Nuclear Workers Complain About Cleanup

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Index:



Nuclear Workers Complain About Cleanup

Congress watchdog slams US nuke security oversight

Exelon Is the First to File an Early Site Permit Application With NRC

Utilities seek permits for possible nuke projects

Probe Finds Nuke Plant Security Concerns

=====================================



Nuclear Workers Complain About Cleanup



RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - An accelerated cleanup at the Hanford nuclear 

reservation is coming at the expense of safety, according to workers 

who say the number of exposure-related injuries at the facility has 

risen dramatically since early last year.



Energy Department officials deny the claims, saying that more 

stringent standards account for the rising number of exposure 

incidents.



Hanford officials announced this week that the cleanup contractor, 

CH2M-Hill Hanford Group, had beaten a Sept. 30 deadline to remove 98 

percent of the liquid radioactive wastes from 29 of the most 

dangerous underground tanks.



Roy Schepens, manager of the DOE's Office of River Protection in 

Richland, said thousands of gallons of radioactive material had been 

removed from older single-walled tanks and transferred into double-

walled tanks that pose less danger to the Columbia River.



Only six older tanks remain, and those will be pumped out by April, 

Schepens said.



At another news conference, a group that champions the causes of 

Hanford whistleblowers and injured workers said exposure to 

potentially harmful vapors has risen sharply along with the 

accelerated cleanup schedule.



The Seattle-based Government Accountability Project said documents 

and interviews show that toxic vapors escaping through pipes in the 

underground tanks have hurt 67 workers in 45 exposure events between 

January 2002 and August 2003. That compared to 16 vapor releases 

requiring medical attention between 1987 and 1992, the group said.



"Our own health and safety procedures are sometimes abandoned to meet 

production goals," said Tom Young, an electrician on the tanks.



The Energy Department and the contractor, however, said more exposure 

events are being reported because new safety standards require 

medical attention to incidents that once would have been deemed 

insignificant.



"Before, when people smelled vapors, unless there were symptoms they 

were not taken to a hospital," Energy Department spokesman Robert 

Barr said. "Now workers can see a doctor for peace of mind even if 

they have no symptoms."



No hospitalizations are known to have occurred because of the vapor 

incidents, said Markis Hughey, a tank official for CH2M-Hill.



Hanford, created as part of the Manhattan Project, made plutonium for 

nuclear weapons for four decades. The site is storing more than half 

the nation's high-level radioactive waste.



The cleanup at Hanford is expected to cost up to $60 billion and take 

until 2035.



On the Net:



Hanford: http://www.hanford.gov



Government Accountability Project: http://www.whistleblower.org/

-------------------



Congress watchdog slams US nuke security oversight



 WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A nonpartisan Congressional watchdog 

group on Wednesday criticized the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's 

oversight of power plant security measures, citing lapses at metal 

detectors, sleeping guards and unrealistic attack drills that feature 

toy rubber guns.



The U.S. General Accounting Office said the NRC needs to improve 

security at the nation's 103 operating nuclear power plants to 

protect against a possible terrorist attack.



The report was requested by Democratic Reps. John Dingell of Michigan 

and Edward Markey of Massachusetts to examine how well the federal 

agency is overseeing nuclear power plants since the Sept. 11 attacks 

in New York and Washington. Markey is a longtime critic of nuclear 

plant safety.



Lawmakers are considering some nuclear security measures in an energy 

bill that Republican leaders want to finalize by mid-October.



According to the GAO report, NRC inspectors have downplayed a variety 

of security lapses discovered during routine inspections as "non-

cited violations."



In one instance, an NRC inspector found a guard asleep on duty, but 

the incident was not flagged for concern because guards at the plant 

had not been found sleeping more than twice during the year, the GAO 

report said.



In another, guards gave an individual unescorted access to sensitive 

plant sites after after he set off both an automated and hand-held 

metal detector, and did not perform a manual search.



According to the GAO, the federal agency issued 72 such non-cited 

security violations from 2000 to 2001 compared with none during the 

previous year.



"By making extensive use of non-cited violations for serious 

problems, NRC may overstate the level of security at a power plant 

and reduce the likelihood that needed improvements are made," the GAO 

said.



In a written statement included in the report, NRC Chairman Nils Diaz 

said it "does not provide an appropriately balanced or very useful 

perspective" on the NRC's security efforts.



The GAO also found weaknesses in how nuclear regulators conduct so-

called "force-on-force" exercises at nuclear plants. The NRC began 

conducting the exercises in 1991 but suspended them after the 2001 

terror attacks.



Though the exercises have been touted by industry and the NRC as 

realistic combat simulations, GAO found that plants staffed extra 

personnel to improve their response during mock attacks and used 

"unrealistic weapons" like rubber guns.



Additionally, NRC officials said plant operators were given a year's 

warning of the exercises and permitted to boost their guard force in 

order to increase their preparedness.



Of 80 drills conducted, at least 45 were at plants where operators 

gave plant defenders extra training or added extra security measures, 

the GAO said.



The NRC is restructuring its exercise program and has begun a series 

of pilot tests meant to be more rigorous, the GAO said.



"The GAO report is another wake-up call to the NRC that they need to 

change their attitude about nuclear security by making much needed 

improvements immediately," Dingell said in a statement.



The GAO noted that nuclear plants still face legal challenges that 

hinder their security preparations, including a prohibition on using 

automatic weapons or deadly force against intruders.



"As a result, guards at commercial nuclear power plants could be at a 

disadvantage in firepower, if attacked," the report said. Fearing 

legal reprisal, guards may "hesitate or fail to take action if a 

plant comes under attack," GAO said.

--------------------



Exelon Is the First to File an Early Site Permit Application With NRC



CLINTON, Ill., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Exelon Generation 

Company, LLC today filed an Early Site Permit (ESP) application 

seeking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval of property 

adjacent to the Clinton Power Station site in DeWitt County, Ill., 

for the potential placement of future nuclear generation at the site. 

Exelon is the first party to ever submit an application for an ESP.



The application was submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission in Rockville, Md. The NRC's review and approval process 

will likely take up to 33 months or more.



Approval of the Early Site Permit does not authorize construction of 

a new plant. The permit is the first of a two-part licensing process 

under never- before-used NRC regulations that address site 

suitability, environmental impacts and emergency planning issues 

associated with the site. Exelon has no plans to build a new plant 

and has made no decision on a reactor design should the company 

choose to build on the site.



If granted, the Early Site Permit would be valid for 20 years and 

renewable for another 20 years, allowing Exelon to "bank" the site 

for future use.



Should the company ever decide to build at the Clinton site, it would 

have to obtain a Combined Operating License for construction and 

operation, following a separate process involving additional public 

input.



Exelon selected the Clinton site for several reasons. The site 

originally was designed for two units, but only one was built. It is 

located close to major existing transmission facilities in a region 

that needs reliable power.



"Nuclear power is a necessary part of the energy mix in America and a 

safe, reliable and clean energy source," said Exelon Nuclear 

President and Chief Nuclear Officer Jack Skolds. "Among other 

reasons, the Clinton property makes sense because the area has an 

experienced workforce and it is strategically located for electricity 

generation and distribution."



Exelon's ESP application was prepared in cooperation with the U.S. 

Department of Energy (DOE) under the Nuclear Power 2010 initiative. 

This government initiative is designed to reduce the regulatory, 

technical and institutional uncertainties associated with licensing 

and construction of advanced nuclear power plants.

---------------------



Utilities seek permits for possible nuke projects



SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Two U.S. utilities asked federal 

regulators on Thursday for permits to possibly build nuclear power 

plants on land next to existing atomic reactors in Illinois and 

Virginia.



The filings for an "early site permit" by Exelon Generation Co. and 

Dominion Resources Co. reflect growing interest in reviving 

construction of nuclear power stations in the United States after the 

industry was set back by disastrous accidents in the 1970s and 1980s.



Exelon Generation, a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. , filed at 

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for an early site permit to 

possibly build a nuclear plant on land next to an existing Exelon 

reactor in Clinton, Illinois.



Dominion Resources, of Richmond, Virginia, also asked for the permit 

that could lead to a third reactor at its twin-unit North Anna 

station in Mineral, Virginia.



Each company said it had no immediate plans to build new plants.



The permit doesn't authorize plant construction but is the first of a 

two-part licensing process under NRC rules on site suitability, 

environmental impact and emergency planning.



