Speakers weigh in on Dominion power reactor plan at public meeting in Louisa

Date published: 4/18/2008

By RUSTY DENNEN

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should revisit some of the environmental aspects of Dominion's plan for a third reactor at North Anna Power Station.

That was the suggestion of several speakers at a well-attended public information session by the agency Wednesday night at Louisa County High School.

Other speakers--some of them retired Dominion power employees--said another reactor at the plant on Lake Anna would benefit consumers and the community while helping the environment.

The session, part of the final phase of the NRC's review of the project, allowed the public to comment on what should be included in the agency's draft environmental impact statement required for Dominion's combined license application.

Among the 125 at the hearing was Ken Remmers of Bumpass, president of the Waterside Property Owners Association on Lake Anna, and water quality chair of the Lake Anna Citizens Association. He said the NRC should consider significant points not addressed in earlier regulatory reviews on the project.

For example, "A new, fresh look at the cooling process should be performed," he said.

Dominion is proposing a combination wet-dry cooling tower. Remmers said more efficient dry cooling should be favored because there would be far less evaporation.

Dominion originally had proposed using lake water, which cools the existing Units 1 and 2. But it switched to the cooling tower after complaints that more heated water discharge could damage the lake environment.

Dominion says the closed-loop cooling-tower system for Unit 3 will have no significant impact on lake temperatures.

Barbara Crawford, a Louisa resident, expressed concern about highly radioactive spent fuel being stored at the site. A new reactor would add to the fuel piling up in large steel storage casks at the plant.

The government has been planning to store the material at a national repository at Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada, but it's been blocked by a series of legal challenges.

"Yucca Mountain may well never open and therefore the [NRC] needs to study the health and safety ramifications of what will be permanent and long-term storage at North Anna for all three reactors," Crawford said.

Evacuation plans should be reviewed, she said.

"The [plan] is silent concerning the evacuation of the public in the event of an accident or terror attack," Crawford said.

COMBINED LICENSE REVIEW SCHEDULE Dominion power last November filed its application to build and operate a third nuclear reactor at North Anna Power Station. Between now and late 2010, when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission could make its decision on the project, environmental and safety reports will be issued. And several public hearings will be scheduled. Some key tentative dates: August 2008--Environmental Impact Statement summary issued. December 2008--Draft EIS issued to Environmental Protection Agency. December 2009--Final EIS issued to EPA. 2010--NRC or Atomic Safety Licensing Board to hold mandatory hearing. NRC decision on combined license application. --Rusty Dennen

Date published: 4/18/2008