Thorny Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Issues: Experts at Forum Friday

CORTLANDT, NY — A daylong forum on the thorniest issues around closing nuclear plants will be held Friday in Garrison. The pending closure of Indian Point (by 2021) is at the front of a wave of aging nuclear plant closures nationwide. The choices decommissioning reactor communities face are as complex as they are consequential not only for local economies and environments, but also for public health and safety, experts say.

Among other things, spent fuel pools at nuclear plants, especially Indian Point, represent some of the highest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet, which need to be secured against dispersal risks.

To help those closing nuclear plants make better informed choices, to publicly air the key issues around decommissioning Indian Point and other Northeast plants, and to help establish decommissioning practices in our region that can serve as a national model, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, The Journal News and the Natural Resources Defense Council are co-sponsoring a unique daylong forum on decommissioning Friday, entitled “When Nuclear Plants Close: A Regional Forum on Nuclear Waste Storage and Decommissioning.”

The event will be held at the Desmond Fish Library in Garrison.

Organizers have worked to assemble the best available independent expertise on high-stakes decommissioning issues we need to start confronting now, such as managing high-level and low-level nuclear waste, on-site storage vs. off-site transport of highly radioactive spent fuel, various timelines and approaches for deconstructing and decommissioning Indian Point and other nuclear plants, adequate financing to prevent burdening taxpayers and ratepayers with the costs, new NRC decommissioning rules, citizen participation and local oversight, and just transition for plant workers and communities.

The forum will also cover case studies of plants across the US and abroad that have been through the decommissioning process, and draw lessons from what worked and what didn’t.

Experts presenting at the forum will be coming from across the US and Canada and will include:

• Bob Alvarez, Senior Scholar,Institute for Policy Studies, formerSenior Policy Advisor to the Department of Energy and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Security and the Environment (invited);
• Gordon Edwards, President,Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and an internationally recognized nuclear expert
• Geoff Fettus, Senior Attorney,Energy & Transportation program, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Paul Gunter,Director, Reactor Oversight Project, Beyond Nuclear
• Al Hill, Mayor of Zion, Illinois which is still struggling with the legacy of a nuclear plant decommissioned in 1998
• Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog,Beyond Nuclear
• Tim Judson, Executive Director, Nuclear Information Resource Service
• Deb Katz, Executive Director,Citizens Awareness Network
• David Kraft,Director, Nuclear Energy Information Service
• Matthew McKinzie,Senior Scientist, Land & Wildlife program, and Director, Nuclear program, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Richard Webster, Legal Director, Riverkeeper

The audience for the briefing will include members of local and state-appointed task forces planning for Indian Point’s closure, elected officials from the New York metropolitan region and Hudson Valley, government agencies, first responders, workers’ unions, civil society groups, and other stakeholders and concerned citizens.

Public seating for the event is full. Video of the forum will be posted within one week on LoHud.com, clearwater.org and NRDC websites.

SEE ALSO:

• Indian Point Closure: Westchester County Exec Sues
  
• New Indian Point Task Force to Handle Closure Issues
  
• Entergy Confirms Indian Point Nuclear Plant Will Close
  
• Indian Point Bolt Replacement, Refueling Done