Jun 6 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - John Marks Lake Wylie Pilot, S.C.

An unusual event at Catawba Nuclear Station May 20 that caused generating units to be shut down temporarily is again fueling controversy over use of MOX fuel.

On May 20, failure of one transformer among dozens in a switchyard at Catawba Nuclear Station began a cascade of failures that led to shutting down both reactors at the York County power plant, investigators from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. Both are operating again, and the NRC investigators said, except for being late in notifying them, Duke did well in responding to the incident. "They had a good response and did a good job with a challenging event," said Chuck Casto, director of the NRC's Division of Reactor Projects.

However, the incident is breathing new life to an old -- yet very present -- worry. "The concerns that we had a year ago are greater than ever, and the recent event at Catawba only makes us more worried," said Lou Zeller, administrator with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, referring to use of MOX fuel.

MOX fuel, made from weapons-grade plutonium by mixing the more conventional uranium oxide and plutonium oxide gathered from nuclear Cold War stockpiles, first underwent testing at Catawba on June 5, 2005. At that time, local groups differed in their opinions of the project, which is a joint effort by the U.S. and Russia to diminish holdings of plutonium.

Now, the unusual May 20 event is providing fodder for those same arguments against MOX use. "What it comes down to is that the plutonium program was experimental," said Gregg Jocoy of the York County Green Party, who opposes use of MOX fuel based on safety issues. "The unexpected shutdown of the plant gives the NRC the opportunity to ask them to take the fuel out."

Zeller's group, BREDL, opposed Duke's application to test MOX fuel at Catawba and has worked since that time against the plutonium fuel project in this country. MOX use presents "unsupportable risks" both to the surrounding community and environment, Zeller said. Valerie Patterson, spokeswoman for Catawba, said that the unusual event did not cause any problems with MOX use, and that it does not signal any problems with the plant's safety.

"The fuel assemblies are, of course, still in the reactor and performing as expected," said Patterson. "There have been no issues or problems with the fuel." Catawba became the first U.S. nuclear plant to use MOX fuel and the first plant in the world to use MOX fuel with weapons-grade plutonium last year, with a three-year test run set for four of Catawba's almost 200 uranium-oxide assemblies. Because the project was designed to test the fuel for two 18-month cycles, official data from the first set of fuel rods will not be available until later this year.

Zeller hopes that, by that time, the use of MOX fuel will no longer be a concern. BREDL, in communication with federal leaders in charge of the project, believes that funding for the project may fall through before MOX use reaches too far beyond Catawba.

Zeller expects the MOX program to "come falling down like a house of cards" due to relations between U.S. leaders who "can't make enemies or get rid of friends fast enough" and their Russian counterparts. "It looks like we might be coming to the end of the plutonium fuel project," Zeller said. "We might be close to putting that one to bed."

Catawba, though, is concerned with the present. Noting that security measures in place to prevent last month's event from escalating worked as anticipated, the company believes the incident should not be used against the MOX project by its opponents. "Right now all is well, which is a good thing, and the fuel continues to perform as expected," Patterson said.

Herald reporter Joshua Lucas contributed to this article.