Oct 24 - Patriot Ledger, The; Quincy, Mass.

The nuclear power industry has seen more than 50 plant shutdowns that lasted longer than a year, and federal regulators need to step up the efforts to prevent more of them, according to a new report from a Cambridge-based advocacy group.

The Union of Concerned Scientists, in its report, claims that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission isn't properly scrutinizing the causes of power plant problems.

The report compiled 51 shutdowns that lasted longer than a year in the roughly 40 years that the United States has relied on nuclear energy for power. The Pilgrim plant in Plymouth accounted for two of those long shutdowns; both happened in the 1980s when the plant was owned by the Boston Edison Co.

A spokesman for the nuclear energy agency pointed out that only one long shutdown has taken place nationwide since the agency changed its inspection procedures in 2000.

"The reactor oversight process we put in place in 2000 has been effective in getting to issues at an early stage," said Neil Sheehan, the agency spokesman.

The Union of Concerned Scientists claims that the federal agency was at least partly to blame for more than half of the 51 failures, saying the agency was excessively tolerant of plant owners that did not adequately address plant problems before major overhauls were needed.

David Lochbaum, the report's author, said the sharp reduction in long shutdowns since 2000 doesn't necessarily mean the reactors are any safer.

"The (new) system may result in fewer shutdowns," Lochbaum said. "But it doesn't mean you are safer. It just means you are blissfully unaware. ... Since we haven't fixed the causes, it's unlikely we have seen the last of these things."

David Tarantino, a spokesman for the Pilgrim plant, said the industry has improved significantly, partly because of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's oversight.

"Certainly, the NRC and the regulations are one of the factors that have improved (the industry)," Tarantino said. "It's not the case where the NRC is looking the other way."

Tarantino noted that nuclear plant operators, in general, have significantly reduced the time they need to take plants offline for refueling. Biennial fuel-related shutdowns at Pilgrim, which is now owned by Entergy Corp., lasted 73 days in 1995 and 1997, he said. By 2001, that number had dropped to 28 days, he said.

(c) 2006 Patriot Ledger, The; Quincy, Mass.