2The Tar Heel Thursday, June 12. 1986
Co
By SCOTT GREIG
City Editor
The Chapel Hill Town Council
voted 8-1 Monday night to oppose
the activation of the Shearon Harris
Nuclear Power Plant. The council
heard debate on both sides of the
issue from Carolina Power & Light
Co. officials and from representatives
of the Coalition for Alternatives to
Shearon Harris (CASH), including
UNC Student Body President Bryan
H asset.
The standing-room-only crowd at
the Municipal Building's meeting
room broke into applause and cheers
following the vote on the two
resolutions.
In addition to asking that the
Shearon Harris plant be converted
to coal or gas fuel, the council also
asked that the state and CP&L
develop an evacuation plan that
includes Chapel Hill. The resolutions ,
of Durham and Carrboro did not
include such a request.
Councilman David Pasquini dis
sented from the first resolution,
which called for the conversion of
Shearon Harris to a non-nuclear fuel
plant to avoid the possibilities of a
nuclear accident. '
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By a unanimous vote, the council
passed the second resolution, which
expressed the council's grave con
cerns about the plant and its safety.
Bryan Hassel said: "As student
body president 1 must represent my
students' opinions and desires to the
outside community, ! don think that
the 20.000 students at UNC want to
be living less than 20 miles from a
nuclear power plant." -
Edward G. Lilly Jr., executive vice
president for CP&L. said plans for
completion of the plant are going to
continue despite the vote.
"The plant is 97 percent complete
as of the moment," Lilly said. "We
plan to load the fuel this summer and
begin operation later this year."
The Nuclear Regulatory Commis
sion only requires that evacuation
plans be set up for areas within a
10-mile radius of the plant. CASH
supporters are quick to point out
what they call the absurdity of that
size limitation.
"Any accident serious enough to
call for an evacuation is going to be
serious enough to create problems
outside of that 10-mile radius," said
CASH member Wells Eddleman.
"If they donl feel that a 'worst case'
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accident is possible, then how can
they guard against it?" Eddleman
asked.'
".: R.B. Starkey Jr., manager of the
company's nuclear safety and envir
onmental services department, told
the council that area residents need
not worry about a Chernobyl-type
accident occurring at "Shearon
Harris. ,
He said the Shearon Harris struc
ture is different from the Soviet
reactor in that it does have a con
tainment vessel and is not graphite
moderated. Starkey said the accident
at Chernobyl was precipitated by a
hydrogen explosion that could not
happen at the Harris plant because
the process they use turns active
hydrogen into inert water.
Our safety policy shows we dont
believe anything has a probability of
zero," Starkey said. "Thats why the
walls of our containment vessel are
four-and-a-half feet thick and steel
lined." Lilly said there are now 1 1 nuclear
units operating in North and South
Carolina." He added, If they weren't
operating safely, they wouldn't be
operating at all."
Lightning A. Brown, from
CASH'S Orange County Working
Group, said the council's action on
the resolutions shows CP&L that
local governments are concerned.
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Ads
face
By MATT LONG
Staff Writer
The Coalition for Alternatives
to Shearon Harris (CASH) has
prepared a point-by-point
response to the newspaper adver
tisements paid for June 3 by the
Carolina Power & Light Com
pany stockholders.
In a question-and-answer for
mat, the full page ads explained
why converting the Shearon
Harris nuclear power plant to a
fossil fuel plant would be
impractical.
. They said the conversion would
cost $1.5 billion, on top of the $3.5
billion already spent, and the
plant would not be operable until
1993. The ads also claimed the 10
mile evacuation area is sufficient
and has been tested safely. .
CASH'S reponse questions
CP&L's assumptions that the
consumer would pay for the cost
of abandoning the plant instead
of the stockholders. It also brings
Garrboro keeps Clauds
By SHIRLEY NESBITT
Staff Writer .
The N.C. Local Government Com
mission granted Carrboro a waiver
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criticism
out the point that the "original
estimate of construction costs was
exceeded by 800 percent." ;
According to the group, CP&L
has had 10 potentially dangerous
accidents at its other nuclear
plants. This refutes CP&L's
claims that it has operated "three
other nuclear units for a cumul
ative total of 35 years without
impact on the health and safety
of employees or the public."
Of the 10-mile evacuation plan,
the group asks,uWhat force stops
radiation at an imaginary 10-mile
line?" The response recalls that the
Chernobyl accident was disco
vered by the Swedes.
CASH doubts that CP&L can
execute the evacuation plan. "The
plans assume three to four hours
for evacuation," the reponse said.
"A bad accident would send
radioactivity over the countryside
before the emergency plan could
even get started."
this week from the state requirement
that 40 percent of sales tax revenue
from must be spent on water and
sewer needs.
The waiver allows Carrboro to
keep a total of $ 140,000 in water and
sewer money, instead of requiring the
money to be given to the Orange
Water and Sewer Authority.
"The town of Carrboro does not
operate its own utilities and therefore
could use the money for other
community needs," said Robert
Morgan, Carrboro's town manager.
The money comes from Carrboro's
half-cent sales tax proceeds. Car
rboro does not own its own water
and sewer system. Before the waiver
went into effect, the money went to
OWASA.
Carrboro is one of the ten towns
that have been granted waivers. This
is the second two-year exemption
Carrboro has received.
Morgan said the extra $70,000
Carrboro will receive is not ear
marked for any specific purpose. "It.
is to be part of the general fund, for
capital reserves, street repair, etc."
Two years from now, Carrboro
may not be able to keep the water
and sewer money, but for now, it will
be able to use the money for the
general fund.
"If the community does not need
the money in the water and sewage
area, then we need to set up our
priority needs for the. money,"
Morgan said. "In fairness, municpal
ities should be able to use those funds
where the community needs exist."
Instead of applying for a waiver,
Chapel Hill places its. revenue from
the taxes into a special fund and uses
the money for utility extensions.
Chapel Hill officials have said that
they plan to continue to store the
proceeds from this tax in the fund.
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