FYI: SC Governor’s Nuclear Advisory Council Meeting 6/13 in Columbia

Of special interest at this meeting will be the discussion of plans for “High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor” (a small modular reactor – SMR) at the Savannah River Site.

GOVERNOR’S NUCLEAR ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING
Gressette Building, Room #209
Columbia, SC

June 13, 2013
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Agenda

Call to Order – Approval of Minutes & Karen Patterson, Chair (10 minutes) Update of GNAC activities

NRC Update on Fukushima Tier 1 Report John Pelchat, Sr. Regional Government Liaison Officer Nuclear Regulatory Commission (30 minutes)

Emergency Common Operating Picture (EMCOP) Phil Armijo, Director of Programs Earth Technology Integration (30 minutes)

Next Generation Nuclear Power Alliance (NGNP) John Mahoney, Secretary/Treasurer

High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor at SRS NGNP Alliance (30 minutes)

SCDHEC Shelly Wilson, DHEC
(20 minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

DOE FY13 & FY 14 Budget Update & Doug Hintze

Liquid Waste Operations Impacts (45 minutes)

Public Comments

Closing Remarks Karen Patterson, Chair (5 minutes)

Link to agenda: http://www.energy.sc.gov/agenda/0613GNAC_Agenda.pdf

Savannah River Site Mox Facility

Governor’s Hearing On New Nuclear Waste Brings Opposition From SC Activists

The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, Conservation Voters of South Carolina, South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, the South Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club, and the League of Women Voters of South Carolina all delivered testimony against the the shipment of hot nuclear waste for “reprocessing” at the Savannah River Site (SRS).

The hearing before the Governor’s Nuclear Advisory Council in Columbia, SC was prompted by backroom  “negotiations” about terms for bringing spent fuel to the DOE’s Savannah River Site.  Speaking to The State, the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability’s Tom Clements called for the secret talks to end:

The alliance’s Tom Clements said behind-the-scenes discussions now are occurring among state leaders to

DOWNLOAD THIS FLYER: “Cleaning up the Cold War legacy:
Speak out against plutonium in your own backyard”. Alliance for Nuclear Accountability.

allow the disposal in exchange for some type of jobs initiative. He did not name anyone, but said “it’s time for those in on these discussions to reveal what they are up to” and tell the public.

A spokesperson for Governor Nikki Haley supports “processing” of spent fuel at the Savannah River Site.  That’s a thinly disguised term for reprocessing. 

Yucca Mountain in Nevada was once considered as a permanent storage site for all US nuclear waste, but the proposal was killed on scientific and political grounds.  Since the successful scuppering of the Yucca proposal,  politicians and the nuclear industry discuss “temporary” storage of nuclear waste at SRS.  But since there is no facility for permanently storing nuclear waste, storage in South Carolina would likely become permanent.  

The State article today continues:

Environmentalists said storing spent nuclear fuel could increase the cry for a reprocessing plant. Reprocessing is supposed to render used fuel available for reuse in commercial plants, but conservationists say it creates more waste and threatens the landscape.

“Our country stands at a nuclear waste crossroads,” the conservation league’s Ryan Black said. “The political failure to develop Yucca Mountain has only complicated this issue further. But Yucca’s demise should not dictate that South Carolina bear the burden, yet again, of our nation’s radioactive waste.”

Many thanks to Tom Clements for helping inform, organize, and publicize the resistance the public about the secret nuclear waste proposals.

Read the full article at The State here.

Spent Fuel Reprocessing Efforts Dealt Set-back by NRC – Tom Clements writes for Aiken Leader

The Aiken Leader has published a piece by Tom Clements on the difficulties in opening a facility for reprocessing nuclear waste at the Savannah River Site.  As Clements points out in the article, the proposal would result in the movement of large amounts of nuclear waste into South Carolina, with no future plans for removing the waste, even after it has been reprocessed.

Clements has written previously on this issue for the Leader, and pointed out the complicity of South Carolina lawmakers in dangerous and wasteful plan to bring nuclear waste into the state.  His previous article, “Documents Reveal Time-line and Plans for “Small Modular Reactors” (SMRs) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) Unrealistic and Promise no Funding“, was published on June 19.

An important Department of Energy (DOE) hearing on disposal of weapons-grade plutonium is coming up on September 4 (5:30-8:00 p.m.) at the North Augusta Municipal Center, 100 Georgia Avenue, North Augusta, SC 29841.  This hearing looks at production of plutonium fuel (MOX) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) and MOX use in nuclear reactors operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

Here is a link to a fact sheet on the issue from the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability:

http://www.ananuclear.org/Portals/0/MOX%20hearing%20fact%20sheet%208.31.2012%20pdf%20FINAL.pdf

Tom notes that even if you can’t make the hearing on September 4, you can submit written comments.  Just go to the DOE webpage and find the contact information there.  Written comments are accepted through September 25, 2012.

Tom Clements was the South Carolina Green Party nominee for U.S. Senate in 2010.  He received 121,474 votes and 9.22% of the total running against Tea-Party Republican Jim DeMint and Democrat Alvin Greene.

Read Tom’s article below.

Howie Hawkins, NYS Green Visits Carolina

Click Here For a PDF of the No Nukes Tour flyer.

On Tuesday, October 4 Howie Hawkins, New York environmental and political activist spoke in USC’s Learning Center for Sustainable Futures on sustainable energy, green jobs and student activism. As Green Party candidate for governor of New York State, Hawkins received nearly 60,000 votes, and secured a ballot spot for the NY Green Party for the next four years.
Theresa El-Amin, a member of the the national Green Party steering committee and a long-time worker with the Southern Anti-Racism Network introduced Hawkins and spoke on how her work as a student activist developed into a commitment to anti-racism and the environmental exposure of minority communities.
Tom Clements, Regional Nuclear Policy Director for Friends of the Earth and 2010 SC Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate was on hand to address specific questions about the nuclear waste in South Carolina.

Here’s how the USC paper, the Daily Gamecock reported the event:

Tom Clements: No Nuclear Waste Storage In SC

Tom Clements of Friends of the Earth, and the SC Green Party’s 2010 nominee for U.S. Senate, is encouraging the public to let Governor Nikki Haley know where you stand on nuclear waste storage in the state of South Carolina.

It is possible that SC will become a repository for spent nuclear fuel rods. This is a recommendation of the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on nuclear waste storage.

Right now, this old fuel is stored on site at the nuclear plants where it was used.  Many of these rods are stored in water, and are subject to exposure should the water level dropped – as happened at the Fukushima reactors in Japan in April 2011.

These waste rods could be stored in dry concretized containers on site.   But such are the dangers of the waste, that people around the country would rather see them exported to anyplace else that will take them.   South Carolina could be that place.

It is likely that any temporary storage of this waste will become permanent.    There is no permanent repository for the spent nuclear fuel.  Without a permanent plan for disposing of these rods, South Carolina will be made a dumping ground.

Tom covers the controversy completely in a recent opinion column printed in Columbia’s The State newspaper.

Take a moment to print this letter, and mail it to Governor Haley, or fax it to 803-734-5167.  Let her and your local officials know that South Carolina cannot be the nuclear waste dump of the nation.

Print and mail or fax this letter to SC Governor Nikki Haley. Email the text to Governor Haley via this link: http://www.governor.sc.gov/contact/Pages/Contact.aspx.

Read Tom’s guest editorial in The State after the jump: