[NukeNet] Mothers for Peace, Sierra Club file injunction

[MJ]

San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace

P.O. Box 164


Pismo Beach, CA 93448


805.489.8903


www.mothersforpeace.org



July 5, 2006


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact:


Jill ZamEk, 805-489-8903 or 805-710-1143


Diane Curran (attorney), 202-328-3500



San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, Santa Lucia 

Chapter of the Sierra Club, and Peg Pinard filed 

a motion today with NRC Commissioners requesting 

that the Commission:


~prohibit PG&E from loading spent fuel into an 

ISFSI unless and until the NRC has completed an 

environmental impact statement;


~issue a declaratory judgment notifying PG&E that 

the Mothers for Peace decision has effectively 

revoked PG&E's license for the ISFSI due to the 

lack of adequate supporting NEPA review;


~put PG&E on notice that if the company proceeds 

with construction of the ISFSI, it risks denial 

of a new permit, and that at the very least it 

may have to rip out and re-build the ISFSI of the 

NRC's environmental analysis results in a 

decision to impose new design features.


BACKGROUND


The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision (June 

2, 2006) has ordered the NRC to conduct an 

environmental review of the possible consequences 

of a terrorist attack on the ISFSI at Diablo 

Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in California. (San 

Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. NRC, No 

03-74628) As a result, PG&E's permit for the 

ISFSI has effectively been revoked, and 

construction should not continue until the 

environmental review has been completed in 

compliance with NEPA.


Despite the Court's ruling, PG&E has stated at 

several press interviews that the decision would 

not affect its construction schedule. PG&E has 

stated that "absent an injunction," it does not 

consider the Court's ruling to bar it from 

loading fuel into the ISFSI once construction is 

completed. The environmental review may cause the 

NRC to impose some new design requirements, 

however, so Mothers for Peace, Sierra Club, and 

Peg Pinard want it communicated officially that 

if PG&E proceeds with construction, it does so at 

the risk of having to tear out and/or modify the 

work at a later date. It may also risk having its 

permit denied under NRC regulation 10 CFR 72.40.


Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)


National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)


Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)


Interim Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) - dry cask storage 
facility


COMMENTS


Jill ZamEk, spokesperson for Mothers for Peace: 

"PG&E's public statements that it plans to 

continue on with its construction schedule 

demonstrates blatant disregard for the ruling 

from the second highest court in our nation and 

for the safety of the citizens at risk."


Diane Curran, Attorney: "On no account can PG&E 

be deemed to hold a valid license for the Diablo 

Canyon ISFSI. It would be imprudent not to 

immediately correct such a fundamental 

misunderstanding as PG&E has about its authority 

to load radioactive material into the ISFSI."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
"If sunbeams were weapons of war, we would have had solar energy centuries ago": Sir George Porter, quoted in The Observer, 26 August 1973

"The pioneers of a warless world are the youth that refuse military 
service": Albert Einstein

"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have 
acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph": Haile Selassie 

Molly Johnson 
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA  93451

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