SAN LUIS OBISPO MOTHERS FOR PEACE NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release January 17, 2008

San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace

Contact: Jane Swanson, spokesperson
Ph: 805-595-2605 Cell: 805-440-1359 Email: janeslo@kcbx.net
Diane Curran, attorney
Ph: 202-328-3500

MOTHERS FOR PEACE PRESSES FOR COMPLETE ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF TERRORIST ATTACK

On January 15, 2008, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted a request for a hearing by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (MFP) regarding the NRC's proposal to license a new spent fuel storage facility at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The purpose of the hearing will be to allow MFP to challenge some of the deficiencies in the NRC staff's Environmental Assessment (EA) for that facility. Ordered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the EA claims that the environmental impacts of intentional attacks on the facility would be insignificant.

When the NRC issued the EA in May of 2007, MFP submitted a lengthy hearing request to the NRC, challenging gross deficiencies in the NRC's environmental analysis, including the NRC's failure to support its conclusions with reference documents or to explain its underlying assumptions and methods.

In its January 15th ruling, the NRC Commissioners granted MFP's hearing request on only a few of MFP's concerns: the adequacy of documentation of the NRC's finding of no significant impact, and the NRC's apparent assumption that the it may ignore the impacts of widespread land contamination that may be caused by a terrorist attack.

Jane Swanson, spokesperson for MFP, commented that "The EA sets an important precedent because it constitutes the first time the NRC has attempted to address the environmental impacts of intentional attacks on a proposed nuclear facility. The dismal inadequacy of the EA is therefore a serious cause for public concern." Ms. Swanson said the group is committed to using the hearing opportunity to seek a more rigorous analysis in a full-fledged Environmental Impact Statement.

MFP's attorney, Diane Curran, criticized the narrow scope of the hearing offered by the NRC, and said the group is considering further legal action if the hearing fails to address the remaining issues.

The NRC order can be accessed at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/orders/2008/