First-generation nuclear power plants were built without aboveground, outdoor storage because the federal government had promised to be responsible for the radioactive waste. But the government broke its promise long ago and spent more than $6 billion looking for a place to bury the waste.
The deadline to begin burying at Yucca Mountain in Nevada passed in 1998, and early estimates say that the facility is at least a decade away from opening. Environmental groups, including the Washington-based Environmental Working Group, say that even if Yucca opens, it will fill quickly because of waste already generated.
Louisa County, Va., has come to depend on North Anna Power Station for $10 million annually in tax revenue.
(1998 Photo Bill Clark -- Daily Progress Via AP)
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This month, Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) began floating a proposal to have the federal government take ownership of all storage facilities across the country, eliminating liability for states and utilities and also keeping the massive storage debate out of his state.
The belief that Yucca will never be built is the reason Barlow said the berm is needed.
"I don't think anyone is fooling themselves into thinking the waste is ever going anywhere," he said.
As the storage question and U.S. energy policy have become topics of greater interest, Washington area groups for and against nuclear power have poured more effort into North Anna.
The North American Young Generation in Nuclear, made up of professionals in the nuclear industry, has recently opened a Washington area chapter. The People's Alliance for Clean Energy, a Charlottesville-based group opposed to the North Anna expansion, sprang up last year.
Most of the opposition has come from outside Louisa, where Dominion is the largest employer, with 900 jobs at the plant, which provides $10 million annually in tax revenue.
Some residents, however, are questioning the impact of expansion on the lake -- water tables, water levels, water temperature and fish -- and on the recreation economy.
Supervisors in nearby Spotsylvania County issued a group statement last month saying they were displeased with the NRC review of the proposed expansion, which they said didn't consider the burgeoning region's future water needs.
In addition, Supervisor Emmitt Marshall (I-Berkeley), whose district includes part of Lake Anna, asked: "What happens if a suicide bomber decides to drop a bomb on it or crash a plane into it? The larger the plant, the more likely it is you have an accident."
But those concerned about terrorism say storage and expansion issues aren't entirely local. Along with the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Calvert County, Md., North Anna is the closest nuclear facility to Washington. Federal emergency guidelines talk about dangers extending as far as 50 miles.
"They should hold hearings in Washington and Alexandria and Fredericksburg," said Elena Day, a member of the People's Alliance. "Radiation doesn't stop at the county line."
