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Southern Nuclear Company of Georgia Burke County, GA |
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Southern Nuclear Company of Georgia wants to build additional nuclear power plants near Waynesboro, GA. This would increase the negative health impacts on nearby residents and increase the cost of electric power. |
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Dec. 29, 2020: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Answer claims that BREDL has relied on predecisional material in this matter. This is incorrect. BREDL is relying on material that was contemporaneous with its intervention yet withheld from public scrutiny. This information, which was used by NRC to reach its decision to approve SNC's license amendment request, was provided to BREDL only after a lengthy FOIA response period. |
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Dec. 17, 2020: In a 22-page brief filed on December 7th, BREDL's Lou Zeller stated, "The NRC continues this pattern of non-response to requests for information." He said that vital information used by the NRC staff to change Plant Vogtle's construction license is still being withheld from public view, and that private sessions were held in the company's Electronic Reading Room. "It is tantamount to needing a secret decoder ring to get to the treasure map." Under federal rules of evidence, all documents for the record must be open to examination by all parties. |
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Sep. 09, 2020: Today residents of the Shell Bluff community and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League announced that they had filed a legal appeal of the license changes granted last month to the owners of Plant Vogtle. In an eight-page brief filed on Friday, the opponents of the license identified a ''Catch-22" process used by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission |
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Jun. 15, 2020: BREDL contends that, under the guise of a one-inch change in the seismic gap between two critical walls in the Vogtle reactor, Southern Nuclear Company has admitted to a much more serious problem. |
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May. 12, 2020: The Company's License Amendment Request does not comply with the current licensing basis, the applicable statutes and regulations, or the process for modifying the current licensing basis for Vogtle Unit 3 as set forth in 10 CFR 52.98(f). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission cannot approve this license amendment request. Our principal interests are the health and safety of our members living near the plant and the general public. |
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May 30, 2019: We maintain that the EPD’s inclusion of mitigation in a water withdrawal permit was the wrong measure in the wrong place. It was unfair and contrary to the law for NPDES measures—
accounting for chemical and thermal discharges to waters of the United States—to be allowed through the back door of a water withdrawal permit.
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Aug. 9, 2018: The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and its chapter Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff have filed detailed comments opposing the state’s air pollution permit for Plant Vogtle. In the comments, the groups oppose the excessive levels of hazardous air pollution emitted from the cooling towers and other sources in a community already stressed by power plant impacts. They called upon the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to reject the permit.
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Aug. 15, 2017: On Wednesday and Thursday, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
will hold a series of public forums in Atlanta and Augusta detailing the unsafe conditions
at the nuclear power plants now under construction at Plant Vogtle. The meetings will
feature Arnold Gundersen, a certified nuclear power plant engineer and a long-time critic
of the Westinghouse AP1000 reactors.
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June 2, 2017: Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff advise Burke County Development Authority to request an update on the Toshiba-Westinghouse bankruptcy and its potential impacts on the partially constructed Vogtle nuclear power plants. We also to request that no additional cost increases will be passed along to Burke County ratepayers for this failed nuclear endeavor.
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Oct. 11, 2016: Hydrogen created during an accident in a nuclear power plant can explode. Hydrogen igniters are supposed to burn the gas before it reaches dangerous levels. But rather than performing a rigorous analysis as required by federal law and common sense, Southern Nuclear chose to modify its design by adding two hydrogen igniters in a “likely area” based on personal “judgment” of its engineers. Reliance on engineering judgment instead of rigorous testing and analysis creates uncertainty and compromises plant safety.
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June 3, 2016: Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and chapter Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff filed their reply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in an ongoing battle against a license amendment at Plant Vogtle which would increase the potential risk of hydrogen fire and explosion, causing damage to the community living in the shadow of nuclear power plants in Burke County, Georgia.
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May 12, 2016: Today BREDL and the Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff announced a challenge to a license amendment at Plant Vogtle which would increase the potential risk of hydrogen fire and explosion, causing damage to the containment structures of two nuclear power plants now being constructed in Burke County, Georgia. Unaccountably, four years elapsed before the company informed NRC of this risk.
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Jan. 11, 2016: In our legal brief filed January 11, 2016, BREDL and its chapter Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff have demonstrated that safety margins have been reduced at the nuclear reactors now under construction in Waynesboro, Georgia. Southern Company's failure to obtain a license amendment at Plant Vogtle prior to implementing the changes is a violation of federal regulations.
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Dec. 7: Southern Nuclear Operating Company is seeking to amend its license to relax the construction standards for the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 3 and 4. If permitted by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the changes would alter the reactors’ critical radiation shielding walls. BREDL and Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff oppose the license amendment because it would endanger plant safety, plant personnel and the surrounding community.
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Nov. 9, 2015: Southern Company has filed a license amendment request for the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia which would allow the preemptory alteration of the license before a full public review. We oppose the granting of the Preliminary Amendment Request and the License Amendment itself. Our principal interests are the health and safety of our members living near the plant and the general public.
