Public Citizen: Regulations Violated at Nuclear Reactors Across Country and State

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

The accusations in this report will make you sick beyond no end. 
Taking a basic fact, and then hypothesizing that the world has 
come to an end, simply because there is a deviaition from a 
"regulatory standard." Misleading the public that any infraction 
means a serious safety concern. Here is the article in its entirelty.

Tuesday August 10, 11:02 am Eastern Time

Company Press Release

SOURCE: Pennsylvania Consumer Action Network

Public Citizen: Regulations Violated at Nuclear Reactors Across 
Country and State  

READING, Pa., Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Safety has been 
compromised at nuclear reactors throughout the United States, 
with more than 90 percent of the country's reactors run in violation 
of government safety regulations over the last three years, a study 
released today has found. Rather than holding nuclear utilities 
accountable for violating these regulations, the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) has established an amnesty program that will 
last until March 30, 2001. This amnesty means that the NRC only 
holds utilities accountable for the most egregious rule violations, 
according to the study written by Public Citizen, and released in 
Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Consumer Action Network 
(PCAN).  

The study, Amnesty Irrational, found that between October 1996 
and May 1999, 102 of the country's 111 reactors were operated 
outside the safety parameters established in their licenses. When 
a nuclear reactor is operated outside these safety parameters it is 
called operating ``outside design basis.'' During the three years 
analyzed, utilities operated their nuclear reactors ``outside design 
basis'' more than 500 times, the study found. In Pennsylvania, the 
reactor operated outside design basis 59 times. Three Mile Island 
(Unit 1) had the most events in PA, and the third most in the 
nation, at 26.  

Utilities have failed to follow rules pertaining to such key safety 
systems as the emergency core cooling system and the electrical 
cables that control the nuclear reactor, the records revealed. 
Additionally, in some instances, a single event could have 
prevented the functioning of safety systems needed to do such 
things as shut down the reactor, cool the radioactive fuel in the 
reactor's core and prevent the release of radiation into the 
environment.  

``Safety has been compromised at nuclear reactors across the 
United States,'' said the report's author, James Riccio. ``In some 
cases, safety margins were significantly reduced, if not eliminated.'' 
 

When a nuclear utility operates its reactor ``outside design basis,'' 
it is impossible for the NRC or the utility to determine whether the 
reactor poses an undue risk to public health and safety. The more 
often a nuclear reactor is operated ``outside design basis,'' the less 
certain that the reactor and its safety systems will operate as 
designed.  

The report can be viewed at www.pcan.org/nukes.htm. For more 
info, call Michael Morrill at 610-478-7888. 

------------------------
Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

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