Radioactive groundwater and drinking water threats from Limerick will increase as long as the nuclear plant operates. Limerick should be required to close early. Instead of providing protection to the environment and public, NRC displays astounding willful blindness as it ignores, denies, and dismisses documented threats and harms.

VIDEO BLOG – PART 2 AUGUST 2013

NRC HAS NEGLIGENTLY DISMISSED LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT’S UNPRECEDENTED THREATS AND HARMS TO OUR DRINKING WATER

THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER -
LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT IS SLOWLY BUT SURELY DESTROYING THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER, THE VITAL DRINKING WATER RESOURCE FOR ALMOST TWO MILLION PEOPLE FROM POTTSTOWN TO PHILADELPHIA.

LIMERICK THREATENS A DRINKING WATER DISASTER, YET NRC IRRATIONALLY CLAIMS HARMS ARE “SMALL”

INDISPUTABLE FACTS PROVE LIMERICK IS CAUSING UNPRECEDENTED THREATS AND HARMS TO THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER, INCLUDING:

EXTREMELY DANGEROUS DISCHARGES

• Radiation

• Cooling Towers Toxics – including Extremely Dangerous Chemicals and Pathogens

• Heated Discharges – 110 Degrees (Over 20 Degrees Higher Than River Heat Limit)

• 14.2 Million Gallons Discharged From Limerick Into The River Each Day.

• In 2013 Limerick Was Given A Pollution Permit Without Limits (A Free Pass To Poison The River) Because Limerick Can’t Meet Safe Drinking Water Limits For The Kind of Pollution (TDS) That Transports Radiation and Other Toxics Into the River. Exelon Could Filter, But Won’t.

DANGEROUS DEPLETION

• Limerick’s Cooling Towers Are An Effluent Stream From The River To The Sky -Discharging Up To 42 Million Gallons Of Toxic, Highly Corrosive Steam Into Our Air Each Day

• Limerick Withdraws 58.2 Million Gallons of Water From The Schuylkill River Each Day – More Than Double Total Withdrawn For Norristown, Pottstown, and Phoenixville Water Customers

• Limerick Returns Only 1/4 of The Water It Withdraws – Billions Of Gallons Are Depleted From The Schuylkill River Each Year, Even After Supplementation.

• Limerick Started Operating in 1985. By 1999, The Schuylkill River Had Record Low Flows. Now You Can Walk Across The River Where You Once Needed A Boat.

TOXIC MINE WATER PUMPING TO OPERATE LIMERICK

• Exelon Pumped Billions of Gallons of Unfiltered Toxic Mine Pit Water Into the Schuylkill River (Up to 80 times Safe Drinking Water Standards) to Supplement the Flow for Limerick Operations.

• As Long As Limerick Operates, Billions of Gallons More Toxic Mine Water Will Continue to be Pumped Into This Vital Drinking Water Source.
LIMERICK THREATENS THE WATER SUPPLY ACROSS SIX COUNTIES

• Extraordinary Water Use Caused By Limerick’s Cooling Towers and The Potential For An Endless Water Supply For A Limerick Meltdown Threatens Water Availability From Schuylkill County to Philadelphia, And From The Delaware River.

RADIOACTIVE THREATS TO PUBLIC HEALTH, WILDLIFE, AND FISH

A BROAD RANGE OF DANGEROUS RADIONUCLIDES ARE IN SCHUYLKILL RIVER WATER, FISH, AND SEDIMENT. (Confirmed by Exelon’s Radiological Monitoring Reports to NRC)

RADIATION WAS FOUND IN PHILADELPHIA’S WATER (20 miles downstream from Limerick) AT SOME OF THE HIGHEST LEVELS IN THE NATION.

WATER COMPANIES WITHDRAWING SCHUYLKILL RIVER WATER ARE NOT REQUIRED TO DO REGULAR RADIATION TESTING OR FILTRATION.

NRC’S DRAFT EIS FOR LIMERICK FAILED TO ACCURATELY REFLECT LIMERICK’S UNPRECEDENTED THREATS AND HARMS TO VITAL DRINKING WATER RESOURCES FOR MILLIONS. LIMERICK’S TREATS TO WATER ARE CLEARLY ENORMOUS, NOT SMALL, AS FALSELY CLAIMED BY NRC.

