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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19990407APPROVED 10119199 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL MEETING APRIL 7, 1999 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a special meeting on Wednesday, April 7, 1999 at 7:00 p.m. at the Chapel Hill Town Council Chambers, Chapel Hill, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Alice M. Gordon, and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown and Barry Jacobs COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioners Moses Carey, Jr. and Stephen H. Halkiotis 1. Special Meeting of Orange County Board of Commissioners to Hear a Report on the Risks and Alternative Options Associated with Spent Fuel Storage at the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant a. Purpose of Meeting Chair Gordon explained that this meeting will be a two part meeting. The first part is a Special Meeting of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners. The second part is a meeting of concerned citizens and interested parties. The purpose of this public intervention forum is to hear and discuss a report on the risks and alternative options associated with spent fuel storage at the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant. Carolina Power and Light Company has filed an application with the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, proposing expansion of its spent nuclear fuel rod storage capacity at the Shearon Harris plant. In response, Orange County has petitioned the Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC) to hold a public hearing to evaluate the merits and risks of this proposal. This process is known as intervention. A number of local jurisdictions have supported Orange County's efforts, and that support is very much appreciated. To date, the towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Garner, and Hillsborough, the cities of Mebane and Sanford, Durham and Lee Counties, and Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Orange County school boards have passed resolutions calling for a process open to public scrutiny. Also, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Durham County have provided funding for this intervention process. Chatham County has provided technical assistance. In addition, the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources has written to the NRC, requesting that the NRC hold public hearings on this issue. The County Commissioners would like to share the information they have obtained from the technical consultants as part of the intervention process. David Lockbaum, a noted nuclear safety engineer, representing the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), will discuss the fuel storage expansion issues. Dr. Gordon Thompson, an expert on nuclear power generation issues, will project his findings relative to Shearon Harris fuel storage capacity and expansion safety issues. Chair Gordon encouraged anyone who had specific concerns to fill out the questionnaire so the Board would have a record of it, and so the concerns can be appropriately addressed at a later time if they are not addressed tonight. b. Introduction of Elected Officials and Special Guests Chair Gordon introduced some of the elected officials, including the County Commissioners. She had all the elected officials stand and introduce themselves. Ellie Kinnaird, North Carolina Senator Michael Nelson, Mayor, Town of Carrboro Kevin Foy, Council member, Town of Chapel Hill Joe Capowski, Council member, Town of Chapel Hill Doug Meckes, Town of Apex Allen Spalt, Carrboro Board of Aldermen David Ray, Town of Summerfield Chair Gordon then asked those from the Commission for the Environment and the Environmental Affairs Board to stand and introduce themselves. Richard Pratt, Commission for the Environment Dan Okun, Commission for the Environment Loraine Kohorn, Commission for the Environment Dr. Earl Fowler, special guest Chair Gordon then introduced staff members Paul Thames, County Engineer, Mary McDowell from Chatham County, and David Stancil, from the Environment and Resource Conservation Department. Chair Gordon introduced and gave background information on both of the consultants that will make the presentation. Dr. Gordon Thompson and David Lochbaum. David Lochbaum provided a brief overview of the material he intended to cover. The issue is the storage of spent fuel. He showed a picture of what a spent fuel rod looked like. He explained how the rods must be stored under water since they are highly radioactive. He said the plant design contains provisions to ensure that no one will have to touch the rods. He explained that the reactor core at the Shearon Harris plant contains 157 of the fuel assemblies when the plant is operating. The plant runs for 18-24 months, and then shuts down for refueling, at which time roughly 40-50 of the fuel assemblies are removed and replaced with new ones. The plant is then restarted for another operating cycle. The spent fuel assemblies are placed into the spent fuel