Nuclear power plants pose more problems than indicated

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The recent Delaware Voice by Joseph Mangano (“Old nuclear plants threaten Delaware”) covers the dangers we face from these plants very well.

However, Delaware has within its 50-mile radius not only Salem and Hope Creek but also Peach Bottom 2 and 3 and Limerick 1 and 2 . This is an unusually high concentration of nuclear  power plants

Omitted from Mr. Mangano’s article is the problem with Salem and Hope Creek not present in those other plants.

Artificial Island, the location of Salem/Hope Creek, is so named because it is built from dredge spoils. The access road is elevated, on the left is the Delaware River on the right the swampland as it always was.

The condition of the soil under this plant is described as 35 feet mud, 35 feet gravel and mud and 35 feet Vincentown formation, which is, in effect, just a different type of gravel. Borings up to 100 feet reached no rock bottom. The whole complex is perched on cement pilings 70 feet deep, so in case of an earthquake, liquefaction could occur.

Last April, I appeared with PSE&G before the Delaware House Energy Committee protesting the company’s plan to build a fourth reactor on the island. Consider the fact that these plants should never have been built on that location in the first place. There was no denial from PSE&G executives. They simply ended the meeting.

Frieda Berryhill, Wilmington