The Community Advisory Panel (CAP) on Maine Yankee convened for their annual meeting in the Chapman Room on the Chewonki Foundation campus May 20.
Formed in 1997 in the wake of the decision to shutter the controversial nuclear power plant, the CAP has met regularly in the 13 years since the decommissioning process began.
In earlier days, the CAP met monthly as they delved into the minutia of the process decommissioning of an active nuclear power plant.
These days, with the plant now demolished, the biggest remaining morsel on CAP’s plate remains the spent nuclear fuel secured in a dry storage installation on the Wiscasset site.
“It is pretty much the only thing we have left,” said Wayne Norton. “We are done. We have done everything we are supposed to do. We have done it all.”
In a bid to refocus the federal government’s attention on the issue, in 2009 the CAP sent a formal invitation to a Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future to come and tour the site.
The panel was formed in 2009 after President Obama cancelled plans to open the long delayed national repository for spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain, Nev. The panel’s stated goal is to provide “recommendations for developing safe, long term solutions to managing the nation’s used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste.”
Although the commission is well aware of the CAP’s invitation, no decision has been made yet to arrange a site visit, according to Maine Yankee Public and Government Affairs Director Eric Howes.
“We have experience,” said CAP co-chair Don Hudson. “If one of the things that bubbles up of this process is interim storage, that is what we have to offer.”
Last week, Howes told the CAP the Dept. of Energy had filed a motion to withdraw its licensing application for the permanent geologic repository at Yucca Mountain with prejudice, meaning it could not be resubmitted at a later time.
Nuclear Regulatory Staff has recommended the DOE withdraw the motion but not with prejudice. Stakeholders opposing the withdrawal of the application include South Carolina and Washington, Howes said.
Although a resolution was introduced in March opposing the DOE’s action, as of yet there has not been a groundswell of Congressional support for the resolution, Howes said.
Congress approved $196.8 million for the spent nuclear fuels management and disposal program for FY 2010. However, in light of the President’s action, the DOE has begun reprogramming that money to support the termination of the Yucca Mountain site.
In other news, Maine Yankee Vice President and Wiscasset site manager James Connell reported there were no issues related to the federal oversight of Wiscasset in 2009.
Several reports regarding operations and security in that time frame were all positive, Connell said. New security rules for operating reactors became effective in April and NRC staff is currently working on a similar revision rules for Independent Spent Fuel Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations (ISFSI’s), Connell said.
Beginning in June, a section of the security fence around the site will be reconfigured to improve reliability and performance
Additionally, Connell also reported the June sampling of wells on Bailey Point will mark the end of five years of agreement regarding sampling between the state and Maine Yankee.
Twenty two wells on Bailey Point are also analyzed for non-radiological contamination under a groundwater monitoring program overseen by the DEP. Results show low levels of chemical contamination, mainly from dredge spoils and petroleum spills.
