Documents Reveal Reactors Could Be Fueled by Radioactive Fuel Reprocessed at SRS, Leading to More Importation of Dangerous High-Level Radioactive Waste into South Carolina

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The South Carolina Supreme Court is set on Thursday to hear the Friends of the Earth appeal of the SC Public Service Commission’s approval of the SCE&G nuclear project.
We will gather on the sidewalk outside the court – corner of Gervais and Sumter in downtown, across from the state house grounds – at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 4 and be there in case the media wants to do interviews and then proceed to the court room. I will have only the big “blank check” (the unlimited costs given to SCE&G by the PSC) as a visual and ask that you don’t bring additional signs. As the court will already be in session, we will quietly proceed into the court room after our gathering.
Cameras are allowed into the court if the media outlets got pre-approval and as I don’t know if they have done this, one reason we will gather is to show a public face on those concerned about a clean energy future for South Carolina. The hearing is set to begin at 10:00 and our side opens with 10 minutes, the SCE&G gets 10 minutes and then we have 5 minutes for a closing, but the judges can ask questions at any point. So, the entire hearing could be less than an hour. The chief judge has recused herself from the case.
You may have seen that an article about the hearing appeared in The State on March 2
(and also in today’s Charleston Post & Courier):
“Reactor foes having their say on Thursday”
http://www.thestate.com/2010/03/02/1181994/reactor-foes-having-their-say.html
If the nuclear project goes forward we can kiss goodbye to any serious energy conservation and efficiency programs in South Carolina. SCE&G will have a glut of electricity to sell if the reactors were ever to operate and significant reduction of consumption will be the last thing on their mind.
The association of large industrial users, the SC Energy Users Committee, has also appealed the PSC nuclear decision to the Supreme Court but their hearing will be later, though the court could respond in a single ruling to our appeals.
Call if you have any questions and I hope to see you on Thursday.
Tom Clements
Southeastern Nuclear Campaign Coordinator
Friends of the Earth
Columbia, SC
803-834-3084 | 803-834-3084
www.carolinapeace.org | (803) 875-0392 | (803) 875-0392
PO Box 7933
Columbia, SC 29202
United States
Tuesday, August 18th
Location: North Augusta, SC, at the N. Augusta Municipal Building, 100 Georgia Ave.
We want clean up –not build up!
“Nuclear weapons are inherently destructive of the environment in their possession, manufacture and use. Global and national security lie in U.S. leadership that works towards disarmament, environmental restoration and nuclear waste management.” Georgia WAND
Now is the time! Your voice is needed!
You can and should let DOE know how you feel – So hop on the bus with Georgia WAND as we meet up in N. Augusta with Friends of the Earth and other groups to hold a press conference and then we will attend and speak out at the DOE meeting on the future mission of Savannah River Site, a US nuclear weapons production facility on the Georgia/South Carolina border.
12:30PM Press Conference in N. Augusta, Georgia WAND, Friends of the Earth, etc other groups will be gathering. (Please bring brown bag lunch to eat prior to mtg as time allows) Signs welcome!!
1:00Pm – 5:00PM Dept of Energy (DOE) meeting on the future missions of SRS >> Public testimony accepted. We hope everyone will speak out and get their voice heard.
In the gymnasium of an elementary school in Blair, South Carolina, staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) gathered to listen to public comment on the potential environmental impact of two new nuclear reactors proposed for construction V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in nearby Jenkinsville. “You have insight and knowledge that we don’t,” NRC Project Manager William Burton told the crowd of around 100 people. “We want you to participate in this decision. An educated consumer is our best customer.”
After a short presentation by NRC staff, Jenkinsville Mayor Gregory Ginyard was not impressed. “I live a mile and a half from the plant,” he stated. “I’m the mayor. They want me to represent them. And I don’t know what you want. Where I live we don’t have environmentalists. You guys need to educate us. The people of Jenkinsville, we are on the front lines.”
Ginyard, 52, grew up in Jenkinsville and has lived in this small, predominately African-American town all of his life, half of which he has spent in the shadow of V.C. Summer’s nuclear reactor, which was built in the late 1970s and came on line in 1982. At that time, South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCE&G) confiscated 60 acres from his father’s property for the plant, compensating the family $1,000 per an acre. Now as the first mayor of the newly incorporated town of Jenkinsville, he is caught in the middle of a battle between two utility companies and South Carolina’s small but energetic community of anti-nuclear activists, in a battle of national importance. If the plans of the privately operated SCE&G and unregulated state utility Santee-Cooper go forward, V.C. Summer Reactors 2 and 3 will likely be the first new commercial reactors in the United States to begin construction in almost 30 years.
Ginyard is not the only Jenkinsville politician concerned about the proposed expansion. Kamau Marcharia is a community activist on the Fairfield County Council. He is wary about how two new reactors will affect his community. “It’s a ten billion dollar contract,” explains Marcharia. “Out of 10 billion dollars I want to know how many minority contracts they’re going to give. I want to know how people are going to help this community with its infrastructure. Right now we have no health center and no modern fire station. I want to know how they’re going to help us with this. I want to know how they are going to improve the roads when four to six thousand people work here on construction for seven years. I want to know how they are going to make this community safer.”
These are reasonable concerns for this poor, aging community. The town’s average annual household income is only $24,000 and the average resident of Jenkinsville is almost forty years old. The first reactor at V.C. Summer has failed to produce prosperity for the town. “Thirty years ago when the plant came, Jenkinsville was pretty rural and people were pretty much uninformed. It was just like today, but we had more in this community back then. There were three stores and other things that were closed down and boarded up. Jenkinsville is worse off today than when the plant moved in.” Continue reading
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