Nuclear Power Wins Site Approval

Nuclear Power Wins Site Approval



March 2007 - The Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission Thursday approved the first Early Site Permit for a 
nuclear power plant - demonstrating a new and previously 
untested licensing process for locating new nuclear plants in 
the United States. Critics say new nuclear plants are not 
needed if energy conservation is implemented. 
The approval - for Exelon Generation Company's Clinton site, 
in central Illinois - was hailed by U.S. Energy Secretary 
Samuel Bodman as "a major milestone" in the Bush 
administration's plan to expand the use of nuclear power. 
"NRC approval of the Clinton Early Site Permit represents a 
major accomplishment in this administration’s effort to 
address the barriers and stimulate deployment of new nuclear 
power plants in the United States," Bodman said. 
"By demonstrating effectiveness and predictability in the 
licensing process, utilities will have the information they 
need to make sound business decisions that can lead to the 
construction of new nuclear power plants," he said. 
The Early Site Permit resolves environmental, site suitability 
and emergency planning issues with regard to the possible 
construction and operation of a new nuclear plant next to the 
Clinton Power Station in Clinton, Illinois. Exelon has not 
decided to move forward with building a new nuclear plant. 
The Clinton Power Station is located in central Illinois with 
Bloomington/Normal to the north, Champaign/Urbana to the east, 
and Decatur to the south. Built on a 14,300-acre site, it 
began operating in 1987. 
The Early Site Permit process was established by the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, NRC, in 1989 for utilities to complete 
the site and environmental evaluations before a decision is 
made to build a nuclear plant. 
Once issued, the permit is valid for 20 years and can be used 
in conjunction with a subsequent combined Construction and 
Operating License application. 
"This the last major hurdle in the process. We are very 
pleased with how the early site permit process has 
progressed," said Marilyn Kray, Exelon Nuclear vice president 
of project manager, who has piloted the process for the 
company. 
Exelon is now waiting for the NRC staff to issue the permit, 
which must occur within 10 days of the commission's vote. 
The 20 year permit allows Exelon to "bank" the site for a 
possible power plant, said Kray, but it does not authorize 
construction of a new plant. Should the company decide to 
build a power plant, it would need to apply for a combined 
operating license. 
"Certain conditions would have to fall into place before 
Exelon would consider building a plant - a workable solution 
to the spent fuel disposal problem; community acceptance; the 
right reactor technology; and the economics must be 
favorable," Kray said. 
This Early Site Permit approval is the culmination of a four 
year, cost shared project between the Department of Energy and 
the Exelon Corporation, based in Chicago. 
Exelon submitted their Early Site Permit application, which 
includes a Site Safety Analysis Report, an Environmental 
Report, and an Emergency Plan, to the NRC in September 2003. 
The NRC issued the Final Safety Evaluation Report in May 2006, 
the Final Environmental Impact Statement in July 2006, and the 
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hearings concluded in early 
November 2006. 
In addition to its partnership with Exelon, the Energy 
Department has partnered with two other companies, Entergy and 
Dominion Energy, to demonstrate the process. 
A decision on the Entergy Grand Gulf Early Site Permit is 
expected within the month, and later this year the decision on 
Dominion’s North Anna Early Site Permit is expected. 
The NRC vote supports the Energy Department's Nuclear Power 
2010 program, a joint government-industry cost shared effort 
to identify sites for new nuclear power plants; develop and 
bring to market advanced nuclear plant technologies; evaluate 
the business case for building new nuclear power plants and; 
demonstrate untested regulatory processes. 
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman testifies before the House 
Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy, Water, and Related 
Agencies about the department's FY’08 budget request 
President Bush's Fiscal Year 2008 budget requests $874.2 
million, a 38.2 percent increase over the FY'07 request, for 
theOffice of Nuclear Energy. 
Of that request, $114 million has been allocated to complete 
the remaining Early Site Permit demonstration projects and 
continue the New Nuclear Plant Licensing Demonstration 
projects. 
Paul Leventhal, the long-time head of the nongovernmental 
Nuclear Control Institute, NCI, says there is "ample evidence" 
that "conservation alone could eliminate the need for the 
existing fleet of nuclear power plants, let alone new ones." 
Before establishing NCI, based in Washington, DC, Leventhal 
held senior staff positions in the U.S. Senate on nuclear 
power and proliferation issues. He served as co-director of 
the bipartisan Senate Special Investigation of the Three Mile 
Island Nuclear Accident, and helped to draft the 1974 
legislation that established the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission. 
"The public has yet to be heard from," said Leventhal. "The 
NRC is going to grant permits at existing sites assuming that 
these commmunities have already accepted nuclear power plants. 
If there was an accident, that could change overnight." 
He is critical of the NRC's close working relationship with 
the nuclear industry, saying that the "NRC could be perceived 
as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Energy Institute," 
a nuclear industry association. 
Nuclear Energy Institute’s president and chief executive 
officer, Frank "Skip" Bowman, said Thursday, "History will 
record this day as one of the early milestones in the era of 
new nuclear power plant construction in the United States. 
Approval of the Clinton early site permit application by the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission – the first such siting permit 
in the agency’s history – is a momentous occurrence." 
"Site pre-approval provided through the early site permit 
process holds the potential to shorten the time required to 
bring a new nuclear power plant to market," said Bowman. 
"As our nation seeks to increase its reliance on nuclear 
energy to strengthen U.S. energy diversity and security with a 
reliable electricity source that keeps the air clean, today’s 
action marks a promising day for a brighter energy future for 
the American people," he said. 
Leventhal said, "The nuclear renaissance is in the eyes of the 
beholder. The administration has tried to build a solid case 
for nuclear power based on global warming and electricity 
needs beyond current capacity." But, in his view, the risks 
outweigh the benefits. 
"I'm not anti-nuclear, and I have taken a neutral position on 
nuclear power," Leventhal said. "It can be accpetable if it is 
operated as safely as humanly possible." 
"But nuclear power plants in today's security environment 
should be regarded as strategic targets in the United States 
with the fullest protection the federal government can 
provide," Leventhal said. "They should be protected with 
ground to air missiles integrated into both the military and 
the Federal Aviation Administration systems with careful 
command and control systems. There may have to be permanent 
troops or special federal protection forces." 
But Leventhal says the industry opposes the federal government 
stepping in because it might alarm the public into recognizing 
that nuclear power plants are vulnerable. "So you have nuclear 
power plants protected by rent-a-cops." 
Energy Secretary Bodman characterizes nuclear power as "clean" 
and "safe" and says "nuclear power will play an increasingly 
important role as the demand for electricity grows worldwide." 

"Government's role is to create an environment in which clean 
energy can flourish, and I'm proud to say that we're helping 
doing just that," said Bodman Thursday. 
But Leventhal is not reassured. "There's lots of loosey, 
goosey stuff that makes plants vulnerable to attack," he said. 
"The public doesn't want to know, they're in denial." 
"We cannot today protect against an attack like 911," 
Leventhal warned. "If plants are hit in the big metropolitan 
areas such as Chicago or New York, the effects would be 
catastrophic, rendering these cities uninhabitable." 





 

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