Groups Oppose Additional Reactor at North Anna

Groups Oppose Additional Reactor at North Anna, Va., Nuclear Power Plant

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va. - May 4, 2003

Environmental and public-interest groups filed their opposition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday to Dominion Virginia Power's application for an additional reactor site at the company's North Anna nuclear power station.

Dominion has asked the NRC for an "early-site permit" for an additional reactor, which would allow the company to ready a site should it choose to build a reactor. A consortium that Dominion leads has also applied to the Department of Energy for cost-sharing money to help pay for a construction and operating license for the possible new reactor.

The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and Public Citizen told the NRC that Lake Anna doesn't have enough water to cool a third reactor without harming the lake and downstream ecology.

The coalition also claims that Dominion's application is deficient because it doesn't take into account national environmental polices and public-safety requirements. The site-permit application doesn't adequately address security concerns regarding a potential terrorist attack, the groups said.

Dominion spokesman Rick Zuercher said the company's environmental report, filed with the application, will show the lake is adequate for another unit. The NRC will also prepare an environmental study and hold a public hearing, he said.

As for security, Zuercher said nuclear plants are among the most well-defended industrial sites in the country. Dominion consults regularly with a panoply of security agencies and believes the plants are safe, he said.

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