Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Citizens Resistance at Fermi II CRAFT Times Vol. I No. 5 May 2014



Greetings,
Jessie here. After the refueling outage, Fermi was not able to get above 83% power due to another leak in the transformer that was repaired during the outage. So, on the 16th, they went back down and replaced the transformer. Started firing it back up on Earth Day, and was at 94 % on April 30.
While the Emergency Evacuation Exercise at Fermi 2 last month was not open to the public, a FEMA recap of the event is. It will be held at the FEMA Monroe Co. Operations Center at 987 Rasinville Rd., Monroe, Friday, May 2nd at 11 am.
One NRC document this month showed DTE only has $2.75 billion dollars in insurance on Fermi for “Property damage and decontamination coverage.” Surely less than three billion would not cover an accident, in which a 50-mile radius would take in Detroit, Toledo, Windsor, and all peoples in between. Fukushima clean-up is already in the trillions and not completed yet.
Our booth at the Monroe Earth Fest was a success! Jim’s bicycle one pedals to make electricity was the hit of the event. Congratulations to Mary Notario, who won the quilt we raffled.

Bad Parts at Fermi
GE Hitachi has provided several reactors with defective parts (Scram Solenoid Pilot Valves), Fermi included. The parts, “…which has been observed to impair control rod scram performance.”
Of the 399 defective valves sold, 162 are installed at Fermi. According to the NRC, it was Fermi who sent back the first bad valve to GE. Then when a west coast reactor sent another one back, GE took notice and declared all 399 valves suspect.


Sources say the other 160 at Fermi were checked during the fuel outage and are fine. We hope.
Then Baldor Electric manufactured 2 bad motors, and one of them is installed at Fermi. Baldor recommends Fermi keep using the motor until they can make and ship another one.

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Fermi’s License to 2045?
DTE has filed a notice that they will officially request that Fermi 2’s license be extended to 2045 instead of expiring in 2025.
We oppose that move, and have included in this newsletter a petition against it. Please gather what signatures you can, and then snail mail it back. We can fill up any partial petitions and deliver them to the NRC whenever a public hearing is held.


Stop Nuclear Waste on Lake Huron
Dr. Gordon Edwards was in Michigan seeking help to stop a nuclear waste dump from being built on the shores of Lake Huron. The plan calls for them to bury the waste and then “abandon” it.
We fool ourselves in thinking the nuclear waste problem will be solved once all the reactors are shut down. That will be the beginning, not the end,” said Edwards at the Detroit meeting.
Edwards also spoke in Monroe and Port Huron.

DTE files for NPDES Renewal
DTE Energy applied to the MI Dept. of Envir. Qual. for renewal of Fermi 2’s National Pollutants Discharge Elimination Systems permit.
Unlike other states, Michigan administers the chemical discharges instead of the US Environmental Protection Agency.
The permit application states, “Water discharges from the plant as a result of electric power generation and support processes include: cooling tower blow down, reverse osmosis wastes, chemical and non-chemical metal cleaning wastes, processed radwaste waste, low volume wastes, storm water runoff, treated oily wastewater, intake and strainer backwash water, firefighting system pressurization water, settled water from dredge material storage, and sanitary waste water.”
I hope someone will formally request a public hearing on the permit renewal.

Security Breach
NRC inspectors held a meeting with DTE after citing them (Feb. 6) for a security breach that might have allowed unauthorized people access to the reactor and control room.
Security was tightened, as we are glad to know.


No nukes are good nukes!
Nuclear Regulatory Commission F-2 Notifications Received in April
March 26. DTE letter requesting a conference regarding a “greater than Green” violation.
March 27. DTE letter showing a total of $2.75 billion dollars insurance for Fermi.
April 2. NRC to Nuclear Information Resource Services, denying the petition to extend evacuation zones. “current…will provide an adequate level of protection…”
April 9. Event # 50017. Baldor Electric shipped a defective motor to DTE that was installed during their refueling outage.
April 18. NRC grants license amendment no. 198 re: Control Room Habitability. In the Nuke speak, Fermi workers no longer have to “visually inspect silicone sealant on accessible portions of CREF system duct work outside the control room…”
If you wish any of these notifications, email me at shutdownfermi@gmail.com , and I will send link.


Groups Oppose Davis Besse License
On Earth Day, a coalition of environmental groups called for Davis Besse to be shut down on Earth Day 2017, when its license expires. The groups cited renewables as ready replacements for the long troubled Ohio nuclear reactor.
First Energy Nuclear Operating Co. has proposed a 20-year license extension on the reactor, despite one problem after another. For example, on Feb. 14th, the NRC found a crack in the Shield Building, which they termed “a void condition.”


Rocking N the Radiation Zone
CRAFT has teamed up with the Alliance to Halt Fermi 3 and PEACENICK to hold a series of musical concerts within the 50 mile Fermi radius.
The first will be held July 19th at The New Dodge in Hamtramck. The headliners will a blues band. Several other bands are being confirmed. Check out our June issue for details.

Fermi 2 Emergency Evacuation
NRC has denied Petition to made modest improvements in Emergency Planning. The petition was filed on behalf of 3,000 groups, CRAFT among them.
Almost 6,000 people urged the government to do so, because the ten mile zone around a nuclear reactor is a joke, and should be a criminal act.
All is well, they continue to tell us – no changes needed..


March 10, 2014. R.I.P. Dr. Judith Johnsrud. 1931-2014. A tireless and dedicated activist for a nuclear-free world.

Save the Date!!

Save The Date!
May 2. FEMA meeting to recap the Emergency Evacuation Exercise. 11 am.
May 22. NRC End of Cycle Public Meeting at 6 p.m.
July 19. Rocking N the Radiation Zone Concert at New Dodge.
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