Nuclear plants review slated

 

Jul 12 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Cara Mcdonough The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.

Rep. David Price announced Wednesday that the Government Accountability Office will conduct a review of the enforcement of fire safety standards at nuclear power plants all over the country.

Price requested the study in May, after hearing complaints from local officials that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was not property enforcing regulations. Specifically, local officials met with Price to discuss their concerns about fire safety at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant, located near the border of Chatham and Wake counties, and run by Progress Energy.

The announcement is very good news, said Jim Warren, executive director of the North Carolina Waste Awareness Reduction Network, a Durham-based nuclear watchdog group that has been leading a public campaign against the NRC for failing to enforce regulations at Shearon Harris.

"The fact is that the NRC has allowed Harris and some other plants to go year after year in violation of these important fire safety regulations," Warren said Wednesday. "Fire is probably the leading risk factor for a nuclear meltdown."

Warren said that Price and the other elected officials who pushed for this review are doing what good elected officials should -- staying informed, asking questions and protecting the public.

"We have a lot of reasons to believe that Harris is the worst of the violators, but it's a national issue," Warren said. "It's one of those really straightforward issues, that you need to reduce risks everywhere possible at nuclear power plants. Nuclear energy is dangerous enough without cutting corners."

But Progress Energy Spokesperson Julie Hans said the review applies solely to the NRC and is not specifically directed towards Shearon Harris -- and with good reason. The plant is not out of compliance, she said.

On the contrary, Progress Energy is on schedule to complete a transition at Shearon Harris to new National Fire Protection Association regulations by the end of 2010.

"In the meantime, as we've said before, we have numerous additional protective measures in place," Hans added.

Shearon Harris is one of the 40 pilot plants in the country updating to the new, risk-based fire safety regulations that will result in a "common-sense approach rather than a cookie-cutter approach" at each individual plant, Hans said.

While Progress Energy representatives may not be worried that the review will affect Shearon Harris specifically, Carrboro Alderman Dan Coleman, one of the local officials who worked with Price to push for the study, said Wednesday's news means vindication to those who have long worried about safety at the nuclear plant.

"This is great news because the people in Orange and Chatham counties have been concerned about the safety at Shearon Harris for a long time and this was a big step for there to be an organized effort and for the local government to reach out," he said. "It's good news not just for us but for people across the country."

According to the press release from Price's office, the GAO will now assemble a team for the study, which is expected to begin in September.