Tell the NRC you don’t want a new reactor at North Anna
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on its
evaluation of the environmental impacts of issuing a Combined License
(COL) for a third nuclear reactor at the North Anna site in Louisa
County, Va., about 30 miles east of Charlottesville. The NRC will
accept written comments until March 20. Written comments on the draft
EIS should be submitted either by mail or email.
E-mail (sent no later than March 20) to NorthAnnaColaeis@nrc.gov
Mail: Must be postmarked no later than March 20 to: Chief, Rules and
Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of
Administration, Mailstop TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001
Talking Points:
The North Anna Power Station is not currently in full compliance with
the federal Clean Water Act and a third reactor will add to the
problems already occurring with warm lake temperatures and downstream
flow.
Since Dominion Power is choosing a new reactor model, application for
the COL should be put on hold. Once a new reactor model is chosen,
then a new environmental assessment should be initiated.
Existing wetlands, streams, and woodlands on the site, as well as
downstream, may be adversely affected by the construction and
operation of a new reactor.
The semi-permanent storage of radioactive waste at the North Anna site
presents health and safety threats to the people of central Virginia.
In 1984 the NRC had expressed “confidence” that the problem of high
level waste disposal would be resolved in 30 years. This has not
happened – Yucca Mt. is unlikely to ever open. No new plants should
be licensed until the issue of waste disposal, both high level and low
level, is resolved.
For more information:The draft EIS and related documents are available
electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room,
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. The draft EIS may also be viewed
on the NRC Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/north-anna.html.
In addition, people can view printed versions of the draft EIS at the
Jefferson-Madison Regional Library in Mineral; the Hanover Branch
Library in Hanover, Va.; the Orange County Library in Orange, Va.; the
Salem Church Library in Fredericksburg, Va.; and the C. Melvin Snow
Memorial Branch Library in Spotsylvania, Va.
At the conclusion of the public comment period, the NRC staff will
consider and address the comments provided. The staff expects to issue
a final EIS on the environmental acceptability of a COL at the North
Anna site by the end of 2009.
