Atomic Graveyards: The Tragic Legacy of Commercial Nuclear Power
Prologue: Fair Compensation
Before I get to my statement, I just want to urge everyone
that reads this to contact your Congressperson or Senator and urge them to support
these bills:
H.R.3731 — 117th Congress (2021-2022) STRANDED Act
of 2021 To assist communities affected by stranded nuclear
waste, and for other purposes. Introduced by Representative Brad Schneider [D-IL-10].
S.1290 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)
STRANDED Act of 2021. Introduced by Senator Tammy Duckworth [D-IL].
Almost 40 years ago the U.S. Government promised communities
with nuclear power plants, who are now or will be forced to host nuclear waste
storage for decades, that they would receive impact fees to offset the negative
economic and societal effects of that storage.
Now is the time to keep that promise.
Atomic Necropolis
On the Illinois shore of Lake Michigan, there is a monument of
sorts in the form of sixty-one massive concrete cylinders, each weighing 100
tons. Within these modern sarcophagi are
entombed one thousand metric tons of spent nuclear fuel, all that remains of
the Zion Nuclear Power Station.
 |
| ISFSI Dry Casks staged for fuel loading at Zion - author photo |
The Zion 1 and 2 pressurized water reactors operated from
1973 until 1998 when the plant was permanently shut down. The sudden closure of
the largest employer in town was a major blow to the economy of the city, which
was soon compounded by the loss of an estimated $19 million in annual tax
revenue. The crippling impact of that revenue
loss is still being felt even now, twenty-three years later, in severely reduced
city services, and high property taxes for homeowners.
These power plants were constructed with the optimistic
promise of prosperity; that the potential risks of nuclear power were balanced
by the economic benefits of jobs and tax revenue that they could bring. When the plants are gone, as they all will be
someday, the benefits will be gone with them and all that will be left behind
is the risk of storing thousands of tons of radioactive waste that will remain
lethal for the next 10,000 years.
As it stands now, every city, township, borough, village, or
county that currently has or had a nuclear power plant in its bounds will be
left with a legacy of spent nuclear fuel in their backyard for a lifetime.
That is not a euphemism; as each power plant comes to the
end of its useful life, the fuel rods will be removed and placed in pools of
water to cool down over period of years.
When the rods are cool enough that they can be handled by robots they
are then placed in sealed stainless-steel containers, which are then entombed
in cylindrical concrete casks, and placed on a storage pad at the site of the
former power plant. These independent
spent fuel storage installations (ISFSI) are described as temporary in nature,
until a permanent storage site can be selected and constructed.
Currently, there is no permanent geological storage site for
the most dangerous radioactive waste created by our current fleet of commercial
nuclear power plants. According to a
2012 study “GAO-12-797: Spent Nuclear Fuel - Accumulating Quantities at
Commercial Reactors Present Storage and Other Challenges”, the earliest an
alternative to the shuttered Yucca Mountain site might open would be 2052. That means that if a site were already approved
at the time of the report and construction started, it would take forty years
before the first container of nuclear waste could be accepted. Using that baseline, if construction started
right now, opening day might fall sometime around the year 2062.
The oldest ISFSI casks are about thirty years old now, and
the estimated lifespan of a cask is somewhere between fifty and one hundred
years at the outside. But that is just an estimate.
When we start measuring by half-centuries on the human scale
that is a lifetime by any definition.
Before the end of this century there will be storage sites in
thirty-three states across the U.S., containing over 140,000 metric tons of lethal
radioactive waste. Much of which will remain
in the backyards of small-town America.
As I read through the list of these places, London, Arkansas
(pop. 769), Southport, North Carolina (pop. 3,828), Palo, Iowa (pop. 1,026), Jenkinsville,
South Carolina (pop. 56), other larger towns like Zion, or even places with no
name, I wonder if they knew the bargain that they’d made when the plant was constructed
would leave a burden on their communities for generations to come when it
closed.
At its heart, this is a political problem created by the
failure of Congress to act on the creation of a permanent national nuclear
storage site. Until that impasse is
resolved, there is a clear moral imperative that the communities who are now or
soon will bear the burden of hosting a nuclear waste storage site should be
fairly compensated for that role as was promised.
Over the past several years the City of Zion has been at the
forefront of making the case for fair nuclear host compensation by bringing the
issue to the attention of our State and Federal representatives and pushing for
legislation that would distribute impact assistance payments to those
communities at a rate of $15 per kilogram of spent nuclear fuel as established
by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 20 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.).
As I stated previously, currently there are two bills that have been introduced in
the House of Representatives and the Senate that address this issue.
