ML11234A526

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Declaration of Standing from Bruce Smartlowit
ML11234A526
Person / Time
Site: Columbia Energy Northwest icon.png
Issue date: 08/15/2011
From: Smartlowit B
Northwest Environmental Advocates
To:
NRC/SECY
SECY RAS
Shared Package
ML112334A525 List:
References
License Renewal, RAS 20821, 50-397-LR
Download: ML11234A526 (1)


Text

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE SECRETARY

)

In the Matter of )

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ENERGY NORTHWEST ) Docket No. 50-397-LR

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(Columbia Generating Station) )

DECLARATION OF STANDING I declare under penalty of perjury:

1. My name is Bruce Smartlowit. I am a member of Northwest Environmental Advocates.
2. I live at 891 W. Wapato Road, Wapato, WA. My post office box is in Toppenish, WA.
3. My home and the places that I spend time are approximately 50 miles from the site of the Columbia Generating Station for which Energy Northwest is seeking a 20-year operating license extension. As a result I am frequently within 50 miles of the reactor, for example when I go to Toppenish to pick up my mail.
4. Energy Northwest submitted the application for an operating license extension on January 20,2010. On March 11, 2011 three of the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan suffered a full meltdown. By 2023, when the NRC plans to issue a new 20-year license for the Columbia Generating Station, the reactor will be 40 years old, increasing its risks of a nuclear accident. In addition, the Fukushima accident demonstrates that the manner in which the NRC evaluates the environmental impacts of nuclear reactors has been and continues to be inadequate.
5. Based on historical experience with nuclear reactors to date, including the problems demonstrated by the Fukushima ac~ident, I believe that these reactors are inherently dangerous.

For this reason it is extremely important that they be designed, maintained, and operated to the highest standards. I am concerned that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may not take the steps to assure this outcome. The continued operation of an aged nuclear reactor so close to my home could pose a grave risk to my health and safety if it is not operated safely. In particular, I am concerned that if an accident involving atmospheric release of radiological material were to occur I could be killed or become very ill. Therefore I am greatly concerned that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission not grant an operating license extension for the Columbia Generating Station unless it can be operated safely and without significant adverse environmental impacts.

6. Therefore, I have authorized Northwest Environmental Advocates to represent my interests in this operating license extension proceeding for Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station.