Entergy s Spent Fuel Storage. What is the Litigation All About? How to Store Pilgrim s Spent Nuclear Fuel?

Transcription

1 Entergy s Spent Fuel Storage What is the Litigation All About? Jim Lampert How to Store Pilgrim s Spent Nuclear Fuel? There are now 3300 spent fuel assemblies in the spent fuel pool every assembly Pilgrim has used since the plant opened in Pilgrim will produce approximately 2000 more assemblies between now and when its license expires in There is no place to send it. 1

2 Storing Waste in the Spent Fuel Pool Pilgrim is now licensed to operate until Entergy will decide when Pilgrim shuts down based on its own economic analysis. Entergy might close Pilgrim before 2032, but you have no assurance that will be happen. There is no reason to believe that Entergy will reduce the number of spent fuel assemblies stored in the spent fuel either Before Pilgrim shuts down, or In any reasonable period of time after Pilgrim shuts down. You have no reason to believe that the NRC will require Entergy to do so. Last month the NRC issued a draft rule that said it is safe to store spent fuel in the spent fuel pool for 60 years after a plant shuts down. Future Spent Fuel Pool Storage? Until Pilgrim shuts down, the number of spent fuel assemblies in the spent fuel pool will remain the same about To allow Pilgrim to continue to operate, some assemblies will alsobe stored in dry casks -about 200 assemblies will be moved into dry casks every two years, a potential of about 1800 between now and casks. After Pilgrim shuts down, the number of spent fuel assemblies in the spent fuel pool will increase: 580 assemblies will be moved from the reactor into the spent fuel pool. None of the assemblies then in the pool will be removed. About 3900 spent fuel assemblies could remain in the pool for 60 years after Pilgrim shuts down, potentially until Entergy could decide to accelerate moving assemblies from the pool into dry casks earlier. Any decision to do so will be made on the basis of economics, not safety. 2

3 Future Dry Cask Storage? 60 years after Pilgrim shuts down 2092? The NRC expects all of the spent fuel to be moved from the spent fuel pool into on-site dry casks within 60 years after a plant shuts down, starting 50 years after shutdown. No one knows if or when the approximately 5000 assemblies that will then be stored in dry casks at Pilgrim will be sent off-site. After 100 years of on-site dry cask storage; 160 years after Pilgrim shuts down 2192? Perhaps there will then be an off-site federal storage repository ready and willing to take Pilgrim s spent fuel. Several repositories will be needed for spent fuel from all U.S. reactors. The NRC envisions that spent fuel may be stored on-site indefinitely, perhaps forever. It also says that dry casks and pads would be replaced every 100 years. What Has Entergy Already Done? Picture from Pine - 3

4 What Has Entergy Done? Entergy is now building an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). Entergy asked the Plymouth Director of Inspectional Services to give it a number of zoning permits. Entergy is now constructing a concrete pad that will hold between 30 and 40 dry casks. These casks will hold the spent fuel assemblies that Entergy needs to take out of the spent fuel pool to make it possible for Pilgrim to continue to operate. It will have to build an additional pad for the 60 or-so casks that will be needed to store assemblies removed from the spent fuel pool after Pilgrim shuts down. All casks likely will remain there for a long, long time. What Has Plymouth Done (1)? The Director of Inspectional Services (DIS) gave Entergy a Zoning Permit for the concrete pad on March 27, 2013 He also denied a March 25, 2013 request that he enforce the Bylaw and require Entergy to apply for a Special Permit. Both decisions were appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Why is this important? The DIS granted Entergy the Zoning Permit as of right. In substance, he allowed Entergy simply to what it wanted to do Without input from anyone in Plymouth. Without any consideration of how to protect Plymouth s interests in how a hundreds-of-years spent fuel waste storage dump (ISFSI) should be built or operated. 4

5 What Has Plymouth Done (2)? On July 24, 2013, the Zoning Board of Appeals (3-2) upheld the as of right Zoning Permit. The ZBA could have required Entergy to seek a special permit so that Plymouth citizens could be heard. It did not. The ZBA Chairman said that the only question was whether the Director s decision was reasonable. Period. Neither he, nor any other Board member, said that the Director s decision was correct. Two said it was not. We strongly disagree with the ZBA decision; and have appealed to the Massachusetts Land Court. The Appeal to the Land Court The appeal to the Massachusetts Land Court was filed on August 13, The goal of the appeal is not to delay moving spent fuel from the spent fuel pool into safer dry casks. We strongly favor moving as many spent fuel assemblies out of the spent fuel pool and into dry casks as quickly as possible. The only goal of the appeal is to require Entergy to seek a special permit so that the Town of Plymouth and its citizens will have the opportunity to be heard. If the appeal is successful, then the ZBA will hold a public hearing. The ZBA will have the power to impose conditions to protect Plymouth interests. 5

6 The Appeal to the Land Court The appeal raises two basic legal questions: 1. Does the Plymouth Zoning By-law allow Entergy s planned dry cask storage facility as a matter of right? 2. Does the Special Permit that Plymouth gave Boston Edison in 1967 allow long term outside storage of thousands of spent fuel assemblies, or (as described in BECO s special permit application) only inside temporary storage of relatively few? We expect that Entergy will do everything it can to make sure that the Land Court never even considers these issues. What Next? What happens next depends on what Entergy decides to do. Entergy might ask the judge to rule that the Plymouth residents have no right to appeal. For example, Entergy might argue that Plymouth residents have no standing to appeal to the Land Court, they aren t abutters, and they aren t aggrieved. Only the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and not the Land Court, can consider issues relating to spent nuclear fuel storage. If Entergy does so, and the judge agrees with Entergy, the case will be over unless we successfully appeal to the Appeals Court. If Entergy does not dispute, or the judge rules, that The Plymouth residents have standing, and The Land Court has jurisdiction, then the judge will have to decide whether Entergy needs a special permit. 6

7 What Next? If the appeal goes forward, we expect to file motions for summary judgment that neither the Plymouth Zoning Bylaw nor the 1967 Special Permit allows long term, outside dry cask storage of thousands of spent fuel assemblies as a matter of right. If the Judge does not grant our motions, the case will proceed to trial. If the judge agrees, either on summary judgment or after trial, that Entergy needs a special permit, Entergy could appeal that decision to the Appeals Court. If Entergy loses such an appeal, or does not appeal, the case will be sent back to the Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals. If the case is sent back, Entergy is likely ask for a special permit. This will lead to public hearings before the ZBA at which the Town and individuals finally will be able to express their concerns. What Next for You? Start preparing for what we hope will be a special permit hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals. Let the Selectmen know how important it is to you that Plymouth residents have the right (and opportunity) to be heard. A petition to the Selectmen is being circulated now. Think about, and discuss among yourselves, with the Selectmen, and with us, what you think can and should be done to make this long-term spent fuel storage better. For example: Is there a way to get the spent fuel assemblies moved out of the spent fuel pool now, rather than 60+ years in the future? Should the casks be monitored so you will know if there is a problem? Should the storage facility be higher and farther from the water? Should Plymouth be paid? The Town will incur costs. 7

8 What you can do Visit, call, write Plymouth Selectmen Phone: x 106 Town Hall, Lincoln Street, Plymouth Town Manager, marrighi@townhall.plymouth.ma.us 15 Attend Selectmen Meetings Oct. 8 - Entergy presentation Oct Citizen presentation Town Hall, approx. 7 p.m. 16 8

9 Sign petition, get involved Petition to Plymouth Board of Selectmen Get informed, join the effort Tel Stop by 58C Main Street, Plymouth