[NukeNet] NIRS Investigation: Reactor Bush to Visit Violates Safety Regs

Wed Jun 20 17:31:45 EDT 2007

 NEWS FROM NIRS

NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE

6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340, Takoma Park, MD 20912

301-270-NIRS (301-270-6477); Fax: 301-270-4291

nirsnet at nirs.org; www.nirs.org <http://www.nirs.org/>  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paul Gunter, 301.270.6477

June 20, 2007

NIRS INVESTIGATION FINDS THAT "NEW" BROWNS FERRY-1 REACTOR STILL DOESN'T
MEET FIRE PROTECTION REGULATIONS ITS 1975 FIRE CAUSED

PRESIDENT BUSH'S VISIT ONLY HIGHLIGHTS 1960s-ERA REACTOR'S
VULNERABILITIES

An investigation by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS)
has found that the recently-restarted Browns Ferry-1 reactor still does
not comply with federal fire protection regulations put into place
because of a near-catastrophic fire at the reactor in 1975.

The reactor does not meet the regulations despite the Tennessee Valley
Authority having spent $1.8 Billion to revive the long-shuttered
reactor.

President Bush is slated to visit Browns Ferry-1 on Thursday, June 21.
He is expected to herald its restart as a sign of a nuclear power
renaissance. "If this is proof of a nuclear power resurgence," said
Michael Mariotte, executive director of NIRS, "then the industry is in
big trouble. TVA spent $1.8 Billion just to get this obsolete reactor
running again, and the utility still can't meet basic federal safety
regulations."

A fire at Browns Ferry-1 on March 22, 1975 began by a worker checking
for air leaks with a lighted candle. The fire quickly spread from the
cable spreading room into the reactor building. The fire burned out of
control for seven and half hours destroying over 1600 electrical cables
including 628 safety-related cable systems. As a result of the fire, in
1981 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission adopted new fire protection
regulations that, among other requirements, specifically required
passive fire protection features (qualified and rated fire barriers,
minimum separation requirements and automated fire suppression and
detection) to limit fire damage done to electrical circuits for
equipment so that the ability to shut down the plant safely from the
control room would be ensured.

A document uncovered by NIRS and not released publicly prior to the
Browns Ferry-1 restart indicates that the reactor is not in compliance
with the fire protection regulations, and did not apply for an exemption
from the regulations. Instead, the NRC allowed the reactor to restart
under "enforcement discretion" like the two other Browns Ferry reactors
it shares a building with. This means that the NRC simply decided not to
enforce its own regulations in the Browns Ferry case.

"It is very troubling that the NRC would allow the restart with Browns
Ferry in violation of the Browns Ferry fire law," said Paul Gunter,
director of NIRS' Reactor Watchdog Project, "TVA's restart sets back
nuclear power plant fire safety to pre-Browns Ferry fire conditions,"
said Gunter. Mr. Gunter uncovered the hidden document, which was made
public only after his inquiries to the NRC.

Besides the fire protection issue, the Browns Ferry complex-first
ordered by TVA in 1966 with Unit-1 completed in 1973-suffers from other
issues reflecting its obsolete reactor design.

Its undersized General Electric Mark I containment structure has been
criticized for years by scientists and government officials. In 1985,
then NRC Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Harold Denton said the
containment design had about a 90% chance of failure under accident
conditions.

By design, the reactor's irradiated fuel storage pool--holding hundreds
of tons of hot used reactor fuel-- sits at the top of the reactor
building and outside of the primary containment system. A January 2001
NRC document found that that there are no significant structures that
would prevent an aircraft from penetrating the high-level nuclear waste
storage pool for this design.

TVA's $1.8 Billion investment in restarting the aging reactor is
comparable to nuclear industry claims of cost estimates for constructing
an entirely new reactor. "Browns Ferry-1 points out the lie to nuclear
industry assertions of the costs for building new reactors," said
Gunter. "Here, TVA already had a reactor and a building, and they still
spent as much as a new reactor needs to cost to be economically
competitive. The reality is that a brand-new reactor would cost far, far
more. Nuclear power has never been economical, and TVA has once again
proven that point."

"We hope President Bush asks TVA and the NRC why Browns Ferry-1 was
allowed to restart illegally," said Mariotte, "but we're not holding our
breath. This administration is intent on promoting nuclear power at any
cost-including looking the other way on critical safety issues."

Added Gunter, "It's amazing that President Bush is planning to visit the
restart of the Model T of the nuclear industry and hail it as the
kick-off of a Nuclear Renaissance."

A fact sheet on some of the safety deficiencies at Browns Ferry is
available on NIRS website at 
http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/brownsferryfactsheet.pdf. A NIRS paper on
specific fire protection issues at Browns Ferry-1 is available at 
http://www.nirs.org/reactorwatch/fire/firebfviolations04252007.pdf.

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