Re: Safety Questioned at Nuclear Plant -Reply

["T. Welty" <tjw@engr.uark.edu>]

Mr. Flory:

	Thank you for chiming in to set the record straight.  Not only did
the article quote a lawyer (strike one), but one who is part of CMEP
(strike two).  That's a little like asking a painter what he thinks about
the use of vinyl siding.

	Here we have another example of what I consider to be Nuclear
Power's biggest problem.  The public is afraid of what they don't
understand.  What little information the public gets doesn't describe the
basis for the declaration that the operation of plants has been
perceived to be unsafe.  But how does the industry correct that perception
without providing at least some technical background, and will the public
pay attention if it is given?  Is it just easier to listen to others?

T. Welty


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Tim Welty/Southwest Radiation Calibration Center/Fayetteville, Arkansas
Phone: 501-575-6309/FAX: -7318/E-mail:tjw@engr.uark.edu
WWW: web.engr.uark.edu/engr/enrc/srcc.html              17/06/97


On Tue, 2 Jun 1998, CLAUDE A. FLORY wrote:

> Posting articles by critics offers one view of the state of nuclear power,
> Millstone being the archetype.  But that is one view.  Let me offer an inside
> view.  Two years ago I was quick to criticize my own management.  An email from
> me meant for private ears inadvertently went out on the net containing the
> phrase "management stinks."  But things have changed.  
> 
> A leaky Millstone value five years ago was repeatedly packed with ferminite
> while the plant steamed on.  In the last month the Millstone management reduced
> the plant state from Mode 2 to Mode 4 to repair a leaky valve.  This decision
> was made despite the pressure to startup immediately upon NRC approval,
> pressure created by the state utility commission's decision to remove the plant
> from the rate base if not operational for 100 hours by July 1.
> 
> Five years ago we had many outside, and some local, activists loudly
> proclaiming for permanent shutdown of Millstone (then others).  Last month
> leaders from eight surrounding communities signed a document of support for
> Millstone restart.  Meanwhile Long Island natives, if not worried about tritium
> in their groundwater from Brookhaven,  are terrified about noble gases in air
> from Millstone.  What if that valve brace doesn't hold!!  It's a generation
> raised on Jane Fonda melting her way to China and Godzilla.  Sorry for the
> theatrics.  It's just that news about disaster, even imaginary impending
> disaster, will be read before news about a positive safety conscious work
> environment at Millstone.  It may have even got you to read a few more lines on
> the communication.
> 
> Look at how the media manipulates the information.  A paragraph from the AP
> story reads:
> "NRC Chairwoman Shirley Jackson has stressed that approval won't be granted
> until the utility proves that it has changed its old ways. Those included
> regularly emptying the entire reactor core to speed up refueling, a process
> that should have been used only in emergencies."
> Shirley Jackson was quoted correctly.  We shouldn't operate unless we have
> changed.  But where was her quote about her satisfaction on the way the recent
> leaky valve was handled.  Instead the article refers back to a practice which
> will no longer occur.  And you must read carefully to realize that her quote
> about changing old ways did not in the same message make any reference to the
> old practice.
> 
> If you've had the patience to read this far, you've probably had the patience
> to read the last two paragraphs in the AP story.  But that's only "the
> utility's perspective."  This is my opinion, not my employer's.  Take my word
> for it, Millstone is safe to run.  It may also prevent less burning of dirty
> coal in the midwest, upstream of our air stream.
> 
> Claude Flory, CHP (Health Physicist first, utility employee second)
> Northeast Utilities
> floryca@gwsmtp.nu.com (W)
> CAFlory@aol.com
> 
> 
> 
> >>> <GACMail98@aol.com> 06/01/98 07:14pm >>>
>  Safety Questioned at Nuclear Plant
>   .c The Associated Press
>  
>   By MELISSA B. ROBINSON
>  
>  WASHINGTON (AP) - Connecticut's Millstone nuclear power plant - shut down
> more than two years ago and hit with a record $2.1 million fine - could soon
> be producing power again. But critics say shoddy practices continue at the
> plant, raising safety concerns.
>  
> 
>