Nuclear Regulatory Commission Comes to Town

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held a hearing in Fulton. The subject was renewal of license for the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant, owned by Ameren UE. After 20 years in service—half the life of the original license—they’re due for a review, and have requested that the license be extended. My class wanted to go, so we power walked the mile from campus to City Hall. The inspector said he had looked at concrete walls, pipes in air and pipes in water, spigots, valves, screws, tanks, barrels, tubes and gears and declared them “pristine.” He said the concrete structure could survive high winds. Really high winds. He explained there were two full-time inspectors at the plant all the time and also explained that there would be a separate environmental inspection and hearing to discuss such things as what if there’s a really big drought, and the river gets too low to pump out water to cool the system? And, where exactly is the fault line that caused the nation’s biggest earthquake in the early 1800s? And where does the waste go? And, as one student asked, how do you get rid of all that contaminated equipment when it’s decommissioned? The inspector said that the plant is supposed to be taken down to bare dirt. One big surprise for us was how few citizens were at the hearing. My class of 28 college students swelled the crowd to 3 times the size when we came in. You’d think this hearing would draw a crowd. Every winter, the whole county gets a calendar from UE that’s packed with emergency instructions. Long story short: We’re supposed to get in the car and drive on I-70 East, then north on US 54. Oh, please! This idea comes from a map maker that’s never been in the area. If they’d visit here on a football weekend they’d see the highways turn into parking lots.