Spent nuclear fuel should be recycled

Apr 22 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Jo Ann Hustis Morris Daily Herald, Ill.

Dwight resident Rudy Piskule has never experienced problems from his Navy time aboard a nuclear-powered surface ship.

"The ship was 1,000 feet long, so I was never more than 500 feet from it," he said of the reactor that powered the vessel. "I've had three children since that time, and they've each had three children. None have had any problems with birth defects and things like that, so I think it was pretty safe."

Piskule was among the dozen or so visitors Thursday evening at Dresden Generating Station's Community Information Night. Dresden Station owner Exelon Nuclear sponsors the events to assist the public in understanding nuclear power and to answer questions and concerns.

Piskule was disappointed with the Japanese disaster. He believes the incident will forestall construction of more nuclear generating plants in the United States.

"Maybe not in this region right here," he said of the greater Grundy County area in which there are three nuclear generating stations, "but certainly in Illinois or any other part (of the nation.)'"

Piskule also believes spent fuel cells should be regenerated on site, rather than put into storage. However, this will take awhile to happen, he said. He also was pretty certain about the safety of nuclear plants in the U.S., and spoke of touring Dresden Station while he was in the Naval Reserves in 1970-1971.

The station was refueling at the time of the tour on a Monday evening. There were seven in Piskule's group.

"We walked right up to the reactor, the lid was off, and we looked into the (spent fuel storage) pool," he said. "A little yellow rope was around the sides to keep from falling in. The water was crystal blue, clear-looking water."

Piskule says he feels safe with the nuclear plants in the area.

"I'm all for it," he said of the nuclear industry."

Former Grundy County Board Chairman Frank Halpin of Gardner, who remains a member of the board, also believes that spent nuclear fuel should be recycled.

"Ninety-seven percent of the energy is still left in the rods," he said. "Only 3 percent is used. I think it would be advantageous to continue to push for recycling. The energy is sitting there to be used, and I think the technology is there. It's government regulations and convincing the right people to do what needs to be done."

Halpin said he has always been a pretty good Exelon supporter. The company pays about $30 million annually in taxes to Grundy County, he said, and for the public to not attend a Community Information Night is an unfortunate situation.

"It's the same all over," he said. "People like to complain, but they don't like to get educated on what they should really get out and see. It's a little effort to put in to get the truth. It's a lot easier to take a good rumor and run with it."

Joan Pierce of Bourbonnais didn't exactly say why she came, but indicated the Fukushima disaster was certainly on the public's mind.

"That (Exelon) was interested enough to put on something like this so the public can come in and see, this is wonderful. The gentlemen here are all willing to come to the schools and speak to the children ... I'd like the children educated to the highest point they can be," she said.

Her reference was to the staff manning the different booths and exhibits at the event, including representatives of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and Exelon.

Dresden Communications Director Bob Osgood noted Exelon sponsors Community Nights to give residents opportunity to ask questions about Fukushima, as well as to learn more about the company's operations.

"We recognize that, obviously, those questions are on people's minds, and we want to answer them as best we can," he said.

Dresden's reactors are the same basic design as the Mark 1 reactors at Fukushima. However, that is just the very basic design. Through the years, Exelon has upgraded its reactor and installed improvements.

"We don't know what Fukushima does or doesn't have, but we know, based on our equipment, our procedures, and training we give our personnel, that if a similar situation to that in Japan happened here, the plant and our personnel would have responded differently," he said.

The world is still learning about what exactly happened in the Japanese disaster, which was caused by a huge earthquake followed by a 30-foot tsunami wave that washed over the plant.

"We know that when the earthquake struck, the diesel generators started, the plant shut down, and cooling was provided to the reactor," Osgood said of the Fukushima plant.

"But, the tsunami is what took the other equipment out. Our plants are designed to withstand the natural disasters that are likely to occur. Our plants are designed for the seismic conditions here, and the flooding here. Our concern in the Midwest is tornadoes."