Green Party of Florida Joins Legal Challenge to Contest Nuclear Reactor Design Approval

April 7, 2011 - PRLog -- The Green Party of Florida
Contacts:
Michael Canney (Gainesville) 352.278.4031 alachuagreen@gmail.com
Steve Showen (Miami) 305.573.2909 seventhgeneration@fastmail.fm

Green Party of Florida Joins Legal Challenge to Contest Westinghouse AP1000 Nuclear Reactor Design Approval

The Green Party of Florida and eleven other groups, known collectively as the AP1000 Oversight Group, have filed a legal challenge to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval of the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design, claiming that flaws in the design make the reactor unsafe, and unfit for certification by the NRC, and requesting that certification be withdrawn. See the legal motion here: http://www.ncwarn.org/?p=3031

The AP1000 is the reactor design chosen by Progress Energy Florida and Florida Power & Light for their new nuclear power projects in Florida. Progress Energy plans to construct two reactors at a new facility in rural Levy County, and FP&L plans to add two reactors to their existing facility at Turkey Point, on Biscayne Bay in Miami.

The Green Party is one of three intervenors in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing process for the Levy County Nuclear Plant, and the contentions that were admitted in that intervention are still pending before the Atomic Safety Licensing Board.  

The Green Party has called for a safety shut-down of Florida’s aging nuclear reactors and a phasing out of nuclear power plants in the state. (See March 29 press release: http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=401)

For more information:
Green Party of Florida   www.floridagreens.org
Green Party of the United States   http://gp.org

See the legal motion here.: http://www.ncwarn.org/?p=3031

AP1000 Nuclear Design Flaw Addressed by Chief Engineer Arnie Gundersen, to NRC Safety Committee
(ACRS):  http://fairewinds.com/node/94

Design flaw at new nuke?
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Business News April 21, 2010
http://www.ajc.com/business/design-flaw-at-new-480650.html

Safety Concerns Delay Approval of the First U.S. Nuclear Reactor in Decades
Scientific American  July 29, 2010
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=slow-reactor-safety