pool. He explained why cooling is important. He explained the spent fuel cooling systems and how they work, saying that it would take brief interruptions and still operate okay. The Harris plant has four spent fuel pools. He said that Shearon Harris has a better prepared cooling system for spent fuel than the average plant in the country. They originally planned for four nuclear power reactors. They now only have two activated. He showed on a chart what the proposed change would do at Shearon Harris. In the first pool, there are 363 bundles of fuel that came from the Brunswick plant in North Carolina, and 360 bundles from the Harris and/or Robinson plant in South Carolina, for a total of 723. In the larger pool, there are 2,178 bundles from the Brunswick plant, and 768 bundles from Robinson and Harris, for a total of 3,669. That is how much space is available, all of those spaces are currently not filled. They are proposing to activate the other two pools. Storage racks that contain 2,763 bundles from the Brunswick plant, and 927 bundles from the Robinson plant will be placed in the third pool. Racks for 1,025 bundles from the Robinson plant will be placed in the fourth pool. The total for the third and fourth pool would then be 4,715 additional irradiated fuel bundles at the Harris plant. Right now, the maximum total it can store is 3,669. The spent fuel storage capacity will more than double if the proposal goes through. He then discussed the amendment process that they are in right now. He explained that the process to change the plant is not a new one. Any plant owner can change their plant through this process if they satisfy three conditions. First, the new activity does not increase the chances of an accident at the plant. Second, if there is an accident at the plant, the proposed activity does not increase the chances that plant workers or people in the plant will be harmed. Lastly, the proposed activity does not create a new type of accident at the plant. He explained that an alternative for the Shearon Harris plant would be to store the spent fuel in a dry cask at their Brunswick and Robinson plants operated by CP&L. He then turned the meeting over to Dr. Gordon Thompson to present some of his findings. Mr. Lochbaum will then come back and discuss some of UCS's concerns. Dr. Gordon Thompson showed a picture of the Shearon Harris plant. He showed a drawing of the Shearon Harris plant and the location of the reactors. He showed that the pools are located in a long narrow building, called the Fuel Handling Building. Dr. Thompson explained how the water is circulated through heat exchanges. He showed the racks, in a honeycomb design, that the fuel stores. He explained that the purpose for putting the fuel assemblies so close together is so they can put the greatest possible amount of spent fuel in the pools. CP&L admits that the unit one component cooling water system does not have the capacity to extract heat from all of the spent fuel that could be placed in pools C & D. He summarized the dangers of activating pools C & D. The company proposes to put in the record of administrative provision that they will not, for the next several years, load any more fuel into pools C & D. In subsequent years, the company anticipates that it will upgrade, in some, as yet, unspecified manner, the component cooling water system for unit one. The NRC is being asked to approve expansion of pools C & D, when no plan has been put forth as to how the fuel would be cooled. The company's plan includes two measures of administrative decisions. First, the heat mode will be kept below one million BTUs per hour. Second, only fuel with a very long period of exposure in the reactor will be put into these pools. There is a great deal of hazardous materials in these pools. He made reference to the Chernobyl accident of 1986, when approximately 27 kilograms of this material was released. There are still restrictions on selling lamb grown in certain hills of North Wales, and reindeer meat in Sweden, and various other parts of Europe, because of the material that was distributed worldwide. It is estimated that the 27 kilograms will cause between 50,000 to 100,000 fatalities worldwide over the next 70 years. Dr. Thompson then explained how the material gets out. If water is lost from the pool, the fuel heats up. He explained that partial water loss is actually more severe than total water loss. It has to do with the circulation of air around the fuel. Residual water in the base of the pool will actually suppress the circulation and is a more severe problem. He explained what might cause loss of water. A breach of the pool could cause drainage so that the fuel would be uncovered. If cooling is interrupted for a period of days, the water would boil and evaporate. There is a ten day interval between a reactor accident and a pool accident. He showed a picture of the land that would be contaminated by cesium. It would produce an increase in cancer rates in the range of 7 or 8% above normal incidence. A large area of land contamination would be a very