initiated the formal intervention process.