We
Don’t Need the Risk of the
Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant!
Shut
It Down Now. . .
Decommissioning Of Oyster Creek
Nuclear Generating Station.
by Edith Gbur, Chairperson, Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch
_________________________________________________
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has never ordered a Nuclear
Power Plant to be permanently shut down, no matter how unsafe. A shut
down (of which there have been nineteen in this country) always comes
from the people within the community. It is time to join the many towns,
scientists and informed citizens who want to decomission Oyster Creek
Nuclear Generating Station; the oldest nuclear power plant in the country,
which is located in Lacey Township, NJ. The plant is now 35 years old.
New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner,
Bradley Campbell, said officials found problems which warrant closing
the Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant. There are concerns about the aging
equipment important to the power generating process which could falter
as they continue deteriorating. Officials also found problems with communication
equipment at Exelon's emergency management headquarters in Lakewood.
Additionally, if an accident were to ensue, the evacuation plan is inadequate.
Exelon, the British company who owns Oyster Creek Power Plant, is contemplating
applying for another 20 year extension to their current license which
is now scheduled to expire in 2009.
We cannot rely upon simply opposing relicensing of the plant, five years
from now, for several reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that
license renewal applications have never been denied by the NRC. In fact,
they have approved license renewals for 23 plants, which include two
Exelon-owned reactors.
Here are the facts:
•
Nuclear plants emit low level radiation in their daily operations, which
is linked with cancer.
• The safe disposal of nuclear waste is a problem that has never
been adequately solved.
• There is risk of a meltdown and massive release of radiation
which could spread 500 miles caused by a terrorist attack or mechanical
failure.
• About $71 billion per year of taxpayer dollars has and continues
to be spent to subsidize nuclear systems.
• The radioactive waste problem is insidious because it is virtually
impossible to contain, and it is invisible to the human senses until
disease or death occur.
• Scientists estimate that it will take hundreds of thousands
of years for the highly irradiated nuclear waste to decay. No one wants
it in their back yards, so there it sits, 35 years of accumulated nuclear
waste, 400 feet from Route 9.
• Since 9/11 the problem has become especially critical, because
it is an expanding target.
• Oyster Creek is not only a threat to national security; it is
also a threat to the health of the community.
The plant also has one of the highest levels of radioactive iodine air
emissions of any reactor in the country. This is especially worrisome
because recent studies have found that children growing up in regions
that contain nuclear power plants develop cancer more frequently than
the national average. Specifically, in Monmouth and Ocean Counties,
the population of children 10 years old and younger was found to develop
cancer 26.5 percent more frequently than the national average.
A scientific study of eight nuclear plants concluded that when nuclear
plants shut down, the rate of cancer goes down. The study findings are
available online at http://www.radiation.org/closed.html
Oyster Creek produces less than 1% of the electrical energy on the five
state PJM Grid. It is not worth the risk.
In February of this year, Dover Township, which is the largest town
in Ocean County, passed a resolution calling for the immediate shut
down and decommissioning of the Oyster Creek plant. Brick Township,
the second largest municipality in Ocean County called for the immediate
shut down of Oyster Creek as well. Bricktown’s Mayor, Joseph Scarpelli
said “It is now time that we put the health and safety of Ocean
County residents first and shut this plant down.” He noted that
renewable energy sources like solar and wind are easily able to substitute
the power.
Nine other municipalities, namely, Berkeley, Ocean/Waretown, Beach Haven,
Harvey Cedars, Little Egg Harbor, Pt. Pleasant Borough, South Toms River,
Surf City, and Jackson, have passed resolutions calling for the desirability
of decommissioning Oyster Creek, as well as the immediate shut down
of the plant. These municipalities are some of the closest to the nuclear
plant and are at a high risk, if a nuclear catastrophe occurs.
In Ocean County, three of the municipalities out of fifteen focus only
on preventing the relicensing from occurring in 2009; Island Heights,
Stafford and Pt. Pleasant Beach.
The primary focus and main concern of the Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch
(JSNW) is immediate closure of the plant. JSNW has been monitoring the
Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant since its inception in 1969. Also,
JSNW initiated and provided the generic resolutions and information
to the municipalities who, in turn, have adapted the resolution to fit
their individual situations.
Safe energy such as solar and wind power can replace fossil fuels and
nuclear power to provide electricity, at a cheaper cost to the public.
Over a forty year period, solar electricity costs only 8 cents per kilo
watt; whereas nuclear, coal, and oil sources of electricity are costing
roughly 15 cents per kilo watt. Sky Sims, President of Ecological Systems,
a leading renewable energy installer in New Jersey, points out that
the 8 cents for solar is without factoring any rebates or subsidies
that are currently available to the solar industry, whereas the 15 cent
cost is after factoring the huge amounts of government subsidies being
provided, especially to the nuclear industry, which is the most costly
form of energy available.
Because the NRC is rubber-stamping the nuclear industry, JSNW is depending
upon the community and the NJ government officials to apply pressure
directly on Oyster Creek to shut down and decommission the plant.
Let’s recognize the real issues of concern and go on to the next
step that is to decommission the plant immediately.
Since 1963, nineteen nuclear plants have been shut down and are being
decommissioned. This is due to economic factors and citizen opposition.
The NRC has never shut down a nuclear plant.
On March 29, 2004, JSNW is sponsoring a meeting on “How to Decommission
the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station.” The presenter, Ray
Shadis, from Maine, is an expert on decommissioning. He founded “Friends
of the Coast” which helped to shut down the Maine Yankee Nuclear
Plant in 1996.
If you believe that Oyster Creek should be decommissioned now or simply
want to learn more, contact: Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch,
P.O.
Box 4283, Brick, NJ 08723,
email: egbur@comcast.net,
call: 732-830-6565,
visit:www.jerseyshorenuclearwatch.org