We Need Governor Whitmer to Intervene in Palisades Nuclear Plant Decommissioning

Palisades Nuclear Plant on the shores of Lake Michigan is the oldest most embrittled nuclear plant in the country if not the world. ENTERGY is the current owner of the plant its operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ENTERGY seeks to sell Palisades NP to HOLTEC International which would decommission the plant by 2022.

Palisades' Decommissioning Fund, is severely underfunded at $500 Million, while other nuclear plants of Palisades 800 megawatt size cost at least $1 Billion to decommission and demolish. Without surety bonds from ENTERGY and HOLTEC, the taxpayers of Michigan could be libel for expenses exceeding the current decommissioning fund. ENTERGY and HOLTEC and their stockholders must be held financial responsible for the entire cost of the Palisades decommissioning and clean up.

Integral to a safe and socially responsible decommissioning of Palisades NP is the establishment of a Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) comprised of representatives of the local, labor, indigenous, environmental, agricultural and governmental stakeholders. Governor Whitmer should create such a CAB by Executive order, using the legislation proposed by Rep, Jon Hoadley, D. Kalamazoo.

The State of Michigan should intervene in demanding public hearings from the Nuclear Regulation Commission and from the Environmental Protection Administration to assure that the demolition of Palisade NP is done safely that conservative worker safety regulations are established and followed, and that a total remediation of the Palisades site, be accomplished.

The Governor and the State of Michigan should seek an independent financial analysis of the decommission fund through the federal Office of Technology Assessment.

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Governor Whitmer, Please protect Lake Michigan to insure that Palisades NP decommissioning is safe

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Dear Governor Whitmer. We need you and the State of Michigan to intervene in the decommissioning of Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert MI. Both the current NRC license holder ENTERGY and the proposed license applicant HOLTEC must be held to the highest standard of worker safety, site reclamation, transparency and financial responsibility. We ask that you appoint a Citizens Advisory Board, through your Executive authority, comprised of local citizenry, government officials, indigenous representatives environmental groups, agricultural representatives, labor organization, as described in recent legislation proposed by State Representative John Hoadley, D. Kalamazoo. We request that you insist on public hearings regarding the decommissioning of Palisades NP from the NRC, and demand from the EPA a thorough Environmental Impact Statement. We believe that the current Palisades Decommissioning Fund, $500 Million is inadequate to meet the costs of a safe and thorough decommissioning and remediation of the site near Covert, MI, which could well exceed $1Billion. We would urge you to invite the federal Office of Technical Assessment to calculate the true cost of this project. The taxpayers of Michigan must be protected from any cost over runs at Palisades NP. Therefor it is crucial that ENTERGY and HOLTEC be required to establish surety bonds of at least $500 Million, and that their shareholders be the guarantors of the decommissioning of Palisades, not Michigan citizens. We look forward to working with you and your representatives to reclaim the Palisades site.

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