Seacoast Anti-Pollution League (SAPL)

SAPL'S CURRENT ISSUES OF CONCERN

Nuclear Plant Re-Licensing: Seabrook, as with all nuclear plants, holds a 40-year operating permit. That permit doesn't expire until 2030, yet plant owners submitted an application to the NRC in 2010 for a 20-year license renewal to the year 2050. Despite being stymied in legal actions over this seemingly premature application, we are continuing to watchdog the ongoing process. The key stumbling block at this point is over how to address the deterioration of the plant’s foundations (ASR - see below), which has never been attempted at a nuclear plant. Most plants of similar age or older than Seabrook have already received a renewal, and none who pursued it failed to get a renewal to date - though several have announced their closing within just a few short years of having obtained a renewal.

Radioactive Releases: Since its startup in 1990, the Seabrook nuclear power plant has been responsible for routine and accidental releases of radioactive fission by-products to our air and water, as have all nuclear power plants. Most notably, leakage of radioactive hydrogen, or tritium, was first identified and reported in 1999, when the plant was in operation for less than a decade. Despite mitigation efforts, tritium-contaminated water continues to leak out and contaminate groundwater and coastal waters, though officials claim at “safe” levels. Remarkably, despite widespread leakage problems, the NRC still allows voluntary monitoring and reporting of these emissions and the EPA hasn't seen fit to strengthen drinking water standards for tritium, despite decades of research into multiple health impacts. And unlike our neighbors to the south of us, the state of New Hampshire continues to reject setting up any off-site, real-time monitoring of these radioactive emissions.

Inadequate Emergency Evacuation Planning: The failure of public protection downwind of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in otherwise safety-conscious Japan should underscore the woeful inadequacy of a 10-mile evacuation planning zone at Seabrook and other US nuclear plants. The ongoing absurdity of potentially trying to evacuate Hampton Beach on a hot summer day, not to mention a rapidly growing Seacoast region, using volunteer-driven school buses necessitates a re-examination of this critical response to an increasingly possible accident at Seabrook. SAPL and other groups are calling at the very least for an expansion of the emergency planning zone around Seabrook and all other US nuclear plants.

Groundwater Infiltration and Foundation Degradation: Groundwater has been finding its way into the subsurface floors, foundation structures and control system conduits at Seabrook for decades now, which is particularly troublesome since the electrical cables running through these conduits are not waterproof. This water also appears to be the culprit in causing crumbling of the concrete walls of these foundation structures (the Alkali-Silica Reaction - ASR), which will likely worsen in coming decades as the water table rises and becomes more saline (as described below).

Climate Impacts and Carbon “Footprint”: Contrary to popular conception, nuclear power generation is NOT carbon-free, especially when looked at in terms of total life-cycle emissions. Recent estimates put nuclear power at 5 to 7 times more carbon emissions than wind power per megawatt-hour of energy generation. At the same time, climate disruption and resulting sea level rise and more violent storm surges threaten to cause further damage to plant foundations as well as to knock out critical offsite power and plant access in coming decades, an issue that has yet to be adequately considered or addressed. A recent study projects the Seabrook plant to be at risk of being inundated by storm surges as soon as 2030.

Shipyard Toxics: SAPL continues to watchdog the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard “superfund” toxics cleanup, having renewed our TAG funding with EPA for consultant contracting. We have also recently joined a broader effort to promote a transition at the Shipyard to support the development of offshore wind power in our region.

Offshore Wind and a Sustainable Future for NH: As a key player in an alliance of local and statewide groups promoting offshore wind as a critical component of a sustainable energy future for our region, SAPL is researching this potential and conducting outreach to community groups and organizations. We initiated a state legislative study on offshore wind in 2014 and are now seeking the Governor’s approval for a state/federal task force and stakeholder process to determine the feasibility and best locations in the Gulf of Maine off our shores to lease for wind farm development. We are also in the initial stages of promoting a 100-percent renewable energy strategy by 2050 for New Hampshire, with offshore wind being the largest potential component of a safe, secure and sustainable energy future, free of the public health, economic and environmental threats posed by both fossil fuel and nuclear power pollution.