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March 3, 2015: Southern Company seeks a permit to discharge heated radioactive water from Plant Vogtle into the Savannah River. BREDL has identified two issues of major concern: 1) The draft permit contains no effective heat discharge limits, and 2) The draft permit would allow 630 Curies of radioactivity to be discharged into the Savannah River annually. Public comment deadline in March 20, 2015. Call us to find out more.
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Jan. 6, 2015: Today at a press conference in Augusta, a group launched a new program to protect residents from nuclear power plant accidents. The group, Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff, will be meeting with residents of Augusta, Waynesboro and nearby communities within the emergency zone around the Plant Vogtle nuclear power station. The project centers on one of the most dangerous pollutants, radioactive iodine, which can affect the thyroid gland.
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Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 3 & 4, Burke Co., GA
May 15, 2014: Georgia EPD's inclusion of mitigation in a water withdrawal permit is the wrong measure in the wrong place. Proper consideration of such measures is the province of an NPDES waste water discharge permit, which has been applied for but not released by EPD. We believe it would be unfair and contrary to the law if NPDES mitigation measures were allowed through the back door of a water withdrawal permit instead of a discharge permit, the proper place to consider chemical and thermal discharges to waters of the United States.
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Sept. 11, 2013: The United States Environmental Protection Agency established the Office of Environmental Justice in 1992 because all Americans regardless of race, color, national origin, or economic circumstance should be able to live in a clean, healthy environment. The National Environmental Justice Advisory Council was established as a federal advisory committee to EPA. Rev. Charles Utley presented recommendations on two broad topics—brownfields and nuclear power—which affect EPA initiatives.
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Nov. 19, 2012: Today Georgians concerned about Plant Vogtle met with Obama Administration officials to deliver a letter of grievances against the nuclear power plant in their midst. The meeting at the White House conference center included Jon Carson, Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, and Paul Seidler, Director of External Affairs for Environmental Management for the US Department of Energy. Among those at the meeting representing the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League were Rev. Charles Utley, staff Environmental Justice Campaigner, and Board Vice President Rev. Willie Tomlin.
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Shell Bluff area citizens travel all night by bus Nov. 19, 2012:
Today Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff journeyed from Georgia to Washington, DC to witness the oral arguments in our case before the US Court of Appeals. Rev. Charles Utley is Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League’s staff member who helped organize the trip. Emerging from the courtroom, he said, “Our lawyers asked why the new information from Fukushima was not included in Plant Vogtle’s license.” Rev. Utley remarked that the judges seemed to notice the many people in attendance. “We traveled all night to be here today to bear silent witness against our nuclear neighbor, Plant Vogtle.”
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May 11, 2012: The flagship project of a hoped-for but not-yet-realized “nuclear renaissance,” the Vogtle 3 and 4 reactors under construction near Augusta, Ga., may cost about $900 million more than had been estimated, the Southern Company said in a filing this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Reverend Charles Utley of Hyde Park in Augusta has pointed out the continued poverty in Burke County after the construction boom that accompanied the first two Vogtle reactors. Considering that Georgia Power has to come up with about $14 billion to build the plant and the NRC charges almost $100 million just to get the license to operate the plant, no wonder monies are not available for additional economic development projects. Yet, with so much money being spent, it would seem that more funds could be directed to economic development in the area. Without it, environmental injustice via disproportionate impacts becomes an issue that should be seriously considered.
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April 18, 2012: In 2011 a catastrophic accident destroyed the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station. Early this year, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a construction and operation license to Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle. In doing so, the NRC has attempted to avoid its responsibility to the public by refusing to address the environmental implications of Fukushima or even grant us a hearing. Therefore, we petition the court to suspend the NRC’s license until the court resolves these issues.
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April 16, 2012: An adverse decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
reached today will force parties concerned about the already troubled Vogtle nuclear reactor project in Georgia to
file a motion this week in federal court, according to representatives of nine organizations that are seeking to slow
down the Vogtle project so that necessary post-Fukushima safety enhancements can be taken into account on the
front end, before billions of ratepayer dollars are spent.
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March 29, 2012:
On behalf of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and our chapter the Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff, I write to provide comments on the Environmental Protection Division’s draft permit. Also, we request that a public hearing be held in Burke County before a permitting decision is made to enable residents to provide comments to EPD.
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March 2012: The US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office must protect the U.S. taxpayer by not approving defective loan guarantee proposals; specifically, rejecting a $8.33 billion loan guarantee for the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant.
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Feb. 9, 2012: 9 Groups Contend That NRC Is Failing to Fully Consider Fukushima Lessons Before Issuing a Final License to Construct and Operate Two New Nuclear Reactors
With the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) expected to consider as early as Thursday whether to issue the final license for two new reactors at the site of the currently operating Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, nine national, state and regional groups will ask the NRC to delay its decision until the groups can file a challenge in federal court.
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Feb. 8, 2012: Today in Atlanta, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League revealed that potential safety problems at Plant Vogtle are being withheld from public view. The group said that for over a year it had received no answer to its formal request for disclosure of information about Plant Vogtle’s ability to withstand earthquakes and other threats. In a statement to be delivered today to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of New Reactors’ public meeting on Plant Vogtle construction, BREDL Vice President Rev. Willie Tomlin asks why the agency is keeping the information from public view and reiterates the request for disclosure.
