17 groups urge NRC to halt licensing, relicensing of 23 reactors due to failure to address 2012 court ruling

Diane CurranAs reported by a coalition press release, 17 groups engaged in interventions against 23 old and new reactors have filed new contentions with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) panels.

The contentions cite NRC's own lack of safety assurances regarding ultimate disposal of irradiated nuclear fuel, a recent reversal of NRC's previous so-called "Nuclear Waste Confidence." In addition to the contentions seeking to block new reactor licenses and old reactor license extensions, the coalition has requested stays on all proceedings until the matter is resolved.

Diane Curran (photo, above) of Harmon, Curran, Spielberg + Eisenberg, LLP in Washington, D.C., is a lead attorney representing the environmental coalition. Mindy Goldstein of Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory University in Atlanta also serves as a lead attorney on behalf of the coalition.

Dr. Mark Cooper of Vermont Law School, and Dr. Arjun Makhijani of Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, have each filed expert testimony on behalf of the coalition.

Update on September 29, 2014 by admin

Terry LodgeBeyond Nuclear's role in this coalition effort includes its intervention against old reactor license extensions at Davis-Besse, Ohio and Fermi 2, Michigan, as well as its intervention against the proposed new reactor at Fermi 3, Michigan. Toledo-based attorney Terry Lodge (photo, left) serves as legal counsel for the environmental coalitions intervening in these particular ASLB proceedings.

Thus, Lodge filed a motion for this new contention, a petition for suspension, and an NRC Nuclear Waste Confidence court case brief excerpt in the Davis-Besse License Renewal Application (LRA) proceeding today.

Likewise, he filed the motion for this new contention in the Fermi 2 LRA proceeding today, as well as a petition for suspension, and NRC Nuclear Waste Confidence court case brief excerpt, identical to that above.

And finally, Lodge today filed the motion for this new contention in the Fermi 3 combined Construction and Operating License Application (COLA) proceeding, as well as an identical petition for suspension, and NRC Nuclear Waste Confidence brief, as those above.

Update on September 29, 2014 by admin

The Hill has reported on this story.

The Connecticut Post has also reported on this story, quoting Beyond Nuclear:

Kevin Kamps [Radioactive Waste Watchdog at] Beyond Nuclear, said radioactive waste is one of the most dangerous products ever created by humans, and has inexplicably gotten a pass over the years as people assumed a disposal method would present itself eventually.

"We don't have an answer for long-term disposal, and we're 70 years into the atomic age," Kamps said.

Grassroots opposition to Canada's Great Lakes radioactive waste dump gaining traction at state and federal level!

Ontario Power Generation proposes to bury "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive wastes from 20 reactors across the province at its Bruce Nuclear Generating Station on the Lake Huron shore. The Great Lakes comprise 95% of North America's surface fresh water, providing drinking water to 40 million people in 8 U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations.As reported by the News Herald, an effort to block Canada's proposed radioactive waste dump on the Great Lakes shoreline -- initiated by Ed McArdle of the Sierra Club's South East Michigan Group -- first succeed at the state level, and has now moved into the federal realm. At the state level, Ed's Michigan State Senator, Hoon-yung Hopgood (D-Taylor), introduced a resolution opposing the dump that past the State Senate by a unanimous vote. At the federal level, Michigan and New York Democrats have introduced a congressional resolution opposing the dump in the U.S. House; a bipartisan resolution has likewise been introduced in the U.S. Senate.