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abolition-usa-digest    Thursday, October 12 2000    Volume 01 : Number 389




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 17:27:54 -0400
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Nader & nukes

>Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 09:46:55 -0400
>Subject: Nader & nukes
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>From: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
>
>6 October 2000
>Ralph Nader Statement on Nuclear Power=20
>
>It is time to end the use of nuclear power in the United States. Nuclear
>energy is too dangerous, too inefficient, too costly, and poses too many
>long-term hazards.
>
>Rather than learning from Chernobyl, the U.S. nuclear industry argues that
>this kind of accident could not happen here.  In fact, a nuclear accident
>could occur at a U.S. power plant that would release radiation comparable
>to that released in Chernobyl. U.S. reactors are much more dangerous than
>the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the nuclear industry suggest.
>At least five reactors in this country have experienced partial core-melt
>accidents.  Aside from catastrophic accidents, reactors are prone to
>numerous small accidents, as well as =93routine=94 releases of small=
 amounts of
>radioactivity.
>
>Reactors also produce high-level radioactive wastes with intractable
>storage
>problems.   High-level nuclear waste will be hazardous for more than
>200,000
>years longer than our ability to isolate it from the biosphere.  It is
>technologically impossible and scientifically irresponsible to =91dispose=
=92 of
>nuclear waste.  Even attempts to dispose of low-level radioactive waste
>have failed.  Every low-level radioactive waste dump in this country leaks.
>
>The Department of Energy is considering Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a site
>for
>=93permanent disposal.=94 A leak could contaminate the groundwater beneath=
 the
>Mountain and jeopardize the health of nearby residents.  An earthquake in
>the area (and since 1976 there have been hundreds of serious seismic events
>within a 50-mile radius) could cause a rise in groundwater levels that
>would flood the repository.  If the Yucca Mountain site is approved, waste
>will be transported there through 43 states, past the homes, workplaces and
>schools of 50 million Americans. The Department of Energy estimates that at
>least 50 and as many as 310 accidents would occur.  An Energy Department
>study found that a severe accident in a rural area could contaminate a
>42-square-mile area, require over a year to =93clean up=94, and cost $620
>million.
>
>Both Democratic and Republican administrations have treated nuclear power
>as an
>official, government-sponsored technology.  The NRC has functioned as an
>industry promoter rather than regulator, imperiling public health. This
>must stop.
>
>              =20
>We should:
>
>=B7        Phase out commercial nuclear reactors within five years, and set=
 a
>timetable for phasing out other dangerous nuclear technologies,
>nuclear-waste incinerators, food irradiation and all military and
>commercial uses of depleted uranium.
>
>=B7        Ban long-distance transport of high-level nuclear waste.
>
>=B7        Assure that stored nuclear waste is continuously monitored, with
>public access to monitoring data, unless and until a method can be found to
>assure its isolation from the biosphere for the duration of its hazardous
>life.  The government should not relieve companies that generate nuclear
>waste from their responsibility for its dangers.
>
>=B7        Redirect federal funding from nuclear energy research to=
 renewable
>energy technology.
>
>=B7        Stop federal government promotion of nuclear energy, and U.S.
>companies selling nuclear technology, internationally.
> =20

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 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 06:26:43 -0400
From: Thomas <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews 00/10/12 -  Daybook; Presidential Candidates; Activist Announcements

12 noon, Indigenous Peoples' Solidarity Gathering in Lafayette Park with=
 Global
Peace Ambassador. Co-sponsored by Grey Panthers and the Piscataway Tribe.=
 (See
last posting in this message for mroe detail)

Washington Times Daybook, October 12, 2000, Agence France Presse=20
http://www.washtimes.com/national/daybook-20001012212836.htm

     9:30 a.m. =97 Senate Appropriations, Labor, Health and Human Services,=
 and
Education subcommittee holds a hearing on Persian Gulf war illnesses. H.=
 Ross
Perot, president/CEO/ chairman of Perot Systems Corp., testifies. Location:=
 124
Dirksen Senate Office Building. Contact: 202/224-3471.