dramatic event. A large reactor accident at Harris would cause the whole state of North Carolina to be abandoned. The probability of this happening is, at the very least, one in 100,000 years. He explained the available options, such as dry storage installation. These are available from a number of vendors. They are pre licensed by the NRC, and a number of facilities are using dry storage. He said that it is obvious that the Harris plant is pursuing the cheaper option. There is no other explanation for this course of action. Orange County has intervened on this case, and contentions were filed on behalf of Orange County on Monday of this week. There will be a pre-hearing conference in North Carolina on May 13. They will rule if some of the contentions warrant a hearing. If so, a hearing will be held and each side will be heard. David Lochbaum made reference to the risk factor of one accident in 100,000 years that Dr. Thompson referred to, and said that in 2400 reactor years, we have had two meltdowns. This data was excluded when they did these risk assessments. Mr. Lochbaum then stated the concerns of the UCS, outlined in his handout. The first concern is that CP&L claims that the proposed activity has no significant increase in the probability of an accident. He said that when you double the capacity for a total of 8,390, you are doubling the amount of rods that are to be moved, and doubling the risk of an accident. He explained that the reason CP&L and the NRC claims the risk of accidents do not double, is that they claim they are using the same equipment and procedures that are now being used. He emphasized how wrong the UCS thought this was. The second concern is that the alternative plan is totally inadequate. He explained that the application does not indicate what they have done to be sure the equipment, which has been sitting since 1983, still will operate sufficiently and has not deteriorated. After 1983, the NRC sent a letter to all nuclear plant owners, telling them to watch out for systems that sit for more than one year, because the system deteriorates. The plant that got into this trouble, that led to the NRC telling all the other plants in the country, was one of CP&L's plant, the Robinson plant. This seems to be a loophole. If it has deteriorated, it could increase the chances of an accident. The third concern is that they have not sufficiently analyzed what they would do in case of a power loss. In CP&L's application, they indicated that if they lose power they could use their backup power system that they have in place for A & B pools. The application does not say whether they will still be able to cool the reactor. They need to assure the public that they can do both. The fourth concern is the potential for a new accident. CP&L claims that the only accident that could occur would be a drop of a rack module during construction activity. The application explains what they would do if that did occur, and that it is not a threat to the workers or the public. Mr. Lochbaum said that there is another accident that could occur. Once they put in Pools C and D, more spent fuel assemblies are put into the pools, risking a failure of the cooling equipment. The last concern, which doesn't concern CP&L so much as it does the NRC, is the Waste Confidence Decision. This says that spent fuel can be stored at nuclear power plants until they provide another deposit site. One of the reasons that CP&L says that they want to use storage at Harris and not use dry cask at Robinson and Brunswick, is they do not believe that the Department of Energy will have an ultimate depository site available in the foreseeable future. Mr. Lochbaum then explained the UCS's recommendations for CP&L. The first recommendation is that CP&L must correct the errors and omissions in its application, which are the concerns stated above. Secondly, the NRC must not approve this plan until it reviews the corrected application. Lastly, the UCS thinks that dry cask storage at Robinson and Brunswick may be a cheaper, safer solution. d. Commissioner Comments/Questions Commissioner Jacobs asked about the administrative provisions that CP&L is proposing to address the BTU problem, and asked how often the NRC accept those kinds of assurances rather than a specific plan. David Lochbaum said that there are very few license applications that receive any intervention, and very seldom does the NRC question the applications. