Group wants approval withheld for new TVA nuclear unit

Mar 12 - Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN)


An anti-nuclear group wants federal regulators to withhold the licensing of America's first new commercial nuclear reactor in two decades until flood and earthquake risks are better assessed in the wake of the 2011 accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said Wednesday it wants the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to withhold its approval of a second reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant near Spring City, Tenn. The environmental group contends that the earthquake risk in the region is worse than what was originally forecast and the danger of flooding on the Tennessee River is getting higher because of climate change.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan four years ago crippled the Fukushima plant, which spilled radioactive water and other emissions into the Pacific Ocean and nearby communities.

"It shocks the conscience that the NRC is preparing to issue an operating license for Watts Bar Unit 2 potentially this June without completing its post-Fukushima review of seismic and flooding risk -- in spite of the fact that the NRC already has information showing that the seismic risk to the Watts Bar site is significantly higher than the reactor was designed to withstand," said Sara Barczak , high risk energy choices program director with Southern Alliance for Clean Energy . "This reactor has been under construction since the early 1970s. There is absolutely no reason to rush the licensing process now."

In response to the lessons learned at Fukushimi, TVA constructed an elevated flex building at Watts Bar and made other safety upgrades to withstand catastrophic storms or attacks. The NRC and its outside advisory panel, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards , has reviewed the upgrades made by TVA after Fukushimi and concluded that the plant is safely built.

TVA plans on beginning hot functional testing of equipment at the Unit 2 reactor within the month and plans to ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to load nuclear fuel by this summer.

Last month, NRC's chief of construction projects, Robert Haag , concluded that TVA was building the new reactor at Watts Bar in accordance with all safety requirements after more than 23,000 hours of assessment and inspections by NRC staff.

"Overall, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 construction activities were conducted in a manner that complied with the commission's rules and regulations," Haag said in a letter to TVA .

NRC will conduct a public hearing next Tuesday to review the status of the operating reactor at Watts Bar during an open house and public hearing at the Comfort Inn on Decatur Pike in Athens, Tenn. NRC inspectors have not identified any operating problems at Watts Bar Unit 1, but the member of the public will get a chance next week to express their views.

"NRC inspectors continually evaluate each nuclear plant's safety, and each year we take a detailed look at that information to identify any trends and help plan future inspections," NRC Regional Administrator Victor McCree said.

TVA will ask the NRC later this year for an operating license to begin power production at the Watts Bar Unit 2 once the reactor construction is complete and nuclear fuel is loaded. The 5-member NRC board must vote to issue the license.

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340

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