Fresh Loaf

Rob Pavey at the Augusta Chronicle reports the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have determined two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle would not have an impact on the environment. The commission approved an early site permit initially requested by Southern Co., the plant’s co-owner and operator, in August 2006.

From the article:

The early site permitting process allows an applicant to address site-related issues, such as environmental impacts, for possible construction and operation of a nuclear power plant.

Although it is not a license to build reactors, it streamlines the process to determine whether a proposed site is suitable.

(Photo courtesy of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

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DEFENSES DOWN: The Fulton County Superior Court’s chief judge calls the mass layoffs of public defenders — which was announced Friday with lack of state funding as the reason — irresponsible, saying it could create a legal crisis.

ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES: Major restaurants and grocery store chains are voluntarily withdrawing raw tomatoes suspected of starting a 17-state salmonella outbreak, as officials continue searching for the source. Georgia tomatoes are fine.

OLD SHOULDERS NEVER DIE: John Smoltz is having season-ending shoulder surgery today.

CLAYTON: Corrective superintendent says the school district’s mandate-meeting progress can be quantified when SACS officials visit next month.

FIREBOMBING: Gwinnett radio station is attacked by a former employee armed with Molotov cocktails; a bystander corralls him, but the two of them are injured by the ensuing fire.

VOGTLE MAJORITY: The Marietta City Council unanimously votes to spend $405 million on the $14.2 billion nuclear expansion of Plant Vogtle. Since the city won’t need the energy until 2036, it will sell it to other utilities for 20 years, reducing the overall cost to $200 million.

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BOC vs. BOE: Clayton Board of Commissioners joins in the seemingly daily calls for all members of the school board to resign.

NAACP: Says Waycross third-graders’ alleged murder plot against their teacher has been overblown, calls for investigation of teacher’s prior behavior.

CONFUCIUS AT KSU: Cobb university to receive the state’s second Chinese-funded cultural and linguistic institute.

RESERVOIRATIONS: Some state legislators doubt the new water bill does enough.

HGH AS A KITE: Top Braves center field prospect Jordan Shafer is suspended 50 days for HGH use.

NEW NUKES: Georgia Power could build two new reactors at Vogtle, pending approval from the PSC.

AMERICAN AIRLINES: Wire so many flights being canceled?

A BONE TO PICKET: Delta pilots get permit to picket at Northwest hubs over the seniority disputes that have stalled the airlines’ merger negotiations. Actual picketing may be held up by difficulty in coming up with catchy rhyming protest chants about a seniority dispute.

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A planned expansion for Plant Vogtle, a Southern Co.-owned nuclear plant in Waynesboro, Ga., has been stymied because of the possible impact it may have on the nearby Savannah River. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, a federal panel that oversees nuclear facilities in the country, agreed with concerns voiced by such environmental groups as the Savannah Riverkeeper, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Center for a Sustainable Coast, and will now forward the matter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. For more details, click here.

The various concerned groups also sent a letter to David Ratcliffe, Southern Co.’s CEO, outlining the environmental risks and financial uncertainties the plant’s expansion could pose. Click here to view the letter the opponents of the expansion sent to Ratcliffe.

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Several local civic groups and activists including members of Atlanta WAND, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Sierra Club’s Georgia Chapter, and singer Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls will rally outside the Atlanta office of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 2 this afternoon.

Those rallying are opposed to Southern Company’s plan to build two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, plans that must be approved by the NRC. They point out that nuclear power is not only unsafe, but it also consumes huge quantities of water. In his Aug. 22 cover story about Southern Company’s nuclear strategy, CL’s Scott Henry noted that an expanded Plant Vogtle would consume more water each day than the entire city of Atlanta.

Here’s the press release:

(more…)

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