Nuclear Plants, NRC Ready to Grow Commissioner Says Once-Declining Industry is Seen As Solution to Coming Energy Crunch

Feb 11 - The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

Jeffery Merrifield's job is so much different today than when he first became a federal nuclear regulator in 1998.

Then, the government was thinking 40 percent of the country's nuclear plants would be shut down by 2010. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, based in suburban Maryland, was cutting its work force to keep even with the declining industry it was regulating.

Today, though, the nuclear industry appears on the cusp of a resurgence in the country. Charlotte-based Duke Energy Corp., for example, says it's considering building a nuclear plant in the Carolinas.

Nuclear plants didn't close, and many operators applied for extensions to their licenses to keep their plants alive another 20 years. More nuclear plants appear to be on the horizon: Utilities say they'll need big power plants in the coming decade to make up an anticipated power shortfall. And incentives included in the recently enacted Energy Bill make nuclear even more attractive.

Merrifield, a commissioner with the NRC, was in Charlotte this week to talk with Duke officials about their McGuire plant on Lake Norman. He answered questions from the Observer Friday.

Questions and answers have been edited for content and clarity:

Q. With this anticipated boom in license applications for nuclear plants, what's the biggest challenge for the NRC in the near future?

The biggest challenge is human resources. The NRC had about 2,900 people when I came on board, bottoming out in 1999 with a little more than 2,700.

Now, it's at 3,250. And we expect to hire 300 new people in the next 12 months: engineers, geologists, vulcanologists to do the technical reviews of applications coming in.

Six years ago, we used to have six times as many people over 60 as under 30.

And for the utilities, they also need craft workers: electricians, welders, pipe fitters. That work force also has an aging profile. It's going to be incumbent on utilities to get out to the high schools and trade schools around their plants. That's where the challenge may be bigger.

Q. Where are potential bottlenecks in the run-up to nuclear plant construction?

I think we can get the work force we need to evaluate the applications we receive. When they get approved, there are few firms available for architecture and engineering. That's going to be one where great changes will be necessary.

The current group of folks will have to increase their work forces: Bechtel, Shaw, Fluor.

Q. How do you view Charlotte-based Duke Power as a nuclear operator?

Duke is a solid company with a very good track record of operating its plants.

Q. What about Oconee, Duke's nuclear plant in Seneca, S.C.? It's had seven enforcement actions by the NRC in the past five years.

Oconee has had a few more issues recently, some aging issues that have been challenging to them. We got our three resident inspectors out there.

Q. Do you think utilities really need to build all these nuclear plants they're talking about? Predictions of power shortfalls in the past have been wrong.

I have had any number of utilities who have talked to me about concern of 2015, 2017.

They see major gaps in availability for utilities to deliver baseload power going forward.

Virtually every utility executive tells me the same thing, which leads me to believe they're not lying.

Q. So, how many new nuclear plants do you see being constructed?

I would say at least a dozen (by 2020).

Q. Do you think companies would be considering nuclear if not for all the incentives in the Energy Bill?

I think the incentives were icing on the cake -- maybe the tipping point to get people to move faster to take advantage of those incentives.

Q. Why does the South seem to be more welcoming of nuclear plants than other areas of the country? (The heaviest concentration of the country's nuclear plants is south of the Mason-Dixon line).

The areas in which we generally find the greatest concern are New York, New England and California.

New England is different. (Merrifield is a New England native and a graduate of Tufts University in Massachusetts.) People up there, there's a greater likelihood of challenge. People are politically active, politically aware. They have the tendency of being a bit more liberal.

But I think public support across the board is much higher than it was 10 to 20 years ago.

Q. Can anything trip up this seeming resurgence for nuclear in the country?

We're one accident away from turning all this around. My hope is to avoid that problem. The most important thing is not to be overconfident of what we've accomplished so far.

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