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Nuclear review in Illinois

GOV. James R. Thompson ordered the development of a statewide response plan for nuclear emergencies March 4, but he said existing local plans are adequate and he is opposed to a five-year moratorium on construction of new nuclear power reactors in Illinois. A serious nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, near Harrisburg, Pa., prompted the governor's remarks, and caused him to meet with four top agency heads to review emergency plans.

"I don't think we in Illinois are prepared at this point to lose 32 percent of our electrical generating power," Gov. Thompson said.

The governor ordered the Public Health Department to set up continuous monitoring of air quality outside each nuclear plant. At present there are seven nuclear power plants at three sites in Illinois, and eight more reactors are now under construction at four more sites.

A proposal to limit new construction of nuclear reactors for five years was introduced in the General Assembly by Rep. Richard A. Mugalian (D., Palatine) in H.B. 1262 on March 28.

Gov. Thompson said the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recommended that each state prepare a master plan, and he wants Illinois to be the first to comply. However, he said local plans are superior because local plans can be revised quickly to deal with such problems as changing weather conditions.

"We have a pretty decent record of safety in Illinois," Gov. Thompson said. However, Citizens for a Better Environment, a 10,000-member nationwide group, maintains Illinois' existing nuclear emergency plans are inadequate. Group spokesman Peter G. Cleary said the plans are "lousy" and comprised largely of maps showing the areas that would need to be evacuated in an emergency.

On April 2 the governor ordered the Illinois Commission on Atomic Energy to for an ad hoc committee to investigate whether an accident such as the one which occurred in Pennsylvania could occurin Illinois. Members of the committee include Gerald R. Day, Springfield, executive director of the commission; Dr. Philip Gustafson, Riverside, and Dr. J. van Erp, Hinsdale, both experts in nuclear safety and environmental problems from Argonne National Laboratory; and Dr. George Miley, Urbana, and Professor Daniel Hang, Urbana, members of the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana. The chairmen of the Illinois Commerce Commission and the directors of the Department of Public Health and the Illinois Institute of Natural Resources were instructed to work with the committee. Day said the final recommendations will be submitted to the governor in mid-July.

Day said the committee has been going through Illinois plants "on its hands and knees" and is also trying to find out exactly what happened at Three Mile Island from experts who were there. However, no one will be able to establish an exact chronology of events until the reactor is completely shut down, Day said. In addition, the committee is concerned with the human factor, which is the cause of most nuclear accidents, and is asking if licensing procedures are tough enough to see that plant operators are well-trained and able to handle stress.

Also looking into the state's nuclear plants and storage sites is a Senate special committee on nuclear safety approved by the Senate on April 19. Its preliminary report is due in January and its final report in September of 1980.

Members are: Sens. Vince Demuzio (D., Carlinville), James Gitz (D., Freeport), Jerome J. Joyce (D., Reddick), George E. Sangmeister (D., Mokena), Adeline Geo-Karis (R., Zion), John J. Nimrod (R., Glenview) and Robert W. Mitchler (R., Oswego).

In court over nuclear waste

Atty. Gen, William J. Scott filed suit April 10 in U.S. District Court against the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the General Electric Corporation in connection with the operation of the high-level radioactive waste storage facility at Morris. The suit seeks a declaratory judgment and an injunction to prevent the federal storage facility from being expanded, and to prevent the state from becoming liable for the costs of caring for the wastes.

The Morris facility is presently storing spent nuclear fuel rods from reactors in Illinois, California, Wisconsin and Connecticut. The fuel rods total 310 metric tons at Morris, in a facility built for fuel reprocessing, but never finished because of technical problems. The spent fuel rods are highly radioactive and will remain so longer than the present recorded history of man.

June 1979 / Illinois Issues / 26