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Jan. 7, 2012: On this day the inspiring words and visionary leadership of Rev. Dr. Lowery reached out to the local leaders of the campaign to halt the expansion of nuclear power in their community. Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff was founded in March 2010 as a chapter of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.
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 Dr. Joseph E. Lowery Jan. 7, 2012: Today at a church within view of Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle nuclear power plant, civil rights veteran Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery spoke about the issues currently affecting the people this region. In attendance were many local residents from the rural Shell Bluff community in Burke County and many people from the Atlanta area who arrived in a bus chartered by Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions. |
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On
August 11, 2011, the League launched a new initiative to halt the
expansion of nuclear power in Georgia. The campaign is based on
the testimony in the documents filed with the Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Our major
points are: 1) The lessons of the nuclear disaster in Japan, 2)
River floods caused by distant earthquakes and 3) The violations
of environmental justice by the NRC. |
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Dec. 9, 2010: On November 30, 2010 The Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected our
latest petition on Plant Vogtle. In their ruling, the ASLB said
that a statement by the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards,
the committee with principal responsibility for reactor safety at
the NRC, was irrelevant. The ACRS statement was at the heart of
our argument. Incredibly, the ASLB said that we should have
realized and acted upon the relevant statement by the ACRS
Chairman two months before he said it. This appeal to the full
Commission is lodged in hope that clearer thinking may prevail. |
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Write to President Obama |
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Sept. 22, 2010: Today in the continuing campaign against the
expansion of nuclear power in Georgia and the Souteast, the
Center for a Sustainable Coast, Georgia WAND and the Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League sent the US Nuclear Regulatory
Commission a point-by-point argument as to why the Atomic Safety
and Licensing Board should take a closer look at the problems
with the proposed addition of two nuclear reactors at the Vogtle
nuclear power station near Waynesboro, Georgia. PUBLIC HEARING - Plant Vogtle Environmental Impacts ATTEND THE PUBLIC HEARING
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Aug. 17, 2010: League files new contention with nuclear licensing board regarding inadequacy of containment/coating inspection program for Vogtle Units 3 and 4. Louis Zeller, Science Director for the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, explained why the groups took this action. "Southern Nuclear Company has overlooked a major problem which we simply cannot allow to go unchallenged. The fundamental requirement of the operator is to protect public health and safety. Southern Nuclear Company is not doing its job. View Press
Release | BREDL
Supplemental Contention
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Aug. 12, 2010: This week in a bold move, the Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League filed a legal challenge to the
proposed air pollution permit at Plant Vogtle. The August 10th
filing was one of the first in the nation under the federal Clean
Air Act challenging excessive radionuclide emissions from nuclear
power. In a petition to the US Environmental Protection Agency,
the League called for rejection of the permit issued by the State
of Georgia because it failed to limit radioactive air pollution,
failed to protect public health and failed to prevent
environmental injustice. |
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April 6, 2010: BREDL and our chapter Shell Bluff Concerned
Citizens comment on the Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Protection Division’s operating permit
amendment for Georgia Power Company’s two additional
pressurized water reactors at Southern Nuclear Operating Company
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant. Read
BREDL Comments
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Oct. 29, 2009: Today organizations concerned with the high costs and environmental risks posed by Southern Company’s plan to build two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Ga. announced their filing of an appeal in federal court to stop the proposed expansion.
Read Press Release | Download Petition
for Review
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July 2009: Since 1987 Plant Vogtle has generated
electric power. Today, two nuclear reactors operate at the site
on banks of the Savannah River in Burke County, Georgia. Now
Southern Company wants to add two more nuclear reactors. But the
two existing reactors have placed an unfair burden on residents.
More would be an environmental injustice. Here’s why. BREDL Factsheet
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Dec. 28, 2007: Major problems we identified in the
Plant Vogtle draft Environmental Impact Statement: |
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June 20, 2007: The data presented in this report detail the increases in
environmental radioactivity and local rises in cancer
rates since the Vogtle reactors began operating. The
parallel between these two trends is to be taken
seriously, as radioactive fission products are
carcinogenic, and are especially toxic to the young. The
addition of two new reactors at Vogtle would double the
capacity of the plant and presumable double the
radioactive emissions. Assuming there is no major
reduction in health risk to the local population –
such as an influx of new medical services or a large
reduction in poverty – the local population will be
at increased risk of cancer, based on the findings in
this report.
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October 31, 2006: Help Stop Nuclear Power in Georgia -
Southern Nuclear Company of Georgia wants to build additional
nuclear power plants near Waynesboro. This would increase the
negative health impacts on nearby residents and increase the cost
of electric power. The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League is
joining with other groups who oppose this expansion. Will you
help us? |
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March 16, 2006: Nuclear
Power Licensing Factsheet - One-Step Licensing of
Nuclear Plants Short-circuits Safety
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