Nuclear Regulatory Commission Draft Environmental Assessment On Proposed Pa’ina Hawaii Irradiator Deficient

The draft environmental assessment issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the proposed Pa’ina Hawaii Irradiator seemed to minimize out of hand some of the concerns that have been expressed regarding the construction of this proposed facility.

The NRC seemed to rely almost exclusively on information and data supplied by the operator of the proposed facility.  There was not independent research or comprehensive modeling conducted by the NRC to evaluate the potential damage the facility could sustain from a major catastrophic event at this particular site.  For example, one of the source documents cited by the NRC was a 2003 inspection report it conducted of an irradiator constructed in Pennsylvania that has since closed.  Because of the unique seismic and meteorological conditions which could impact the proposed facility, the findings of that 2003 report are probably irrelevant.

The proximity of this proposed facility to the Honolulu Airport should have prompted the NRC to conduct an in-depth assessment of the impact of an airplane crash – whether accidental or intentional – into the proposed facility.  Instead, the NRC breezily dismissed those concerns with only a cursory analysis.

There was no mention of potential security concerns with the establishment of this facility.  The University of Hawaii in 2005 closed its irradiator for fear that it would be the target of terrorists.  There have been numerous media reports indicating that nuclear power facilities still lack the necessary measures to prevent security breaches.  Radioactive isotopes such as cobalt 60 – which will be used at the proposed facility – are the main components to manufacture “dirty bombs.”  The NRC environmental assessment failed to address this issue.

The NRC environmental assessment also extolled the purported economic advantages of using irradiation over other phyto-sanitary measures to treat certain fruits and vegetables.  The NRC pointed to several federal government studies to support this contention.  One of the reasons that food irradiation that has failed in the marketplace is due to the fact that the opposite is true – irradiation is very expensive.  Past federal government estimates on the added cost of irradiation have proven to be incorrect.  One of the chief reasons that irradiated ground beef is not being served in the National School Lunch Program is due to the fact that federal government estimates of its costs to school districts were proven to be too low.