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Month
May
Year
1993
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Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike)
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EARTH PAGE

MICHIGAN RESIDENTS FIGHT NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP

BY PHILLIS ENGLEBERT

A new storm is brewing on the shores of Lake Michigan, and this one isn't caused by Mother Nature. Area residents are fighting plans by Consumers Power (CP) to create a high-level nuclear waste storage facility at their Palisades nuclear power plant near South Haven.

To communicate their message, 150 people gathered outside the Palisades plant on Saturday, April 24. They came from all over Michigan and from as far away as Wisconsin and Ohio. No representative of Consumers Power (CP), which owns the Palisades plant, came out to greet them. (The protesters weren't even allowed in the plant's parking lot which is normally open.) This follows the pattern set by CP and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which have exempted the public from the decision making process about the waste storage at the plant.

As of now five 18-foot tall concrete storage casks for spent nuclear fuel rods (waste byproducts of the nuclear fission process) stand completed on a concrete pad in a critical dunes area just 150 yards from the shore of Lake Michigan. The plans call for a total of 25 such casks. The NRC ruled to approve the casks on April 2. Thirty days from that date the NRC may grant a certificate of compliance. On receipt of the certificate, CP can start loading the waste. The projected date to begin loading is May 8. At this point, only legal action by the state or private interests can stop it.

Given that stored wastes will remain highly toxic for centuries, area residents and members of environmental groups are worried about the potential threat the casks pose to the Great Lakes. The casks are considered unsafe by both environmentalists and some experts within the nuclear industry. An accident, they argue, could lead to long-term contamination of Great Lakes, which account for 90% of this country's fresh water and one-fifth of the world's fresh water.

The Palisades nuclear plant opened in 1971. Since that time plant operators have stored all the spent fuel rods in a holding pond on the plant's grounds. The pond is nearly full now and CP needs another place to store them. This dilemma has led to the construction of the casks. Opponents say that considering the plants structural problems, a better option is to retire the plant.

Any waste storage facility at a plant is designated "temporary" by the Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE, according to its own rules, has an obligation to provide for the permanent disposal of nuclear waste by 1998. As of now, no site exists for this purpose. There are plans to create such a facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The projected storage capacity of this site, however, will not be great enough to meet the needs of nuclear plants nationwide.

State agencies overseeing the project specifically stated that "spent fuel can be stored in dry casks at a plant only during the term of its operating license." It follows, then, that any storage system should also allow for the eventual transport of the waste. The Palisades casks, however, are designed as "storage" only. Each cask will weight 128 tons when full.

Critics say that CP was irresponsible in going ahead with their limited-use cask, given that they knew the DOE is currently developing a "universal cask," capable of both fuel storage and transport. According to veteran anti-nuclear activist Mary Sinclair, in an April 7 letter to Sen. Carl Levin: This means that the VSC-24 [Ventilated Storage Cask-24] cask planned for use at Palisades is already an outmoded design. To allow this waste to be loaded in these casks for which there is no transport plan would be a tragedy for Michigan and for the entire Great Lakes."

Another concern is that this particular cask has never been tested before. Its first use will be at the Palisades plant. Plant operators are relying on results from simulated computer tests. According to a fact sheet prepared by the mid-Michigan citizens group Don't Waste Michigan: "This means the workers, the public, and the Lake Michigan environment are the 'guinea pigs' for this first test of this dangerous technology."

Critics - both grassroots activists and nuclear industry officials - have cited problems with the design of CP's casks. One of their concerns is the lack of temperature monitoring equipment inside the casks. The casks are to be cooled by passive air circulation. However, if the vents become blocked by debris, the temperature of the concrete could reach 650F within one week. Concrete has a safe temperature limit of 350F, after which it loses structural integrity.

Another point of contention is the surveillance plans outlined by CP. They call for a weekly drive-by inspection. Critics claim this isn't enough, particularly given that it is impossible to tell, from the ground, if vents in the upper portion of an 18-foot tall cask are clogged. Violations of construction codes while assembling the casks have also been sighted. One example is the use of pressurized air to force concrete into the forms, which may cause structural problems.

Palisades workers already experienced one problem during a fuel-moving exercise on March 1 when an electric cable in the control circuits of a crane overheated. The Ann Arbor News reported on April 15 that, according to the NRC, the incident occurred while moving an empty spent fuel storage basket and transfer cask. No injuries or release of radiation were reported.

Many of the storage facility's opponents would ultimately like to see nuclear power replaced with other forms of energy. Among them are Kay Haffner, who works with Palisades Watch, a coalition of citizens groups that coordinated the April 24 protest. "I think people are very unaware of the dangers of nuclear energy, including the people who work there. There is safe, alternative energy that creates more jobs," stated Haffner.

Palisades Watch encourages concerned individuals to write to Governor John Engler and Attorney General Frank Kelley and urge them to stop plans for the nuclear waste dump on the shores of Lake Michigan.

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