[NukeNet] 2 oyster creaky articles

Wed Sep 20 10:31:48 CDT 2006

Asbury Park Press, Sept. 19, 2006

TOP NRC REGULATOR INSPECTS REACTOR

By Nicholas Clunn, Staff Writer

LACEY -- One of the nation's top regulators of nuclear power made a
special visit to the Oyster Creek plant Monday but was mum on the
outlook for the generating station getting federal permission to
continue operating until 2029.

The official, Jeffrey S. Merrifield, one of the five presidentially
appointed commissioners to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, met
with senior plant officials, toured sensitive areas and spoke with
about 150 workers for more than an hour during his visit.

But the commissioner could not go into specific detail about the
plant's license renewal application, an operational plan Oyster Creek
needs the NRC to approve for it to operate after 2009, when the
current license expires, for 20 more years.

Merrifield could not address the application because all commissioners
are striving for impartiality as they are now appellate judges of
sorts, in a case brought against Oyster Creek's application by the
state Department of Environmental Protection.

He also would not discuss that challenge by the DEP, which wants the
commission to call a hearing on making the threat of a terrorist
attack part of the assessment Oyster Creek needs to pass to obtain a
renewal.

State officials asked the commission to consider their arguments after
their request for a hearing was denied by administrative judges at the
NRC.

The NRC tabled the state's request at least until the U.S. Supreme
Court decides whether to hear a related case.

Tour of duty

A visit by an NRC member to a plant is rare but Merrifield, since his
appointment to the commission by President Clinton in 1998, has made
it a point to visit all 103 commercial reactors, which are located at
65 sites in 31 states. He visited Oyster Creek once before several
years ago, said Neil Sheehan, an NRC spokesman.

"His object is to become as informed as possible about each site,"
Sheehan said.

Regardless of Merrifield's opinion on the license renewal, many plant
workers appreciated the chance to hear him talk about other issues,
including nuclear waste disposal and new plant construction, said
Rachelle Benson, plant spokeswoman.

"This was a big deal for the station because he was a visiting
dignitary," Benson said. "I think the employees liked to listen to him
speak, and even more so, to have the opportunity to ask him
questions."

Merrifield's day at the nation's oldest commercial nuclear power plant
started about 7:30 a.m. He met one on one with Tim Rausch, site vice
president for Oyster Creek, and with Christopher M. Crane, president
and chief nuclear officer for Exelon Nuclear, which operates the
plant.

During a 2 1/2-hour tour, he visited the control room and went outside
to see the manmade canal that holds the cooling water pumped in and
out of the plant. Merrifield also took an interest in security,
climbing to the top of a bullet-resistant watchtower staffed by guards
with high-powered rifles.

Nicholas Clunn: (732) 643-4072 or nclunn at app.com

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Ocean County Observer, Sept. 14, 2006

OYSTER CREEK DECISION POSTPONED

By Bob Vosseller, Staff Writer

LACEY -- Federal regulators postponed a decision concerning whether
the threat of a terrorist action should be included as part of the
license renewal of the Oyster Creek Generating Station.

State Department of Environmental Protection representatives have
requested the inclusion of the possible threat of a terrorist action,
be included in the license renewal process.

Oyster Creek is the oldest operating nuclear facility in the nation;
its operating license will expire in April 2009. A decision on its
license renewal for another 20 years was originally expected to be
reached by May of next year.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said on Monday
that the five-member board of the Atomic Safety Licensing Review board
rejected a request by six environmental groups to hold an additional
hearing. The groups filed a contention calling for the hearing and
listed three reasons why they felt it should be held.

Those reasons included the threat of a terrorist action toward the
nuclear facility, metal fatigue of the drywell shell which is a key
component involving the containment of radioactive contaminants at the
facility and the need for a backup power system at the plant.

The rejection of the last two reasons were upheld by the state
according to Sheehan.

Citing a June ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the DEP
wants the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to deliberate the possibility
of a terrorist attack as part of the license renewal process,
according to Sheehan.

In the prior decision, a three-judge panel decided that the storage of
spent fuel at the Diablo Canyon power plant in California and the
threat of a terrorist attack would have to be considered more
seriously by NRC regulators.

"Diablo Canyon was not a license renewal case but it did fall under
the National Environmental Impact Review policy," Sheehan said.

The panel disagreed with a conclusion in 2003 by the NRC that a
terrorist attack was "remote and speculative" and therefore
unnecessary to consider.

Sheehan said that on Sept. 6 the Supreme Court extended by 30 days the
Aug. 31 deadline to review the 9th Circuit ruling, and postponed its
decision.

Oyster Creek produces around 4 percent of the electricity distributed
by the PJM power grid which serves five Mid-Atlantic States according
to the plant's owner, Exelon Corp.

"We are pleased with he commission's decision to dismiss the two
points of the contention and as we stated in the appeal we believe the
third will also be dismissed," AmerGen spokeswoman Rachelle Benson
said on Tuesday. Benson added that the postponement of the matter "was
not a decision but the agency being cautious before they make a final
ruling."

Critics of the plant's license renewal have said the 636-megawatt
plant is no longer safe to operate due to its aging systems.

Opponents of the plant's license renewal such as the Ocean County
Chapter of the League of Women Voters state that due to the increased
population of Ocean County, an evacuation plan for the surrounding
area of municipalities is problematic and that the current plan is
obsolete.

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