Scarpelli petitions NRC for change in relicensing rules
Mayor says Oyster Creek should be judged on state of county today
BY JENNIFER DOME
Staff Writer

BRICK — Mayor Joseph Scarpelli has decided that, at least where the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant is concerned, compromise may be the best solution.

Scarpelli has been working for some time with local and state environmental groups that are lobbying with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) against relicensing the power plant.

Located on an 800-acre tract in the Forked River section of Lacey Township, Oyster Creek has been in operation since 1969 and is the oldest large-scale commercial nuclear reactor in the United States. The plant’s owner, Exelon Corp., is expected to apply for a 20-year license extension with the NRC to keep the plant running until 2029. The plant’s current license expires in 2009.

Speaking at Brick’s Bayside Park last Thursday, Scarpelli said he will petition the NRC to change their requirements for renewal of the operating license. He said the requirements need to be amended because otherwise, Oyster Creek’s relicensing will be based on standards when the plant opened — 36 years ago.

“We’re taking this approach because we know this approach may be the most viable because of the bureaucracy we have to deal with,” Scarpelli said.

The idea to petition the NRC to change their relicensing requirements was passed on from another elected official, Andrew Spano of Westchester County, N.Y., who is fighting to close the Indian Point nuclear power plant.

“They’re looking at criteria that’s 36-40 years old,” Scarpelli said. “We are petitioning them for change.”

The population growth is one of the biggest changes in Ocean County during the past three decades that the NRC should take into account, Scarpelli said. He said that in 1970 when Oyster Creek came on line, the county’s population was approximately 208,000. Now there are more than 510,000 residents in the county, according to the 2000 Census.

Among the other items that Scarpelli said the NRC should look at when deciding to relicense Oyster Creek are:

• the impact of population growth on local infrastructure;

• changes in technology;

• the age and state of technology for the plant;

• the plant’s safety and security record;

• evacuation plans; and

• storage procedures for spent nuclear waste.

Kelly McNicholas, of the Sierra Club, said most children are taught to think of “safety first.”

“Safety first — and the fact that the federal government is ignoring that is just a disgrace,” McNicholas said.

The Sierra Club, the New Jersey Environmental Federation, the New Jersey Public Information Research Group and Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch, among other groups, said they support Scarpelli’s petition.

“Anything that we can do to nudge the NRC to change their requirements, because they’re so outdated, should be done,” said Grace Costanzo of the Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch.

Scarpelli has supported shutting down the plant altogether. However, he said he believes the plant would not pass inspection if the NRC adopts the additions he’s proposed.

“The NRC should be the toughest agency in Washington [D.C.],” Scarpelli said. “[But] they have the reputation of being a rubber stamp for the nuclear power industry.”

In December, Brick hosted a hearing for the state Assembly’s Environment and Solid Waste Committee during which plant executives, plant union workers and environmental groups presented testimony on both sides of the issue. At that time, the vice president of Exelon’s regional office, Bill Levis, said the plant will undergo rigorous reviews before the federal NRC makes a decision to extend the license or not.

Nuclear power provides 50 percent of the electricity in the state, and Oyster Creek provides electricity for more than 600,000 homes, Levis said. He added that the plant’s evacuation plan has been graded by the NRC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) twice in the past four years and each time it was approved.

Numerous union representatives were present at the December meeting and urged their elected officials to think about the men and women who work at the plant while discussing if Oyster Creek should be shut down.

The Brick Township Council passed a resolution in March 2004 that opposed the plant’s relicensing and called for its immediate closure and decommissioning. At least 13 municipalities in Ocean County support an immediate closure of the reactor, while others just oppose its relicensing.

Only one known municipality, Lacey Township, supports the relicensing.

Scarpelli said he would ask other state officials to join him in signing the petition to the NRC.