Today’s protes…

10 Mar

Today’s protest went well. Good turnout, given that we started planning a week ago. Good speakers (see NOOFL speech here: Dominion Power Doesn’t Care About Our Safety), good signs, good weather, support from allies in a number of other groups (see below), and a sense of momentum and potential we haven’t felt in a while. See local TV news coverage here. Here are some pictures, followed by the press release we sent out this afternoon.

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Protesters Remember Fukushima Disaster and Call For Safety at North Anna

March 9th, 2012

One year after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, concerned citizens from Richmond, Louisa, Charlottesville and elsewhere in Central Virginia turned out for a protest at Dominion’s Richmond headquarters.

About 50 people attended, carrying signs such as “Fukushima – Eventually The Improbable Happens,” and “Tritium Is Not Safe,” referring to recent tests that found high levels of radioactive Tritium in groundwater near North Anna. Pipes underneath the plant carry Tritium, and have not been inspected since the earthquake last August.

“We said it last September and we’re saying it now. Inspect and fix the underground pipes,” said Elsa Spencer of Louisa-based group Not On Our Fault Line. “Dominion says they fully inspected the plant after the earthquake, but they didn’t check the pipes, and they didn’t check the core of unit 1. Now we have pipes leaking Tritium, and a broken steam pipe in Unit 1 that caused a partial shutdown in January. How are we supposed to trust them when they say it’s fully inspected and safe?”

Not On Our Fault Line, which formed to address safety issues at North Anna after the August 2011 earthquake, called for and organized the protest, with support from Chesapeake Climate Action Network, People’s Alliance for Clean Energy, Alliance for Progressive Values and the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Jerry Rosenthal of People’s Alliance for Clean Energy said: “Fukishma has several important lessons for the US, Virginia, and North Anna specifically.  First, the design basis for those plants in Japan, and at North Anna, wasn’t and isn’t compliant with current information about earthquakes, waste storage, emergency procedures, tritium, to name just a few.”

“We’ve learned from Fukushima that sometimes the unlikely scenario happens,” said Alexis Zeigler of Louisa. “When enough time goes by a disaster that may be improbable on any given day becomes close to a certainty. And when nuclear meltdown happens, ordinary people pay the price – with their health, their lives, their land, towns, communities and livelihood.”

The groups also brought attention to the issue of evacuation planning. Current emergency evacuation planning zones around US nuclear plants are only 10 miles. During the Fukushima meltdown, 150,000 people had to be evacuated from more than 25 miles away from the plant.  A coalition of groups, including NOOFL, PACE and Alliance for Progressive Values, recently filed a formal petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to expand emergency evacuation zones to a 50 mile radius.  Richmond is 40 miles from North Anna plant and downwind in prevailing weather patterns.

Many of the protesters said they would be back at Dominion headquarters on March 24th for a “March to End Dominion’s Power Madness. “Hundreds of people will be here to tell Dominion that people power is bigger than corporate influence,” said Daniel Carawan of Cheasapeake Climate Action Network.

Protest at Dominion Headquarters!

5 Mar

Join us this Friday at noon at Dominion headquarters!

On the anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima and in light of ongoing radioactive tritium leaks at the North Anna Nuclear Plant, we will gather at Dominion headquarters (7th and East Cary) to demand safety and sanity at North Anna.

The earthquake on August 23, 2011 caused ground motion that exceeded the North Anna plant’s design by 100%. Despite protest and legal action by local and national groups, North Anna was allowed to restart without any retrofits to make the plant safe in earthquakes. Demands for full core inspection of unit 1 and inspection of underground pipes carrying radioactive tritium were also ignored.

Recently we have learned that these pipes are actively leaking Tritium into the environment.

We will also be demanding an enlargement of the emergency evacuation planning zone around North Anna to include Richmond, Charlottesville and Fredericksburg. During the Fukushima meltdown 150,000 people who lived more than 25 miles from the plant had to be evacuated, even though much of the radiation blew out to sea. In the case of a meltdown at North Anna, prevailing winds could carry the radiation over Richmond. The center of Richmond is 40 miles away and downwind from North Anna.

