ML102280562
| ML102280562 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Hope Creek  |
| Issue date: | 11/30/2009 |
| From: | Cohen N UNPLUG Salem Campaign |
| To: | Rulemaking, Directives, and Editing Branch |
| References | |
| 74FR54859 00008, FOIA/PA-2011-0113 | |
| Download: ML102280562 (3) | |
Text
ý4 RULEO "V-- T/r-',
- -S, Ar I,, 12 1: II The UNPLUG SALEM Campaign*
321 Barr.Ave;., Linwood NJ 08221 ,_
ncohen 12@comcaSt.net Owll
- www.unplugsalem .org RO .!/l-D *609-33.5-28176 11/30/2009 '
To: Nuclear Regulatory Commission':
Comments for theý environmental review of the relicensing of Hope Creek Docket No.
50-354 License No, NPF,57 PSEG Nuclear, LLC The UNPLUG Salem Campaign is a network of organizations and individUals. that act a.s a public health andnuclear safety watchdog for PSEGs three Iuclear powerplants.
This letter concerns the. proposed relicensing of Hope Creek. We opposeextending the license ofthis nuclear plant.: We also oppose the process by which!decisions on relicensing are made, This process makes itvirtually,:impossible for most individuals and many organizations to participate. In addition, 'because only certain issues are deemed acceptable by the NRC for submission as !contentions, may issuesz of safety and health are not even lookedat by NRC 'in making theif decision.
We also oppose relicensing a nuclear plant ,twent years before itslicense is up for renewal.
If the NRC can give Oyster Creek a 20yedr extension, even though'that nuclear plant could not be built under today's standards, and is a meltdown waiting to happen, it is clear that: the relicensing process for Hope Creek willtbenothing' more than paperwork and rubber stamping.
However, it isimrportant to put our ,concerns on the record, even though wedo not expect NRC to act on any of them.
Here are areas that NRC should look at and thenwdeny, Hope Creek a 20 year extension:
(1) Hope Creek has, leaed hydrazine into the Delaware Bay.
(2) The electrical systemthat connects Hope Creek to the grid is old and has had a,
number of failures, including transformer failures.
(3),PSEG..has a spotty, record when it comes to keeping, diesel generators working. This is .a iconcern because all three nuclear plants rely on diesel generators.. if offsite power is interrupted.
(4): PSEG has a serious Safety Conscious. Work Environment (SCWE) and Safety Culture problem. This has-been a chronic. problem at all 3 of PSEG's plants,
.and continues to shoW up in NRC inspections under ,cross-cutting issues of human performance". Onekey exaple at Hope Creek was the loss. of 5000 gallons of cooling water, due to human error. This event could have escalated into a TMI-type.of situation.
(5): Hope Creek is vulnerable to a severe earthquake because Artificial Island is built on compacted mud, and its pilings do not reach bedrock.
(6) Because Yucca Mountain, the'.national depository for spent nuclear fuel, will not be operative, Lower Alloways Creek will become, and actually is now, a long term nuclear waste dump, which violates the zoning board agreement between PSEG and Lower Alloways.
(7) Hope Creek has buried pipes and electrical conduitsthat have not been inspected and,-based on.other nuclear plants, may be leaking tritium or in danger Qf electrical shorts happening.
(8) The EvacuationPlan for Salem/Hope Creek is$1,based on faulty. assumptions and would not work under many scenarios 'including a fast acting radiatio'n release and.
multiple releases. Under worst:case scenarios, thousands of people within the '10 and 50 mile zones would die:from radiation exposure.
(9) Hope Creek emits continual amounts of low level radiationand radionuciides, which-.
contribute to: the cancer casesand immune system disordersin the :50 milezone around Artificial Island..
(10,) Hope Creek remains a prime terrorist target, and there are m'any ways terrorists could prevail, only one ofwhich:will ýilist here.ý
. z. I (11) Hope Creek's Spent:FuelPool is above ground and not protected by containment.
It is a prime terrorists target.. If the water in the Pool :drains out, there would be massive radiation releases.
(12) If NRC approves the relicensing of Hope .Creek, the peopleý ofSouth Jersey and Delaware Will become unwittingguinea pigs in NRC'sgrand experimentito find !out .if aging nuclear plants actually. can last another`20,years, or not.
What should be done:.
Hope Creek should: be decommissioned at the end of its 40 year license. Affected employees, should be relocatedand retrained by PSEG. Artificial Island should be turned into a wind power and :solar power "park" to produce some. ofthe electical energy formerly produced by the nuclear plants.
Sincerely,.
Norm Cohen Coordinator, The UNPLUG Salem Campaign emailed to NRC 1 1/29/09