Nuclear power plant watchdog group applauds Markey, Warren letter - Eagle-Tribune

Nuclear power plant watchdog group applauds Markey, Warren letter | Local News | newburyportnews.com

AMESBURY — Concerned about potential increased risks with plant owner NextEra’s proposal to decrease and relocate emergency response staff, local advocacy group C-10 has been meeting with elected officials to brief them on the plan.

Now, C-10 is applauding Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren for their Dec. 21 letter that expressed concern for the proposed changes, especially in light of the plant’s degraded concrete.

Seabrook Station nuclear plant owner NextEra seeks to consolidate the emergency response personnel at Seabrook Station and three other nuclear plants they own across the country. The proposed changes include reducing many of the on-site staff responsible for mitigating an emergency and forming a single response team for all four plants that would operate from a remote office location in Juno Beach, Fla., which is more than 1,000 miles away from Seabrook.

“There is no other nuclear power plant operator that has been permitted to move their emergency response personnel over 1,000 miles away, so all these other nuclear plant operators are able to maintain on-site or nearby emergency response teams. Why should our local communities bear the burden of decreased safety so NextEra can be the exception simply for the sake of increasing their profits? We are grateful to Senators Markey and Warren for going to bat for what is right for their constituents,” C-10 Executive Director Sarah Abramson said.

Markey and Warren issued a joint letter on Dec. 21, saying that the reduced plan “... could compromise the ability to respond effectively to emergencies, putting the safety of the surrounding communities at risk. In light of these concerns, we urge the NRC to thoroughly evaluate the potential consequences of NextEra’s LAR and avoid approving any new plan that will increase safety risks to nearby communities. As part of this consideration, we ask NRC to assess the specific challenges posed by the distance between the proposed off-site emergency response facility and Seabrook Station, as well as the history of violations and concrete degradation at the Seabrook site.”

Seabrook Station is a nuclear plant situated on the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border whose 10-mile emergency planning zone includes those living in the six Massachusetts communities and 18 towns in New Hampshire, and the 50-mile ingestion zone covers millions more, including Boston residents.

These proposed cuts to Seabrook Station’s resources must be reviewed and approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and FEMA must also be consulted. C-10 Research & Education Foundation has been watching this issue since NextEra held preliminary meetings about it in early 2022, and the NRC is due to deliver a decision to approve or deny these emergency plan cuts next month.

Markey and Warren have been historical champions of nuclear safety while also balancing an interest in supporting nuclear innovation.

When the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issues its decision in January, there will be a public comment period before the ruling is finalized.

“C-10 is the advocate for the public, and we will do everything we can, whether it be meeting with elected officials, submitting public comments, demanding public hearings, or anything else. We have to keep emergency resources at this plant at current levels at the very least. With the alkali-silica reaction literally eating away at the concrete of the plant, repeat fire-safety issues in the last few years, and climate change battering the plant with sea level rise and more frequent and severe storms, it makes zero sense to make cuts like this,” Abramson said.

The C-10 Education and Research Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect public health and the environment surrounding the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant in coastal New Hampshire. To learn more about C-10, visit C-10.ORG or its page on Facebook.