Dominion is gambling with our health, our safety, our land, our water and our communities so their shareholders can profit. We are sick of the nonsense, the lies, the baseless reassurances. Enough is enough!

Petition To Expand Emergency Planning Zones

5 Mar

Not On Our Fault Line has become a co-signer on a petition to expand emergency planning zones around nuclear plants. The petition was authored by Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and submitted to the NRC on February 15th.

Currently US nuclear plants have only a 10 mile evacuation planning zone around them. During the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, more than 150,000 people were evacuated from between 25 and 50 miles away from the plant, even though much of the radiation blew out to sea.

At many US plants, including North Anna, prevailing winds would bring radiation fallout over major metropolitan areas, such as Richmond.

Click here to learn more, or to sign on to the petition.   

Dominion gets re-start but we’re not done

17 Nov
Dominion got the go-ahead from the NRC and is restarting North Anna. Without retrofitting to withstand stronger earthquakes, and without inspecting the core of unit 1. Without inspecting the pipes carrying radioactive fluids beneath the plant, and without an independent inspection of the Lake Anna Dam.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a meeting with the Emergency Enforcement Petitioners for December 8th, well after the restart. The point of the petition was that we were demanding that safety measures be taken before restart. Not On Our Fault Line will be at the meeting, but we don’t have a lot of illusions that the NRC will decide to put safety before Dominion’s bottom line now or in the future.

At the NRC hearing on November 1st, NRC officials poo-pooed questions about past episodes of corruption their agency was involved in regarding North Anna. Victor McCree said  said it was “hard not to take it professionally.” The NRC officials told us that no one present worked with the NRC back then and it was basically ancient history. The question was rude and insensitive and irrelevant.

The Richmond Times Dispatch, Huffington Post, Canadianbusiness.com and several other publications appeared to disagree last week when they published new stories about the 1977 justice department memo that implicates the NRC in helping Dominion cover up evidence that the North Anna Plant was being built on a fault line. Yes it was over 30 years ago, but it was the same plant, the same issue, the same company, the same agency. And I don’t care if someone from the NRC has their feelings hurt at a hearing. We’re talking about our lives, our families, our land, our farms, our homes and our health – everything we have and everything we are is at stake here. We’re not stupid. We’re not willing to forget history. We’re not willing to trust Dominion or the NRC just because they say we should.

So we don’t trust the NRC and we’re not holding our breath until they show a shred of integrity. We’re going to focus on local outreach and communication among the people affected by North Anna. We’re going to focus on making sure that local people know what to do in case of a nuclear emergency at the plant, and that people living near the plant get distributions of potassium iodide to guard against radioactive poisoning. The American Thyroid Association recommends   http://www.thyroid.org/professionals/publications/news/11_03_15_importance_KI_distribution.html   that potassium iodide be distributed to everyone living within 50 miles of all nuclear plants. A 2002 federal law recommends distribution of potassium iodide in a 20 mile radius of nuclear plants, but due to a loophole no one has to follow it. http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4355&Itemid=141  The NRC says that they provide Potassium Iodide to states that ask for it. The State of Virginia isn’t asking – not yet anyway. Not On Our Fault Line intends to put pressure on the State of Virginia and on local governments to get and distribute potassium iodide.

Of course we’ll keep saying what we’ve been saying since the earthquake: Reactors 1 and 2 need to be retrofitted to the same seismic standards that the proposed unit 3 is designed for (four times higher than the standards for 1 and 2). If its necessary for unit 3, why not 1 and 2? The earthquake caused twice as much ground motion at the plant than what it was designed for. Only time will tell if the inspections were good enough. Only time will tell if (and when) there is to be another big earthquake in Louisa County.

disappointing decision makers

3 Nov

Tuesday night was an opportunity for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to sit with a public concerned about an earthquake compromised North Anna.  Instead they offered dodgy answers to the simplest of questions and  reassured us over and over again that even though North Anna sustained greater ground motion than it was designed for, and even though Dominion is planning to build Unit 3 to a much higher ground motion standard, Units 1 and 2 don’t need to be retrofitted in order to be safely restarted.  When pushed about what the earliest possible restart date might be, NRC official Eric Leeds–one of a small group who will make the final decision to restart–said, theoretically the plant could restart “tomorrow.”  It was pretty discouraging.

