Members of
the Chesapeake Safe Energy Coalition pressed the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission to expand the scope of the environmental impact statement that the
NRC is required to develop as it considers Constellation’s proposal for a new
nuclear reactor in Southern Maryland.
Constellation Energy proposed
building a new nuclear reactor in Southern Maryland in 2006.
If built, the proposed reactor would be the largest nuclear power plant in the
country, and could generate an estimated 1,375 tons of radioactive waste during
its 40 years of operation. This waste will be stored indefinitely at the site,
where it poses an attractive target for potential terrorist attacks.
Coalition members challenged that the NRC's environmental
impact statement should include greater consideration of:
- High-level
nuclear waste storage and transport;
- Low-level
nuclear waste storage and release;
- Alternatives
to meeting electricity demand;
- A
cost-benefit analysis that accounts for various construction cost
estimates;
- Safety
concerns including first-of-a-kind reactor design risks and aircraft assaults;
- Adequacy
of emergency response and evacuation plans.
