Beyond Nuclear opposes risks of waste generation, pool storage, Yucca, & CIS, while advocating HOSS at Diablo Canyon
On Feb. 22 & 23, 2019, Beyond Nuclear's radioactive waste watchdog, Kevin Kamps, testified before the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Diablo Canyon Nuclear Decommissioning Engagement Panel (DCNDEP) in San Luis Obispo (SLO), California. The meeting was focused on highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel risks at the twin-reactor atomic power plant on the central CA Pacific coast.
You can view a copy of Kevin's power point presentation, here.
A video recording of Kevin's 30-minute oral presentation accompanying his power point, followed by a Q&A session, is posted on-line, here. A video recording of Kevin's 30-minute oral presentation accompanying his power point, followed by a Q&A session, is posted on-line, here.
(Video recordings of the full Feb. 22 & 23 sessions are posted, here. So too are all previous DCNDEP events.)
Joining Kevin in calling for Diablo Canyon's near-term shutdown, so that no more high-level radioactive waste will be generated, were many members from SLO Mothers for Peace (SLOMPF member Linda Seeley also serves on the DCNDEP).
Diablo Canyon is scheduled to permanently shut down Unit 1 in 2024, and Unit 2 in 2025. An agreement was reached between PG&E, environmental groups -- such as Friends of the Earth, Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, and Natural Resources Defense Council -- and unions representing workers at Diablo Canyon, that the atomic reactors will not seek 20-year license extensions. The electricity will be replaced by renewables, such as wind and solar, as well as efficiency.
PG&E recently declared bankruptcy, due to potential damages from the deadly Camp Fire in Paradise, CA, a wildfire it now admits was likely ignited by poorly maintained PG&E transmission lines. The Camp Fire was the deadliest in CA history, with 86 dead.
SLOMPF, and other environmental allies, joined Beyond Nuclear's call for Hardened On-Site Storage (HOSS), instead of dense-packed pool storage till 2032, as PG&E proposes, risking catastrophic releases of hazardous ionizing radioactivity from a potential pool fire. Such a catastrophe could be unleashed due to an earthquake -- Diablo Canyon is surrounded by numerous fault lines, in nearby proximity, including two major ones.
Beyond Nuclear, SLOMPF, and environmental allies also oppose the Yucca Mountain permanent dumpsite targeted at Western Shoshone Indian land in Nevada, as well as so-called centralized interim storage facilities (CISFs) targeted at Hispanic communities in New Mexico and Texas, and the high-risk shipments of irradiated nuclear fuel to these proposed dumps. In fact, SLOMPF has joined an environmental coalition opposing both CISFs. That coalition is represented by Toledo, Ohio-based attorney, Terry Lodge.
SLOMPF hosted Kevin, as well as Dee D’Arrigo from NIRS, at a Jan. 2018 discussion entitled “Transportation of Radioactive Wastes and Consolidated ‘Interim’ Storage.” See the video recording, here.
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