07/12/2006

State eyes buying Big Rock

Former nuke plant site has spent fuel rods

By CRAIG McCOOL

mccoolrecordeagle@sbcglobal.net

CHARLEVOIX — Hundreds of acres of pristine wilderness and over a mile of undisturbed Lake Michigan shoreline provide good reason for the state's interest in an available chunk of property.

But there's also radioactive waste, the X-factor that has those who control the purse strings leery of a plan to use public funds to buy the Big Rock Point nuclear power plant site.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking the Natural Resources Trust Fund for millions — $3 million up front and additional money each year — to help finance a purchase of more than 500 acres on U.S. 31 east of Charlevoix.

The trust fund board will make grant allocation decisions by year's end. Competition is fierce, said board member Sam Washington, and the Big Rock land acquisition proposal, which ultimately would involve around $10 million in NRC grant funds, has "some snags," Washington said.

Snag No. 1: the waste — 441 fuel bundles, each containing more than 100 radioactive spent nuclear fuel rods, are stored on the Big Rock property.

"If it stays on the site, they will have to convince the board that the plans for safeguarding it and safeguarding the public are credible," Washington said. "I've not seen such plans."

The asking price for Big Rock is $20 million, said DNR spokeswoman Mary Dettloff. Natural resources trust fund grants would only cover a portion.

"There are all sorts of ways we can finance this project. It would likely be spread out over several years," Dettloff said.

The state and the Little Traverse Conservancy are pushing hard for public acquisition.

"We cannot afford to pass this opportunity by," said Conservancy director Tom Bailey.

Big Rock's current land owner, Consumers Energy, is nearing the end of a decade-long project to dismantle the power plant, which shut down in 1997.

The reactor and plant buildings are long gone, but the fuel rods remain in concrete casks in a fenced-off area. They likely will stay until a national repository for such waste can be established. It probably won't happen before 2010, said company spokesman Tim Petrosky.

In the meantime, the company wants to sell the remainder of the land, holding back the area where the waste is stored — about the size of basketball court — along with a "robust border," Petrosky said.

Numerous developers already have expressed interest, Petrosky said, but the company is waiting to see whether the state and the conservancy can put together funding.

"We are aware of the progress that various organizations have made and are committed ... to working with the local organizations first," Petrosky said.

See related story:

• Demolition of Big Rock nears an end - July 9, 2006