Green News and Opinion

Catawba Plutonium Experiment Puts Families at Risk:

Greens ask nuclear regulators to delay restart of Catawba reactors until cause of failure is known.

Charlotte Area Green Party and York County (SC) Greens
www.CharlotteGreens.org
www.YorkGreens.org
www.ucsusa.org

Friday, May 25th

Contacts:
Gregg Jocoy, York County (SC) Greens 803-984-5414 GreggJocoy29715@yahoo.com
Kathryn Kuppers, Charlotte Area Green Party 704-490-7904 KathrynKuppers@mindspring.com
Ed Lyman, PhD, Senior Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists 202-841-0181 elyman@ucsusa.org

*Greens call for conservation during shut down at reactor
*Plutonium fuel called "risky"
*Scientists and citizens call for review after shut down


Circuit breakers opened in a switchyard and two reactors at the Catawba Nuclear Station began an unplanned shut down. Now spokesman Ken Clark of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says a team of inspectors is asking questions, and so are local environmental and peace activists. According to Nuclear News Flashes the five-member team is expected to be at the plant until late in the week.

"This was a very serious and troubling event, and calls into question whether Duke is capable of safely handling and using dangerous materials like plutonium MOX fuel." said Dr. Ed Lyman, Senior Scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington DC.

"The fact of the matter is, Duke is being paid by the federal government to experiment with plutonium MOX fuel. The citizens of the two Carolinas, who help pay for the plutonium MOX fuel subsidies with their tax dollars, will be the guinea pigs." said Kathryn Kuppers of the Charlotte Area Green Party. "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should never have approved the use of untried plutonium fuel in these nuclear reactors."

The experimental plutonium and uranium mixture being used at the reactor site is said to be more dangerous than conventional nuclear materials. Gregg Jocoy of the York County (SC) Greens said "With so many people and so much valuable real estate so close to the reactors, it doesn't make sense to continue this experiment. Duke and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should consider keeping the reactors off-line until scientists can determine if the experiment is working as designed."

According to Lyman because the Catawba reactors use an ice-condenser containment plant, a station blackout is the most serious kind of accident it can experience. If the diesel generators had failed, there would have been a pretty high probability that there would have been a core melt and containment failure from hydrogen combustion. Estimates are that 25% more deaths would result from a catastrophic release of plutonium MOX fuel as compared to traditional radioactive fuel.

"I think it's time we asked state regulators and business leaders to step up and find ways to cut consumption while the reactors are off line. It's just possible we will find that we don't need the reactors at all." said Brian Smith of Fort Mill. "I know it's tough, but we all have to make some sacrifice, and what's wrong with a sacrifice that saves you money?" he asked.

When government regulators decided to permit the plutonium fuel program to move ahead they required the experiment to evaluate not only the safety of using plutonium fuel but the quality of the French manufacturing of the plutonium fuel rods. The suggested removal of the fuel rods would allow for this evaluation, as scientists had suggested in testimony that if an accident progressed to a station blackout/pump seal loss-of-coolant accident, the plutonium MOX assemblies might have been more vulnerable to fuel damage. There is no manufacturing plant in the United States capable of manufacturing this plutonium fuel.

"While we welcome the involvement of industry and government inspectors, we must question the idea that this sort of self-regulation is best." said Nick Triplett, chair of the Charlotte Area Green Party. "Instead of the same regulators who approved this project in the first place, we call on the International Atomic Energy Agency to evaluate the quality of the research done by the companies involved as well as the actual fuel rods themselves at this juncture just to be sure they have not been damaged in the shut down, and to assess the results of the plutonium fuel experiment so far." Triplett finished.

"From three in the afternoon to nine thirty at night, authorities did not have full power restored to the reactor according to news articles." said Alan Burns, the Charlotte group's treasurer. "We need to know for certain what caused this incident. According to a report by the Nuclear Control Institute, fatal cancers from a plutonium MOX radiation release
would be 25 percent more than in a meltdown involving uranium fuel.

"This is not a new issue for us." noted Nancy Jocoy, also of Fort Mill. "We have testified before government regulators and have even seen others make the argument that exactly this sort of possible accident makes Catawba particularly unsuited to using plutonium fuel. The system did shut down properly this time from indications, and we know that a catastrophic release is unlikely, but we don't want to continuing taking these risks."

Both the York County and Charlotte Area Greens are considering what alternatives they may be able to use in their effort to keep the experiment from starting back up again. "We'll have to think about our options, and do what's best to protect our families." said Susan Triplett. "There need to be new public hearings on this matter. We need citizen involvement and oversight. I don't think anyone knows what the evacuation plans are for the area. As a mother-to-be, I want my child safe." she said.

In letters to be mailed next week the Green organizations plan to ask local governments to put copies of evacuation plans on their websites and in all county libraries.

The local chapters plan to use their contacts in the environmental movement to help guide their next steps. "We have friends and allies out there who can hold our hand while we develop a position" said Judy Aulette. "The plutonium fuel is a potential terrorist target, so on every front, we would be better off if Duke and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission suspended this program."

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