nuclear-news

“Flagship of nuclear renaissance” – Calvert Cliffs 3 reactor is denied a license

VICTORY! NRC LICENSING BOARD SUPPORTS NIRS–DENIES LICENSE FOR ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE’S CALVERT CLIFFS-3 REACTOR! August 30, 2012 Great news today! The NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) hearing the Calvert Cliffs-3 licensing proceeding agreed with NIRS and DENIED a construction/operating license for that reactor.

This is the culmination of a five-year battle that started in 2007 when Calvert Cliffs-3 became the first new reactor application in some 30 years–the flagship of the “nuclear renaissance.”

Since then, NIRS has fought this project–which is on our doorstep–at every possible venue. We intervened before the Maryland Public Service Commission–twice. We helped form a grassroots alliance to oppose the reactor–the Chesapeake Safe Energy Coalition, which lives on through Baltimore’s Crabshell Alliance. And with our partners at Public Citizen, Beyond Nuclear, and Southern Maryland CARES, we intervened in the NRC licensing process.

NIRS was the lead intervenor in this case; the contention–that the Calvert Cliffs-3 project violates the Atomic Energy Act’s prohibition against “foreign ownership, control or domination” of a U.S. reactor was written by NIRS and litigated by NIRS.

And we did it pro se–we couldn’t afford a lawyer so we did it ourselves. Hundreds and hundreds of hours of legal work and research and writing briefs and appearances before the Board.

Today, we won! We beat one of the nation’s biggest nuclear law firms, Winston and Strawn. We beat Electricite de France (EDF), Areva, and the French government–the real power behind the Calvert Cliffs-3 project. We beat the entire Maryland political establishment, which in 2007 was lined up solidly behind this project (though many have been backing off their support in recent times).

The ASLB not only denied the license application, it said that EDF is not even eligible to apply for a license.

You can find much more information on this on the front page of our website, including the ASLB decisions, our press statement, a timeline and more.

We want to thank attorney Diane Curran for her invaluable advice, our fellow intervenors for their support and encouragement,  and everyone who has supported NIRS in any and every way.

We raised no money whatsoever for the legal portion of this case. A lot of organizations would have dropped the case for that reason alone. But we were confident we could win–no way were we going to stop.

We used your money–the money you donate online or by mail–to pay our costs. So this is your victory too. We couldn’t have done it without your support.

We hope this encourages you to dig deep and give more now. This is what we can accomplish. This is what your donations pay for: Victory. With your support, we CAN build a nuclear-free, carbon-free future.

August 31, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general