Public meetings about William S. Lee nuclear project near Gaffney, SC

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is planning to hold two identical public meetings to discuss the draft environmental impact statement for the William States Lee nuclear power station units 1 and 2 that are proposed for a site near Gaffney, SC.

The public will be allowed to present comments and ask questions. People who are interested in speaking can register in advance by January 17 or they can sign up on sheets that will be provided at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of the scheduled start time.

Some of my friends are planning to attend and provide nuclear energy informational material along with some fresh baked cookies. It is a good opportunity for people who live or work in the area to express their support for building new nuclear power stations.

Historical note of interest: The site where the William States Lee Nuclear Station is being planned is the same place where Duke Energy started to build the Cherokee Nuclear Station. After that project was cancelled, the incomplete containment buildings sat idle for many years.

In 1986, Earl Owensby, a film producer from North Carolina, purchased the unused containment and support buildings and converted them to a movie set. That set was used for the underwater scenes for the movie “The Abyss”; the containment building held more than 7.5 million gallons of water.

(Source: Movies Filmed in South Carolina – The Abyss)

“The Abyss” (March 2003) is an amusing story of two self-described computer nerds who visited the movie set on a lark. There are several photos, even some that include the underwater vehicle used in the movie.

The story of the visit to the abandoned Cherokee nuclear plant brings back some very recent memories; I think I passed within just a few miles of the site while traveling the backroads between Augusta, GA and Spartanburg, SC during the week between Christmas and New Years. The towns along the way haven’t changed a bit from the way that the nerds described them as they saw them in 2003. It is an area that houses thousands of people who would gain a substantial benefit by hosting a multibillion dollar construction project.

One of my self-assigned missions in life is to do all I can to help make the next Atomic Age so much of a success that there are not any abandoned, partially finished buildings available for use as a movie set.