Nuclear energy is tough sell in WA, and safety issue at Richland plant won’t help | Opinion

If Washington state is going to reach its 100% clean energy goal by 2045, then advanced nuclear reactor technology must be included in the mix with wind, solar and hydropower.

Small Modular nuclear Reactors (SMR), in particular, are considered a clean, safe, reliable, energy source that looks very promising.

But anything with the word “nuclear” in the name is still controversial and sets off warning bells in the minds of those who immediately think of disasters at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island in 1979, Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 and Fukushima, Japan in 2011.

Climate scientists and regional lawmakers have been trying for years to educate the public on the advancements in nuclear technology.

As Rep. Stephanie Barnard, R-Pasco, told state House members at a hearing this year, “The latest advance in nuclear technology is not your grandpa’s reactor.”

But long-held beliefs are tough to change.

That’s why it is so disheartening that in our own backyard a troubling incident from two years ago at Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station nuclear power plant is coming to light.

Some workers working on a pipe received unexpected exposure to radiation on May 28, 2021, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

One pipefitter was found to have an internal dose of 961 millirem and the second had an internal dose of 711 millirem. Energy Northwest’s limit is set at 2,000 millirem per year.

While Energy Northwest said the exposures were within the regular limits for annual radiation exposure, the company acknowledged it failed to take follow-up steps to properly assess the exact dose received by two of the workers.

The NRC report said that Energy Northwest should have taken fecal samples and additional urine samples of the workers to better determine the radiation exposure.

In addition, 18 other workers had unintended uptakes of less than 1 millirem after passing by the area as they evacuated the room, and a radiation protection technician received an internal dose of 14 millirem.

Any amount of radiation exposure is upsetting. This mishap is not only bad for the nuclear industry as a whole, but also frightening for the workers involved.

In response to the NRC report, Bob Schuetz, chief executive of Energy Northwest, said in a statement that “it is unacceptable for workers at Columbia Generating Station to receive unanticipated radiological dose of any amount.”

He also said, “In the nuclear industry, safety is our top priority, and we are held to the highest standards. In this instance, we did not live up to that standard, and we will work with the NRC to complete follow-up inspection to be able to return Columbia Generating Station to top industry performance.”

Energy Northwest also emphasized that at no point did contamination leave the building or put the health and safety of the public at risk.

Still, even with these assurances, such mishaps make it tougher to combat the anti-nuclear stance throughout the state.

Barnard sponsored House Bill 1584 this year, which would have ensured nuclear energy would be considered alongside other clean energy options as state officials work out a strategy for future power production.

The measure was overwhelmingly approved in the House, but floundered after it was sent to the Senate.

Still, that’s some progress.

James Conca, a nuclear waste researcher and trustee of the Herbert M. Parker Foundation at Washington State University Tri-Cities in Richland, has written many articles and spoken around the country about the safety of the modular reactors.

He says that SMRs have been used reliably for decades in the Nuclear Navy, and that they can be built in a quarter of the time it takes to build a traditional nuclear power plant and at a fraction of the up-front cost.

Just this week, the public utilities board of commissioners in Clark County, WA., which includes Vancouver, approved participating in Energy Northwest’s feasibility study for SMR development.

The meeting was heated, according to The Columbian newspaper. Many people who attended objected to the proposal. They didn’t think the idea of using modular reactors is even worth researching.

Nuclear energy is a tough sell in many circles.

But as time goes on and people become more knowledgeable about new technologies, more people are beginning to accept the possibilities that developing nuclear energy is a good thing.

A lot of that depends on a clean safety record at the state’s only nuclear power plant. Energy Northwest must keep its pledge and do better.