But then we were hoping an unprecedented “no” from the NRC at their October 21st hearing which saw North Anna remain closed was an indication that they might exercise a certain amount of respect for the public’s desires.  It seems pretty clear after Tuesday night that this is not true.  Unless we continue to put pressure on the NRC, and show them that we are going to be watching them and making noise about their dirty decision making, we will see Units 1 and 2 restart without much comment.

Fortunately there are ways we can do that.  For those near and far, you can sign onto the Emergency Enforcement Petition we filed on October 20th.  All you have to do is write Bill Borchardt, Executive Director of Operations at the NRC and tell him you want to be a co-signer on the “Request for Emergency Enforcement  Action to Suspend the Restart and Operation of the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station, Mineral, Virgina, per CFR 10.2.206″  Include your name and address.  Bill’s email is bill.borchardt@nrc.gov  Then forward your message to our email, notonourfaultline@gmail.com

We are also hosting a debate about the safety of North Anna on November 21st at 7pm.  We hope to host at the Louisa Middle School but are as of yet unconfirmed.  There will be panelists from the community who have studied and worked on nuclear issues for many years and we are inviting panelists from Dominion and the NRC.  Our hope is to offer a fair and balanced space for folks to discuss the safety of nuclear power and North Anna since the August 23rd earthquake.  We will put up more information as soon as we have it, but until then, if you’re close enough to make the trip, put November 21st on your calendars and invite your friends.  And you can always write us with questions at notonourfaultline@gmail.com

stop the press conference

25 Oct

We had a press conference scheduled for last friday, ready to announce our joint filing of an Emergency Enforcement Petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and respond to what we assumed would be the NRC’s approval of restart at North Anna.  But in an unexpected move–the NRC never says “no” to the nuclear industry and rarely denies the industry–the NRC didn’t approve restart and has said that, at earliest, we could see restart by the end of November.  They are requiring further tests for safety and more documentation from Dominion.  The NRC even echoed one of the demands we made in the EEP filed on Thursday, requiring more public hearings in which public comment is actually taken into consideration by Dominion, the NRC and their inspection teams.  The next public hearing held by the NRC will be Tuesday, November 1st at 7pm at Louisa Middle School.  We will post more about that hearing as the 1st draws closer.

So we got to celebrate a little, at the news that the NRC was already meeting us on public hearings.  And we got to re-iterate some of the other pieces of the EEP.  Asking for a re-licensing process, for movement of 5 yr old waste from  cooling ponds to hardened, dry cask storage, a thorough inspection of the dam.  And the media was there to listen and report our concerns.  You can check out this article by Rusty Dennen for the Fredericksburg Star or the coverage by NBC 29 out of Charlottesville.  More soon!

sign on to our EEP, quick!!

19 Oct

not on our fault line is filing an Emergency Enforcement Petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission tomorrow, Thursday October 20th.  an EEP could force the reactors to shut down again (assuming the NRC allows them to restart on Friday) or keep them shut down longer while the NRC processes the different enforcement issues we are calling to attention in the EEP.  the three demands we are making in the EEP are:

  1. Virginia Electric Power Company submit a formal license amendment request application to the NRC to reanalyze and re-evaluate the North Anna nuclear power station’s  the design basis for earthquakes;
  2. Virginia Electric Power Company Prior to NRC shall require both North Anna Units 1 and 2 to be subject to the same level and rigor of inspection and safety analyses prior to restart that includes the full reactor core offload inspections  to reasonably assure the same level of deterministic oversight;
  3. Virginia Electric Power Company be required to re-analyze and re-qualify the Lake Anna dam  to provide reasonably assure of the one mile long earthen dam’s reliability  given its reactor safety function and  the exceedence of the Design Basis Earthquake criteria for  North Anna safety-related systems, structures and components by the August 23, 2011 earthquake;

we will likely add language today requesting that the NRC require Dominion (Virginia Electric Power Co) move any waste stored on site at north anna in cooling ponds that is five years or older into dry, hardened cask storage.

