Mar 1 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Todd B. Bates Asbury Park Press, N.J.

While activists gained ground in efforts to get a hearing on corrosion in a critical radiation barrier at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, their climb may be insurmountable.

"Obviously, we think our contention (on corrosion) has a lot of merit," said Richard Webster, a staff attorney for the Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic in Newark who is representing Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch and a number of other groups. "We look forward to the public hearing."

Meanwhile, the state Department of Environmental Protection is considering whether to appeal the federal Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's rejection of its request for a hearing on several concerns, according to Elaine Makatura, a DEP spokeswoman.

The DEP's concerns are about aircraft attack risks, metal fatigue and backup power for the plant in Lacey, according to a DEP document. The agency is also looking into holding its own public meeting as one option, Makatura said.

The plant is coming under scrutiny because AmerGen Energy Co., an Exelon-owned company that operates Oyster Creek, has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year license extension beyond 2009, when its current operating license expires.

The atomic safety board agreed Monday that a hearing should be held on activists' concerns about corrosion in the steel drywell liner. The liner is a major part of the plant's radiation containment system.

In the past few years, however, "it's been very rare for somebody to get through with an (atomic board) ruling in their favor," said David Lochbaum, who directs the Nuclear Safety Project for the Union of Concerned Scientists, an alliance of scientists and citizens.

"It's even rarer" for the NRC not to take that victory away, Lochbaum said.

An atomic board has granted a hearing for only four of the 39 nuclear reactors that have received 20-year license extensions to date, according to Neil A. Sheehan, an NRC spokesman, and NRC documents.

But the NRC overruled the board in that case, denying a hearing for a combined relicensing application involving the four reactors.

A "limited number" of requests for hearings were filed regarding license renewal applications, Sheehan added.

The atomic safety board's hearing is on one aspect of what is called a contention, or concern, filed by the activists: that AmerGen's corrosion management program fails to include periodic thickness measurements of a lower section of the drywell liner. The board said it is considering activists' requests to add new contentions about corrosion.

"The (NRC's) credibility is on the line here," said Paul Gunter, who directs the Reactor Watchdog Project for the Washington-based Nuclear Information and Resource Service. "They can restore public confidence that they're a regulator or they can underscore that they're a nuclear promoter."

"We're prepared to go to federal court if necessary to force these (drywell) inspections," Gunter said. "The public health and safety is far more critical than the corporate bottom line."

AmerGen has said it will measure the thickness of the lower area of the drywell before 2009. The company has also told the NRC that measurements will be made every 10 years after the forthcoming inspection.

"We remain confident that the . . . drywell corrosion has been adequately addressed" and the company's aging-management program "will ensure that the drywell will continue to meet its designed safety function," said Rachelle Benson, an Oyster Creek spokeswoman.

The parties in the Oyster Creek matter have 10 days to appeal the board ruling, Sheehan said in an e-mail.

"I would hope that the DEP exhausts all appeal processes," said Joseph F. Monti, a 63-year-old retired educator who lives in Lavallette.

Benson said, "We are currently reviewing" the atomic board's decision.