    10 a.m. =97 House International Relations Committee holds a hearing on=
 the
implementation of the Iran Nonproliferation Act. Location: 2172 Rayburn=
 House
Office Building. Contact: 202/225-5021.

    Energy forum =97 8:30 a.m. =97 The Energy Department's Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy hosts a forum, "E-Vision 2000: Key Issues=
 that
Will Shape Our Energy Future." The dinner speaker is Energy Secretary Bill
Richardson. Location: Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
Contact: 703/548-4662.

      Russian crime briefing =978:30 a.m. =97 Radio Free Europe/ Radio=
 Liberty hold
a briefing on "Economic Crime in Russia and Ukraine: A Status Report." The
speaker is Vladimir Brovkin, director of the money-laundering project at
American University's Transnational Crime and Corruption Center. Location:
fourth-floor conference room, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW. Contact:=
 202/457-6949.

      Millennium summit conference =97 9 a.m. =97 American University's=
 Center for
the Global South hosts a conference to evaluate the U.N. Millennium Summit=
 held
in September in New York City. Mark Malloch-Brown, U.N. Development Program
administrator, delivers a keynote address at 9 a.m. The luncheon speaker is
Kemal Dervis, World Bank vice president. Location: American University, 4400
Massachusetts Ave. NW. Contact: 202/885-5950.

     Vigil =97 5:30 p.m. =97 Amnesty International and the Sierra Club hold=
 a vigil
for Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, Mexican environmental activists
convicted of what backers say are trumped-up drug and weapons charges.
Location: Mexican Embassy, 1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Contact: 202/675-6698=
 or
202/544-6304, ext. 302.

- -- PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

- - George W. Bush -=20
http://www.GeorgeWBush.com - http://64.92.133.170/Calendar.asp

- - Al Gore -=20
http://www.algore2000.com/
Noon =97 Addresses Wisconsin voters, Cathedral Square Park, Milwaukee, Wis.

- - Ralph Nader - Be sure to check the now-efficient schedule online:
http://www.votenader.org/campaignevents.html
Free the Speech: Open the Debates -=
 http://www.votenader.org/debates/index.html

OCTOBER 12TH
3:30pm - 5:00pm Rally
WHERE: O'Connell Center, University Ave. & North-South Drive, University of
Florida, Gainesville

- -- ANNOUNCEMENTS --

- - PLEASE POST AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE. THESE ARE IMPORTANT CHIEFS!
Indigenous Solidarity Day Rally=20
Thursday, October 12, Noon=20
Lafayette Park across from White House
Speakers include:
=95Chief Avril Lookinghorse(Carrier of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe)=
=20
=95Ben Carnes (League of Indigenous Sovereign Nations-LISN)=20
=95Anita Parlow (Author)=20
=95Paul Magno (Father McKenna Center)
=95Members of the Council of Traditional Chiefs of Lakota Sioux Territory=20
Head Chief Leonard Crow Dog,=20
Chief Luciano Perez,=20
Chief Oscar Marino,=20
Chief John Crow Dog,=20
Chief Richard Grimes,=20
Chief Norman Tulley=20
=95Chief Jacob Sanderson of the Cree Nation=20
=95LakotaHasie Frazier, Abenaki-Lakota.=20
=95Reverend Yusen Yamato, Japanese Zen Buddhist, initiator of Global Peace=
=20
Walk 2000=20
=95Linda Grover, One Day for Peace and the Millenium Meal=20
=95Flavio Cumpiano (Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques)
Contact John Steinbach at 703-369-7427

______________________________________________________________

*   Peace Through Reason - http://prop1.org - Convert the War Machines!  *
        Online Petition - http://www.PetitionOnline.com/prop1/petition.html
            NucNews - Today and Archives -
http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm
______________________________________________________________

- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 10:48:42 -0400
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: [abolition-caucus] LAST CHANCE:   PLEASE FAX NRC AT: 301-415-2234  Re 20 YEAR EXT