10-26-11 ACE provided NRC with a vast body of evidence in written testimony for Limerick’s EIS, including detailed analyses of Limerick Nuclear Plant’s water pollution permits and Limerick’s water use docket.
• ACE’S Detailed Analyses Of Limerick’s Water Pollution Permits, Water Use Docket, AND Documents Obtained Through FOIA and PA Right-To-Know, As Well As Other Information Provided to NRC Should Have Led NRC To A Clear Understanding Of The Grave Threats and Harms To The Schuylkill River And The People Using The Water As A Result Of Limerick Nuclear Power Plant Operations.

FACTS SUGGEST THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER CANNOT SUSTAIN LIMERICK’S USE AND ABUSE UNTIL 2049.

LIMERICK SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO CLOSE NOW TO SUSTAIN A SAFE, USABLE WATER SUPPLY FOR MILLIONS OF RESIDENTS AND MANY OTHER BUSINESSES.

Historic evidence proves it was clear even before Limerick Nuclear Plant was constructed, that the Schuylkill River was unable to sustain Limerick’s insatiable water use and abuse. It is not clear the river can continue to sustain the wide range of damages caused by Limerick operations even until Limerick’s current licenses expire in 2029.
• There may not be enough safe usable water for the almost two million people and other businesses that need the Schuylkill River for their water supply until 2029.
• A meltdown requiring massive amounts of water could cause millions to lose access to safe water

Detailed evidence below in this video blog supports ACE’s concerns about Limerick’s indisputable threats and harms to vital drinking water resources and ACE’s conclusion that Limerick should close now to protect these vital water supplies.

LIMERICK’S RADIOACTIVE GROUNDWATER

• Decades of Limerick’s leaks and spills have contaminated the groundwater under the Limerick site.

• Radiation from Limerick’s leaks and spills was never cleaned up.

• Monitoring is completely controlled by Exelon, the company with a vested interest in the outcome that has shown here and elsewhere that it can’t be trusted to provide full and accurate disclosure related to radioactive water contamination.

• Even Exelon’s monitoring has confirmed radiation in 15 of 15 monitoring wells.

• Monitoring is woefully inadequate to determine the full extent of the spread of underground radioactive contamination in this fractured bedrock aquifer. Only 15 monitoring wells are placed by Exelon on Limerick’s 600 acres.

• Testing confirms many radionuclides in groundwater (at least 12), proving it is not just tritium as claimed by Exelon and NRC.

• There is no guarantee that Limerick’s radioactive contamination has not traveled into nearby residential and commercial wells.
WELLS WITHIN 1 MILE From The Center Of The Limerick Nuclear Plant Site
46 Domestic Withdrawal Wells
13 Residences LESS Than 1 Mile From Reactor Building
3 Homes 1 Mile From Reactor Building
2 Commercial Wells
175 Feet From Reactor – 1 Potable Water Supply Well

• Health threats associated with the kinds of radionuclides detected in groundwater include:
Cancer – Birth Defects – Mutations – Miscarriages – In 1st and/or Successive Generations

 RADIOACTIVE GROUNDWATER AND DRINKING WATER THREATS WILL INCREASE AS LONG AS LIMERICK OPERATES. LIMERICK SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO CLOSE EARLY TO MINIMIZE RISKS FROM RADIOACTIVE WATER.

• There Are Countless Opportunities For Breakdowns and Leaks Under Limerick Nuclear Plant Which Will Increase Radioactive Groundwater Contamination.

Miles of hard to inspect aging buried pipes under Limerick transport highly corrosive and radioactive fluids.
Evidence shows pipes and fittings are already corroding and deteriorating.
Leaks can go long periods of time without being detected.
Earthquakes can cause leaks by shaking and breaking in Limerick’s miles of underground pipes

Detailed evidence in this video blog supports ACE’s conclusion that Limerick should close now to prevent increased radioactive groundwater contamination under Limerick that can spread into nearby wells.