Press statement from Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear:

 

"What's really scary is that the corruption is not just monetary, or legislative. Davis-Besse's containment structure is corrupted, in the sense that the Shield Building is severely cracked, even to the point of potential collapse. The reactor pressure vessel is corrupted, in the sense of neutron embrittlement risking pressurized thermal shock through-wall fracture, as well as boric acid corrosion. The high-level radioactive waste storage pool is corrupted, in the sense that it is leaking. The replacement steam generators are corrupted, in the sense that they are experimental, maximizing profits at the expense of safety. The physical corruption of the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant is what really worries me, regarding the health, safety, and environment for countless Ohioans -- and Great Lakes residents beyond -- downwind, downstream, up the food chain, and down the generations, in terms of the worsening risks of a catastrophic release of long-lasting hazardous radioactivity. Davis-Besse should have been retired a long time ago, for the sake of safety alone. And yet the reactor sails ever deeper into the uncharted waters of reactor meltdown risk, while churning out ever more high-level radioactive waste, for which we have no good solution.

 

Perry, for its part, is infamous for worker over exposures to hazardous radioactivity. It was also the first U.S. atomic reactor to suffer damage from earthquake activity, a risk that only worsens with Perry's age-related degradation.

 

Both atomic reactors should be shut down ASAP. Just consider the Nuclear Regulatory Commission CRAC-II study, short for Calculation of Reactor Accident Consequences, also known as the 1982 Sandia Siting Study, or as NUREG/CR-2239. For Davis-Besse, the report predicted 1,400 peak early fatalities, 73,000 peak early injuries, 10,000 peak cancer deaths, and $84 billion in property damage, in the event of a reactor core meltdown and catastrophic radiation release onto the winds and waves. Perry's CRAC-II figures are 5,500 acute radiation deaths, 180,000 radiation injuries, 14,000 latent cancer fatalities, and $102 billion in property damage. But as AP investigative reporter Jeff Donn reported in June 2011, in his series 'Aging Nukes,' populations have soared around atomic reactors like Davis-Besse and Perry since 1982, so casualties would now be significantly higher. And when adjusted for inflation alone, Davis-Besse and Perry's property damage figures would be $225 billion, and $273 billion, respectively. Given such risks, and now given the apparent corruption associated with their ongoing operations, both reactors should be shut down as soon as possible."

 

From 2010 to 2016, Beyond Nuclear helped lead a coalition of environmental groups, including Don't Waste Michigan, the Ohio Green Party, and Citizen Environmental Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, that unsuccessfully challenged Davis-Besse's 20-year license extension. From 2013 to 2014, Beyond Nuclear joined with that same coalition, as well as the Sierra Club Ohio Chapter, to challenge Davis-Besse's experimental steam generator replacements; Fairewinds Energy Education chief engineer, Arnie Gundersen, served as expert witness for the coalition. In both proceedings, Toledo, Ohio attorney Terry Lodge served as the coalition's legal counsel.