nuclear-news

Fukushima type accident risk at Indian Point and Oconee nuclear plants

Engineers warn: Two US nuclear plants may cause new Fukushima
http://rt.com/usa/news/two-nuclear-nrc-facilities-604/
 21 December, 2012,  Nuclear engineers have warned the
Senate of the threats facing two US nuclear power facilities, which
could result in enormous explosions or a Fukushima-like meltdown if
natural phenomena or weather conditions cause the facilities to fail.

Senator Joe Lieberman is the current chairman of the Senate Committee
on Homeland Security & Government Affairs, but will retire in 2013.
Two nuclear engineers have asked him to spend his last days in
Congress investigating the threats posed by two nuclear power
facilities.
Paul Blanch, a retired nuclear engineer who used to work at the Indian
Point nuclear facility in Buchanan, N.Y., and Lawrence Criscione, a
risk engineer at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) headquarters,
sent a letter to the senator, warning that a Fukushima-like meltdown
is in America’s future if no action is taken to improve the facilities
at Indian Point and Oconee.
The engineers claim that the gas lines leading to the facilities, as
well as nearby dams, are vulnerable to sabotage. Engineering failures
or natural phenomena like earthquakes or floods can also cause a
meltdown.
“The potential energy released in a gas line rupture at Indian Point
is equivalent to that from a massive conventional bomb; the 2010
explosion and fire in San Bruno, Calif., is an example of the
destructive force, which a pipeline rupture can unless,” the letter
states.
“The flooding resulting from a failure of Jocassee Dam at Oconee would
be similar to that experienced at Fukushima following the tsunami,” it
describes.
While the facilities themselves are well-guarded, their support
systems meant to prevent meltdowns can be easily damaged. A meltdown
of their reactors could result in “severe radiological and economic
consequences to areas surrounding these plants,” the engineers wrote.
Areas within and possibly beyond 50 miles of the facilities “could be
rendered uninhabitable for generations,” which would include New York
City if the Indian Point facility’s gas pipeline explodes, Blanch and
Criscione warned.
Although the conditions are dire, the issues have been ignored for
years. Two nuclear whistleblowers publicly accused the NRC of taking
steps to cover up the dangerous shortcomings of America’s power
plants. Earlier this month, Richard H. Perkins and Criscione
compromised their jobs by speaking out about their concerns to the
Huffington Post. The men claimed that the NRC repeatedly refused to
acknowledge that there was any sort of risk involved in keeping the
plants open and tried to keep the flaws secret.
The NRC has “allowed a very dangerous scenario to continue unaddressed
for years,” Perkins said. Nuclear power plants are required by US law
to able to withstand all types of weather conditions that could occur
in the region they are located, but many of their flood walls are
inadequate and don’t consider the floodwaters that could result from
nearby dams.
The Oconee Nuclear Station in South Caroline is protected by a 5-foot
wall, but is located near a dam that could result in floodwaters as
high as 16.8 feet and cause a meltdown that resembled what happened in
Fukushima.
Blanch has been petitioning the NRC about gas line issues since 2010,
and Criscione has raised the issue with Congress, the media, and
high-ranking officials at the NRC.
Regardless of the efforts of both engineers and employees of the NRC,
the commission has repeatedly claimed that no problems exist.
“The NRC has reviewed and evaluated the gas pipeline issue. Our review
of the petition found the plant continues to comply with NRC
requirements,” Burnell described the NRC response to a complaint he
made about Indian Point.
In yet another effort to bring attention to the dangers facing
Americans living near these power plants, Blanch and Criscione are
lobbying the Senate for support.
“We respectfully request that your staff review the enclosures and
determine if the nuclear reactor plants involved are adequately secure
from attack,” they wrote in the letter, asking the Senate to request
that the NRC temporarily shut down the plants if they are not secure.

December 22, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA