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Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s blind faith that nuclear waste is safe

The NRC held that waste storage was safe for at least 60 years after a plant shuts down; they then proposed a rule to allow spent fuel storage at reactor sites for 200-300 years.

Wake Up and Smell the Radioactive Waste, OpEd News, 20 June 12, By Abby Luby Given that 2,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel is produced every year at nuclear reactors in the United States, and over 75,000 metric tons of nuclear waste is being temporarily stored in 39 states, it is surprising that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has emphatically said this amount of waste is safe. What’s even more surprising is that no one has disputed them. Until now.

Last week, in what New York State calls a landmark victory, a U.S. Appeals Court ruled that the NRC violated a federal act by neglecting to run in-depth studies on how storing radioactive waste at nuclear power plants impacts health and the environment. The lawsuit was spearheaded and won by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who was joined by state attorneys general from Connecticut, Vermont and New Jersey, and the Prairie Island Indian Community.

Schneiderman and his boss, Governor Andrew Cuomo, in their aggressive pursuit to shutter the aging Indian Point Nuclear Power plant in Westchester, have chased after many pro-nuclear policies that seem to drive the NRC. In 2007, Entergy, Indian Point’s owner, applied to re-license the plant’s twin reactors to run for 20 more years.
Three years later, the NRC amended their “Waste Confidence Decision,” allowing plants to store more waste on-site without site-specific environmental or safety reviews. The NRC held that waste storage was safe for at least 60 years after a plant shuts down; they then proposed a rule to allow spent fuel storage at reactor sites for 200-300 years.

Of the record-breaking number of contentions opposing Entergy’s license renewal application, many focus on the dangers of storing spent fuel. The NRC has discounted those contentions, claiming waste safety issues as part of the agency’s regular oversight routine. But the court has ruled otherwise, siding with Schneiderman, who charged the NRC violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a law requiring agencies to study environmental impacts of new actions and decisions that involve the re-licensing of power plants. How the ruling affects Indian Point’s license renewal application remains to be seen…..    http://www.opednews.com/articles/Wake-Up–Smell-the-Radioa-by-Abby-Luby-120614-180.html

June 21, 2012 - Posted by | politics, safety, USA

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