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Nuclear plants, and their final closure, will leave large radioactive legacy

after 30 years of operation their could be as many as 100 billion lethal doses of radiation sitting right here in Allegany County.

From the Archives, 1989: Radiation Danger Deepens, The Houghton Star, By Kim Kerr and Trina Van Derlip March 27, 2010, This article, entitled “Running Risks: Radiation Danger Deepens,” was printed in the October 2, 1989 edition of the Star, and was written by Kim Kerr and Trina Van Derlip, “……..The problem had its beginning in 1985, when the Federal Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act (introduced in 1980) was passed and amended. This policy shifted the responsibility of low-level waste from the federal to the state governments.

Each state or compact of states is responsible for waste produced within their territory. Under this law, the state of New York has selected five sites, three of which are in Allegany County. One of the sites is three miles from Houghton, right across the Genesee River. The approximately 1200 students of Houghton College were not considered in the choosing of the site (Houghton was considered to contain approximately 200 people), even though most students live in the area for a minimum of eight months each year.

Similarly, the students at Alfred State were not counted in the consideration of the proposed site in their area.Some disturbing facts were brought up in the course of the march. The siting commission learned this July, after more than two years of study, that the dump would be more than ten times as radioactive as first indicated. The majority of the radioactivity will come from nuclear power plants, not short-lived medical waste as most thought.

This radioactive waste has serious consequences. Dr. Theodore Taylor, a noted physicist who worked on a committee which investigated nuclear power plants during President Carter’s administration, has estimated that after 30 years of operation their could be as many as 100 billion lethal doses of radiation sitting right here in Allegany County. This idea could become a very frightful reality.

Another disturbing reality is the amount of radiation stored in these dumps. Within the next 30 years, the state plans to demolish three nuclear power plants. According to the July/August 1989 issue of ‘World Watch,’ “dismantlement of one large reactor would yield about 600,00 cubic feet of LLRW – enough to fill a large truck every day for almost four years.” The required technology to disassemble these reactors has not yet been used.

Some of the radiation to be stored will be radioactive for 20,000 years; however the dump facility is only engineered to last 500 years. But how will this affect students? Though we may only be here for a few years, we leave behind friends, faculty and future students who must deal with this problem……

William Coch, the medical advisor to the Allegany County Health Department, estimates (from material sent to him from one of the siting commissioners, Dr. David Maillee) that the risk of cancer over a lifetime could increase 35% for those living along the border of the dump. This problem becomes even more serious when we consider that Pennsylvania’s Potter County, which borders Allegany, is being highly considered by Pennsylvania as a LLRW dump site. Having two dumps so close together increases the risk to residents and the environment.

The Houghton Star – From the Archives, 1989: Radiation Danger Deepens

March 27, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors