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editorial no excuses for DB or NRC
Paul Blanch wrote:
> (lead) Editorial December 4, 2002
> The Plain Dealer
>
>
> The big picture
>
> FirstEnergy's failure to ensure that NRC saw reactor photo cannot be
> explained away by the current crop of excuses
>
>
>
> For months now, FirstEnergy Corp. officials have clung to the tale that
> they never sought to mislead the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about the
> problem of boric acid slowly eating a hole in the lid of the Davis-Besse
> nuclear power plant's reactor.
>
> They would admit to being inept, but not criminal.
>
> Now, that story has been dashed by a picture of the damaged,
> rust-stained lid that the company had in its possession, but failed to
> include in a packet it sent to the NRC last November, when it was
> lobbying to postpone the plant's inspection.
>
> That picture points to more than cosmetic trouble with the lid.
>
> FirstEnergy also told the NRC the lid had been thoroughly cleaned,
> although it had not.
>
> FirstEnergy got the delay it wanted. The inspection didn't take place
> until March. The photo didn't surface until April.
>
> The timing stinks, and the NRC's investigation of a possibility cover-up
> is perfectly just.
>
> FirstEnergy, of course, denies that. The photograph was "there for the
> asking," said Todd Schneider, company spokesman.
>
> He blamed the company's mistakes on poor internal communication about
> the photo and ignorance of boric acid's dangers.
>
> But as an NRC official pointed out, the agency had asked the company for
> all information that would help decide whether the lid inspection should
> be delayed. Obviously, that significant photo should have been included.
>
>
> This entire episode raises disturbing questions about the NRC's
> regulation system.
>
> The agency has been too trusting of its licensees to be honest about
> safety. And companies will always be tempted to put production above
> safety and maintenance.
>
> How could this situation get worse? Congressman Dennis Kucinich has a
> suggestion.
>
> He points out that the Homeland Security bill exempts utility and
> chemical companies from the Freedom of Information Act if they
> voluntarily relate information about infrastructure to the Department of
> Homeland Security.
>
> The administration fears that terrorists could use the information to
> attack such plants.
>
> The exemption from FOIA inquiry does not apply if the information in
> question is supposed to be shared with other government agencies. But
> critics fear that companies might try to seal off what should be public
> information by shunting it off to Homeland Security. Besides, they say,
> the FOIA already includes national security provisions.
>
> Why should the public believe that a nuclear plant, for example, might
> send a particularly ugly photo of its reactor lid off to Homeland
> Security's very tight vault? The short answer is, the public shouldn't.
>
>
>
>
>
> Paul M. Blanch
> 135 Hyde Rd.
> West Hartford, CT 06117
> Pager 800-539-1786
>
>
>
>
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