No joke, oldest reactor in US relicensed despite adverse safety findings on April Fools Day 2009

Since November 15, 2005, a coalition of national, state and local groups (Stop The Relicensing of Oyster Creek) has struggled through the labyrinth of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s relicensing process. Oyster Creek began generating power in December 1969. Its 40-year operating license expires on April 9, 2009. The coalition’s single contention before the licensing board focused on the discovery of a band of corrosion at the base of the 100-foot tall iron structure that in places had eaten through nearly half the contain wall structure raising the concern that the structure could buckle and collapse.It was no joke on April Fools’ Day 2009 when the Commission voted (4-0) to extend the operating license despite an NRC inspection report and email disclosed by the Freedom of Information Act documenting that Exelon Nuclear doesn’t have a working age-management program for the corrosion nor do they know the extent of the containment damage all critical elements of the relicensing decision. The Commission decided that the reactor’s containment corrosion management program and the enhanced assessment of the extent of the damage can come later.This kind of decision-making can lead to the next Three Mile Island accident or worse. NRC has placed its cart before the horse in the relicensing process. The company has demonstrated neither a working age-management program nor the knowledge of the extent the damage. This should have been grounds for denying or at least delaying the re-licensing. NRC’s decision to promote schedule over assurance of safety undermines confidence in the NRC’s gamed process and the continued safety of the reactor.