The utilities said the NRC's review and approval process could take 

up to 33 months or more. If granted, the permit would be good for 20 

years and renewable for another 20, allowing Exelon and Dominion to 

"bank" the land for future use.



If the companies wanted to proceed with construction, they would have 

to go through a second process to get a license to build and operate 

a reactor.



No new nuclear power plants have been put in service in the U.S. 

since 1996, when the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar 1 plant 

went on the grid in Tennessee.



New construction was halted by safety worries in the wake of the near 

meltdown of the reactor core at the Three Mile Island plant in 

Pennsylvania in 1979 and the deadly explosion at the Chernobyl 

reactor in 1986 in Ukraine, then part of the former Soviet Union.



Opponents of nuclear power also point to hazards raised by long-term 

storage of spent radioactive fuel.



But new nuclear plant construction is gaining some support in utility 

and government circles due to rising prices for fossil-fueled plants 

and concerns about the impact of their emissions on the environment.



Exelon, which operates a fleet of nuclear stations in the Midwest, 

said the Clinton site originally was designed for two units but only 

one was built, and it is close to the Midwest region's transmission 

grid.



Dominion said the North Anna plant was planned for four reactors but 

only two were constructed.

----------------------



Probe Finds Nuke Plant Security Concerns



 WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal inspections and security exercises at 

commercial nuclear power plants often overstate the level of 

protection and reduce the likelihood of security improvements, 

according to congressional investigators.



The report said that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's inspection 

reports were found to not include incidents such as a guard found 

sleeping or falsification of security logs as security violations.



It also said that attack exercises that are supposed to test a 

plant's ability to detect and repel a mock terrorist assault often 

are staged in such ways that they provide false assurances about a 

facility's security.



The findings by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm 

of Congress, mirror claims made by nuclear industry watchdog groups 

and some industry whistle-blowers. They maintain that security at 

nuclear power plants, despite some recent attempts at improvement, 

cannot deal with a sophisticated, well-armed terrorist attack.



Neither NRC officials or industry representatives could be reached 

immediately. The report was released late Wednesday.



In the past, industry representatives have said they have made major 

improvements in security since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.



NRC officials have defended their inspection program and exercises as 

providing valuable experience and information that is used to improve 

reactor-site security. They argue if it made too realistic and no 

advance notice is provided an exercised could end up with someone 

being shot.



But Reps. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and John Dingell, D-Mich., who 

requested the report, said the findings demonstrate that not enough 

has been done to assure that nuclear power plants are being 

safeguarded against terrorists.



Congressional investigators have "documented a disturbing pattern of 

lax NRC oversight and inattention to security at these sensitive 

facilities," said Markey, a senior member of the House Homeland 

Security Committee and a frequent critic of the NRC.



Dingell, ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which 

has jurisdiction over the nuclear agency, said the report is "a 

makeup call to the NRC that they need to change their attitudes about 

nuclear security."



The report was particularly critical of the NRC's annual security 

inspections, saying that they "may overstate the level of security" 

at power plants by not citing certain shortcomings and by not 

assuring that failures are fixed.



It cited as one example a case where a security guard was found 

asleep on duty for more than half an hour. The NRC inspector called 

it a "non-cited violation" because no attack had taken place and 

because the incident appeared not to be a regular occurrence.



As to the mock exercises, investigators said they did not reflect 

"the real life" ability of guard forces to defend against actual 

terrorist threats. For example, according to the report, the NRC 

exercises:



allow plant operators advance warning. On the night of the mock 

attack, they often have as much as 80 percent more guards on duty 

than normal.



often use "mock terrorists" not trained in terrorist techniques 

including at times off-duty plant managers and guards who may have a 

vested interest in how the tests turn out.



allow attackers to use "unrealistic weapons" such as rubber guns that 

do not accurately reflect attack situations.



Industry officials have defended the exercises and have said that 

some degree of warning has to be given and limits have to be made on 

how realistic the exercises are, or someone is likely actually shot 

someone and possibly get killed.



Peter Stockton, an investigator for Project on Government Oversight, 

a private watchdog group that has raised many of the same security 

issues as cited by the GAO, said he found it "mystifying" that guard 

forces could be inflated for the mock exercises.







-------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle

Director, Technical

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100  Extension 2306

Fax:(714) 668-3149



E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net

E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com



Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/



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