H.R.3731 — 117th Congress (2021-2022) STRANDED Act
of 2021 To assist communities affected by stranded nuclear
waste, and for other purposes. Introduced by Representative Brad Schneider [D-IL-10].
S.1290 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)
STRANDED Act of 2021. Introduced by Senator Tammy Duckworth [D-IL].
Although limited in scope and duration I believe that
passage of the STRANDED Act would not only benefit towns like Zion that are
already hosting a storage site, but by establishing a precedent for future nuclear
plant decommissions that will help those communities avoid the economic pitfalls
that we have endured.
The question remains whether sixty-six Senators and
fifty-nine House Representatives who currently serve constituents living near
active or decommissioned nuclear power plants will support this legislation. If you live in these states, and especially
if you live near an existing storage site, or a power plant that will become a
storage site, urge your Representatives and Senators to support this
legislation not only for today but for the future.
Senators of States with Nuclear Power Plants or storage sites:
|
State |
Senator |
Phone |
Twitter |
|
AL |
Richard C. Shelby |
(202) 224-5744 |
@SenShelby |
|
AL |
Tommy Tuberville |
(202) 224-4124 |
@SenTuberville |
|
AR |
John Boozman |
(202) 224-4843 |
@JohnBoozman |
|
AR |
Tom Cotton |
(202) 224-2353 |
@SenTomCotton |
|
AZ |
Mark Kelly |
(202) 224-2235 |
@SenMarkKelly |
|
AZ |
Kyrsten Sinema |
(202) 224-4521 |
@SenatorSinema |
|
CA |
Alex Padilla |
(202) 224-3553 |
@SenAlexPadilla |
|
CA |
Dianne Feinstein |
(202) 224-3841 |
@SenFeinstein |
|
CT |
Richard Bluemnthal |
(202) 224-2823 |
@SenBlumenthal |
|
CT |
Christopher Murphy |
(202) 224-4041 |
@ChrisMurphyCT |
|
FL |
Marco Rubio |
(202) 224-3041 |
@marcorubio |
|
FL |
Rick Scott |
(202) 224-5274 |
@SenRickScott |
|
GA |
Jon Ossoff |
(202) 224-3521 |
@ossoff |
|
GA |
Raphael G. Warnock |
(202) 224-3643 |
@SenatorWarnock |
|
IA |
Joni Ernst |
(202) 224-3254 |
@SenJoniErnst |
|
IA |
Chuck Grassley |
(202) 224-3744 |
@ChuckGrassley |
|
IL |
Tammy Duckworth |
(202) 224-2854 |
@SenDuckworth |
|
IL |
Richard Durbin |
(202) 224-2152 |
@SenatorDurbin |
|
KS |
Jerry Moran |
(202) 224-6521 |
@JerryMoran |
|
KS |
Roger Marshall |
(202) 224-4774 |
@RogerMarshallMD |
|
LA |
Bill Cassidy |
(202) 224-5824 |
@SenBillCassidy |
|
LA |
John Kennedy |
(202) 224-4623 |
@SenJohnKennedy |
|
MA |
Edward J. Markey |
(202) 224-2742 |
@SenMarkey |
|
MA |
Elizabeth Warren |
(202) 224-4543 |
@SenWarren |
|
MD |
Benjamin L. Cardin |
(202) 224-4524 |
@SenatorCardin |
|
MD |
Chris Van Hollen |
(202) 224-4654 |
@ChrisVanHollen |
|
ME |
Susan M. Collins |
(202) 224-2523 |
@SenatorCollins |
|
ME |
Angus S. King, Jr |
(202) 224-5344 |
@SenAngusKing |
|
MI |
Debbie Stabenow |
(202) 224-4822 |
@SenStabenow |
|
MI |
Gary C. Peters |
(202) 224-6221 |
@SenGaryPeters |
|
MN |
Amy Klobuchar |
(202) 224-3244 |
@SenAmyKlobuchar |
|
MN |
Tina Smith |
(202) 224-5641 |
@SenTinaSmith |
|
MO |
Roy Blunt |
(202) 224-5721 |
@RoyBlunt |
|
MO |
Josh Hawley |
(202) 224-6154 |
@HawleyMO |
|
MS |
Roger F. Wicker |
(202) 224-6253 |
@SenatorWicker |
|
MS |
Cindy Hyde-Smith |
(202) 224-5054 |
@SenHydeSmith |
|
NC |
Richard Burr |
(202) 224-3154 |
@SenatorBurr |
|
NC |
Thom Tillis |
(202) 224-6342 |
@SenThomTillis |
|
NE |
Deb Fischer |
(202) 224-6551 |
@SenatorFischer |
|
NE |
Ben Sasse |
(202) 224-4224 |
@SenSasse |
|
NH |
Jeanne Shaheen |
(202) 224-2841 |
@SenatorShaheen |
|
NH |
Margaret Wood Hassan |
(202) 224-3324 |
@SenatorHassan |
|
NJ |
Robert Menendez |
(202) 224-4744 |
@SenatorMenendez |
|
NJ |
Cory A. Booker |
(202) 224-3224 |
@CoryBooker |
|
NY |
Charles E. Schumer |
(202) 224-6542 |
@SenSchumer |
|
NY |
Kirsten E. Gillibrand |
(202) 224-4451 |
@gillibrandny |
|
OH |
Sherrod Brown |
(202) 224-2315 |
@SenSherrodBrown |
|
OH |
Rob Portman |
(202) 224-3353 |
@senrobportman |
|
OR |
Ron Wyden |
(202) 224-5244 |
@RonWyden |
|
OR |
Jeff Merkley |
(202) 224-3753 |
@SenJeffMerkley |
|
PA |
Robert Casey Jr |
(202) 224-6324 |
@SenBobCasey |
|
PA |
Patrick Toomey |
(202) 224-4254 |
@SenToomey |
|
SC |
Lindsey Graham |
(202) 224-5972 |
@LindseyGrahamSC |
|
SC |
Tim Scott |
(202) 224-6121 |
@SenatorTimScott |
|
TN |
Marsha Blackburn |
(202) 224-3344 |
@MarshaBlackburn |
|
TN |
Bill Hagerty |
(202) 224-4944 |
@SenatorHagerty |
|
TX |
John Cornyn |
(202) 224-2934 |
@JohnCornyn |
|
TX |
Ted Cruz |
(202) 224-5922 |
@SenTedCruz |
|
VA |
Mark Warner |
(202) 224-2023 |
@MarkWarner |
|
VA |
Tim Kaine |
(202) 224-4024 |
@timkaine |
|
VT |
Bernard Sanders |
(202) 224-5141 |
@BernieSanders |
|
VT |
Patrick J. Leahy |
(202) 224-4242 |
@SenatorLeahy |
|
WA |
Patty Murray |
(202) 224-2621 |
@PattyMurray |
|
WA |
Maria Cantwell |
(202) 224-3441 |
@SenatorCantwell |
|
WI |
Ron Johnson |
(202) 224-5323 |
@SenRonJohnson |
|
WI |
Tammy Baldwin |
(202) 224-5653 |
@SenatorBaldwin |
Congressional Representatives of House Districts with Nuclear Power Plants or storage sites.
|
US House Dist |
US House Member |
House Phone No |
Twitter |
|
|
AL |
AL 2 |
Barry Moore |
(202) 225-2901 |
@RepBarryMoore |
|
AL |
AL 5 |
Mo Brooks |
(202) 225-4801 |
@RepMoBrooks |
|
AR |
AR 3 |
Steve Womak |
(202) 225-4301 |
@rep_stevewomack |
|
AZ |
AZ 3 |
Raul M. Grijalva |
(202) 225-2435 |
@RepRaulGrijalva |
|
CA |
CA 15 |
Eric Swallwell |
(202) 225-5065 |
@RepSwalwell |
|
CA |
CA 2 |
Jared Huffman |
(202) 225-5161 |
@RepHuffman |
|
CA |
CA 24 |
Salud Carbajal |
(202) 225-3601 |
@RepCarbajal |
|
CA |
CA 49 |
Mike Levin |
(202) 225-3906 |
@RepMikeLevin |
|
CT |
CT 2 |
Joe Courtney |
(202) 225-2076 |
@RepJoeCourtney |
|
FL |
FL 18 |
Brian J. Mast |
(202)225-3026 |
@RepBrianMast |
|
FL |
FL 26 |
Carlos A. Gimenez |
(202) 225-2778 |
@RepCarlos |
|
FL |
FL11 |
Daniel Webster |
(202) 225-1002 |
@RepWebster |
|
GA |
GA 12 |
Rick W. Allen |
(202) 225-2823 |
@RepRickAllen |
|
IA |
IA 1 |
Ashley Hinson |
(202) 225-2911 |
@RepAshleyHinson |
|
IL |
IL 13 |
Rodney Davis |
(202) 225-2371 |
@RodneyDavis |
|
IL |
IL 16 |
Adam Kinzinger |
(202) 225-3635 |
@RepKinzinger |
|
IL |
IL 17 |
Cheri Bustos |
(202)225-5905 |
@RepCheri |
|
KS |
KS 2 |
Jake LaTurner |
(202) 225-6601 |
@RepLaTurner |
|
LA |
LA 2 |
Troy A. Carter |
(202) 225-6636 |
@RepTroyCarter |
|
LA |
LA 5 |
Julia Letlow |
(202) 225-8490 |
@repjulialetlow |
|
MA |
MA 9 |
William R. Keating |
(202) 225-3111 |
@USRepKeating |
|
MD |
MD 5 |
Steny H. Hoyer |
(202) 225-4131 |
@StenyHoyer |
|
MI |
MI 6 |
Fred Upton |
(202) 225-3761 |
@RepFredUpton |
|
MI |
MI 7 |
Tim Walberg |
(202) 225-6276 |
@RepWalberg |
|
MN |
MN 6 |
Tom Emmer |
(202) 225-2331 |
@RepTomEmmer |
|
MN |
MN2 |
Angie Craig |
(202) 225-2271 |
@RepAngieCraig |
|
MO |
MO 3 |
Blaine Luetkemeyer |
(202) 225-2956 |
@RepBlaine |
|
MS |
MS 2 |
Bennie G. Thompson |
(202) 225-5876 |
@RepBennieGThompson |
|
NC |
NC 12 |
Alma S. Adams |
(202) 225-1510 |
@RepAdams |
|
NC |
NC 2 |
Deborah K. Ross |
(202) 225-3032 |
@RepDeborahRoss |
|
NC |
NC 7 |
David Rouzer |
(202) 225-2731 |
@RepDavidRouzer |
|
NE |
NE 1 |
Jeff Fortenberry |
(202) 225-4806 |
@JeffFortenberry |
|
NE |
NE 3 |
Adrian Smith |
(202) 225-6435 |
@RepAdrianSmith |
|
NH |
NH 1 |
Chris Pappas |
(202) 225-5456 |
@RepChrisPappas |
|
NJ |
NJ 2 |
Jefferson Van Drew |
(202) 225-6572 |
|
|
NJ |
NJ 3 |
Andy Kim |
(202) 225-4765 |
@RepAndyKimNJ |
|
NY |
NY 17 |
Mondaire Jones |
(202) 225-6506 |
@RepMondaire |
|
NY |
NY 24 |
John Katko |
(202) 225-3701 |
@RepJohnKatko |
|
OH |
OH 14 |
David P. Joyce |
(202) 225-5731 |
@RepDaveJoyce |
|
OH |
OH 5 |
Robert E. Latta |
(202) 225-6405 |
@boblatta |
|
PA |
PA 10 |
Scott Perry |
(202) 225-5836 |
@RepScottPerry |
|
PA |
PA 16 |
Mike Kelly |
(202) 225-5406 |
@MikeKellyPA |
|
PA |
PA 17 |
Conor Lamb |
(202) 225-2301 |
@RepConorLamb |
|
PA |
PA 4 |
Madeleine Dean |
(202) 225-4731 |
@RepDean |
|
PA |
PA 9 |
Daniel Mueser |
(202) 225-6511 |
|
|
SC |
SC 3 |
Jeff Duncan |
(202) 225-5301 |
@RepJeffDuncan |
|
SC |
SC 5 |
Ralph Norman |
(202) 225-5501 |
@RepRalphNorman |
|
SC |
SC 7 |
Tom Rice |
(202) 225-9895 |
@RepTomRice |
|
TN |
TN 3 |
Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann |
(202) 225-3271 |
@RepChuck |
|
TN |
TN 4 |
Scott DesJarlais |
(202) 225-6831 |
@DesJarlaisTN04 |
|
TX |
TX 25 |
Roger Williams |
(202) 225-9896 |
@RepRWilliams |
|
TX |
TX 27 |
Michael Cloud |
(202) 225-7742 |
@RepCloudTX |
|
VA |
VA 4 |
A. Donald McEachin |
(202) 225-6365 |
@RepMcEachin |
|
VA |
VA 7 |
Abagail Davis Spanberger |
(202) 225-2815 |
@RepSpanberger |
|
VT |
At Large |
Peter Welch |
(202) 225-4115 |
@PeterWelch |
|
WA |
WA 5 |
Dan Newhouse |
(202) 225-5816 |
@RepNewhouse |
|
WI |
WI 3 |
Ron Kind |
(202) 225-5506 |
@RepRonKind |
|
WI |
WI 6 |
Glenn Grothman |
(202) 225-2476 |
@RepGrothman |
|
WI |
WI 8 |
Mike Gallagher |
(202) 225-5665 |
@RepGallagher |
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