[NukeNet] FW: Anti-nuclear producer returns to Shore to fight Oyster Creek

Sat Jul 1 09:49:14 CDT 2006

Anti-nuclear producer returns to Shore to fight Oyster Creek

Posted by the Asbury Park Press <http://www.app.com>  on 07/1/06

BY NICHOLAS CLUNN <MAILTO:NCLUNN at APP.COM> 
STAFF WRITER

LAVALLETTE - A California film producer who helped a citizens' group in that
state win an important court battle over how nuclear regulators perceive the
threat of terrorism now has a role in the debate surrounding the Oyster
Creek nuclear power plant. 

The 44-year-old West Coast activist, David Weisman, served as a spokesman
for the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace when it convinced a federal
appeals court that regulators must take the likelihood of a terrorist attack
more seriously. 

Over mugs of coffee Friday morning, Weisman met with lawyer Michele R.
Donato and other opponents of the Lacey reactor in Donato's office to talk
about the impact of the court case and how they could encourage state
officials to fight on their side. 

Donato, environmental activists and opponents of nuclear power want the
36-year-old Oyster Creek plant closed when its operating license expires in
2009. 

"We don't want energy you need an evacuation plan for," said Peggi
Sturmfels, a chief Oyster Creek watchdog for the New Jersey Environmental
Federation. 

Plant operator AmerGen Energy Co. wants to renew the license for an
additional 20 years and has asked the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission
for permission to do so. 

Capable of providing power for as many as 600,000 homes, Oyster Creek is the
nation's longest-running commercial nuclear power plant. 

Diablo Canyon case 

Judges in the appellate court decision said regulators should have
considered the consequences of a terrorist attack before it wrongfully
licensed a facility that would have stored spent fuel at the Diablo Canyon
power plant in San Luis Obispo County. 

While regulators maintain that the decision only applies to Diablo Canyon at
this point, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection officials have
pointed out to the NRC that the decision might also apply to Oyster Creek
and to the possibility of terrorism there. 

The state DEP is trying to convince regulators to hold a quasi-judicial
hearing on whether the threat of terrorism should be analyzed as part of
Oyster Creek's license renewal application. 

At the law office, Weisman went through the opinion issued on the case and
pointed out sections that he thought were relevant to Oyster Creek. 

Plant officials have said that nuclear power plants are among the best
protected facilities in the country. A private security force armed with
powerful rifles guards the plant, which is set behind layers of concrete
barriers and razor wire. 

Regulators say they take terrorism seriously and don't look at the issue
when considering license renewals because its evaluated during ongoing
safety reviews. 

The NRC might also appeal the decision. 

Link to the Shore 

Weisman said he grew up in Manalapan before moving to California in 1987. 

About eight years later, Weisman began to study nuclear power in earnest
while producing and directing "Preserving the Legacy," a 28-part educational
series for PBS that included segments on the storage of radioactive waste. 

Weisman connected with Oyster Creek opponents after his mother spotted a
newspaper article about how New Jersey officials wanted regulators to
consider the court decision. 

Seeing a connection between Oyster Creek and Diablo Canyon - and the link
between himself and the Jersey Shore - Weisman decided to set up a strategy
meeting with Donato and others while he was in the area visiting family. 

Besides Donato and Sturmfels, Brick Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli and two
members of Grandmothers, Mothers and More for Energy Safety also came to
hear Weisman talk about how he has challenged those who operate the plant 11
miles from his home in Morro Bay, a coastal town about 230 miles south of
San Francisco. 

Weisman told the group that they might be able to motivate state officials
to become adamant opponents of Oyster Creek by talking to them about the
"hidden costs" associated with running reactors. 

Ratepayers, he said, indirectly pay for prison-like security measures and
the cost it takes to store spent fuel - two expenditures unique to nuclear
power plants. 

"This is a pocketbook issue," he told them. 

An argument put forth by the Nuclear Energy Institute, an advocate for the
nuclear power industry, says atomic power can actually keep down electricity
rates. 

Uranium, the "fuel" in reactors, is less sensitive to cost fluctuations, it
says. 

Nuclear plants are also not affected by government regulations that have
forced fossil-fired plants to invest millions of dollars on new technology
to reduce emissions, according to the institute. 

Reactors wouldn't be operating if they weren't able to make a profit after
covering costs, according to Ray Dotter, spokesman for PJM Interconnection,
the organization that controls the power grid over New Jersey and 12 other
nearby states. The free market, he said, entices plants to offer power at
reasonable prices to stay competitive. 

Nicholas Clunn: (732) 643-4072 or nclunn at app.com

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-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Hoerner [mailto:jim_hoerner at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 9:11 AM
To: ncohen12 at comcast.net
Subject: Anti-nuclear producer returns to Shore to fight Oyster Creek

Anti-nuclear producer returns to Shore to fight Oyster Creek

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060701/NEWS03/607010360/1007

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Hold the door for the stranger behind you. When the driver in the adjacent 

lane signals to get over, slow down. Smile and say "hi" to the folks you 

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