Catawba Plutonium Experiment Puts Families at Risk

North Carolina Green Party
www.ncgreenparty.org

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

Tuesday, May 30th

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

Catawba Plutonium Experiment Puts Families at Risk: Greens ask nuclear regulators to delay restart of Catawba reactors until investigation  is completed 

• Scientists and citizens call for review after shut down 

• Greens call for conservation during shut down at reactor

• Evacuation plans to be reviewed

In the wake of an unexpected shutdown at the  Catawba Nuclear Station on Lake Wylie, local  Green Party leaders are calling on regulators to delay restart until a full investigation is  complete. Greens say the use of experimental  plutonium fuel at Catawba has them calling on  Duke Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission  to leave the reactors offline.  

"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, are 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." 

On May 20th, circuit breakers opened in a switchyard and two reactors at the Catawba site near Clover began an unexpected shut down. Now spokesman Ken Clark of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says a team of inspectors is asking questions, and so are local activists. According to Nuclear News Flashes the five-member inspection team was expected to be at the site for several days.

While they welcome the involvement of industry and government inspectors, Greens have asked that independent and reputable scientists to be allowed unfettered access to review and confirm all industry and government data.

"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 Staff Scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington DC.

According to Lyman, the Catawba reactors have weak ice-condenser containments that render them vulnerable to failure in the event of a hydrogen explosion. A station blackout - in which both off-site and on-site power is lost -would lead to loss of the hydrogen ignition systems that are needed to prevent hydrogen explosions in ice condenser plants. If the emergency  diesel generators had failed to start, there would have been a high probability of a core melt and early containment failure from hydrogen combustion. And the presence of the plutonium MOX fuel assemblies in the  core of Catawba Unit 1 might have increased the severity  of a station blackout if a loss-of-coolant accident had  occurred due the failure of the pump seals. Lyman  testified in 2004 that the plutonium MOX assemblies  might be more vulnerable to fuel damage than conventional  uranium fuel during loss-of-coolant accidents. 

Gregg Jocoy of the York County (SC) Greens said "There  are a lot of people and valuable real estate close to the  reactors. It doesn't make sense to continue this  experiment. We have written to Duke and the Nuclear  Regulatory Commission asking them to keep the reactors  off-line until scientists can determine if the experiment  is working as designed." 

The Greens are contacting the various towns, cities and  counties in the area surrounding the Catawba reactors  and requested copies of their emergency evacuation plans.  The plans will be posted at the party websites. They  requested that a copy be sent to nearby libraries and  local media outlets. 

The local groups plan to use the Freedom of Information  Act to get details of the results of recent simulated  nuclear emergency preparedness tests held in Gaffney. 

In a letter faxed today to state and federal utility  regulators, both chapters ask for time to present the  case for electricity conservation while the power plants  are shut down and the experimental fuel rods are removed  and inspected. The unplanned shut down occurred just  as demand was expected to rise with summer temperatures. 

This is not a new issue for local party activists. They  have testified before government regulators. They have  even seen others testify that this sort of potential  accident makes Catawba particularly unsuited to using  plutonium fuel. The system did shut down properly this  time they believe. A catastrophic release is unlikely  they admit. But they say they don't want to continuing  taking these risks.  

Last week the House of Representatives eliminated funding for the plutonium MOX project and has directed  the Department of Energy to stop pursuing the plutonium  fuel option. To the Greens, this looks like it should  be the end of the project. Both groups are considering  what alternatives they may be able to use in their  effort to keep the experiment from starting back up  again.

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 Dr. Judy Aulette,  one of several Greens who have testified locally. "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.  We need to be sure that there are full and public hearings  on these questions, not just in Washington, but here in  our community."