- --=====================_1472416903==_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 04:11:20 -0400
>Subject: [abolition-caucus] LAST CHANCE:   PLEASE FAX NRC AT: 301-415-2234
 Re
20 YEAR EXT
>Priority: non-urgent
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>To: [e-mail], [e-mail],
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
[e-mail], [e-mail]
>From: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
>
>
>  Friends,
>
>     Unless an extension of NRC's deadline is granted beyond the Monday
>October 16 deadline, this is our last chance to tell NRC how we feel about
>20 year extensions of 85% of the commercial nuclear power reactors around
>the USA. They need to hear from us in DROVES and UNEQUIVICATIVELY that NO
>reactors should have extensions granted them.
>
>   PLEASE FAX THEM NOW.
>
>
>
>NRC Fax#:  [phone],   NRC Web Site:  http://www.nrc.gov     Please
>dissemenate widely.
>
>
>
>   Please ask NRC for an EXTENSION  of their Monday October 16, 2000
>deadline for public comment.
>
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Elie" <[e-mail]>
>To: <[e-mail]>
>Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 10:53 PM
>Subject: [westcan] This Explains a Lot
>
>>> from AlterNet.org
>>> http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=9836
>>>
>>> Patching Nuclear Power
>>> J.A. Savage, Albion Monitor
>>> September 25, 2000
>>>
>>> In a hushed quest to allow an expected 85 percent of the nation's
>>nuclear
>>> reactors to live beyond mandatory retirement, the nuclear industry
>>talked
>>> the federal government into allowing a generic 20-year extension on the
>>> life of reactors. The public only has until October 16 to let the
>>Nuclear
>>> Regulatory Commission (NRC) know what it thinks of the government's plan
>>> to allow license renewal instead of decommissioning.
>>>
>>>
>>> According to the NRC, the only public meeting on the re-licensing plan
>>has
>>> been held at its Maryland headquarters. The government's process
>>> effectively shuts out any public input on extending plant licenses, said
>>> Public Citizen senior policy analyst Jim Riccio. "Most of the public is
>>> not aware of the issues until they land in their laps, by way of their
>>> local nuclear plant."
>>>
>>>
>>> Here's where the "generic" part of re-licensing comes in. Instead of
>>> having an "in my backyard" approach for concerned citizens, the generic
>>> license extension puts the onus in a generic somewhere-else land. "By
>>> making something generic, they don't have to deal with the public,"
>>Riccio
>>> added.
>>>
>>>
>>> What few nuclear critics are hip to the industry/government move, are
>>> focusing on safety issues. "During the early stage of life and the late
>>> stage, the failure rate for both man and machines is generally higher
>>than
>>> during middle age; the reliability of both man and machines is generally
>>> lower during the early and late stages. The prudent and proper course of
>>> action is to retire aging nuclear plants before they reach the point
>>where
>>> reliability drops off markedly," notes Dave Lochbaum, Union of Concerned
>>> Scientists' nuclear safety engineer. The nuclear industry claims it
>>> deserves generic safety rules for re-licensing because its safety track
>>> record has only gotten better over the years, now that its reactors are
>>in
>>> middle age.
>>>
>>>
>>> In a fortunate acronym for nuclear critics, the generic re-licensing
>>> program is called "GALL"- -for Nuclear Power Plant Generic Aging Lessons
>>> Learned. The "generic" part appears most important to both industry and
>>> government.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Aging is the same no matter if the [reactor] maker is GE, Westinghouse
>>or
>>> Combustion Engineering," said Electric Power Research Institute manager
>>of
>>> life-cycle management, John Carey, who added that the weather
>>surrounding
>>> a particular reactor is the only difference.
>>>
>>>
>>> Long known as an aging problem is the brittleness of the metal enclosing
>>> the reactor core. The reactor gets bombarded with electrons for years
>>and
>>> the metal becomes brittle. EPRI, for one, believes that brittleness is
>>not
>>> a problem. "Many plants even at 60 years won't reach that [threshold]
>>> level of embrittlement. There's probably none that will at 40," said
>>> Carey.
>>>
>>>
>>> While most of the government's and critics' attention is focused on
>>> reactor safety during aging, the industry's impetus admittedly has to do
>>> with short-term financial gains that come with a second license and the
>>> value added to a plant for resale.
>>>
>>>
>>> "In a deregulated, competitive business, a fully depreciated nuclear
>>plant
>>> (beyond its original 40-year license) is a tremendous asset. It can sell
>>> its power at marginal cost, which is very competitive. Such a plant
>>would
>>> have significant profit potential," notes the industry group Nuclear
>>> Energy Institute. In other words, once ratepayers have paid off the
>>> construction investment, the primary expense of nuclear plants
>>disappears
>>> and the only ongoing costs to owners are fuel, safety expenditures and
>>> staffing. Less tangible opportunity costs like guaranteed ecological
>>> preservation are not a part of the calculations.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The NRC's attempt at generic guidelines for license renewal had been
>>> sitting around in various stages since the early 1990s. It was goosed
>>into
>>> action, though, when Baltimore Gas & Electric's (Constellation) Calvert
>>> Cliffs became the first facility to ask for a 20-year extension. Calvert
>>> Cliffs (in the NRC's back yard) was approved this March. Duke's Oconee
>>> plant in North Carolina followed suit in May.
>>>
>>>
>>> License renewal does not come without a price, however, as keeping that
>>> license means an owner has to invest in anti-aging technology - a.k.a.
>>> capital investments.
>>>
>>>
>>> Like plastic surgery fixes the fissures and sags in an aging body,
>>keeping
>>> a past-prime nuke in shape "depends on how much money you have," Carey.
>>>
>>>
>>> For instance, replacing a steam generator, a typical aging problem,
>>costs
>>> about $150 million. Shareholders might be loath to invest that kind of
>>> capital in an old plant. But, the beauty of re-licensing is that any
>>such
>>> investment can be amortized over an extra 20 years, even if the plant
>>> owners do not plan to run the plant that long. Thus, license renewal
>>tucks
>>> in the short-term operating costs of nuclear plants.
>>>
>>>
>>> Public Citizen's Riccio, says that the 20 year extension "shifts the
>>risk
>>> of future operation from the stockholder to the ratepayer." Riccio
>>> believes that the specter of early shutdowns with their attendant
>>stranded
>>> asset risk is driving re-licensing. Fitch ICBA analyst Ellen Lapson
>>> explained the early shutdown scenario, "Towards the end of the life of a
>>> plant, if there's no re-licensing then there's less reason to invest
>>> capital."
>>>
>>>
>>> Using the medical metaphor again, that means there's a choice between
>>> euthanasia (decommissioning) because the patient is too expensive to
>>keep
>>> up and take the risk of having to pay all those exorbitant hospital
>>bills,
>>> or pump more money into the patient--say an aging pop singer, a la Diana
>>> Ross--in the expectation the survival will allow payback when the star
>>> makes a comeback tour.
>>>
>>>
>>> A 20-year extension also "enhances the value of the plant if [owners]
>>> decide to get out of the business," said Bob Wood, NRC senior licensing
>>> financial policy advisor. He added that no owner had confessed that
>>intent
>>> directly.
>>>
>>>
>>> But the industry's unstated intent appears known to the NRC. "GenCos are
>>> snatching up economically uncompetitive facilities," noted Christopher
>>> Grimes, NRC chief of license renewal and standardization.
>>>
>>>
>>> But economics can also kill a re-license. Yankee Rowe, a poster-child
>>> nuclear facility, scrapped its plans to live beyond middle age because
>>it
>>> would have cost too much money just to prove to the NRC that it could do
>>> the repairs needed for re-licensing. EPRI's Carey blamed it on the small
>>> size of the plant and the economics of energy in New England.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The other economic benefit to plant owners is that when a plant gets a
>>> 20-year life extension, payments into its decommissioning fund also gets
>>> drawn out another 20 years, allowing another decrease in short-term
>>> operating expenses, noted Fitch's Lapson.
>>>
>>>
>>> Like a boomer turning 40, the limit for what constitutes old-age in a
>>nuke
>>> was "arbitrary," said the NRC's Grimes.
>>>
>>>
>>> "In the Atomic Energy Act of 1956, everybody said 40 years ought to be
>>> enough," said Grimes, adding that the arbitrary number was based on
>>> financing available to owners. "We looked into what might be
>>life-limiting
