by Nancy Thorner
As one of a handful of private citizens who took the time to attend a February 22nd 1:00 p.m. hearing hosted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at IL Beach Resort and Conference Center near Zion to discuss the Dual Zion Nuclear Station Decommissioning Project, I read with interest the published article by Long Hwa-Shu in the Lake County New-Sun on Thursday, February 24 and in the Chicago Sun-Times on Sunday, Feb. 27: "10-year process for nuke plant cleanup."
As noted in Long Hwa-Shu's article, Zion Solutions, a subsidiary of the Utah-based Energy Solutions, was given the contract to dismantle The Zion Station last September by Exelon Corporation. Mushroomed back in 1998, Exelon's decision for wasting Zion, and keeping it closed throughout the years, has remained the same. It was a financially-based decision.
For me the NRC Zion Public meeting on Feb. 21st was a glorified PR stunt to pacify and ensure the public that the dismantling would be done in a safe manner. Most likely the NRC will follow through with its mission of inspecting the work done by Zion Solutions.
Most unsettling was that NRC representatives responded directly to only one of my nagging questions regarding the Zion Dual Plant, yet it is unrealistic to believe that Exelon, Zion Solutions and the NRC representatives are not working together. A NRC representative admitted that although never done before, Zion could be reopened for operation if refurbished and brought up-to-date by one wiling to purchase Zion from Zion Solution, on condition that all safety measures were met. It is well known that the Tennessee Valley Authority successfully restarted a large mothballed nuclear power plant that saved consumers hundreds of millions of dollars per year in electric costs, under the watchful eye of the NRC.
These questions about The Zion Station demand answers:
1. Since it takes many years to satisfy the surrounding population, the seismic requirements, the lawyers, the environmentalists, etc. before one shovel of dirt is moved to begin excavation for a new Nuclear Plant, why tear down The Zion Plant? It has already been paid for by rate payers along with its $1 billion decommissioning trust fund.
2. Why didn't Exelon Corporation attempt to sell the Zion Plant to another party if Exelon found Zion unprofitable to operate?
3. Why does Exelon Corporation refuse to release its financial calculations as to why the decision was made to shutter the The Zion Station in 1998 and then kept shuttered until its transfer to Zion Solutions for decommissioning in 2010?
4. If considered feasible to construct the Dual Zion Plant, which was fully paid by rate-payers, why after only 24 years and 7 months of commercial operation for the First Unit and 24 years and 7 months for Unit 2 did Exelon make the decision that both units were no longer needed? Although the 40-year operational licenses were due to expire in 2012 and 2013, leaving each unit less than 15 years of remaining commercial operation in which to recover the investment required for repair, licenses are now routinely extended by the NRC for an additional 30 years of operation.
5. What is the hurry to dismantle the two nuclear reactors when up to 60 years is permitted? A 10-year time frame is way too optimistic for a first-time project of a size never before attempted.
6. Who is going to look after the interests of the ratepayers to make sure the decommissioning is done at the lowest possible cost in order to protect the ratepayer's interest in residual (if any) in the decommissioning fund? Informed it was not the role of the NRC. Safety is its only concern.
7. Is there a "watch dog" group to observe that the Decommissioning Trust Fund will be spent prudently? Informed there is not a "watch dog" group to keep tabs on the fund.
8. How much of Zion's 257-acre land front site will be unrestricted and opened to the public when decommissioning is completed?
9. What is the relationship between Commonwealth Edison Company and Exelon Corporation? Aren't the two really the same entity, as Commonwealth Edison has not split and there is but one symbol on the NYSE for both Commonwealth Edison and Exelon Corporation?
Where is citizen concern over the wasting of Zion? It wasn't apparent at the NRC Zion meetings given the meager attendance at the two Feb. 22nd hearings, less than a handful at each.
The cost and physical limitations of solar and wind are prohibitive and impractical for mass production of energy. Nuclear is cheap and also serves as an economic stimulus. When the Zion Plant was closed, the economic situation in Zion went from good to bad. Since then Zion has struggled with budgetary shortfalls.
The growth in overall U.S. electricity demand is expected to increase by as much as 30 percent over the next 25 years. Citizens should be outraged and demand answers from their elected representatives, while at the same time advocating to save Zion!
It is insane to waste 2100 MW's of energy that a refurbished Zion Plant could provide. Nuclear Plants produce zero emissions of any harmful greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides. It is a clean energy which gives the biggest bang for the buck.
