ML24211A150
| ML24211A150 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palisades  |
| Issue date: | 07/28/2024 |
| From: | Zimmerman B, Zimmerman P - No Known Affiliation |
| To: | Office of Administration |
| References | |
| NRC-2024-0076, 89FR53659 00057 | |
| Download: ML24211A150 (1) | |
Text
PUBLIC SUBMISSION As of: 7/29/24, 12:45 PM Received: July 28, 2024 Status: Pending_Post Tracking No. lz6-143q-atu7 Comments Due: July 29, 2024 Submission Type: API Docket: NRC-2024-0076 Notice of Intent to Conduct Scoping Process and Prepare an Environmental Assessment Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC and Holtec Palisades, LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 Comment On: NRC-2024-0076-0001 Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, and Holtec Palisades, LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant; Notice of Intent To Conduct Scoping Process and Prepare an Environmental Assessment Document: NRC-2024-0076-DRAFT-0057 Comment on FR Doc # 2024-14112 Submitter Information Name: Anonymous Anonymous Email:zmannp@gmail.com General Comment NRC Palisades Restart Comments - Zimmermann Please read attached file Attachments NRC Palisades Restart Comments 7/29/24, 12:46 PM blob:https://www.fdms.gov/1d92e128-a690-409b-8c0c-c7cfe49807d6 blob:https://www.fdms.gov/1d92e128-a690-409b-8c0c-c7cfe49807d6 1/1 SUNSI Review Complete Template=ADM-013 E-RIDS=ADM-03 ADD: Laura Willingham, Mary Richmond, Antoinette Walker-Smith, Marlayna Doell, Mary Neely Comment (57)
Publication Date:6/27/2024 Citation: 89 FR 53659
July 28, 2024 RE: NRC Palisades Restart Comments Please carefully consider what is at stake BEFORE moving forward with the reopening process of the Palisades Power Plant.
This is NOT an anti-nuclear response. This is grave concern for starting up an old plant that has been plagued with issues for years. It has NOT been maintained, it has NOT received the necessary regulatory controls or updates that operating plants are required to have. This is about a company being given billions of dollars to do something they have never done before. Please read the following for context 1971 Palisades Power Plant, owned by Consumers Power, went online. Its design was approved for 40 years. At its construction, questionable welding material was used to hold the nuclear reactor, which is now 53 years old. Instead of having one facility to build the reactor and deliver it completed to the site, which was the usual procedure at the time, five different companies constructed the plant on site. It has a bad history of shutdowns due to failures of critical equipment, broken fuel rods and fuel-spill incidents.
1973 Plant shuts down Jan.16 after pinhole-size leaks develop in the steam generator tubes.
1973 Plant shuts down again in August for more than a year after another leak develops in steam generating system, in addition to other problems.
1974 Consumers Power Co. files a $300 million lawsuit against suppliers of various components.
Consumers contend the five firms sold it "defective equipment." Suppliers reached a settlement out of court for $14 million.
1982 February, Hydrogen explosion in turbine generator building injures contract employee.
1988 August, plant shuts down because of a steam generator leak. It shuts down again on Dec. 6.
1993 December, The NRC releases a report giving the plant its lowest scores in engineering and plant operations.
1994-1973 The plant is fined over $574,000 for safety violations and shut down over twenty times for malfunctions. Some shutdowns last as long as 19 months.
2001 Nuclear Management Co. takes over management of Palisades from Consumers.
2005 Nuclear Management Co. begins the license-renewal process with the NRC.
2007 The NRC renews Palisades license for 20 years, to run through March 2031. Entergy Corp.
purchases Palisades from Consumers Power. In December, Tritium was found in a test well at Palisades, eventually traced to corrosion of underground pipes. The plant's test results find water with a tritium level of 22,000 picocuries per liter, 2,000 picocuries above the reportable level for drinking water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. As reported and Chronicled using Kalamazoo Gazette Archives 2011 Entergys application for extension included a plan to moderate the degradation of the plant, but that plan was not followed. NO monitoring has been done, NO chemicals added to water, which should
have been done and NO fuel purchased for maintenance. It takes 2 yrs. to build fuel. NRC extended licensed to 2031.
2022 May Entergy shut down before expiration because of concerns over a faulty control rod drive seal.
It was no longer economical to operate the plant. It was now one of the most expensive sources of power in Michigan from one of the oldest plants. Renewable energy was a more economical alternative.
