Nuclear power Nuclear waste Newe Sogobia Yucca Mountain

ACT NOW to STOP Nuclear Power Expansion in Georgia

Updated 10/22/06

Action Alert from Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Meeting Information:

* When: Thursday, October 19, 2006 from 7-10 pm (Informal “open house” session with Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 5-7 pm)

* Where: Augusta Technical College Auditorium, 216 Highway 24 South, Waynesboro, GA, 30830, (706) 437-6801. For directions: http://www.augusta.tec.ga.us/conted/waynesboroCampus.shtml

* How: Register in advance to speak at the meeting by contacting Cristina Guerrero at 800-368-5462, x.2981 or via e-mail at Vogtle_EIS@nrc.gov. You can also register the day of the meeting by 6:45 pm.

Can’t attend? Please submit written comments no later than December 4, 2006

Mail: Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001 or E-mail: Vogtle_EIS@nrc.gov

* What:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is holding a public meeting on Thursday, October 19 in Waynesboro, GA to discuss a permit application to build up to two more nuclear reactors at the existing Vogtle nuclear power plant in Burke County near Waynesboro, about 26 miles southeast of Augusta.

There will be only one other local meeting held for the public after the draft Environmental Impact Statement is issued, so it is critical for the NRC to hear the public’s concerns now!

The first step Georgia utilities are taking to try to get federal approval to build new nuclear reactors along the Savannah River is to apply for an “early site permit.” If the permit is issued, concerns such aswater, land, public health, and safety cannot be brought up again even if we learn new information. For example, the new reactors will require tens of millions of gallons of water above and beyond the tens of millions Vogtle is already pulling from the Savannah River—this issue cannot be revisited again if the “early site permit” is granted.

If approved, this permit essentially allows the Southern Company and its utility partners in Georgia to use the permit at any time for up to 20 years (with a possible 20 year extension) in any future applications with the NRC. Speak out! The NRC needs to hear your concerns. Tell them that Georgians need and want clean, safe energy choices such as energy efficiency, wind, solar, and biopower and do not need any more dangerous nuclear reactors forced on us.

Please feel free to use this background information in your comments:

 The Savannah River basin is already suffering; building more nuclear reactors will only make this situation worse. Since the Early Site Permit (ESP) process allows a company to potentially ‘bank’ a site for up to 40 years (the 20 year ESP could get a 20 year extension), the NRC should have to look not only at Georgia ‘today,’ but the Georgia we are likely to live in 40 years from now.

Water Use & Supply:

-Vogtle’s 2 existing reactors require huge amounts of water with only 1/3 of what was withdrawn being returned to the Savannah River [~64 million gallons per day (mgd) withdrawal with consumption of ~43 mgd]. That’s more water than many towns and cities in Georgia use!

-Doubling the number of reactors on site will only make this worse. This excess use of water threatens municipalities, industries, agriculture, recreation, and aquatic species. If there is an extended drought—even a drought 20 or 40 years from now, severe consequences could occur within the Savannah River basin.

Water Quality

-The water discharged from nuclear Plant Vogtle is already hotter than what is withdrawn ; more reactors will only make this situation worse. Temperature changes negatively affect the fish, plant, and animal life that depend on the river.

-The water intake systems at nuclear power plants can kill fish and fish larvae, among other organisms; having more reactors on site will only make this worse.

 Nuclear Waste

-High-level radioactive waste created (used nuclear fuel) has no place to be stored or disposed, nor is it likely that a ‘solution’ will be found in our lifetimes; building more nuclear reactors will only make this situation worse.

-Existing and future projected waste will remain onsite at Plant Vogtle for generations and generations, threatening indefinitely the health of nearby communities and the environment. Yet the NRC in previous cases has refused to even address or consider this very important issue! We cannot assume that Yucca Mountain will ever open, indeed it should not. It is immoral to dump your waste on someone else, particular a community such as the Western Shoshone, who do not want it, and by US and international law hold title to the land.

Security

-Nuclear plants are vulnerable to terrorist attack and sabotage; building more nuclear reactors will only make this situation worse by providing more targets.

-Plant Vogtle is also very close to the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, which stores a large portion of the nation’s weapons grade plutonium and other dangerous materials. If an accident or successful terrorist attack occurred, the full impacts to human health and the environment in this region would be immense.

Human Health

-A 1982 Congressional report estimated that if a meltdown occurred at just one of Vogtle’s reactors it could cause 39,000 peak* early injuries, 4000 peak cancer deaths, and 200 peak early fatalities with costs over $60 billion; building more reactors will only worsen these terribleimpacts and put more people’s lives and health at risk. (*Peak means highest calculated value from the study – it does not necessarily mean worst case.)

This is enough information to make the determination that we must produce electricity needed through less dangerous energy supplies such as energy efficiency, solar, wind, and biopower.

For more information on nuclear power, please visit Southern Alliance for Clean Energy http://www.cleanenergy.org/programs/programs.cfm?ID=4.