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the newspaper article, and Dr. Gordon Thompson said that if an accident occurred it would have an impact beyond North Carolina and certainly in the County. David Lochbaum said that since the application is incomplete, he can not comment on this. Commissioner Brown asked about dry storage, and the basis for CP&L's decision to bring the storage rods to the Harris plant, based on cost. Mr. Lochbaum said there was a cost/benefits study done on alternatives to bringing the fuel here. The cost of dry cask storage at the Robinson and Brunswick plants was more than transporting the fuel to Harris. Dr. Thompson said that accidents are fewer with dry storage. He said that dry cask is licensed for twenty years. No application has been requested to extend this time. He feels that storage can be extended for 100 years and be safe. Also, Mr. Lochbaum said if they used dry storage, when a depository site became available, they would then have to put it in a transport cask to get it to the site. They would essentially have to move the fuel twice. It might be a problem, unless there were a dual purpose cask. Chair Gordon asked if there is any process that would require CP&L to go to dry cask storage, and Mr. Lochbaum said no. She asked about how much time citizens would have to react in the case of a pool accident, and Dr. Thompson said that it would take about ten days for the pool to dry. If the pool drains away, it could be as short as eight or ten hours. Commissioner Jacobs wanted to personally thank Dr. Thompson and Mr. Lochbaum for their services. Mr. Lochbaum pointed out for the record that he is compensated by the UCS, and not by any other party. Part II: Meeting of Concerned Citizens and Interested Parties Regarding Spent Fuel Issues at the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant a. Introduction of Moderator Chair Gordon introduced the Moderator, Jim Conner, who is the Chair of the Durham Environmental Affairs Board. She turned the meeting over to Mr. Conner, who introduced the panel members. Panel Members Jim Warren, NC WARN Allen Spalt, Carrboro Board of Aldermen Dr. Gerald Drake, President for Social Responsibility Margaret Pollard, Chatham County Board of Commissioners Joe Bowser, Durham County Board of Commissioners Joe Capowski, Chapel Hill Town Council Steven Carr, Attorney for CP&L Dr. Earl Fowler, retired nuclear physicist Rick Pratt, Orange County Commission for the Environment Dr. Gordon Thompson David Lochbaum Mr. Conner requested that the public ask questions of the panel members, rather than state concerns or opinions. Pete McDowell from Orange County asked if, in the opinion of the scientists, the evaluation of a tornado or hurricane has been addressed in the application. Mr. Lochbaum said that the weak link in the emergency generators is that they need air to work. In generators, the system blocks air from going through because of the pressure during a storm. There have been some problems at some other plants. He has not looked at Harris specifically. Dr. Thompson said that CP&L has addressed reactor accidents but not pool accidents, during a tornado or other disaster. Sandra Marlo from Chapel Hill read a statement and said that she hopes that CP&L would publish their emergency map in case of an accident. She asked who is liable in case of an emergency or an accident. She asked if CP&L pays if homes, or land, or life is lost. She asked what rights we have in the liability of an accident. Steven Carr said that CP&L would be liable for whatever damages they cause from an accident. There is insurance carried by CP&L that is required by the federal government. Glenn Jones from Apex asked if the CP&L plant is terrorist proof. Steven Carr said that they have a high security system that would protect the facility. Mr. Lochbaum said that the NRC used to do security inspections. However, they got over the fence undetected 6 out of 10 times and they canceled the inspections for awhile, but have now continued them. He feels security is an issue. Dr. Gordon Thompson talked of two incidences of security breach. G.R. Quinn from Sanford asked how many people have died from this type of storage facility. Mr. Lochbaum said none. Mr. Quinn also asked about the area that would be contaminated, if it would be unlivable. Dr. Thompson said that you could live in an area for about thirty years after an accident, but there would be an increase in cancer rates of about 7-8%. Mr. Quinn said that this was bogus information, because Hiroshima had 200,000 people there, and now there is over one million people living there. He thinks Orange County is wasting their money. Sally Walker from Chapel Hill asked if there may be a statement from CP&L. She would like to hear both sides of the issue. Steven Carr from CP&L said that their reason for being here is to listen to the comments, questions, and concerns about the CP&L plan. They have invited elected officials to tour the plant and attend the open house. They are on a path at this time where Orange County has filed an intervention to their application. They are trying to understand the concerns. Basically, there is a lawsuit. As part of NRC's review process, Orange County has filed its contentions and CP&L will, in the next few weeks, be filing a response. These are complex and very technical issues. They want their responses to answer the concerns about their plan. He said that Carolina Power and Light (CP&L) knows their plan is a safe plan and they remain confident that the NRC will agree with them. The big question is whether it is a safe and responsible plan. They believe that it is, and are confident that it is. They are using the same proven technology that they