>>> aging effects. In 1991 the first rule was issued on aging effects. It
>>> concluded Mother Nature doesn't care how long the NRC's license term
>>is."
>>>
>>> @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>>> Citizen's Awareness Network - Central New York
>>> [phone]
>>> 162 Cambridge St., Syracuse, NY 13210
>>> [e-mail]   www.nukebusters.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>
>Mr. William Smirnow
>168 Maple Hill Road
>Huntington, NY 11743
>September 30, 2000
>
>
>
>    To the NRC,
>                            I am writing/faxing to state my strong
>opposition to your intentions to extend the operating life of most
>reactors in the USA by 20 years. Or for that matter for any years. I am
>also writing/faxing to express my strong displeasure and opposition to
>NRC's totally UNDEMOCRATIC  approach of only holding public hearings at
>NRC headquarters not at reactor sites around the country where people will
>be most directly affected by continued reactor functioning. And where they
>will both know that such actions are being considered and be able to
>Democratically express their views on proposed license extensions.
>
>
>    First, NO consideration now or ever should be given to extending the
>operating life of any reactor anywhere. They are much too dangerous with
>their continous "creating" of nuclear waste, "low-level" radiation,
>potential for terrorism, meltdown and proliferation. "Low-level" radiation
>has been implicated in infant mortality. See:
>http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/infant.html   This should be enough
>to have reactors shut down as close to immediately as possible. NRC has by
>their own admission before Congress stated that there's a 45% chance of a
>core meltdown over a 20 year period- precisely the period of time that NRC
>wants to extend the operating license of most reactors in the country.
>This MUST NOT BE  ALLOWED  to happen!
>
>
>    Lastly, NRC is suppossed to act as a public watchdog. They are doing
>exactly the opposite. NRC as an alleged public watchdog should do an
>immediate 180 and call for a national  program of solar, wind and
>conservation and massive governmental subsidies to insure the success of
>these programs and the safety and health of the public and environment.
>
>
>     I look forward to your response to my letter and implementation of
>said public hearings at reactor sites around the country.
>
>
>
>        Most Sincerely,
>                                      Mr. William Smirnow
>                                      168 Maple Hill Road
>                                       Huntington, NY 11743
>
>
>
>
>
>    Call, write, fax the NRC see http://www.nrc.gov   and tell them this is
>wrong, this is dangerous, this is stupid and we won't let them experiment
>with us, our genetic pool and the environment for an additional 20 years.
>Also tell them that by their own testimony before Congress that there's a
>45% chance of a core meltdown over exactly this period- 20 years
>http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/probability.html .
>
>
>    And that by their own commissioned report, while grossly an
>underestimate, this is how many dead, cancers, injuries & economic damage
>we
>can expect: http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/crac.html
>
>
>    How Democratic of them to try and sneak this by everyone in the entire
>United States and Northern Hemisphere with most of the world's
>population[India,China, all of Asia & most of Africa are in the Northern
>Hemisphere]. If you live outside the USA please  contact NRC and tell them
>that fallout from a meltdown will probably affect you as Chernobyl fallout
>affected the entire Northern Hemisphere and pass this along to
>friends/contacts of yours within the USA.
>
>
>   Remember- please give NRC a piece of your mind- NOW, before it's too
>late. Please share/spread this to anyone that will do anything about it.
>http://www.nrc.gov
>
>
>    -Bill  Smirnow
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>  Friends,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>     Unless an extension of
NRC's deadline is granted beyond the Monday October 16 deadline, this is our
last chance to tell NRC how we feel about 20 year extensions of 85% of the
commercial nuclear power reactors around the USA. They need to hear from us in
DROVES and UNEQUIVICATIVELY that NO reactors should have extensions granted
them. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>   PLEASE FAX THEM NOW.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>NRC Fax#:  [phone],   NRC Web
Site:  <A
href="http://www.nrc.gov">http://www.nrc.gov</A>     Please
dissemenate widely.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>   Please ask NRC for an EXTENSION  of their Monday October
16, 2000 deadline for public comment.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message -----<BR>From: "Elie" <<A
href="mailto:[e-mail]">[e-mail]</A>><BR>To: <<A
href="mailto:[e-mail]">[e-mail]</A>><BR>Sent: Friday,
September 29, 2000 10:53 PM<BR>Subject: [westcan] This Explains a
Lot<BR><BR>> from AlterNet.org<BR>> <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=9836">http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=9836</A><BR>><BR>>
Patching Nuclear Power<BR>> J.A. Savage, Albion Monitor<BR>> September 25,
2000<BR>><BR>> In a hushed quest to allow an expected 85 percent of the
nation's nuclear<BR>> reactors to live beyond mandatory retirement, the
nuclear industry talked<BR>> the federal government into allowing a generic
20-year extension on the<BR>> life of reactors. The public only has until
October 16 to let the Nuclear<BR>> Regulatory Commission (NRC) know what it
thinks of the government's plan<BR>> to allow license renewal instead of
decommissioning.<BR>><BR>><BR>> According to the NRC, the only public
meeting on the re-licensing plan has<BR>> been held at its Maryland
headquarters. The government's process<BR>> effectively shuts out any public
input on extending plant licenses, said<BR>> Public Citizen senior policy
analyst Jim Riccio. "Most of the public is<BR>> not aware of the issues until
they land in their laps, by way of their<BR>> local nuclear
plant."<BR>><BR>><BR>> Here's where the "generic" part of re-licensing
comes in. Instead of<BR>> having an "in my backyard" approach for concerned
citizens, the generic<BR>> license extension puts the onus in a generic
somewhere-else land. "By<BR>> making something generic, they don't have to
deal with the public," Riccio<BR>> added.<BR>><BR>><BR>> What few
nuclear critics are hip to the industry/government move, are<BR>> focusing on
safety issues. "During the early stage of life and the late<BR>> stage, the
failure rate for both man and machines is generally higher than<BR>> during
middle age; the reliability of both man and machines is generally<BR>> lower
during the early and late stages. The prudent and proper course of<BR>>
action is to retire aging nuclear plants before they reach the point
where<BR>> reliability drops off markedly," notes Dave Lochbaum, Union of
Concerned<BR>> Scientists' nuclear safety engineer. The nuclear industry
claims it<BR>> deserves generic safety rules for re-licensing because its
safety track<BR>> record has only gotten better over the years, now that its
reactors are in<BR>> middle age.<BR>><BR>><BR>> In a fortunate
acronym for nuclear critics, the generic re-licensing<BR>> program is called
"GALL"- -for Nuclear Power Plant Generic Aging Lessons<BR>> Learned. The
"generic" part appears most important to both industry and<BR>>
government.<BR>><BR>><BR>> "Aging is the same no matter if the
[reactor] maker is GE, Westinghouse or<BR>> Combustion Engineering," said
Electric Power Research Institute manager of<BR>> life-cycle management, John
Carey, who added that the weather surrounding<BR>> a particular reactor is
the only difference.<BR>><BR>><BR>> Long known as an aging problem is
the brittleness of the metal enclosing<BR>> the reactor core. The reactor
gets bombarded with electrons for years and<BR>> the metal becomes brittle.
EPRI, for one, believes that brittleness is not<BR>> a problem. "Many plants
even at 60 years won't reach that [threshold]<BR>> level of embrittlement.
There's probably none that will at 40," said<BR>>
Carey.<BR>><BR>><BR>> While most of the government's and critics'
attention is focused on<BR>> reactor safety during aging, the industry's
impetus admittedly has to do<BR>> with short-term financial gains that come
with a second license and the<BR>> value added to a plant for
resale.<BR>><BR>><BR>> "In a deregulated, competitive business, a fully
depreciated nuclear plant<BR>> (beyond its original 40-year license) is a
tremendous asset. It can sell<BR>> its power at marginal cost, which is very
competitive. Such a plant would<BR>> have significant profit potential,"
notes the industry group Nuclear<BR>> Energy Institute. In other words, once
ratepayers have paid off the<BR>> construction investment, the primary
