Onondaga Nation lawyer writes NRC: Atomic power “fraught with hazards.”
Syracuse Post Standard
By Charles McChesney
Staff writer
The Onondaga Nation is opposing the relicensing of the FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Station in Scriba.
In a Nov. 13 letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Joseph J. Heath, attorney for the Nation, says the plant has been a concern since it opened in 1975.
“From start to finish, the production of nuclear power is fraught with hazards,” Heath writes.
The Scriba plant, which filed for relicensing this summer, sits within the 2.6 million acres the Onondagas once occupied.
“The aboriginal territory of the Onondaga Nation extends north to south, from the St. Lawrence River to the Pennsylvania border, along the east shore of Lake Ontario,” the letter says.
“Especially now, as environmental problems and geo-political conflicts continue to escalate, the Nation opposes the continued operation of this facility and use of this technology,” Heath wrote.
Heath and officials for the Onondaga Nation could not be reached for further comment Friday evening.
The FitzPatrick plant, owned by Entergy, is licensed to operate until 2014. It has applied for a 20-year license that would effectively extend the plant’s life until 2034.
The neighboring nuclear power plants, Nine Mile Point Units 1 and 2, were relicensed by the NRC in October.
The relicensing process takes about 22 months, according to NRC officials, unless the commission grants a hearing.
So far, the NRC has granted no hearings and relicensed more than 40 of the country’s 103 nuclear power plants. No license renewal has been denied by the NRC.
Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com or 592-7140.