U.S. NRC violates its own environmental protection mandate: 5 Commissioners reject renewables alternative at Davis-Besse atomic reactor on Great Lakes border with Canada
NRC file photo of Davis-Besse, located on the Great Lakes shore at Oak Harbor, OH, is just across Lake Erie from Ontario, CanadaOn the eve of the 33rd annual commemoration of the Three Mile Island meltdown, the five NRC Commissioners voted unanimously yesterday to reject an environmental coalition's contention that wind power and solar power could readily replace the 908 Megawatts-electric from Davis-Besse, instead of FirstEnergy's proposed 20 year license extension at the problem-plagued atomic reactor with a cracked concrete containment. The environmental coalition put out a media release, and plans to appeal to the federal courts at the first opportunity.
NRC's Atomic Safety (sic) and Licensing Board (ASLB) presiding over the Davis-Besse license extension proceeding has ordered pre-hearing oral arguments about the latest, cracked concrete containment contention. The oral arguments will take place on Friday, May 18th, beginning at 9 a.m. in the Common Pleas Courtroom at the Ottawa County Courthouse, 315 Madison Street, Port Clinton, Ohio -- about ten miles from Davis-Besse.
The Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario has made the intervening environmental coalition bi-national in nature.
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U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Democrat-Ohio, pictured left), a long-time watchdog on Davis-Besse, immediately rose to the defense of Beyond Nuclear and its environmental allies, in a media release which stated:
“All that the four public interest groups (Beyond Nuclear, Green Party of Ohio, Don’t Waste Michigan, and Citizen’s Environmental Alliance of Southwestern Ontario) asked for was an opportunity to present evidence to show that the power output of Davis-Besse could be replaced by other sources of energy such as wind energy and solar energy.
“The NRC’s own Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled a year ago that these organizations should have an opportunity to present their evidence at a hearing.
“Yesterday, the NRC’s five commissioners took a highly unusual action, overruling their own Board, and slamming the door shut on these four citizen groups, denying them an opportunity to present their evidence.
“It is critical to get this information in the public record so that the public is aware of existing alternatives. The nuclear industry knows that it can be replaced. I hope the NRC’s decision doesn’t indicate that the NRC denies transparency when it comes to examining the financial, design, construction or physical limitations of the nuclear industry.”
On March 3rd, Kucinich joined with Beyond Nuclear and its environmental allies on a media release questioning FirstEnergy's "snow job of convenience," its dubious claim that the Blizzard of 1978 caused the concrete containment cracking, and that the problem has not worsened in 35 years.
On Dec. 15th, Kucinich honored Beyond Nuclear by entering its backgrounder on the many close calls to catastrophe at Davis-Besse over the decades into the congressional record during a hearing with the five NRC Commissioners as witnesses. Kucinich said Beyond Nuclear was an organization that could be trusted and counted on for accurate and truthful information.