if you are interested in signing on as an individual or representing an organization, please email us the following information at notonourfaultline@gmail.com  already we have more than half a dozen organizations signed on!

[YOUR NAME, AFFILIATION, ADDRESS, TEL., EMAIL, WEB SITE]

the ground is still shaking

10 Oct

Dominion reassures us that their safety margins were wide, even though the August 23rd earthquake exceeded the design basis for Units 1 and 2.  But since August 23rd, the US Geological Survey has documented 29 aftershocks in the same general location and those of us in Louisa have felt even more than that.  It is hard to imagine that all of this instability isn’t further exacerbating any damage done during the 5.8 earthquake we experienced more than a month ago.

Not On Our Fault Line is getting ready to file an Emergency Enforcement Petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, hopefully before their October 21st meeting with Dominion.  If we get enough signatures, the NRC will have to put a halt on the re-start process and go through some more public hearings which actually offer space for the surrounding communities to offer suggestions and input that the NRC will have to consider in their decision making process.  If there’s anyone out there in the region who wants to get involved, please feel encouraged to write us at notonourfaultline@gmail.com  We would love to hear from you!

But you didn’t answer my question

4 Oct

Let me set the scene for you.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a public meeting today on private property, on Dominion property, in fact.  The NRC was there to share the findings of their initial augmented inspection and hear questions from the public.  Dominion was also represented alongside the NRC to field questions.

ok, so this is at dominion hq's in richmond, but i'm sure there were some around yesterday

We got there early with our friends from the People’s Alliance for Clean Energy, Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Beyond Nuclear, for a press conference we held in the parking lot of the North Anna Information Center outside of Mineral.  There were four speakers, one representing each group, who made comments in a light drizzle.  After doing one on one follow up interviews, the whole lot, press and speakers alike, ducked into the Dominion building for cover.

As people filled into the room allocated for the hearing, it was clear we were going to have a full house.  At 1pm, when the meeting was supposed to start, we were told that they needed another five minutes to synch up all the sound systems present.  Not only was the public out in large numbers, but so was the media.  And there were lots of microphones weighing down the podium from which NRC officials would speak.

After a brief presentation on their findings, filled with lots of reassurances that they had found “no significant damage” but without clarifying what damage they had found, the NRC handed over the floor to Dominion.  After more unsubstantiated reassurances by Dominion that they would not restart unless the plants were safe, the floor opened for questions.  And it was incredible.  Those of us from NOOFL got to sit back and smile as folks from Louisa County we did not yet know asked sharp and skeptical questions.  And it became clear within the first few questions that the NRC was going to try to evade answering and that the people in the audience were not going to let them.

There was one woman who had to repeat her question four times in largely the same words before someone gave her half an answer.  One person would ask a question and, after some response from the NRC, someone else in the audience would ask them to actually answer the question.  It was emboldening.

And collectively, we were on it.  At one point when the NRC representative dodged a question, a radio man and Louisa County resident interrupted the meeting to answer instead.  When the NRC claimed they didn’t know enough about the lies Virginia Electricity and Power Co. (Dominion’s predecessor) told during the initial licensing process for Units 1 and 2, the lies they told hiding the fact that they knew about the fault line underlying their construction site, Sara Houston of NOOFL stood up and clarified for the crowd that Dominion was charged with 18 counts of lying and omission by the predecessor of the NRC.

Through repeated questioning we were able to wheedle out of Dominion that they had no plans to inspect Unit 1 in the same way they’ve been able to inspect Unit 2 during it’s re-fueling process.  That despite weld breaks, loose parts and detritus found in Unit 2 where it should not be, Dominion didn’t think it important enough to inspect Unit 1 similarly.

