‘Hot Lab’ Opponents File Briefs Against License Extension

Citing safety concerns and a legacy of environmental contamination, anti-nuclear and neighborhood activists Tuesday filed briefs urging the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reject Rockwell International’s request for a one-year extension of the special nuclear materials license for its Santa Susana Field Laboratory west of Chatsworth.

Bowing to community pressure and lacking nuclear contracts, Rockwell announced last fall it would withdraw its application for a 10-year license extension and instead seek a one-year renewal of the license for Santa Susana’s “hot lab,” a heavily shielded workshop where radioactive materials are handled by remote control.

During the last year of operations, when the firm would complete a project, the amount of radioactivity handled in the hot lab would be “significantly less than that found in a typical neighborhood hospital radiation therapy unit,” Rockwell said.

But several citizens and groups that have intervened in the license case have opposed the one-year extension, contending that further nuclear work would create a safety risk and could delay cleanup of contaminated soil and buildings.

Tuesday was the deadline for the intervenors to file briefs with NRC Law Judge Peter Bloch. Rockwell has until April 19 to file its brief.

In its brief, the anti-nuclear Committee to Bridge the Gap said releases of radioactivity and accidents show the company cannot “provide the necessary assurance that it can handle these dangerous materials safely.”

Rockwell officials said they had not read the brief and had no comment.

The hot lab’s nuclear license expired in June, but it was automatically extended pending resolution of the license case.

The company and intervenors had hoped to settle the case through negotiations, but the effort stalled late last year after Bloch’s superiors forbade him to mediate between Rockwell and the intervenors in private.

Rockwell opponents have sought a written guarantee that the company will not seek a new license sometime in the future. They say fears of global warming from use of fossil fuels may trigger a resurgence in the nuclear power industry that could restore Santa Susana’s nuclear role.

Company officials say they are sincere about ending nuclear work at the site but won’t put their plans in writing.