County assures nuclear safety

Friday, Aug. 15, 2008

They were introduced by Wilson Parran (D), president of the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners, who said he hoped their statements would help relieve public anxieties about the project.

‘‘I want absolutely everyone here to know Calvert Cliffs is recognized as a safe, robust, secure industrial facility” and that the county has the resources to protect it, Parran said. ‘‘... Concerns stem from a general lack of awareness of how emergency response plans are planned, approved and executed.”

‘‘A speaker last week said he was scared. Please know there is no reason to be scared,” said Sheriff Mike Evans.

Lt. Ricky Thomas, county director of special operations and homeland security, asked the public to understand that security precautions prevented him from releasing in advance plans for emergency response during a nuclear failure.

‘‘I can, however, assure you those plans are robust, exercised and drilled,” Thomas said.

Bobby Fenwick, division chief of the Calvert County Division of Emergency Management and Safety, said safety plans in the event of a radiation release were well developed and that having such plans could help the county respond to natural disasters.

‘‘The fact we have a systematic, robust emergency plan for Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant makes the community more prepared to respond to more likely events such as hurricanes and ice storm,” Fenwick said.

These assurances did not comfort everyone. County resident Bill Peil stood up to say he’d heard what the government had to say ‘‘and I’m still scared. ... I’m concerned I have not seen these [emergency] plans in action.”

Bruce Gordon said he has lived in the county all his life and hopes the project does not go forward.

‘‘I’ve heard a lot of reasons why you want this plant and a lot of them are valid. But I could give you 100 reasons why we shouldn’t have this plant,” he said.

He called the nation’s nuclear plants ‘‘one hundred and four ticking time bombs in this country called the nuclear industry. There’s not one engineer in the country that can guarantee that one of these [containment] vessels will never, ever crack. The bottom line is it’s dangerous. Don’t ever mitigate that fact.”

But the majority of speakers spoke in support of the project. Representatives of several unions came out to say the project would provide jobs for skilled workers and benefit the local economy.

State House Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell (R-Calvert, St. Mary’s), a former Calvert Cliffs employee, said he lived in Middletown, Pa., in 1979, during the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, and so was familiar with the risks of the technology. But nuclear power should go forward, he said.

‘‘I think it is the most vital public policy decision we may make this generation. I think it’s essential this generation support revitalization of the nuclear industry as a power supply,” he said.

Among others, county resident Janice Wilson said she support the reactor because it will help the environment, is safe and would provide job opportunities.

‘‘I’m thirsty for nuclear facts. I am in favor of nuclear power and in particular favor of the potential for new nuclear reactors in Calvert County,” said plant employee Clyde Thomas, another local.