And yet they tried to reassure us they cared about our safety.  It was laughable.  Afterwards, Pax went to engage the incredibly slick Dave Heacock, President and CNO of Dominion Resources, and some of us came to witness.  While others were paying attention to Heacock’s answers, I was watching the Dominion officials nearby.  At one point, site VP for North Anna, Larry Lane pulled in extra security and positioned it nearby Pax and Dave.  Lane then engaged me, trying to build trust, talking of town hall meetings in Mineral.  Finally i asked him why he’d brought in extra security.  He looked at a nearby NOOFLer and said he was concerned about what she had in her jar.  It was a clear jar with water in it.

I laughed and looked at him.  I told him i sincerely understood why he would be afraid of that water, since it came out of a well in Mineral.  It probably was dangerous stuff.  He went on to point out that another woman in our group also had a water bottle.  I countered that his own CNO also had a water bottle.  After repeated glances back at the undercover cop hovering nowhere near the suspicious looking water, Lane asked me if he was making me nervous.  I said, yes of course he was.  And the cop got pulled away.

And that was their line.  Tell us to trust them, while pulling in extra security.  Reassure us they won’t restart until it’s safe, while dodging answering questions of safety and only revealing the damage they’ve seen when clearly prompted to by the audience.  As multiple people asked yesterday, how are we supposed to trust that Dominion and the NRC will protect our health and safety above their own bottom line.

Post NRC Hearing Press Release

4 Oct

The NRC public hearing was disappointing to say the least.  Regulators dodged questions and many in the audienc, not just the NOOFL group were frustrated.

We repeated our demands:

1) No restart of the North Anna reactors until they have been retrofitted to the proposed Unit 3 seismic standards

2) Check all the underground pipe

3) Dont charge Dominion rate payers for the replacement power

4) Take the spent fuel over 5 years old out of the cooling ponds and put them into hardened dry casks

Sara Tansey - photo credit Richmond Times Dispatch

 

Local, Regional and National Groups Call for inspections, waste transfer and retrofits at North Anna reactors

After an initial demonstration in front of Dominion Headquarters in Richmond, Louisa County group Not On Our Fault Line is finding support locally, regionally and nationally.  In fact they were joined today by regional groups the People’s Alliance for Clean Energy (PACE) and Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and also by national group Beyond Nuclear for a public hearing held on Dominion property in Mineral, VA.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was there to reveal the findings of their initial augmented inspection and take questions from the public.  The informational part of the presentation took roughly 15 minutes then much of the time was spent fielding tough questions from a largely skeptical citizenry.

A number of times NRC officials had to be prompted to answer the questions by members of the audience who were unimpressed by the evasive answers.  In fact at one point, Christopher Payne of the National Resource Defense Council had to ask that the NRC clarify what damage they had actually found at the North Anna facility.  After emphasizing repeatedly that they had found “no significant damage” the NRC listed off cracks in dry waste storage casks, movement of these same casks and a crack inside the wall of the containment dome.  The NRC also noted in their findings that the earthquake monitoring equipment at North Anna is all located inside the buildings as opposed to in the ground, where it would most accurately monitor ground movement.

Jim Adams, a local Louisa resident and member of Not on Our Fault Line says “Both Dominion and the NRC have admitted the recent quake was beyond what the reactors were designed to handle.  Clearly the plant should not be restarted until it is retrofitted to a new, much higher seismic standard.  Otherwise we are playing Russian Roulette with the county residents lives”

Representing the PACE, Jerry Rosenthal of Louisa Co added a new demand to Not On Our Fault Line’s previous demands, stating that “with the highest concentration of radioactivity and waste loads beyond their original design, the spent fuel pools continue to pose a major risk in the event of a loss of water.  We respectfully ask the NRC to move all the fuel over 5 years old from the spent fuel pools into hardened dry casks.”

See the local news story

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