Interview Turkey Point 3 & 4 Piece Copy 2

8/10/2019 Interview Turkey Point 3 & 4 Piece Copy 2

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Tell us little about your background and how, when and

why you became interested in FPL nuclear issues?

I came to Miami from St. Louis in 1969 to work in management

for Eastern Airlines. I have degrees from Washington University in St.Louis (Bachelors, Business; Masters, Psychology) and Barry

University (Masters, Counseling) Begging in 1974 to 1997 I was a

travel agent and/ or an agency owner/manager. I worked in mentalhealth for fifteen years. After coming to Miami it didnt take long to find

the Sierra Club and their great outings programs. With them andsome nice folks I canoed many Florida rivers and streams, clammed

in the Sebastian Inlet, and spent a long weekend in the Okefenokee

Swamp. My wife and I discovered palms and gardening. I learned toappreciate the pastoral nature of south Dade; it aint South Beach or

Aventura. So, once you become one with the land, wetlands, TheRedland, beaches and foliage of this beautiful area you are insulted

by those who act to exploit, destroy or deplete it. As I learned more

about how energy production at Turkey Point is a threat to the land, isthreatened by geological and climactic forces and is a danger to the

people who live and work in the area, working to change that becameimportant to me.

What is CASE?

Citizens Allied for Safe Energy, Inc. (CASE) is an all volunteer

Florida Not-For-Profit Corporation. Membership is open to all..

When and why was it formed?

After I retired and had more time for civic concerns I learnedabout Stop FPL Now which was working toward the same goals

described above for CASE. We met in September, 2009, changed to

the present to name and incorporated. In December, 2009 we 1


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held a town hall meeting to present many aspects of renewable

energy to the public. A video of the meeting in on the CASE website

www.case-fl.org. One result of that meeting was the then president of

CASE, Dr. Philip Stoddard, a FIU biologist, was, about a week later,

asked by some citizens of South Miami to run for Mayor; he is now inhis third term and is Corporate Secretary of CASE.

CASE is dedicated to preventing the licensure of FPL by the

NRC for Turkey Point Nuclear Reactors 6 & 7, to the distributed

(decentralized) production of renewable energy on our homes,

businesses and institutions, to reduced dependence on the grid, to

energy conservation at the point of use and to energy efficiency at the

point of production. www.case-fl.org CASE is also seeking funds to

establish a Renewable Energy Institute to create a comprehensive

national data base and out reach effort for all matters relating to the

applied use of renewable energy. In 1883 Edison produced electricity

at one point and sent it over wires; 131 year later we are still doing

the same thing; Why? Miami-Dade County has no energy policy and

no one assigned to think about it; is that by design?

Why petition the NRC and not the State of Florida.

While Florida must approve the site of new nuclear reactors and

has some input on environmental concerns the operation of the

nuclear reactors is under the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

(NRC) which is part of the Department Of Energy. On August 14,

2014 the NRC posted a notice in Federal Register stating that theyhad granted FPL permission to take certain remedial actions to

address excessive temperatures and algae bloom in the cooling

canals for Turkey Point Nuclear Reactors 3 & 4 and asked 2
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for members of the public to make comments regarding that approval

within 60 days of that posting.

Regarding the State of Florida, one might ask why we have

allowed a few private corporations to become so powerful and to bethe the only suppliers of energy; other states have much different

models including competing companies and much greater us of

renewables? http://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/

buying_power.shtml?state=NY Sometimes monopolies are

necessary to achieve a goal; it is time to re-evaluate this structure for

our state. The result of this concentration of corporate power is undue

influence over the Public Service Commission and corporate audacity

and intransigence. A few years ago a stockholder at an FPL annual

meeting asked the CEO what the company was doing to move

toward renewable energy on our homes and businesses. His reply,

Right, and then we call sit around and sing Kumbaya. He was more

correct than he realized since Kumbaya means Come by here

addressed to My Lord; they could certainly use a visit. Cant we do

better in Florida? We might have reasonable energy costs now, but

for how long and at what cost to our environment and land?

Many of our readers may not understand the "standing" issue

before the NRC. Can just anyone get up and testify before the

NRC or submit a petition?

Filing a petition before theNRC is a full legal procedure except,

it is one of few parts of the Federal Government where anyonecan

file pro se, without an attorney. However, there are very strict

guidelines for the filings which make it the same as a legal filing in

any court of law. But, whoever files on behalf of a defined group of

people must show that they really represent those people and has

been authorized by them to do so. Several CASE members, 3
http://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/buying_power.shtml?state=NYhttp://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/buying_power.shtml?state=NYhttp://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/buying_power.shtml?state=NYhttp://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/buying_power.shtml?state=NYhttp://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/buying_power.shtml?state=NYhttp://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/buying_power.shtml?state=NY


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all are welcome to join, completed Declarations giving CASE

permission to speak on their behalf on this matter in a court of law,

and that gave CASE standing to speak on their behalf.

