Seabrook’s Emergency Plan Opposed

REGIONAL — As a cost-saving measure, it probably would not make anyone feel safe and secure if the local fire department was moved to Florida.
Similarly, Massachusetts’ U.S. senators and a citizens’ watchdog agency are not happy with the owners of the Seabrook Station Nuclear Plant plans to consolidate some emergency response personnel in an office building 1,300 miles away in Juno Beach, Florida.
NextEra, which owns Seabrook Station, has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Federal Emergency Management Administration to allow it to reduce the number of on-site emergency response staff at Seabrook and three other plants.
NextEra told the NRC it was making the consolidation to “ease operator’s burden,” which is being interpreted by the senators and C-!0 Research and Education Foundation as meaning the utility wants to reduce its costs of operations.
The Senators in a joint letter on Dec. 21 wrote to the NRC that the plan “could compromise the ability to respond effectively to emergencies, putting the safety of the surrounding communities at risk. In light of these concerns, we urge the NRC to thoroughly evaluate the potential consequences of NextEra’s LAR (license amendment request) and avoid approving any new plan that will increase safety risks to nearby communities.”
Markey and Warren, who have been champions of nuclear safety of years, asked the NRC to “assess the specific challenges posed by the distance between the proposed off-site emergency response facility and Seabrook Station, as well as the history of violations and concrete degradation at the Seabrook site.”
Markey, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety, is very knowledgeable about Seabrook Station, which sits on the border of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The NRC is expected to act on NextEra’s request soon, followed by a public comment period.
Entitled “Common Emergency Plan,” the NextEra proposal would impact seven reactors at four nuclear power plants in three states, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Florida. Four of the seven reactors are more than 50 years old and operating beyond their originally designed lifespan. One reactor at Seabrook Station is enclosed in severely compromised concrete.
“Thus, these reactors call for more robust, not reduced, emergency resources to ensure the health and safety of the people residing and working in the communities surrounding them,” C-10 wrote.
In two meetings in 2022 prior to the formal submission, NextEra stated that the response times from emergency staff will increase by 50 percent, from 60 to 90 minutes. Weather and internet outages could make these response times even longer, C-10 stated.
The number of staff would not change at Seabrook Station, according to C-10’s analysis. Many staff members working at Seabrook Station are trained and ready to act in an emergency response role if there were an incident at the plant.
NextEra would like to reduce the number of staff at the plant that play an emergency response role. The plan would combine multiple roles into one, so fewer staff members have to be trained and paid a higher wage. It would also move some emergency response functions, including a position that works on radiation protection.
NextEra compared its plan to one at Duke Energy. A difference is that Duke’s emergency response team would be 184 miles from its farthest plant, compared to 1,300 miles from Juno Beach to Seabrook Beach.
NextEra said its requested changes would result in 49 Potential Reductions in Effectiveness.
“Each of these reductions in effectiveness means a reduction in the assurance of public safety,” C-10 stated.
Sarah Abramson, C-10’s executive director, wrote: “There is no other nuclear power plant operator that has been permitted to move their emergency response personnel over 1,000 miles away, so all these other nuclear plant operators are able to maintain on-site or nearby emergency response teams. Why should our local communities bear the burden of decreased safety so NextEra can be the exception simply for the sake of increasing their profits?”
C-10 praised Markey and Warren “for going to bat for what is right for their constituents.”