Nuclear Plant Causes Concern

Nuclear Plant Causes Concern

Jun 27 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Plagued by steam leaks and a backlog of maintenance projects, South Jersey's Hope Creek nuclear power plant has been shut down about half the time since early October, most recently for 10 days this month.

None of the incidents posed a danger to workers or the public, but critics say the chain of events does not inspire confidence in the 19-year-old reactor, one of three that make up the nation's second-largest nuclear power facility.

And along with its two sister plants, Salem 1 and 2, the plant is under heightened scrutiny by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after several employee whistleblowers said their safety concerns were ignored.

Conditions are improving, but it will take a long time to catch up, according to a nuclear safety engineer who once worked as a consultant at the plant, situated about 35 miles southwest of Philadelphia.

"They've had so many years of not doing preventative maintenance," said David Lochbaum, now at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a national watchdog group. "It's really the sins of the past come home to roost."

Officials at PSEG Nuclear, the plant owner, acknowledge they are behind on maintenance but say they are making steady progress. A third-party survey revealed frustration among some employees but showed that most were willing to raise issues, company spokesman Skip Sindoni said.

"It's not a safety concern," Sindoni said. "It's more issues that there's an opportunity there to improve from a production standpoint."

The various shutdowns at Hope Creek, starting with a steam leak discovered in the turbine building on Oct. 10, come amid increased interest in nuclear power.

On Wednesday, President Bush renewed his call for the construction of reactors, and the energy bill now moving through Congress includes incentives toward that end. Exelon Corp., the nation's largest nuclear-plant operator and the parent of Philadelphia's Peco Energy, is one of several companies that have explored building reactors.

Exelon also is in the process of acquiring Newark-based PSEG Inc., the corporate parent of Hope Creek, which is situated in Lower Alloways Creek Township, Salem County.

Supporters of nuclear power tout the fact that it does not generate air pollution, including the "greenhouse gases" that most climate scientists believe have led to global warming. Yet some environmental groups remain resolutely antinuclear, citing difficulties with proper disposal of spent radioactive fuel, and the potential for another accident like 1979's partial meltdown at Three Mile Island.

An increase in nuclear power generation would entail not just constructing more plants, but also renewing licenses belonging to the first generation of reactors such as Hope Creek.

Hope Creek's license expires in 2026, but already the plant is showing signs of age.

On Oct. 10, it was shut down after a steam leak in the turbine building.

Soon after powering back up in January, the plant was down again for 15 hours to fix a broken pipe. Then in March came a small leak in an instrument tube, leading to a voluntary two-week shutdown.

And this month, a 20-foot plume of steam gushed from a faulty indicator valve, leading to still another shutdown. As workers began to start up the plant last week, another leak was found and fixed, meaning three more days without power.

The October leak was the most serious. While none of the leaks got to the point that emergency pumps had to be engaged, Lochbaum said increased scrutiny is warranted.

"The hope is that, if challenged some day, that equipment will work," Lochbaum said. "It's kind of like your spare tire. You're not likely to find out it's flat until one of your other tires goes flat."

Sindoni, the PSEG spokesman, said the plant is chipping away at its maintenance backlog, going from 110 items that needed to be fixed in January to about 50 at the end of May.

January is when Exelon took over daily operations at the plant, although ownership remains with PSEG until the merger is complete.

David Schanzer, an industry analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott L.L.C., said that Exelon has a good track record at keeping its plants running at full capacity, and that the merger is a good sign for PSEG's reactors.

"Very clearly, in my mind, having Public Service as a part of Exelon at this point is going to be beneficial for ratepayers, for investors," Schanzer said.

Yet still unresolved are a number of safety and security allegations by individuals, including employees, and organizations.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating 22 such allegations at Salem-Hope Creek, tops in the nation. And in 2004, the agency substantiated 13 such claims, also tops in the nation.

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