This is what the beginning of the filing looks like:

October 14, 2014UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

BEFORE THE SECRETARY

In the Matter ))

FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT )) Docket Nos. 50-250) and 50-251)

NRC-2014-0176 ))

Florida Power & Light Company; )Turkey Point Nuclear Generating )Units 3 and 4 )

Citizens Allied for Safe Energy, Inc. Petition to Intervene and Request for aHearing

This is a petition to intervene filed under 10 C.F.R. 2.309 and in

response to a notice published by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

(NRC or Commission) at 75 F.R. at 47689 on August 14, 2014.

Citizens Allied for Safe Energy, Inc. (CASE) hereby petitions to intervene

on behalf of CASE members regarding the NRC issued amendments to

Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-31 and DPR-41, 4


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issued to Florida Power & Light Company, for operation of the Turkey

Point Nuclear Generating Units 3 and 4, located in Miami-Dade County,

Florida. CASE also requests a hearing on the above captioned matter. As

described below CASE has representational standing through its members

to make this request. Most CASE members live and/or work within 10 to 15

miles of Turkey Point ...

How many times have you testified before the NRC and

tell us about that experience: what is it like being a

citizentestifying before the NRC?

I personally have filed many petitions and motions and

responses to them in writing before the Atomic Safety Licensing

Board (ASLB) on the NRC on behalf of CASE since 2010. Several

are posted on our website. I have only testified in person once when

the ASLB Administrative Law Judges held a hearing in Homestead in

2010 regarding the licensure by the NRC of Turkey Point 6 & 7 which

is still in progress. CASE and other organizations had filed motions

opposing different aspects of the proposed operation. I had prepared

a seventeen page statement and was permitted to read it; it took an

hour and it was quite exhilarating to be able to read strong

statements directly to the judges in front of FPL staff and attorneys.

The FPL attorneys behind me, I am told, were quite busy researching

my statements as I read them in defense of the Contentions which

had been admitted. Eventually, over the next six months, as usuallyhappens, the NRC dismissed all of our Contentions; environmental

organizations seldom get anything to stick. But thats another story.

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What are "contentions" and how could the NRC respond to thecontentions you have raised?

A Contention is a formal statement of what you see as wrong or that

should be addressed because, the petitioner believes, the NRC should

require FPL should do something differently. It can either be a violation of

one of the many regulations governing safe operation of a nuclear plant

or it might be an environmental issue based on scientific research.

CASE presented the following Contentions regarding the

Cooling Canal System (CCS) at Turkey Point in the filing on Tuesday,

October 14, 2014:

CONTENTION 1 - THE UPRATE OF TURKEY POINT REACTORS 3 & 4 HAS

BEEN CONCURRENT WITH ALARMING INCREASES IN

SALINITY, TEMPERATURE, TRITIUM AND CHLORIDE IN

THE CCS AREA

CONTENTION 2 - THE EXIGENT CCS PROBLEMS STARTED

YEARS BEFORE JULY, 2014 AND WERE

BEING ADDRESSED IN 2013 AND EARLIER

CONTENTION 3 - THE MEASURES BEING USED TO CONTROL THE

CCS CONDITIONS ARE EXTRAORDINARILYINVASIVE, ENVIRONMENTALLY USURIOUS ANDSOME UNTESTED

CONTENTION 4 - THE CCS IS AGING, OLD TECHNOLOGY AND FPL HAS NO REDUNDANCY FOR UNITS 3 & 4 LIMITING CORRECTIVE ACTIONS

The entire filing was 22 pages and we will post it on the CASE website.

The nature of contentions has been explained above.

Both FPL and the NRC staff will respond to CASEs

Contentions challenging them on technical aspects of 6


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the filing and on the allegations CASE has made. Then

CASE will respond to those comments. Then it is up to

the Administrative Law Judges of the ASLB to admit

none, all or part of any of the contentions for further

consideration by the NRC Commissioners who are free to

accept or reject the Contentions and act on them as

they like.

Is the NRC an independent body or is it compromised by

industry and the revolving door effect?

As stated above, the NRC is under the U.S.

Department of Energy and is totally a federal agency.

Many employees of the NRC do wind up working in thenuclear industry. Fukushima was not an accident. It was

an actuarial event waiting to happen due to the unholy

alliance of the regulators and the regulated; Turkey

Point is not different. How can you place nuclear

reactors in the path of known geological and

climatological forces and not expect disaster?

Why is the mainstream media so silent on the issues you

are raising?

>

We can only speculate. We do know that economics

underlies everything and that FPL is the largest

advertiser in the State.

>Could Miami Dade government do more on these issues

related to FPL? Why are commissioners so silent?

Miami-Dade County has no energy policy and no one assigned to

think about it; is that by design? Miami-Dade County staff is veryaware of most of these issues; they are very professional. But then

you have to factor in political will and motivation. Most elected

officials have their own agendas. If they do not match the will 7


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of the people, they can be voted out, witness District 8. Also, many of

the issues are very complex and subtle. Not all elected officials have

the time to really understand the science and the ramifications of the

measures before them. Also, FPL is one of the major funders of

election campaigns and, in interesting and subtle ways,municipalities. They also invest a lot of money shaping the opinions

of public officials and public policy. But that is another story.

What can ordinary people do, to participate if they are

interested?

Most of us get our news in sound bites. You really have to dig a

little to find out what is going on. That is why organizations like CASE,

THE SIERRA CLUB, FLORIDA AUDUBON, TROPICAL AUDUBON

and blogs, such as Eye On Miami and Political Cortadito, exist to try

to bring more information, details and behind the scene insight and

analysis to the public.. WLRN Public Radio, Dan Rickers Watchdog

Report and Michael Putneys This Week in South Floridado a good

job of objective reporting. Apathy will do in this nation. Reader, you

be the one who follows the issues, goes to meetings and asks

questions.

> Do you think most people have given up hope?

Most people are living their lives day to day, trying to make ends

meet and to fulfill what ever role life has cast them into. They have

little time to really worry about how government is run and eitherdont give it much attention or, if they take a look at TV news or

the paper, just shrug and say, Its out of my control. They might

have hope that things will work better, that more money winds up

where it should and that we read about fewer elected officials and 8


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citizens being charged with trying to gain the system; they have these

hopes, but no illusion that they can influence them in any way. That is

why those who do have the time and energy to figure out and

challenge the system, activists, get involved and work for change. We

expect little but are built so that we cannot stand buy; it is too painfulto stay on the sidelines and just watch. Some say we are nuts; some

use stronger words especially when we get under their skin. Nice.

!"#$ &' ()*+ "),- .)+ /01 2*+3-( 0)&4$5

This filing regarding the cooling canal problems is really a

skirmish in CASEs battle to show that Turkey Point is not hospitable

to the production of energy and that we should reduce dependence

on the power line grid in favor of decentralized production of energy.

CASEs hope for this petition is that the NRC and the Commissioners

accept its concern that many incorrect and dangerous actions have

been taken by FPL to solve the problems in the cooling canals and

direct FPL to cease and desist from them and to retain outside

scientists to find out what is really wrong since FPL does not seem to

know how and they are seriously threatening our water supply and

flora and fauna in the area. We also hope to put Turkey Point on the

NRC Commissioners radar as a problematical site now and in the

future.

CASEs petition argument is that FPL blamed the problem of high

temperatures and algae bloom in the cooling canals on the lack of

rainfall in mid 2014. In addition, FPL was authorized beginning in

2013 to draw an extra 14 million gallons of water per day for several

years (MGD) from the deep Florian aquifer and, for a time, up to 100

MGD. Further, they were authorized to put hydrogen peroxide and

copper sulfate in the the canals to kill the algae. All of this was 9


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done on an exigent, basis, with FPL contending that taking the

measures was urgent. They did not take the time for proper analysis

and real time testing, instead just projected calculations, which might

have presented the problems which the measures to be taken wouldcreate in the canals, to the aquifer and the threat to the crocodiles

and hatchling and juvenile sea life in the area; bad.

FPL denies that the uprate of Turkey Point Nuclear Reactors 3 &

4 in late 2012 and early 2013 are causing these problems. Using

FPL data, CASE showed that not only was temperature increase a

problem long before 2014, but the charts and graphs indicated thatthe temperature increase was related in time to the uprate, raising

the operating temperature of the reactors, but alarming and record high

levels of salinity, tritium and chloride were seen following the uprate. The

stew in the canal now is seeping from the canals into the Biscayne aquifer

endangering it with increased salinity when the aquifer is already

experiencing salt water intrusion due to a lack of fresh water.

Sooner or later Turkey Point will be abandoned either for economic or

physical reasons. We know that it is the Future Atlantis, definitely by the

end of the century. Sea level rise, storm surge, a Category 5 storm (which

Turkey Point has never experienced), or the move to renewable energy will

make it obsolete. Units 3 & 4 are over forty years old and were given

twenty more, to about 2032; FPL will probably ask for another twenty

years. We hope they can operate under water.. And Turkey Point 6 & 7 will

never be built; at $24 Billion, that is $5300 for every one of FPLs 4.5

million homeowners. Very few new reactors are being built in the country.Renewable energy is beginning to reduce profits for utilities around the

nation and that will soon be the case in Florida. FPL refuses to change its

business model, missing out on tens of billions in new business and

keeping thousands from new jobs, while some power companies 10


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nationally only use renewable energy and many use a high percentage of

it. The cost of solar in Florida is dropping like a stone; you can put 8KW on

an average home for under $15,000; IKEA puts solar on its new stores

right away and more big box stores are doing the same. So, either way,

Turkey Point will be history; sooner rather than later. Fossil fuels are notclean and nuclear energy is not problem free as the NRC Federal Register

posting on August 14, 2014 illustrates. Not one ounce of spent nuclear fuel

has ever left Turkey Point.

If you read all of this, you are on your way to becoming part of the

solution. Bless you.

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Interview Turkey Point 3 & 4 Piece Copy 2