Gulf oil disaster threatens reactor safety, groups warn

Nuclear watchdog groups are raising concerns about the safe operation of coastal nuclear power plants threatened by the BP oil spill. In a letter to several U.S. government agencies the groups – Beyond Nuclear, Three Mile Island Alert and Salem Watch – warn that if surface or submerged oil-contaminated water were to infiltrate reactor water intake systems, serious damage to safety systems could result.

The Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant on the Florida Gulf Coast and Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station, on the Atlantic Florida coast, are potentially the most imminently threatened.

In a letter to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the US Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, the watchdog groups call for an across-the-board and transparent analysis of all critical actions which will be necessary to prevent damage to coastal reactors posed by the threat of contaminated water. The letter asks for assurances that comprehensive guidance from federal agencies is being provided to reactor licensees. It also calls for the constant monitoring of the oil plumes.

"BP is disputing that underwater oil plumes are spreading throughout the Gulf region," said Paul Gunter, Director of the Reactor Oversight Project for the Takoma Park, MD based organization Beyond Nuclear. "It is vital that an NRC safety analysis be made public before coastal reactors take in billions of gallons of oil-contaminated water."

Read the press release and letter here.

UCS files emergency enforcement petition with NRC regarding Davis-Besse lid leaks

The Union of Concerned Scientists' nuclear safety project director Dave Lochbaum has filed an emergency enforcement petition with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission concerning recent revelations of boric acid leakage through the Davis-Besse atomic reactor's lid near Toledo, Ohio. Similar leakage at Davis-Besse led, in 2002, to the nearest-miss to a major accident since Three Mile Island actually suffered a 50% core melt down in 1979. Due to that previous debacle, NRC fined Davis-Besse's owner, FirstEnergy, a record $5.45 million in penalties. However, this most recent leakage of corrosive boric acid appears to have again violated NRC's operating license, risking a fast-breaking breach of the reactor pressure vessel boundary and potential loss-of-coolant accident.

Entergy Nuclear seeks to boost profits by neglecting maintenance

In an editorial that despairs of ever getting "Straight answers" from Entergy Nuclear about its degraded, leaking Vermont Yankee atomic reactor, the Rutland Herald reports that Entergy CEO J. Wayne Leonard recently told investors that cash flow problems at Vermont Yankee will be solved by raising electric rates, as well as by " 'lower[ing] working capital requirements'...In other words, the company is investing less in the plant to enhance profits, which may account for the fact that it is falling apart. " Entergy Nuclear is equally guilty of neglecting major safety repairs and replacements at its Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan. A Palisades' presentation to the Michigan Public Service Commission in 2006 (see page 2) revealed several major fixes required to address known safety risks at the reactor, including replacement of the corroded reactor lid, annealing severe reactor pressure vessel embrittlement, replacing the steam generators for the second time, and enlarging sump pumps and fixing filtering screens in order to deal with debris clogging coolant flow during an emergency. However, since taking over ownership and operations at Palisades in 2007, Entergy has fixed none of these major problems. And just as Vermont Yankee is leaking hazarous radioactive tritium into groundwater and the Connecticut River, Palisades is leaking tritium into groundwater and Lake Michigan. In both cases, drinking water supplies, food chains, and public health downstream are at risk.

Beyond Nuclear and close to 100 groups protest blatant nuclear "booster" nominated to Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Beyond Nuclear joined close to 100 anti-nuclear watchdog groups from across the country in reiterating vehement opposition to President Obama's now official nomination of William Magwood as a new commissoner at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The groups had already alerted the White House, in an August 3rd letter, to Mr. Magwood's firmly pro-nuclear industry track record and history. Today, Beyond Nuclear issued a press release urging the Senate to carefully consider Magwood's nuclear industry boosterism given that the NRC mandate is to protect the interests of public safety in the nuclear power sector.

Cracked Florida reactor signals widespread risks of aging reactors

A deep crack just discovered this week in the concrete containment wall of the Crystal River nuclear reactor on Florida’s west coast signals a disturbing trend in on-going cracking and corrosion and other dangerous wear-and-tear symptoms among the country’s fleet of aging reactors. Beyond Nuclear argues that it is time the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission fulfill its Congressional mandate to look out for public safety instead of risking lives to save nuclear utilities money. The agency should keep the Crystal River reactor closed, Beyond Nuclear argues, while seriously evaluating the safety of continuing to relicense the country's aging reactor fleet.