DTE doesn't oppose holding Fermi 3 Nuclear Waste Confidence matters in abeyance, pending resolution of NY v. NRC II appeal

On July 31st, Detroit Edison filed a response to Beyond Nuclear et al.'s motion to hold the proposed new Fermi 3 atomic reactor proceeding in abeyance. The nuclear utility agreed with Beyond Nuclear that the Nuclear Waste Confidence aspects of the proceeding should be held in abeyance, pending resolution of New York v. NRC II. However, DTE emphasized its desire that the other matters on appeal -- namely, quality assurance (or lack thereof), and transmission corridor "pre-construction" National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)-compliance (or lack thereof) -- be resolved ASAP.

Detroit Edison proposes building a General Electric-Hitachi ESBWR (so-called "Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor") at its Fermi nuclear power plant site in Monroe County, MI, on the Lake Erie shoreline.

Permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste, at a geologic repository, is -- or should be -- an aspect of NRC's Nuclear Waste Confidence policy, renamed Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel in 2014. In its June 2012 ruling in New York v. NRC (I), the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered NRC to analyze the impacts of a repository never being opened.

Essentially, NRC has not done so. NRC has merely expressed continued confidence that irradiated nuclear fuel can, and will, be stored safely, securely, and soundly, indefinitely into the future. This "assumed safety" applies not only at on-site storage at reactor sites, but also away from reactors, at centrailzed interim storage sites.

Beyond Nuclear's appeal against Nuclear Waste Confidence at Fermi 3 challenges this "assumption of safety." NEPA requires a "hard look," actual concerted analysis, at environmental impacts of a proposed action, such as NRC approving new reactor licenses, as at Fermi 3, which will inevitably lead to the generation, and storage, of high-level radioactive waste. And the Atomic Energy Act requires NRC establish "reasonable assurance of adequate protection" of public health and safety, which NRC has not done in its Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel GEIS (Generic Environmental Impact Statement) and Rule.

The risk of a repository never opening would exacerbate such on-site and away from reactor (centralized or consolidated interim storage) risks. However, despite the court order, NRC has not analyzed this risk of a repository never opening, nor the exacerbation of storage risks this would cause at, and away from, reactors.

Aug. 16, Rally in Port Huron, MI to stop a nuclear waste dump on Lake Huron shore!

DO sign the petition at, and the spread the word about, http://www.stopthegreatlakesnucleardump.com/August 16th, 1PM at Pinegrove Park in Port Huron, Michigan (1PM - 4PM) to rally to stop a deep underground nuclear dump (referred to by dump proponents, like Ontario Power Generation, as a Deep Geologic Repository), proposed for the shores of Lake Huron in Canada.

Here's a Facebook link to the event: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/952971808088757/953145028071435/

Beyond Nuclear will be there, and hope you can too. Please spread the word!

See the flier!

More.

"Stable geology no guarantee for a safe nuclear waste dump"

Jim Bloch, writing for The Voice in northern Macomb and St. Clair counties, MI, has published another article stemming from Beyond Nuclear's presentation in Port Huron, MI on June 16th. The presentation, hosted by Kay Cumbow of the Sierra Club Blue Water Group and Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, was in opposition to Ontario Power Generation's proposed radioactive waste dump on the Great Lakes shoreline.

Sierra Club says "stop making radioactive waste"!

Environmental coalition members from the Crabshell Alliance, Sierra Club Nuclear-Free Campaign, NIRS, PSR, NEIS, and Public Citizen "just say NO!" at the NRC HQ nuke waste con game GEIS public comment meeting on 11/14/13 in Rockville, MD. Photo credit David Martin and Erica Grey.Wallace L. Taylor, an attorney based in Cedar Rapids, IA, has filed a Friend of the Court brief on behalf of the Sierra Club, in support of environmental petitioners in the New York v. NRC II federal court case.

The nation's largest grassroots environmental organization, with over 600,000 members, the Sierra Club has a very active, and growing, Nuclear-Free Campaign nationwide.

For high-level radioactive wastes that already exist, Taylor called for Hardened On-Site Storage -- a position shared by hundreds of environmental groups, representing all 50 states.

Taylor stated "one way to address the environmental impacts of the continued storage of radioactive waste is to stop making radioactive waste."

He called for present and future electricity needs to be met not by nuclear power nor fossil fuels, but rather efficiency and renewables. He cited numerous technical studies, including Dr. Arjun Makhijani of IEER's 2007 book Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy, that show this alternative is quite reasonable.

Having called for the court to require NRC to take a hard look under NEPA at the mitigative value of NRC not licensing any more new reactors, nor extending licenses at old reactors, and even revoking licenses at existing reactors, Taylor concluded his Friend of the Court brief: 

The storage and disposal of radioactive nuclear waste from spent nuclear fuel is a long-term problem posing grave risks to public health and the environment for which there is no solution. One alternative to this conundrum -- the Sierra Club believes it is the most important alternative -- is to stop producing any more radioactive waste. For the reasons stated above, NEPA [the National Environmental Policy Act] and common sense require that the GEIS [Generic Environmental Impact Statement] analyze this alternative.

Because this alternative has not been evaluated, the decision of the NRC in adopting the Continued Storage Rule should be reversed and remanded.