By Jim Adams
Twenty-two years after shutdown, PG&E's Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant may become the first commercial reactor to be dismantled or decommissioned in the US. A major project got underway in September as the 250 ft. tall concrete vent stack began to be demolished.
The utility has also announced its intent to remove 390 spent (irradiated) fuel rods from the pool at the plant, and place them in on-site steel containers called dry casks. For more than a decade, Redwood Alliance has urged PG&E to take this action. This will keep our community safe and allow complete dismantling to take place.
Four miles south of Eureka and adjacent to Humboldt Bay, the Humboldt nuke sits on top of and close to major earthquake faults. The Alliance has worked since 1978 to make sure that the nuclear plant, one of the oldest and dirtiest in the country, would never reopen and will be properly dismantled.
The Alliance intervened this winter before the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the state agency that regulates PG&E, to suggest changes to the utility's decommissioning plan that will protect public health, safety, and environmental quality, as well as save ratepayers money.
The Humboldt reactor operated from 1963 until 1976, when it was shut down for refueling. While idle, a geologist coincidentally documented seismic hazards near the plant. This prompted a lawsuit by local citizens, including State Senate candidate Wesley Chesbro. The reactor was never restarted. Soon after, the plant was placed in "SAFSTOR" (we like to call it UNSAFSTOR) condition.
Redwood Alliance supports PG&E's recent efforts, but wants several modifications to their plans. First, we want assurance that a $156 million (which may grow to $210 million) trust fund earmarked for plant decommissioning is not used for operations and maintenance. Next, we insist that an independent board of consultants oversee the entire process to help prevent what happened in the 1980s when PG&E misspent over $40 million at the Humboldt plant (the Alliance intervened at the PUC, forcing PG&E shareholders to reimburse ratepayers). Finally, the Alliance wants PG&E to develop options for "low-level" waste disposal other than the hypothetical, expensive, and controversial Ward Valley dump planned for the Colorado River area of southeastern California.
The bottom line is the Humboldt nuclear facility must be decommissioned as soon as possible to avoid serious impacts when a major earthquake takes place. The collapse of the concrete stack or severe damage to the spent fuel could wreak havoc on the facility, increase decommissioning costs, contaminate the environment, and imperil public health and safety.
Redwood Alliance has submitted expert testimony on this matter to the PUC and is participating in hearings this fall with a final decision expected in January or February of 1999.