NRC ASLB to hear oral arguments Wed., July 24th on risky Davis-Besse steam generator replacements
Davis-Besse Steam Generator Replacement Hearing before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
“Telephonic Oral Hearing” will begin at 1:30 pm EST Wed., July 24, 2013. Please phone into Hearing @ 800-779-1642 passcode is 8093521
Contact: Michael J. Keegan, Don’t Waste Michigan (734) 770-1441; Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear (240) 462-3216; Patricia Marida, Sierra Club Ohio (614) 890-7865
ASLB Hearing Notification link
ASLB TO HEAR ORAL ARGUMENTS WED., JULY 24th ON DAVIS-BESSE STEAM GENERATOR REPLACEMENTS
The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will hear oral arguments Wed., July 24, 2013 on the Davis-Besse nuclear plant steam generator replacements. The contention alleges that at least nine major nuclear plant modifications have not been scrutinized and must do so, in a full license amendment proceeding. A very similar contention led to the permanent shutdown of two reactors at San Onofre nuclear plant in CA on June 7th.
The contention was filed May 20th by Interveners including Beyond Nuclear, Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don’t Waste Michigan, and the Sierra Club of Ohio. The oral arguments will discuss standing and whether the ASLB should admit the contention on the merits. The (ASLB) Board intends to ask questions regarding the Joint Petitioners’ standing and the admissibility of the proffered contention.
The steam generator replacement concerns at Davis-Besse are nearly identical to the engineering shortcomings at the San Onofre reactors which led to their failure and ultimate closing of those reactors. Fairewinds Associates,Inc's Chief Engineer Arnold Gundersen provided expert testimony, on behalf of Friends of the Earth, which led to the closing of the two San Onofre reactors. Arnold Gundersen is now expert for the environmental interveners on the Davis-Besse steam generator replacements.
Background narratives with updates are posted at Beyond Nuclear at the following links:
May 21, 2013, Environmental coalition challenges experimental steam generator replacements;
June 22, 2013, Coalition defends its challenge against risky steam generator replacements;
July 9, 2013, Coalition defends intervention against risky steam generator replacements by rebutting FirstEnergy "Motions to Strike";
July 12, 2013, Coalition defends intervention against risky steam generator replacements by rebutting NRC "Motions to Strike".
The entire ASLB docket, including environmental interveners' testimony and petition, is posted online. Documents will also be sent upon request (see contacts above).
Interveners are seeking to prevent the unregulated installation of replacement steam generators which are not “like-for-like”, “same-for-same”, “fit-form-function”. FirstEnergy’s attempts to install steam generators without adequate oversight put the entire Great Lakes basin at risk of a catastrophic cascading steam generator failure leading to Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) resulting in meltdown and potentially catastrophic radioactivity releases.
Post hearing individual interviews can be arranged by contacts listed above.
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Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer at Fairewinds Associates, Inc., serves as the environmental coalition's expert witnessThe Toledo Blade has reported on this story. The article quotes Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps:
“We need for FirstEnergy to prove that these new steam generators are safe,” said Kevin Kamps, a radioactive-waste specialist for Beyond Nuclear, one of the environmental groups seeking to intervene.
Mr. Kamps, in an interview after the roughly 90-minute oral arguments, called for “an open, transparent process.”
Attorney Terry Lodge (photo, above left) represented the coalition, including Beyond Nuclear, and Arnie Gundersen (photo, left), Chief Engineer at Fairewinds Associates, Inc., serves as its expert witness. Gundersen also serves as Friends of the Earth's expert at San Onofre, where a botched replacement of steam generators put 8 million southern Californians at risk, and has led to a mutli-billion dollar boondoggle, and the permanent shutdown of two reactors. In addition, Gundersen was involved at Crystal River, Florida, where a botched steam generator replacement fatally cracked the concrete containment dome, leading to that reactor's permanent shutdown as well. Davis-Besse also has a severely cracked concrete containment.
The NRC ASLB has released the transcript from the July 24th oral argument pre-hearing.
