[NukeNet] APP. OP Ed Peggy Sturmfifiels Nov 21 Public doesn't appreaciate importance of Safety

[Edith]

Public doesn't appreciate importance of full safety review at Oyster Creek
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 11/21/06

BY PEGGI STURMFELS

I was recently asked why there was no public outrage from the residents of Ocean County against the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey, its operations, its owners or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Being in the thick of the plant relicensing battle, my first thought was where have you been? But stepping back, the question is where have we all been?

Our coalition — STROC (Stop the Relicensing of Oyster Creek) has labored to educate the public, attend hearings, raise money and prepare for litigation. At the same time, most people have gone through the rush and tumble of their everyday lives, relieved that at the end of the day they can go home, curl up and watch "Dancing With The Stars," secure in the knowledge that the lights are on.

Many folks don't even know that a potentially dangerous, aged power plant is within miles of their living rooms. They don't know that the plant sucks in 1.6 billion of gallons of water each day from the Forked River, spitting it out at elevated temperatures into the Oyster Creek. This kills billions of shrimp and other aquatic life and compromises the life of the Barnegat Bay.

They don't know that it houses thousands of tons of radioactive waste in an aboveground storage pool, 70 feet high covered by a metal roof. They don't know that the results of an accident at this plant could have devastating effects that Paul Gunter of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service described as "far worse than Chernobyl because of Oyster Creek's 36 years of waste stored as to only two years at Chernobyl."

Mayors and town councils acknowledge the danger with a resolution that is archived in the books and then move onto their agendas that are filled with ratable chasing, potholes and tax issues. Freeholders pass resolutions or write private letters to the NRC but never take the big leap of publicly standing up and demanding the answers to their questions.

And after the meetings, we climb in our cars and go home. We ferry kids to soccer, football, dance, etc., and are thwarted by congested, overcrowded and always-under-repair roads. And we don't think about a major accident or event that would put everyone on these same roads. But we should.

The Oyster Creek plant went back online last week after its scheduled refueling outage. Although we expected as much, we were nonetheless hopeful that the outage would be extended until many questions regarding safety were answered. We strongly believe — as do many of our elected officials — that an independent safety review of the plant is necessary and had hoped that such a review would have been completed. We had hoped the state Department of Environmental Protection or a consultant to the DEP would have conducted this safety review.

A safety review is needed at this time because until more precise structural modeling is done and the uncertainties in the analysis that were voiced by the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards are evaluated, there can be no certainty that the plant meets safety requirements.

While doubt remains about the current safety of the plant, the plant should not have been allowed to restart from its current outage. If the independent review confirms there is a significant chance that the plant fails to meet safety requirements, the NRC and plant owner Exelon should either close the plant until it can be repaired or cease its operation completely.

Gov. Corzine has made a clear statement that if the plant cannot meet current safety standards, it should not operate at all and certainly should not be relicensed for another 20 years. But has he or will he use his office to shine a light on the preposterous machinations the federal regulators make the public go through to get accurate answers about the safety of the plant?

Many of our area congressional representatives have joined to ask the NRC for answers to a series of safety-related issues and for an independent review. These queries have been noted and brushed aside. But will the congressmen stand together in a bipartisan public event, demanding accountability from an agency they oversee?

And what about us? Do we wait for an event that would compromise the quality of life for the 1.2 million people who work, live or play in Ocean County.

Do we go about our daily routines and not question Exelon about its plant's role in the degradation of Barnegat Bay or its violation of the Clean Water Act for more than eight years?

Do we believe that the less than 1 percent of the energy supplied by Oyster Creek to the regional power grid is worth not having an independent review of a 40-year-old plant that uses the most dangerous technology known to man?

The coalition is outraged by the lack of accountability and will not stop until it is assured that the people of Ocean County and New Jersey are not in jeopardy. We will continue to write letters, attend hearings, raise money and demand answers and action.

How about you in Ocean County? Are you outraged?

Peggi Sturmfels, Jackson, is a program organizer for the New Jersey Environmental Federation, Belmar.
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