There is a possibility of building an atomic reactor of a modest size in Alaska however, it is not within 2700 feet of a home.
On Monday, Lieutenant. Governor. Nancy Dahlstrom signed a package of regulations that regulates the areas where small nuclear reactors, sometimes referred to “microreactors,” may be constructed in Alaska.
The rules are set to be implemented at the time they are being implemented by the U.S. Air Force advances plans to construct the first state-wide microreactor located at Eielson Air Force Base, to the southeast of Fairbanks.
Copper River Electric Association, which provides electricity for Glennallen, Valdez, and the surrounding areas and is looking into the possibility of building microreactors.
Microreactors are designed to work as a single module that is able to be transported by a back 18-wheeler.
In the year 2000 Governor. Mike Dunleavy signed into law an act that makes it easier for businesses to build small nuclear reactors that are modular within the state, while removing certain requirements that are imposed on larger reactors.
This legislation marked the regulation process being conducted by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation that, together with the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission — will oversee every modular reactor.
The new regulations that were announced this week do not specifically deal about nuclear safety, they only address the location where a reactor can be constructed. The regulations include the regulations state that a reactor cannot be constructed within 2,700 feet of a home or within 300 feet of the National park, game reserve or national parks within the coastal zone that is susceptible at storm surge, or within 100 feet from a road or trail or within an area of protection because it’s used to supply drinking water.
Each reactor site has to have the approval of local municipal authorities If a reactor is being considered for a site that is not in an organized borough it is the Alaska Legislature must approve the site.
These restrictions on sites could be applicable to a nuclear waste facility or site which processes nuclear fuel according to the regulations. There is no public announcement here.
In a public comment period earlier in the year, proposed regulations were criticized in the form of members of the Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Copper Country Alliance as well as a few individual residents who expressed concern worried about the risks posed by nuclear power.
“It appears to me that Alaska is likely to become an Guinea animal for this experiment in technology. The number of polluted areas that the Army left here doesn’t make me feel confident that they’ll be responsible in this instance,” wrote Brigitte Jaeger of Fairbanks.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, a national group that promotes the development of microreactors was also crucial of a few aspects of the regulations proposed.
An earlier draft suggested banning microreactors in 300-foot range of “an zone that has extreme risks from eruptions of volcanic origin, such as ice floes or Avalanches” and also in flood plains that are 100 years old.
The institute was critical of those sections, pointing out the radiation risks are the sole responsibility of federal regulators and that those sections don’t figure in final rules.
The rules say that in the event that the facility is situated in an area that has a 100-year floodplain the operator must prove that a flood won’t harm the structure.
The institute also condemned certain regulations which require public notice as well as sections which oblige operators to share information with the government; these remain in the final regulations.
The new rules take effective in august.
The proposed microreactor must to get permits from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a procedure that can take a few years. The NRC has a list of no projects related to Alaska that are pending.
This article first appeared in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
