PRESS RELEASE

Citizen's alliance calls on state Attorney General to halt CP&L's "dangerous and irresponsible" train shipments of nuclear waste

Cooper urged to assert oversight and control powers in face of terrorist
risks, looming and unnecessary threat to public health

RALEIGH, N.C. - A coalition representing thousands of North Carolina citizens is presenting a legal petition today, calling on state Attorney General Roy Cooper to use his authority to "take immediate action to stop the dangerous, irresponsible, and unlawful transport and stockpiling of high-level nuclear waste by Carolina Power & Light corporation (CP&L)."

The legal complaint, issued today by 19 North Carolina organizations at the office of the Attorney General, states that CP&L's import of nuclear waste by train from other CP&L reactors in the Carolinas, for storage at its Shearon Harris plant, poses an unnecessary and imminent threat to North Carolina residents.

"The nation is on a alert for terrorist attacks on nuclear targets, but CP&L refuses to spare the minor costs of storing waste more safely on-site," says Nora Wilson of NC WARN, one of the groups signing the petition. "CP&L is endangering the public health, safety and homeland security of North Carolinians - and the Attorney General has both the authority and the obligation to act."

Wilson further noted that a recent breach of security on a CP&L nuclear waste train in Richmond County proves that the trains cannot be adequately protected against an attack that could cause a serious release of radiation.

Among the conclusions of the complaint being lodged by Wake Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Chatham for Nuclear Risk Reduction, Democracy South, Durham NAACP, Institute for Southern Studies, NC WARN, and 12 other groups:

• "While the trains themselves represent frequent and accessible targets for terrorists, the growing accumulation of irradiated fuel rods in storage pools at the Shearon Harris facility invites an even greater tragedy should an attack occur. Substantially increasing its attractiveness to terrorists targeting the United States is the proximity of [the] Shearon Harris plant and its feeder rail lines to one of the nation's leading technological centers and a number of prominent U.S. military bases."

• "As the only utility company in the nation currently shipping waste fuel from one plant to another, CP&L corporation has consistently ignored calls to avoid this risk, putting its economic self-interest ahead of the health, safety and welfare of the people of North Carolina . To date, 25 state and local officials have called on CP&L corporation to halt its shipments of irradiated fuel rods to the Shearon Harris plant due to this very real risk of terrorist attack on transports or the plant."

• Local officials have little information to prepare for a potential radiation release in their communities, and "alarmingly, few communities on the transport routes actually have the trained personnel or necessary equipment to adequately respond to a radiological emergency."

The coalition's petition draws on the established constitutional authority and duty of the Attorney General to intervene. While the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is charged with overseeing nuclear facilities, CP&L is legally chartered by the state and its people, which have authority over its operations in North Carolina - especially when CP&L's actions pose an overwhelming and unneeded threat to public security.

"According to the North Carolina constitution, corporations are chartered by the state and therefore accountable to the public, via our elected officials," says coalition attorney Lewis Pitts. "Attorney General Cooper has a clear legal procedure, as well as a duty as an elected public servant, to act to safeguard the people of the state."

For over three years, citizen groups have challenged CP&L's planned expansion of nuclear waste storage at Shearon Harris, pointing to the safe and available alternative of on-site storage at each reactor.

The coalition is especially concerned that CP&L - which, along with its parent company Progress Energy, is one of the five largest utilities in the country - refuses to pay the marginal expense for on-site storage, while the company spends millions of dollars - $7 million in 2001 alone - in political campaign contributions and "strategic philanthropy." This "Enron-like" influence, the coalition charges, has silenced debate and is further reason for Attorney General Cooper to intervene.

Also speaking at today's press conference were members of citizen groups based near the Harris plant, who called on Cooper to stand above other high-ranking politicians and protect their communities from potential disaster.

The full list of organizations calling on the Attorney General to exercise his authority, representing a cross-section of local and state-wide constituencies, are:

Carolina Environmental Students Alliance; Chapel Hill Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers); Chatham for Nuclear Risk Reduction; Clean Water for North Carolina; Democracy South; Duke Environmental Alliance; Durham Citizens for Nuclear Risk Reduction; Durham People's Alliance; Institute for Southern Studies; NAACP of Durham; NC Network for Popular Democracy; NC Peace Action; NC WARN; Orange County Citizens for Nuclear Safety; Student Environmental Action Coalition; Students United for a Responsible Global Environment (SURGE); Wake Citizens for Nuclear Safety; and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (North Carolina).

# # #

NC WARN HOME