Environmental Impact Statement - radioactive monticello

Appendix A
Comment: The NRC also fails to address how low-income people in the Twin Cities Metro
area would be able to procure safe drinking water in the event that the Mississippi River
became contaminated by nuclear material. (MS-S-1 3)
Response: Environmental justice is an issue specific to Monticello and will be discussed in
Chapter 4 of the SEIS.
11. Comments Concerning Postulated Accidents
Comment: I also work with the North American Water Office, and my primary interest is that
the Monticello Nuclear Facility is upstream from water intake, drinking water intake, for the
Minneapolis city. And it is the only source of drinking water.
And so I would charge the NRC in their EIS analysis if there is an accident and there is a
substantive discharge into that waterway, we have no alternative drinking water. And I would
charge you that it is a severe environmental justice issue because people can't go and buy
bottled water. Who is going to supply the water supply for 2 million people And what are the
costs of that, and how are you going to protect the water supply of Minneapolis
St. Paul also gets a substantive percentage of its.water from the Mississippi. They do have
some deep wells and some lakes that they can also -- that they do also use. And so there is an
additional exposure for St. Paul that you must consider. (MS-E-1)
Comment: So I'm inquiring about the severe accident mitigation alternatives. I found the
analysis in they call it consequence bins quite helpful and, you know, easy to follow. But what
was very unclear to me when the EIS explained these different categories of release potential,
extreme, more than 50 percent of the inventory of cesium iodine being released. And then
large, between 20 and 50 percent, which, of course, is really a huge range I think in terms of
impact. Medium, small and negligible.
It explained that the severity depends upon the amount of the release in relation to the time in
.which general emergency was declared and people were alerted and were able to be,
mitigation measures were able to be taken.
What was completely unclear to me in the environmental review is whether or not the NRC has
any specific standards for this. How that decision is made Who makes the decision as to
whether the general emergency is declared When people are notified Whether they're --
and I think this bears upon the question of the water supply as well. I became aware of this
question when I was sitting in on a technical representatives meeting, which they have monthly
in the Environmental Quality Board.
And I think it's the Health Department. I'm not sure if it's the Health Department or the PCA, but
many of the agencies are involved right now in a review of protections for service waters that
serve as drinking waters under the EPA requirement, voluntary requirement.
August 2006 A-27 NUREG-1 437, Supplement 26 1