expense of nuclear plants disappears<BR>> and the only ongoing costs to
owners are fuel, safety expenditures and<BR>> staffing. Less tangible
opportunity costs like guaranteed ecological<BR>> preservation are not a part
of the calculations.<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>> The NRC's attempt at
generic guidelines for license renewal had been<BR>> sitting around in
various stages since the early 1990s. It was goosed into<BR>> action, though,
when Baltimore Gas & Electric's (Constellation) Calvert<BR>> Cliffs
became the first facility to ask for a 20-year extension. Calvert<BR>> Cliffs
(in the NRC's back yard) was approved this March. Duke's Oconee<BR>> plant in
North Carolina followed suit in May.<BR>><BR>><BR>> License renewal
does not come without a price, however, as keeping that<BR>> license means an
owner has to invest in anti-aging technology - a.k.a.<BR>> capital
investments.<BR>><BR>><BR>> Like plastic surgery fixes the fissures and
sags in an aging body, keeping<BR>> a past-prime nuke in shape "depends on
how much money you have," Carey.<BR>><BR>><BR>> For instance, replacing
a steam generator, a typical aging problem, costs<BR>> about $150 million.
Shareholders might be loath to invest that kind of<BR>> capital in an old
plant. But, the beauty of re-licensing is that any such<BR>> investment can
be amortized over an extra 20 years, even if the plant<BR>> owners do not
plan to run the plant that long. Thus, license renewal tucks<BR>> in the
short-term operating costs of nuclear plants.<BR>><BR>><BR>> Public
Citizen's Riccio, says that the 20 year extension "shifts the risk<BR>> of
future operation from the stockholder to the ratepayer." Riccio<BR>> believes
that the specter of early shutdowns with their attendant stranded<BR>> asset
risk is driving re-licensing. Fitch ICBA analyst Ellen Lapson<BR>> explained
the early shutdown scenario, "Towards the end of the life of a<BR>> plant, if
there's no re-licensing then there's less reason to invest<BR>>
capital."<BR>><BR>><BR>> Using the medical metaphor again, that means
there's a choice between<BR>> euthanasia (decommissioning) because the
patient is too expensive to keep<BR>> up and take the risk of having to pay
all those exorbitant hospital bills,<BR>> or pump more money into the
patient--say an aging pop singer, a la Diana<BR>> Ross--in the expectation
the survival will allow payback when the star<BR>> makes a comeback
tour.<BR>><BR>><BR>> A 20-year extension also "enhances the value of
the plant if [owners]<BR>> decide to get out of the business," said Bob Wood,
NRC senior licensing<BR>> financial policy advisor. He added that no owner
had confessed that intent<BR>> directly.<BR>><BR>><BR>> But the
industry's unstated intent appears known to the NRC. "GenCos are<BR>>
snatching up economically uncompetitive facilities," noted Christopher<BR>>
Grimes, NRC chief of license renewal and
standardization.<BR>><BR>><BR>> But economics can also kill a
re-license. Yankee Rowe, a poster-child<BR>> nuclear facility, scrapped its
plans to live beyond middle age because it<BR>> would have cost too much
money just to prove to the NRC that it could do<BR>> the repairs needed for
re-licensing. EPRI's Carey blamed it on the small<BR>> size of the plant and
the economics of energy in New England.<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>> The
other economic benefit to plant owners is that when a plant gets a<BR>>
20-year life extension, payments into its decommissioning fund also gets<BR>>
drawn out another 20 years, allowing another decrease in short-term<BR>>
operating expenses, noted Fitch's Lapson.<BR>><BR>><BR>> Like a boomer
turning 40, the limit for what constitutes old-age in a nuke<BR>> was
"arbitrary," said the NRC's Grimes.<BR>><BR>><BR>> "In the Atomic
Energy Act of 1956, everybody said 40 years ought to be<BR>> enough," said
Grimes, adding that the arbitrary number was based on<BR>> financing
available to owners. "We looked into what might be life-limiting<BR>> aging
effects. In 1991 the first rule was issued on aging effects. It<BR>>
concluded Mother Nature doesn't care how long the NRC's license term
is."<BR>><BR>> @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@<BR>>
Citizen's Awareness Network - Central New York<BR>> [phone]<BR>>
162 Cambridge St., Syracuse, NY 13210<BR>> <A
href="mailto:[e-mail]">[e-mail]</A>   <A
