I attended one of the recent meetings held by the NRC regarding re-licensing the Diablo nuclear power plant.
My question was concerning the fact that radioactive tritium has been found mysteriously leaking from nuclear plants and ending up in groundwater in nearby towns. I did not speak up as the subject was previously mentioned by another concerned citizen. My question would have been and still is: “Has the NRC
gotten any closer to the answer to this?” In Thursday’s Tribune, there was another article about the Vermont Senate voting (26-4) to close Vermont Yankee after 2012. In other words: no re-licensing because of concern over leaking
radioactive tritium.
So far, we do not know if we have the same problem here at Diablo, but with a nuclear plant that is already 30 years old; near at least two seismic faults, and boasting aging piping and equipment, above-ground storage of nuclear waste, and no repository to date, it is of great concern to the residents of this county as to the advisability of re-licensing the plant for another 20 years. And the cost! With billions of taxpayer dollars guaranteed to the nuclear industry and no way for it to guarantee safety of the radioactive waste for millennia, I say this is too much of a gamble to bet on.
This article appears in Mar 4-11, 2010.