Entergy deferred maintenance modifications because they knew it was closing. Consequently, the plant has questionable welding, steam generator and control drive problems.
2022 June, Holtec International purchased from Entergy to decommission, as a DEMO contractor. The NRC makes an EXCEPTION and grants Holtec Entergys license. Holtec is NOT a nuclear company, they have NEVER built or operated a nuclear power plant. They purchased it so they would be paid to knock it down and sell it for scrap.
2022 September, Holtec applied for funds from Civil Nuclear Credit to reopen the plant. This request was denied. Did Holtec ever have intentions to decommission? They accepted the funds for it.
2024 March 27, US Energy Dept. loans $1.5 Billion to help fund Holtecs bid to reopen the plant. This is the first time a US plant would be back on the grid after decommissioning.
2026 Holtecs intended start-up date. Holtec must receive an operating license and other approvals from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
2031 Palisades license to expire. Holtec plans to request a license renewal that will allow it to produce power through 2051.
None of this adds up. Billions of tax dollars at stake for six hundred jobs? The state could build, staff and power renewable energy for much less. Is the NRC silently granting this extension now? Why would the state ($150 Million) and the feds ($1.5 Billion) pour billions of dollars into a facility for five years, from 2026 to 2031 when the license is due to expire? Is this already a done deal? This is one reason the NRC does not bode confidence in the community, we feel our concerns and best interests have been ignored.
Physicist Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said "Holtec has taken on an aging plant, lying fallow now for a couple of years without the maintenance and regulatory controls that operating plants are under. That regime is going to have to be restored, and there will have to be verification that the NRC is going to be able to have assurance that things haven't happened in the meantime, that would further compromise the safety of trying to restart the plant." Lyman is skeptical about the company's plans, considering its dearth of experience in nuclear operations. They have no experience at any level in running nuclear power plants, yet they want to take this on soon and then possibly start building additional small modular reactors at the same site," he said. "...I'm really questioning whether they've demonstrated that they have the capability to do all this safely."
Holtec is NOT a nuclear plant company, they lack expertise, they lack historical knowledge from Entergys engineers, they are gone. The maintenance did not take place and the institutional memory is gone with Entergy as well. It will be a very green staff, without knowledge of an incredibly old plant.
The small modular reactors that Holtec wants to install (SMRs) have NEVER been deployed in the U.S. Why would you risk installing them next to the largest source of fresh water for Michigan, Illinois,
and Wisconsin, especially on a live, shifting sand dune? Why not move to a safer location? Or not at all because of the incredible amount of waste they create? The project to build NuScales small modular reactor units at an Idaho site was terminated after 10 years of work due to careful consideration of safety and cost.
How much nuclear waste can continually be stored in a live sand dune? We have seen what happens to a sand dune after a tremendous storm. We were relieved when the plant closed. Now, to think it might reopen with MORE risks than ever is a bad joke on us. Please, think long and hard about this.
Who is holding Holtecs feet to the fire? Who is making sure this is a safe use of our resources?
The state says we must be responsible for our own safety if we live within ten miles of a nuclear plant.
Please tell me how we do that? The latest information from Holtec said they decided to dismantle the warning sirens that alerted our community. How are we to protect ourselves? I am doing the only responsible thing I can do; I am asking for your assurance that you look at this carefully and reconsider reopening the plant.
Our family has lived next door to the plant for 50 years. We have endured mistakes by more qualified operators, like steam generator leaks and the release of radioactive gases. As a result, we have abnormal amounts of cancer in our community, especially thyroid cancer. Radiation exposure is a known risk for thyroid cancer.
Governor Whitmer, said Holtec are experts in nuclear energy. They are NOT experts; at best they are proficient in nuclear decommissioning. Secretary Granholm, said, this loan was given with a focus on safety, professionalism and community support. Palisades communities do not feel safe, safety assurances have NOT been communicated to residents. Holtec and the NRC have avoided attempts at transparency. The only community support comes from a few shop owners and previous power plant staff. Talk to the people that live near the plant, the people of Palisades Park, Linden Hills, Blue Star, Red Arrow and Coloma residents. They are the ones who drink the water and breathe the air. They and many thousands more are the ones who need an emergency plan in the event the plant reopens.
Respectfully, Bob and Pam Zimmermann Covert, MI 49043