href="http://www.nukebusters.org">www.nukebusters.org</A><BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Mr. William Smirnow</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>168 Maple Hill Road</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Huntington, NY 11743</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>September 30, 2000</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    To the NRC,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>
I am writing/faxing to state my strong opposition to your intentions to extend
the operating life of most reactors in the USA by 20 years. Or for that matter
for any years. I am also writing/faxing to express my strong displeasure and
opposition to NRC's totally UNDEMOCRATIC  approach of only holding public
hearings at NRC headquarters not at reactor sites around the country where
people will be most directly affected by continued reactor functioning. And
where they will both know that such actions are being considered and be able to
Democratically express their views on proposed license extensions. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    First, NO consideration now or
ever should be given to extending the operating life of any reactor anywhere.
They are much too dangerous with their continous "creating" of nuclear waste,
"low-level" radiation, potential for terrorism, meltdown and proliferation.
"Low-level" radiation has been implicated in infant mortality. See: <A
href="http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/infant.html">http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/infant.html</A>
This should be enough to have reactors shut down as close to immediately as
possible. NRC has by their own admission before Congress stated that there's a
45% chance of a core meltdown over a 20 year period- precisely the period of
time that NRC wants to extend the operating license of most reactors in the
country. This MUST NOT BE  ALLOWED  to happen!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Lastly, NRC is suppossed to act
as a public watchdog. They are doing exactly the opposite. NRC as an alleged
public watchdog should do an immediate 180 and call for a national  program
of solar, wind and conservation and massive governmental subsidies to insure the
success of these programs and the safety and health of the public and
environment. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>     I look forward to your
response to my letter and implementation of said public hearings at reactor
sites around the country. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>        Most
Sincerely,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>
Mr. William Smirnow</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
168 Maple Hill Road</DIV>
<DIV>
Huntington, NY 11743</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>    Call, write, fax the NRC see <A
href="http://www.nrc.gov">http://www.nrc.gov</A>   and tell them this
is<BR>wrong, this is dangerous, this is stupid and we won't let them
experiment<BR>with us, our genetic pool and the environment for an additional 20
years.<BR>Also tell them that by their own testimony before Congress that
there's a<BR>45% chance of a core meltdown over exactly this period- 20
years<BR><A
href="http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/probability.html">http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/probability.html</A>
. <BR><BR><BR>    And that by their own commissioned report,
while grossly an<BR>underestimate, this is how many dead, cancers, injuries
& economic damage we<BR>can expect: <A
href="http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/crac.html">http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/crac.html</A><BR><BR><BR>
How Democratic of them to try and sneak this by everyone in the entire<BR>United
States and Northern Hemisphere with most of the
world's<BR>population[India,China, all of Asia & most of Africa are in the
Northern<BR>Hemisphere]. If you live outside the USA please  contact NRC
and tell them<BR>that fallout from a meltdown will probably affect you as
Chernobyl fallout<BR>affected the entire Northern Hemisphere and pass this along
to<BR>friends/contacts of yours within the USA.<BR><BR><BR>
Remember- please give NRC a piece of your mind- NOW, before it's too<BR>late.
Please share/spread this to anyone that will do anything about it.<BR><A
href="http://www.nrc.gov">http://www.nrc.gov</A><BR><BR><BR>
- -Bill  Smirnow<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<br>

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