The Maine Yankee Community Advisory Panel (CAP) on Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Removal was not happy with a report from State Nuclear Safety Advisor Charles Pray.

Expressing concern that the spent fuel may not be removed until after 2020, Pray said, with the setbacks at Yucca Mountain, the Department of Energy (DOE) has a renewed interest in developing one or more interim storage sites.

The CAP members met Thursday, April 17, for their annual meeting, and heard reports from the Maine Nuclear Safety Inspector Pat Dostie; Maine Yankee Independent Spent Fuel Storage (ISFSI) Manager James Connell; CAP Coordinator Eric Howes, along with Pray.

Dostie told the CAP members that ongoing groundwater monitoring was still being conducted.

In year three of a five-year agreement with the state of Maine, groundwater samples continue to be taken three times a year to demonstrate the decommission in radiological cleanup criteria is being met. One outstanding item still in progress is obtaining agreements regarding the covenants from easement holders.

Bailey Point wells are also analyzed for non-radiological contaminants under a 30-year groundwater monitoring program overseen by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

"None of the 14 wells tested have exceeded the 2 millirens limit," Dostie said.

In late September while taking soil samples on the former ball field road, which runs along the rail spur, Dostie found three areas with cesium above expected background levels. However, the levels were within the allowed limits of the License Termination Plan.

Following Dostie's find, Maine Yankee and the state took about 30 additional soil samples, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was notified of the incident.

Connell reported on the operations of the spent fuel storage facility over the past year.

He told the CAP members operations at the storage site had been routine with three exceptions, which Maine Yankee has taken steps to insure there are no reoccurrences.

The incidents occurred April 7 during a snowstorm, October 30, an individual fired a rifle from the Old Ferry Road at a deer on the former Maine Yankee property, and the third incident occurred on November 19 following the replacement and upgrade of security computers at the storage facility.

Connell reported there had been a successful fire and medical drill conducted with the town of Wiscasset; Maine Yankee met with state officials and the Maine Emergency Management Agency office in Augusta for the annual review of emergency planning and procedures which was followed by a successful emergency drill.

According to reports given by Pray and Howes to the CAP members, the Yucca Mountain program was given a significant setback when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada was successful in getting the funding reduced for the program by $50 million.

The administration requested $495 million, the funding was reduced to $390 million as part of the omnibus appropriation bill. Because of the setbacks to Yucca Mountain, there is renewed interest in developing one or more interim storage sites, according to Pray.

DOE is being directed to develop a plan to take custody of spent fuel currently stored at decommissioned sites to reduce costs to the taxpayers.

Pray expressed concern about the omnibus appropriation bill language, which had not been made public.

"Taking custody does not in of itself remove the high-level radioactive nuclear waste," Pray said. "DOE could just take over the site and its operation, thus becoming a federal site. Maine Yankee, under this language, could become a storage site, or a collective site, where waste from other plants could be relocated to Wiscasset."

Howes told the CAP members, this is also true of the other three closed nuclear plants in New England.

The nuclear storage facility at Maine Yankee is a 12-acre open-air facility with an adjacent security and operations building. The facility contains 60 air-tight sealed steel canisters of spent fuel and four canisters of Greater that Class C waste.

The canisters are inside concrete and steel casks on concrete pads. Each cask is monitored remotely from the operations center.

On January 29, 2008 the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its 2006-2007 Inspection Report for the spent storage facility, and all areas were found to be adequate.

Other business included: Howes reported that a decision is expected this year on the federal government's appeal of the 2006 ruling by U.S. Court of Federal Claims in the first round of damage claims in which Maine Yankee was awarded $75.8 million.

The Natural Resource Damages settlement between the state and Maine Yankee is expected to be finalized soon. This settlement is the result of the state's claim for the natural resource damage from groundwater contamination at the Maine Yankee site during its 23 years of generating electrically, from December 1972 until the plant closed in 1997.

The settlement will benefit the Chewonki Foundation, the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association, the state planning office and Trout Unlimited Inc.

"Maine Yankee wishes to resolve this issue," Howes said. "A lot of good will comes out of it."

Pray concluded the presentations of the meeting with an evolution of nuclear power, and his farewells to the CAP members, as his position as the State Nuclear Advisor will end September 1, according to the 2004 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Settlement Agreement. The duties of his position will likely be taken over by the Public Advocate office. He has served as a CAP member for the past few years.

The Maine Yankee CAP on Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage and Removal was established in February 2005. Their purpose is to "enhance open communications, public involvement and education on the interim storage of the spent fuel at Maine Yankee."

The minutes of their meetings are available at the Maine Yankee web site and at the state library in Augusta.

CAP's next meeting will be held in the spring of 2009.