NRC rules that old reactor license extension proceedings will continue full steam ahead, despite Fukushima

As reported by the Newburyport News, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has decided to proceed "full steam ahead" with the Seabrook license extension proceeding, despite a legal intervention by Beyond Nuclear and environmental allies to suspend the proceeding in the wake of the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe.

In addition, Beyond Nuclear at the Fermi 3 new reactor proceeding, and the Davis-Besse license extension proceeding, and environmental allies at many additional old and new reactor proceedings, including new reactor design certification proceedings, have been rebuffed by the NRC Commissioners in a parallel call for license and design certification proceeding suspensions in the wake of Fukushima. At the time of the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979, the NRC effectively suspended any and all license proceedings for a year and half. Not so this time, in the aftermath of the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.

NRC's ruling is an outrage, but should not be a surprise. NRC has rubberstamped every single license extension application since 2000 -- around 75 thus far. Ironically, the 5 NRC Commissioners rubberstampmed Vermont Yankee's 20 year license extension on March 10th, the day before the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe began; perhaps worse, NRC staff finalized the paperwork on the Vermont Yankee license extension on March 28th -- ironically, the 32nd anniversary of the Three Mile Island meltdown -- 17 days after the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe began; Vermont Yankee is of the identical same design as Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4 -- General Electric Boiling Water Reactor Mark 1.

Update on September 17, 2011 by admin

The Patriot Ledger has also reported this story, in the context of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant near Boston, Massachusetts. In this case, NRC rejected filings by not only an environmental watchdog, Pilgrim Watch, but even the State of Massachusetts Attorney General's office. A unique exception to NRC's full speed rubber stamp of 20 year license extensions, Mary "Pixie" Lampert at Pilgrim Watch has managed to keep the Pilgrim license extension proceeding tied up for going-on six years now, raising issues such as related to significantly flawed "severe accident mitigation alternatives" (SAMA) analyses. Mary has generously assisted Beyond Nuclear with similar contentions in its intervention against the Davis-Besse license extension in Ohio.