Site Cleared for New Nuke

  • Exelon has gotten an Early Site Permit to build a nuclear reactor in Illinois. (Photo by Lester Graham)

Exelon, the nation’s largest operator of
nuclear power plants, has won clearance for a site
where it could build a new nuclear reactor…
someday. It’s the first time federal regulators
have awarded the new type of advance permit. Jim
Meadows reports:

Transcript

Exelon, the nation’s largest operator of nuclear power plants, has won
clearance for a site where it could build a new nuclear reactor…
someday. It’s the first time federal regulators have awarded the new
type of advance permit. Jim Meadows reports:


The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted its first-ever Early Site
Permit this month for Exelon’s Clinton nuclear power station in central
Illinois. The permit authorizes a location at the Clinton plant for a
second nuclear reactor in the future.


Exelon spokeswoman Krista Lopykinski says they would have to apply
again to actually build and operate a reactor there:


“Should we decide to build a power plant, the next step would be to
apply for a combined operating license. But as of right now, we have no
plans to build a power plant in the near future.


Lopykinsky says before they seek to build another reactor at Clinton,
they’d want to be sure they have the right reactor technology on hand,
and that the nation has a workable solution to storing its spent
nuclear fuel.


For the Envronment Report, I’m Jim Meadows.

Related Links

Storing Nuke Waste Outside

Across the country, nuclear power plants are running out of room to store nuclear waste. The GLRC’s Brad Linder reports temporary storage at some plants is decades old:

Transcript

Across the country, nuclear power plants are running out of room to store
nuclear waste. The GLRC’s Brad Linder reports temporary storage at some
plants is decades old:


With no consensus on a plan to store the nation’s spent nuclear fuel in
one location, power plants are storing the waste onsite. For example, in
Limerick, Pennsylvania officials say they’re concerned about the plans to
build concrete casks to store nuclear waste outside a power plant. For
decades, they’ve been using storage pools inside the plant.


The proposed casks are described as temporary, but Assistant County
Planning Commissioner Mike Stokes says temporary storage at the plant
doesn’t mean much:


“They’ve been the permanent storage facility for every ounce of fuel used
at the power plant since it was first opened 20 years ago. So we can’t
always believe that things will be temporary.”


A spokesperson for Exelon Power, the owner of the Limerick plant and many others, says
the concrete casks are safe. Exelon says the casks are designed to withstand tornado-
force winds, or strikes from projectiles.


For the GLRC, I’m Brad Linder.

Related Links

Attorneys General Call for Nuke Security Upgrades

  • Several state attorneys general are calling for security upgrades for nuclear power plants. (Photo by Lester Graham)

Several state attorneys general are urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to upgrade security at nuclear power plants to defend against terrorist attacks. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

Several state attorneys general are urging the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to upgrade security at nuclear power plants
to defend against terrorist attacks. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has stepped up security at nuclear power
plants since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, but it’s still
using a defense plan designed 35 years ago based on four men attacking by
land.


A nuclear watchdog group called Committee to Bridge the Gap has filed
a petition with the NRC, asking that the plan be updated to take into
account the methods and numbers terrorists have actually used. Seven
attorneys general signed a letter supporting the security update. Paul
Laraby is with the New York Attorney General’s office.


“I think what the AGs are trying to do is to introduce common sense
approach to an emerging threat that perhaps was discounted thirty-five years ago.”


Even after more than three years since the attacks, the NRC still has not
determined how it should upgrade the its defense plans for nuclear power
plants.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Related Links

Canada to Restart Nuke Program?

The debate over nuclear energy in the Great Lakes Region will likely heat up again in the coming months. In Canada, three reactors are coming back online after they were closed for years, and as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports, a new nuclear power plant might be built:

Transcript

The debate over nuclear energy in the Great Lakes Region will likely heat up again in the coming
months. Ontario is about to bring three reactors back on line after they were closed for years.
And as Dan Karpenchuk reports, the province is also considering building a new nuclear power
plant:


Ontario is facing an energy crunch. Demand during the summer months, last year, had tested the
province’s reserves to the limit, and an especially cold winter has placed even more demands on
the system.


Now Ontario premier, Ernie Eves, says he’s considering new ways of dealing with the energy
shortage and nothing will be left out.


“That includes everything from wind power to large nuclear projects.”


Bruce Power owns two nuclear plants on the shores of Lake Huron. Recently its President,
Duncan Hawthorne, met with Ontario officials and made it clear his company wants to be
involved in any new nuclear projects.


“We’ve got a strong capable workforce, we’ve got every favorable community around us, we’ve
got a formula that we can build on.”


But environmental groups and opposition politicians were quick to denounce the plan, saying the
industry does not have a good record.


They say Ontario has some of the oldest reactors in North America. And history has shown that
every time a nuclear plant has been built in the province, the cost overruns have been enormous,
with taxpayers ending up with the bill.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.

States Stock Up for Nuclear Emergencies

Four Great Lakes states are stocking up on special cancer-prevention pills that are supposed to protect people who live near nuclear power plants, in case there’s a major leak of radiation. Ohio is the latest. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Cohen has the story:

Transcript

Four Great Lakes states are stocking up on special cancer-prevention
pills that are supposed to protect people who live near nuclear power
plants, in case there’s a major leak of radiation. Ohio is the latest.
Bill Cohen has the story:


The pills contain potassium iodide and the federal government has
agreed to pay for them. The idea is, if people swallow this harmless
iodine just before they’re exposed to radioactivity, their thyroid
glands won’t absorb much dangerous radioactive iodine. That way, the
chances of getting thyroid cancer go down.


Ohio has just packaged 600,000 pills for evacuation centers near
the three nuclear power plants that serve the state. Next year, pills
will be available to residents to pick up directly, so they can keep
them in their medicine cabinet at home or their desk drawer at work.


Still, health officials stress in an emergency, evacuation – not
the pills – should be the top priority. Jay Carey speaks for the state
health department.


“If they’re ordered to evacuate, they should leave first. Don’t even turn
around and go back – ‘Oh, I left my pills in the medicine cabinet, I’ll
go get ’em.’ If you’re told to evacuate, evacuate!”


New York and Pennsylvania are also stocking up on the pills the feds
are paying for. Illinois is buying its own supply.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Cohen.

Nuclear Reactors in Harm’s Way?

Canadian environmentalists are concerned that nuclear power plants located on the Great Lakes are vulnerable to a potential terrorist attack. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly has the story:

No Home for Radioactive Waste (Part 1)

States have been working for two decades to find a place for low-
level radioactive waste. Although the states have spent hundreds of
millions of dollars to find a disposal site, no state has established
one. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:v

Nuke Waste Stream Becomes a Trickle (Part 2)

Although they’ve been trying for 20 years… states across the
nation have failed to establish new disposal facilities for low-level
radioactive waste. But now… the need is not as great as it once was.
The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports… the waste
stream has become a trickle:

Activists Hold Anti-Nuke Rally

This week, a national coalition of safe energy groups is meeting in
Michigan to host a "Nuclear Free Action Camp". Organizers say the goal
of the event is to educate the public about the dangers of nuclear power
and develop local organizing strategies. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s David Hammond reports:

Meltdown Pills

This summer, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission began encouraging statesto begin stockpiling certain pills in the event of a nuclear accident.Some eastern states have already started putting the medicine in theiremergency centers and now those drugs are coming to the Midwest. TheGreat Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Cohen has the story: