San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (SLOMFP) filed a request for an adjudicatory hearing today on the deficiencies in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Staff's Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Diablo Canyon Spent Fuel Storage Facility. Ordered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the EA sets an important precedent because it constitutes the first time the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has attempted to address the environmental impacts of intentional attacks as required by the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA).

Mothers for Peace spokesperson, Liz Apfelberg, expressed dissatisfaction with the simplistic, eight-page NRC document, which concludes that more detailed environmental analysis is not required because an attack on the spent fuel storage facility would have no significant environmental impacts. "We are outraged that the NRC would attempt to pass off such an inadequate and misleading document as the type of analysis required under NEPA. We demand that the NRC hold a hearing on the gross inadequacy of the EA to justify the agency's refusal to prepare a detailed environmental impact study."

According to SLOMFP attorney, Diane Curran, and security expert, Dr. Gordon Thompson, "The EA is so poorly documented and explained that it is impossible to determine why the NRC decided that the environmental impacts of an intentional attack on the Diablo Canyon spent fuel storage facility are insignificant." Curran added that the NRC's finding of no significant impact is absurd. In fact, a report prepared by Dr. Thompson in support of the hearing request showed that an attack on the spent fuel storage facility could cause widespread radioactive contamination.

SLOMFP hearing request summarizes the shortcomings: The EA rules out credible threat scenarios that could cause significant environmental damage by contaminating the environment; it fails to provide references to scientific or other sources; it uses inexact language without definition; and it distorts and minimizes the environmental impacts of attacks by using hidden and unjustified assumptions.

Background:

On May 31, 2007, the NRC published a Federal Register notice offering the public an opportunity to comment on the Supplement to the Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact Related to the Construction and Operation of the Diablo Canyon Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation which it had issued on May 29, 2007. The EA purports to address the environmental impacts of intentional attacks on the Diablo Canyon spent fuel storage facility, in response to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's decision in San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. NRC. This decision was supported by the U.S. Supreme Court denial of Pacific Gas and Electric's petition for review.

To view a pdf of the hearing request, go to http://mothersforpeace.org/20070629hearingrequest