have used for the last ten years. He said they would not propose it if it were not safe. Moderator Conner gave each panel member an opportunity to make a short statement. Jim Warren said that they learned of this proposal last summer and are very concerned about the NRC process, and do not believe that the NRC represents the public. They had hoped that CP&L would address all the technical concerns that were raised in an open process, but they did not. Now, CP&L has decided not to open the process. He feels that the probability for an accident increases each year if the fuel is not off-loaded. He said he does not have all the answers, but he has listened to the experts, and he has listened to CP&L's side, and has read their application. He thinks there is a common sense connection. NC WARN believes that the very small additional cost to CP&L to go to a safer plan should be reconsidered. NC WARN estimates the additional cost to CP&L to be $31 million dollars spread over 15 years, based on numbers from their application. That is a small amount of money for this big corporation. They had a net gain of $339 million last year alone. NC Warren believes it would be foolish for Carolina Power and Light (CP&L) to avoid and deny the cautions of two of the top nuclear safety experts in the world, and move forward, in order to save a small amount of money for this big corporation. Allen Spalt said that Carrboro is only about 20 miles from the Shearon Harris plant. He thanked Orange County and North Carolina WARN for their part in trying to open up this process. His board sent a letter to their congressional delegation about a proposal from the NRC, in which they seek an exemption from the Sunshine Act, where they can not meet as a majority to talk about policy issues outside of a public meeting. All government officials in North Carolina operate under this act. The NRC is proposing that three of their five commissioners could meet together to have private discussions of public issues. His board thinks that this is unfortunate, and it further undermines the confidence in the NRC process. He then asked Mr. Lochbaum and Dr. Thompson about the meaning of a probability of an accident, and what the consequences may be. Mr. Lochbaum said that when a plant does a risk assessment, they decide what they would do when an accident happens. The proposed activity would increase the risk. Dr. Thompson said that there is literature on risk analysis. There is a risk of a pool accident at the Harris plant, and this risk can be eliminated by using dry storage. Dr. Jerry Gray explained how Physicians for Social Responsibility began. They started up in the 1960's because of concerns about the medical affects from the nuclear weapons buildup. This led to radioactive waste and its dangers to people. They believe that nuclear waste should be stored on site where it is produced for at least 50 years. Commissioner Pollard said that two and a half years ago she asked Mary McDowell to review the NRC report that was sent to them on a periodic basis, because she wanted to understand what they were saying. She found out about how the risk from these pools was determined. Chatham County feels that all risks should be evaluated by competent scientists and regulators not affiliated with CP&L. Chatham County appreciates the work of Orange County in hiring a consultant to follow through on this process of intervention. They hope the dialogue will continue. Moderator Conner then asked for some more questions from the concerned citizens. J. D. Garten, from Chatham County, said that she had the opportunity to participate in the emergency drill at the Shearon Harris plant. She asked what the plans are to continue this multi- county collaboration. Allen Spalt said that there is generally a growing sense that jurisdictions need to be working together on transportation, energy, the Harris plant, etc. Our state organizations are working together and he feels that jurisdictions will work together more in the future. Will Zedelman, with North Carolina Citizens Research Group in Durham, asked Steven Carr about the open process, and would CP&L support reopening the comment period for the public so they can comment on the information that CP&L blanked out of its original application, and was not available to the public until the NRC made them reveal it in the middle of March. Steven Carr said that CP&L has offered to let anyone see the portions that were not disclosed, because it is proprietary and confidential information that belongs to the plant, not to CP&L. Anyone who wishes to see this information may sign an appropriate nondisclosure agreement to protect the plant's interests. CP&L welcomes any comments at any time. Joe Bowser, from Durham County Board of Commissioners, thanked Orange County for taking the lead on this issue. He is committed to the people of Durham County - their health, safety and well being. He did not expect to be confronted with an issue like this. We all know that the nuclear industry carries danger with it. Therefore, when a situation like this comes up