Dear Legislator - The issue is SAFETY not COST

On August 5, 2011 I wrote the following letter to three members of the Missouri State Legislature (not identified here), I had previously talked in person with another state representative. It seems the issue that is of concern to our legislators is being able to deliver "cheap and abundant" electrical power to the residents of this state without regard for the safety of the citizens of the State of Missouri.

August 5, 2011

Subject: Callaway Nuclear Plant

Dear Legislator:

I am deeply concerned about the Callaway nuclear plant – not about the CWIP issue – but about the issue of long-term storage of spent fuel. Currently the used fuel from Ameren’s Callaway Plant #1 is being stored in spent fuel pools on-site.

Spent fuel pools were not designed for long-term storage, but intended as temporary storage as the used fuel cooled sufficiently to be placed on-site in dry cask storage. Typically used fuel is cooled in these pools for about 5 years and then placed in dry cask storage as a longer-term solution until the spent fuel can be moved off-site to safe and permanent storage.

The DOE has not been able to secure a permanent waste storage facility; Yucca Mountain was the last to be considered and was not made available. As a result the NRC continues to revise its guidelines for on-site used fuel storage. Used fuel pools are now allowed four times what was first laid down as a safety standard.

Callaway Plant #1 has no dry cask storage and relies solely upon used fuel pools. Ameren itself posts on their website under ‘Managing Used Nuclear Fuel’ – “Since Callaway Plant began operating in 1984, all of its used fuel has been safely stored on site in the used fuel pool, which is a stainless steel-lined water pool located inside the fuel building.”

They go on to say that “the Callaway planners are considering the construction of dry cask storage to provide additional space.”

Knowledgeable people in the nuclear power industry know that used fuel pools when used as a primary storage facility pose many safety concerns. When pools get re-racked to hold more used fuel; the denser these pools become the more the risk increases for setting off a chain-reaction explosion. Use fuel pools by design need to be constantly cooled and require back-up generators or battery systems in the event of a power interruption. The least likely safety concern but still a possibility would be the spent fuel pools vulnerability to terrorist attacks.

Back in 1981 President Reagan announced a policy for a high-level radioactive waste storage facility.  That was thirty years ago and we are no closer to enacting that policy then we were then. The next logical step from the NRC/DOE will no doubt be that the 104 operating nuclear plants in the United States are going to have to provide their own long-term PERMANENT storage of their used fuel.

So while there is massive time spent discussing CWIP and whether the rate payers should be charged for the construction of the second nuclear plant at Callaway, I sit here in my Chesterfield home concerned and frustrated because no one is talking about the real problem at Callaway and that is:  What does Ameren propose to do about the problem of long-term and possibly permanent storage of the used fuel? And when will they address this problem?

A second nuclear facility should not even be on the table until Ameren has concrete plans on what to do with the existing spent fuel it has on hand and continues to produce daily at their Callaway Plant #1.

We cannot wait around until a disaster occurs that will put the citizens of Missouri at risk to then start working on the problem.

The issue needs to be discussed now, before a Callaway Plant #2 gets approval. Would you be willing to help by bringing this safety concern up as an issue that needs to be addressed? I would be more than happy to talk with you or supply additional information that you could study.

Sincerely,

Anna A. Pick

Ameren Missouri, the operator of the Callaway Nuclear Plant, does not seem to have a plan for long-term storage of the used/spent fuel from Plant #1. They are using a spent fuel pool, which if you are a reader of this blog, you know is a temporary storage method, which is used to cool the spent fuel before placing it in long-term storage. The time frame for this storage is usually considered to be about five years.

Since the federal government has not yet come up with a permanent storage facility for spent fuel, I believe that local producers of nuclear power will at some point in time have to look to providing their own long-term permanent storage.

But for Callaway it is imperative that Ameren Missouri take the step to add to its facility dry cask storage for at least an interim, longer-term storage solution,  BEFORE it even considers adding a second nuclear power plant.

Each time this issue is brought up the legislative argument always evolves back to "But do you really want to have to  pay more and have to consume less electricity?"

I ask you, the people of Missouri and planet Earth - is cheap, plentiful electricity an equal trade off for potential death and disease caused from exposure to radioactive elements?

Germany is eliminating nuclear power in the next decade, Switzerland who currently get 39% of its electricity from nuclear power plants has decided this year to phase out all nuclear power plants over the next two decades. Japan, not surprisingly, will soon be following suit.

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The best time to wake up and smell the roses is BEFORE they adorn a wreath on your grave.