Beyond Nuclear

Dear Friends and Colleagues concerned about Entergy's problem-plagued Palisades atomic reactor,

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has just posted a press release announcing a webinar, to be held this Saturday, January 12th, from 11 AM to 12 Noon Eastern time, concerning recent through-wall leaks at the 46 year old Palisades nuclear power plant. (Palisades was first licensed to operate beginning in 1967, although its original "lemon" status -- even when brand new, and never corrected -- prevented it from firing up until 1971.)

Participants can listen in to NRC's presentation on-line via their computer, and/or call-in by phone. Once you register via NRC's press release link, a confirmation email will be sent to you, including a link for accessing the webinar on-line, as well as a toll-free phone number and passcode for calling in. Those viewing on-line will have access to NRC's visual slides and power point presentation.

NRC states: "The first part of the meeting will be a Webinar discussion by the NRC with observation by members of the public. The second part of the meeting will be an open discussion, between the NRC and the public, on the topic of through-wall leaks at Palisades and the NRC's regulatory process."

For more information about this webinar, see NRC's meeting notice at http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1236/ML12361A419.pdf, as well as additional information posted at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm?action=search.detail&MeetingCode=20121152. Please note that the "10 AM to 11 AM" listings are for CENTRAL time (NRC's Region 3 headquarters office is located in Lisle, IL), which means the webinar will take place from 11 AM to 12 NOON Eastern time (Palisades is located in Covert, Michigan, several miles south of South Haven, in the Eastern time zone, of course). If you have any questions, you can contact NRC's Diana Betancourt at Phone: (630) 829-9617; or feel free to contact me as well (Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear, (240) 462-3216).

NRC held a similar webinar on October 1, 2012, about through-wall leaks in Palisades' safety-critical control rod drive mechanism (CRDM). Last month, NRC's Region 3 Administrator, Chuck Casto, reported that 80 participants took part in that earlier webinar, even though it was held on a weekday, when many concerned people were working and could not attend. NRC has scheduled this webinar for a Saturday morning, after strong criticism for holding the last one during working hours. A Beyond Nuclear web posting about the August 2012 Palisades CRDM through-wall leak, including additional links (such as a Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) report about chronic CRDM seal leaks at Palisades dating back 40 years!), can be viewed at http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-power/2012/8/15/crisis-du-jour-at-entergy-nuclears-palisades-atomic-reactor.html

UCS's Nuclear Safety Project Director, David Lochbaum, has confirmed that the CRDM through-wall leak last August should have required Palisades to be shut down within hours, yet NRC allowed it to operate for many additional days.

This Sat., Jan. 12th webinar will very likely include discussion about yet another through-wall leak at Palisades, first publicly revealed in a preliminary notice by NRC on Sept. 25, 2012 (see http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/Palisades%20PNO%209-25-12%20of%209-20-12%20Leak%20ML12269A179.pdf). This through-wall leak involved a valve on the safety-significant service water system, used for cooling equipment and systems during routine operations, but also during emergencies (such as the emergency diesel generators, the last back up source for AC power to run safety and cooling systems if the offsite grid is lost). The service water system was also involved in one or more break downs at Palisades in 2011, which contributed to NRC's designating Palisades' operations as "degraded," a poor performance (that is, high risk) status shared by only a few other reactors in the U.S.

A Beyond Nuclear web posting about the most recent, December 11, 2012 NRC public meeting in South Haven, with additional links to relevant documents, can be viewed at http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-power/2012/12/15/protest-against-nrcs-absurd-rush-to-restore-entergy-palisade.html

Links to Palisades news, action alerts, background, and documents going further back in time are posted online at: http://www.beyondnuclear.org/safety/2012/12/9/online-resources-about-entergys-palisades-atomic-reactor.html

It's important that we muster a good turn out for this webinar, in order to show NRC that they are being closely watched. There were at least a half dozen major showdowns with NRC and Entergy in 2012 alone about Palisades' many leaks and breakdowns (both mechanical, as well as management-wise, including complete collapse of safety culture, as revealed by Palisades whistleblowers). Please spread the word! Feel free to forward this alert!

Let's shut Palisades down, before it melts down!

Sincerely,

Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear