Editorial

NRC's change of heart

4/4/2012

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is declining to hear arguments about how the electricity generated by the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Oak Harbor might be replaced when the plant's license expires in 2017. That reluctance is perplexing.

Commission members voted unanimously to reverse a decision by the NRC licensing board to convene a hearing on "clean" alternatives to nuclear power, such as wind and solar energy. The NRC concedes that overturning the decision did not represent business as usual.

Such groups as Beyond Nuclear, the Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Green Party of Ohio were preparing arguments tailored to northern Ohio. The NRC told Al Compaan, a retired chairman of the University of Toledo physics department, a local solar pioneer, and a recipient of a Governor's Award for Excellence in Energy Efficiency, that he had not done his homework.

Terry Lodge, a Toledo attorney who is leading the challenge to Davis-Besse's relicensing, says opponents now must prove their entire case just to be heard. Such an onerous burden of proof is not required in many criminal and civil court proceedings, he says.

FirstEnergy Corp. which operates Davis-Besse, seeks to extend the plant's license to 2037. The NRC has extended the operating licenses of more than two-thirds of the nation's 104 nuclear plants without rejecting a single one.

The future of Davis-Besse, including all reasonable options, deserve to be examined. The NRC should give the challengers a hearing.