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Industry Critics Worry About Nuclear Waste From Additional Plant

Posted on: Saturday, 11 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Sammy Fretwell, The State, Columbia, S.C.

Feb. 11--The amount of highly radioactive waste created by the V.C. Summer nuclear plant could triple if two power companies build a pair of reactors at the Fairfield County site.

SCE&G and Santee Cooper, which jointly proposed the new plants, would likely store the extra waste in pools or casks at the V.C. Summer facility well away from the public, company officials said.

But atomic power critics said Friday that creating waste is a key drawback of the nuclear industry. The waste generated by nuclear power production is lethal enough to kill a person.

For years, high-level waste has been stored at individual power plants, awaiting the opening of a permanent disposal site in Nevada. That site is behind schedule, and its 2010 opening could be pushed back even further, a senior official with the U.S. Department of Energy said this week.

"There is nothing in this design they are talking about that will do anything about the waste," said Jim Riccio, who tracks nuclear issues for Greenpeace. "We are continuing to go down this path when we have no idea what to do with the end product."

SCE&G and Santee Cooper said they intend to apply for licenses for two additional nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer site to complement the existing reactor. The companies announced Friday that they would use the latest technology to operate reactors adjacent to the existing one in Fairfield County.

That could triple the amount of waste generated since three reactors would be operating, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Atlanta. Hannah said it would take years for the waste to build up since nuclear plants only refuel every 18 months to two years.

Spent radioactive fuel is removed from the reactors at that time, when fresh fuel is loaded. The spent fuel rods are then put in the pools or dry casks.

The V.C. Summer plant, which began operating in 1984, generates about 26 tons of high-level radioactive waste every 18 months, SCE&G spokesman Robert Yanity said. Yanity agreed the amount of high-level waste would jump sharply, but he said the company can safely handle the material.

Company officials said that, for now, SCE&G and Santee Cooper plan only one additional reactor, even though it would apply for two. Officials also said the V.C. Summer plant has had a good safety record.

"We pride ourselves on our track record," SCE&G spokesman Eric Boomhower said.

Hannah said the V.C. Summer plant has had more than 30 violations of federal nuclear rules in the past 20 years, but he said that isn't a bad record. It hasn't had a major fine since the 1980s.

The plant, however, did find itself under the federal microscope six years ago. That's when a crack was found in a pipe that carries scalding water from the nuclear reactor to generate steam. Acid leaked through the crack.

Company officials said the split never posed a danger to the public. But had SCE&G not spotted the crack, it could have been hazardous, critics said. Cracks in the pipe could have allowed water to escape and cause the radioactive fuel to overheat.

SCE&G eventually attributed the crack to a suspect welding technique used to repair a pipe more than 20 years ago.

According to SCE&G and Santee Cooper, the new power plants would use the only type of pressurized water reactor certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It's a simpler design than the one now used at V.C. Summer, which the company says makes it less costly to operate and maintain.

Riccio said he's unconvinced the new design would do anything to make new plants safer. But even if the design is safer, Riccio said that "you're increasing the risk to people because you're putting more reactors out there.

"More things can go wrong."

Otis Watts, a 56-year-old house painter who lives in the area near the plant, agreed.

"What are we going to do with the waste?" he asked. "How can you take care of wastes that will be around 2,000 years?"

Staff Writer Jim Duplessis contributed to this story.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The State, Columbia, S.C.

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Source: The State (Columbia, S.C.)

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