they must do whatever they can to protect their citizens. He made reference to the comment about Orange County wasting their money on this intervention. He said that money can not replace us if we do not do our job now and an accident does happen. He asked if the present cooling capacity can be increased to accommodate additional rods. Dr. Thompson said that the applicant could set forth a detailed plan for upgrading this system, and that complete plan should have been included in this application. Joe Bowser said they have some problems with this project. They would like to see CP&L storing this waste where it is produced. Money should not outweigh the health and safety needs of the people in this community. Joe Capowski from Chapel Hill City Council thanked the people from CP&L. He has had two tours of the Shearon Harris plant, and found everyone to be straight forward in answering all of his questions. They asked repeatedly if this was the safest way to do it, and CP&L said that it is extremely safe, and this is the way they have been doing it. The thing that has concerned him about this is that Wake, Durham, and southeastern Orange County are growing substantially. He feels that Brunswick County, NC and Robinson County, SC are less urban and more rural. He asked if Dr. Thompson factored in density in the safety analysis. Dr. Thompson said no, he had not. Joe Capowski asked the two experts if this was the safest way of storing these spent fuel rods, taking into account the density of these areas. Dr. Thompson said that the safest method of storing CP&L's spent fuel would be a strategy for all three of its plant sites of combining low density fuel storage with dry storage. This would eliminate the possibility for large releases from spent fuel pools. Mr. Lochbaum agreed with Dr. Thompson's answer. Dr. Earl Fowler said he represents no organization, but is pleased to be here. Rick Pratt said that he was here representing the Orange County Commission for the Environment. As an engineer, one thing he looks at is safety factors. He would like to see a demonstration from CP&L or the NRC that there is enough safety factors built in to sustain an accident. He asked about terrorist activity and if storing above ground would run a greater risk. Dr. Thompson said that different dry storage designs have different levels of protection against a sabotage attack. Mr. Lochbaum said that he toured the Baltimore Gas and Electric plant, and they indicated that sabotage of a dry storage facility would have significantly lower consequences. Moderator Conner asked a written question about risk level if there were a second cooling system installed and how the cost of that type of system compares with dry storage. Mr. Lochbaum stated that he would feel comfortable with that solution because it would address all of the questions except the waste confidence issue and that is out of Carolina Power and Light (CP&L)'s control. Dr. Gordon Thomson stated that part of Orange County's Environmental contentions calls for the study of alternatives and their impacts. The contentions call for a thorough analysis of costs, impacts and risks. This would then be a basis for decisions. Steve Carr with Carolina Power and Light (CP&L), stated that an additional cooling system was not necessary. Allen Spalt said that the purpose of the Environmental Impact Statement is to consider all the impacts, alternatives and relevant options in order to facilitate an informed decision. He also asked what other radioactive materials would be released if there were a spent fuel accident Dr. Thompson stated that dry storage designs have different capabilities for withstanding sabotage. All of the current designs would release a much smaller amount of radioactive material than would be released through the pools. A written question was read. What other potentially harmful radioactive materials besides Cesium 137 would be present if there were a accident? Dr. Thompson said there were a variety of radioactive materials both short-term and long-term. He mentioned Iodine 131. The focus on Cesium is that it is volitile and it is an intense gamma emitter and a major contributor to radioactive fallout. Jim Warren said that he feels that CP&L is making its decisions based on financial concerns and not because it is the safest plan. A written question was read concerning the protective covers over the cooling area not being built to the same standard as those housing the reactors. It was pointed out that the need for protective covering was different for cooling pools than that required for the reactor itself. Dr. Thompson mentioned that cooling pools become less dangerous as time passes. For example, after 66 years the fuel being stored would not undergo a reaction if there were a water loss. ADJOURNMENT With no further items to be considered, the meeting was adjourned. The next regular meeting as listed on the schedule will be held on April 13,1999 at 7:30 pm in the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Alice M. Gordon, Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk