Groups want nuclear reactors shut down

Dec 13 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Rusty Dennen The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.

North Anna Power Station's two nuclear reactors should not have been allowed to restart last month, according to several nuclear watchdog and environmental groups.

Representatives of Beyond Nuclear, Saprodani Associates, Not on Our Fault Line, Alliance for Progressive Values, and the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club appeared before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's petition review board on health and safety concerns at the Louisa County plant, in the wake of the Aug. 23 earthquake.

The groups in October filed a petition asking the NRC to block a restart pending a re-licensing process focusing on seismic risks; analysis of the earthquake vulnerability of the dam on Lake Anna, which provides the plant with cooling water; and re-examination of safety and compliance issues for spent-fuel storage casks, which shifted slightly during the quake.

Yesterday, they provided supplemental arguments for the petition, which in part asked the NRC to grant the public a hearing on the plant's operating license and potential seismic design changes.

The NRC approved the restart of Units 1 and 2 last month after hearing back from several inspection teams. Dominion power, which owns and operates the plant, did its own inspections, reporting no significant damage from the magnitude-5.8 quake, and that no safety or operating equipment was affected.

But the tremor did briefly exceed the ground motion for which the plant was designed.

Dominion representatives were not present at yesterday's session in Rockville, Md., but were monitoring the meeting's webcast.

Thomas Saporito, senior consultant of Saprodani Associates of Jupiter, Fla., said, among other things, the NRC should "immediately" shut down Units 1 and 2; inspect Unit 1's reactor and fuel; require changes to plant equipment and procedures as a result of the earthquake; and allow for public participation in the process.

Unit 2's fuel and reactor components were inspected when it was refueled after the earthquake.

"North Anna is currently operating in an unanalyzed condition, without adequate safety margins, jeopardizing public health and safety," Saporito said.

Scott Price, public policy director with the Alliance for Progressive Values, said that the 10-mile emergency zone around North Anna and the rest of the nation's 104 nuclear power plants should be extended to 50 miles.

The groups' petition is still under review by the NRC.

Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431

Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com