Obama Presses Nuclear Regulatory commission
Thursday, March 9, 2006
Printable FormatFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Illinois Contact: Julian Green (312) 886-3506
Date: March 9, 2006
Obama Presses Nuclear Regulatory commission to Support Legislation Mandating Disclosure of Radioactive Leaks to State and Local Officials
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) Thursday strongly urged members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to support legislation he has introduced that would require nuclear companies to inform state and local officials if there is an accidental or unintentional leak of a radioactive substance.
"My constituents deserve to be notified immediately and comprehensively when these substances are released into the groundwater," said Senator Obama. "That's why I introduced a bill to require nuclear companies to inform not just the NRC, but also state and local officials if there is an accidental or unintentional leak of a radioactive substance. This is a simple common-sense bill. It's good for public safety, it's good for the public's right to know, and it's ultimately good for the nuclear power industry."
Dr. Nils J. Diaz, Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, indicated to Senator Obama that there are NRC representatives at every nuclear plant in the country and that Exelon officials, as well as NRC officials at the Exelon plant and at NRC headquarters, would have learned of the leaks immediately and should have known that the content was radioactive. Mr. Diaz indicated that the commission would have notified state and local officials only if the release had been large enough to merit radiological protection measures.
Senator Obama said that more timely disclosure to state and local officials of any unplanned release, even when it does not pose an immediate health risk, would help prevent residents of the surrounding community from feeling angry and misled.
"I think it would have been very helpful if, for example, the county board chairman in Will County - who wrote me a letter that said I am greatly concerned with the revelations that radioactive waste water has been released - if he was given some sense at the time that this happened," said Senator Obama.
Current federal law does not require state and local officials to be notified of any accidental, unplanned, or unintentional radioactive substance releases that may occur if those releases do not immediately rise to the level of public health or safety emergency.
Obama also questioned the commissioners about the relationship between the NRC and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
"It appears that the NRC knew about the incidents before notifying the Illinois EPA," said Obama, who expressed concern about the lack of coordination between the two agencies. Chairman Diaz responded that the commission is currently looking into how the NRC and the Illinois EPA share information and that when that review is complete that they would provide that information to the Committee.
The Illinois state's attorney's office is investigating why Exelon waited years to disclose wastewater leaks of tritium that occurred in 1998 and 2000 at the Braidwood Generating Station in Will County. It is estimated that each leak resulted in the discharge of approximately 3 million gallons of tritium into the surrounding groundwater. Exelon has said that it found elevated levels of radioactive material in water leaked from two other plants, Dresden Generating Station in Grundy County and Byron Nuclear Generating Station near Rockford. Recently, groundwater tests in a Grundy County test well showed that tritium levels were 25 times higher than the EPA's safe water drinking level. Other wells tested had levels lower than the EPA standard, a sign that the leak may have been centralized.
Obama's legislation, the Nuclear Release Notice Act, would require that when a radioactive leak occurs that exceeds limits set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Environmental Protection Agency or other federal agencies, state and local officials are notified simultaneously with NRC. The bill is cosponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin, and a companion bill was introduced by Rep. Jerry Weller.
The bill is cosponsored by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and companion legislation has been introduced by Congressman Jerry Weller (R-11th).