NRC TO DISCUSS DECOMMISSIONING PLAN FOR FERMI NUCLEAR PLANT UNIT 1 AT PUBLIC MEETING JUNE 30, 2009 IN MONROE, MICH
Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff held a public meeting June 30 in Monroe, Mich., to discuss the proposed license termination plan for the Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant, Unit 1.
Meetings
Fermi
Dedicated to stopping another nuclear reactor
Past Meetings:
Meeting with the NRC May 27th, 2009
Discuss Fermi Nuclear Power Plant End-of-Cycle performance for CY2008.
LICENSING BOARD HEARD ORAL ARGUMENT MAY 5 IN
MONROE, MICH., ON FERMI NEW NUCLEAR REACTOR APPLICATION
Videos of this meeting are on this website, on the ASLB meeting page.
Federal hearing set on Fermi 3 opposition
by Charles Slat , last modified April 17. 2009 10:56AM
An environmental coalition's efforts to short-circuit DTE Energy's plans to build a new Fermi 3 nuclear power plant will be the focus of a federal hearing in Monroe next month.
A federal licensing panel will hear arguments May 5 from the groups and from the utility. The coalition portrays a new DTE nuclear plant as a multi-faceted environmental threat. The utility responds that the coalition is engaged in conjecture and also has no legal standing on which to oppose the plant.
"Fermi 3 would represent yet another assault to the Great Lakes," asserts Michael Keegan of Don't Waste Michigan, a Monroe resident who is one of the coalition members. "Fermi 2 has nowhere to get rid of its forever deadly radioactive wastes, and now Detroit Edison wants to make more for the next 60 years at yet another reactor," he said. "This is environmentally, economically and morally bankrupt."
The coalition, consisting of Beyond Nuclear, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan and the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club, outlines its legal contentions against the plant in documents filed with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The contentions are disputed by both the NRC and DTE staffs. The federal Atomic Safety Licensing Board will hold what might be a day-long hearing to consider the coalition and utility arguments in a trial-like setting and later issue a decision that could fuel the opposition or derail it.
In its arguments, the coalition reasserts objections to what it argued would be Fermi 3's radioactive, toxic, and thermal impacts on Lake Erie.
In its responses, DTE disputes the contentions and argues that the coalition hasn't met the test of showing that it risks a "concrete or imminent" injury if the plant construction begins. The utility also claims that instead of presenting facts to bolster its case, the coalition "is doing nothing more than speculating about a hypothetical accident with some likelihood of it impacting themselves."
DTE has requested a federal permit to build and operate a new plant in order to become eligible for a portion of federal financing incentives being made available to encourage plant construction. The utility said it has not yet committed to the project, although it has spent millions preparing and submitting the license application.
"Fermi 3 might make electricity for 60 years, but it would also make a mountain of forever deadly radioactive waste," said Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear, a national watchdog group in Takoma Park, Md. "Fermi 3's radioactive and toxic discharges would endanger Lake Erie, its productive fishereies, area aquifers, and the regional drinking water supply," he added.
The ASLB, a three-judge panel, has scheduled a session at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 5 to hear oral arguments on the coalition's standing and admissibility of issues it has presented regarding Fermi 3. The hearing isn't expected to go beyond 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, Peter Bradford, a former NRC Commissioner and utility regulation expert, will be speak in Monroe from 7 to 9 p.m. April 23 on the economics of nuclear power. His talk will be in the community room of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, 610 W. Elm Ave.
Fermi 3 Application Review Schedule posted 7/15/09
Key Milestones Completion Date
Actual - A
Target - T
Application Tendered 09/18/08 - A
Acceptance Review
Acceptance Review Start 09/18/08 - A
Docketing Decision Letter Issued/Acceptance Review Complete 11/25/08 - A
Review Schedule Established/Schedule Letter Issued to Applicant 06/30/09 - A
Safety Review
Phase 1 - Requests for Additional Information (RAIs) and Supplemental RAIs 06/22/10 - T
Phase 2 - Advanced Final Safety Evaluation Report (SER) without Open Items 05/20/11 - T
Phase 3 - ACRS Review of SER without Open Items 10/11 - T
Phase 4 - Final SER 03/12 - T
Environmental Review
Phase 1 - Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Scoping Summary Report Issued 07/06/09 - A
Phase 2 - EPA Issues Federal Register Notice of Filing for Draft EIS/Draft EIS Complete 08/27/10 - T
Phase 3 - Draft EIS Responses to Public Comments Finalized 02/18/11 - T
Phase 4 - Federal Register Notice of Availability of the FEIS Published/Final EIS Complete 08/11 - T
Hearing
Commission or ASLB hold mandatory hearing
License
Commission decision on issuance of COL application
Information on Federal Register notices for receipt of the application and opportunity to request a hearing or petition to intervene can be found on the Hearing Opportunities page.
