Davis-Besse Comes to Life
Aired March 9, 2004
Yesterday, federal regulators gave owners of the Davis-Besse nuclear plant the green light to restart the facility after a two-year shutdown. Over the next couple of weeks, operators will work to get the plant back on-line. But opponents say they're still not convinced that Davis-Besse can operate safely. ideastream's Karen Schaefer reports.
It won't be long now before neighbors of the Davis-Besse nuclear plant just 20 miles east of Toledo once again see telltale whisps of water vapor trailing from the concrete cooling tower. Yesterday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it had given its approval on the company's request to restart the long-shuttered plant. James Caldwell is the regional administrator of the NRC. It was he who made the final decision.
James Caldwell: We based this decision on achieving reasonable assurance that Davis-Besse can be started up and operated safely. We achieved this reasonable assurance based on greater than 1,200 hours of direct inspection by approximately 80 agency staff and expert consultants from all four regions and headquarters.
Davis-Besse owner FirstEnergy Corporation has a detailed plan for restarting the plant. Company spokesman Richard Wilkins says it could take 10 days to two weeks to reach full operating power. He says that's because plant operators will take each step carefully. But Wilkins admits there could be problems.
Richard Wilkins: Even during a brief outage, you would expect to find some issues. We've been down for two years, so we would expect to find some issues. But if we find them, we will do the appropriate analysis and address them.
The NRC says it, too, is prepared for start-up glitches. They'll have inspectors watching round-the-clock at Davis-Besse during the start-up period. They'll also leave a third resident inspector at the plant until at least September of 2005. Two weeks ago, the agency told FirstEnergy that to ensure long-term success of its new safety culture, the company must conduct additional, annual independent inspections of key safety systems for the next five years. It was FirstEnergy's emphasis on production over safety that led to a football-sized rust hole in the reactor's lid.
The utility has accepted the new conditions without demur. But some watchdog groups have questioned why, if regulators accept that the plant is ready to run, they need the additional assurance of independent assessments. Sandy Buchanan is with Ohio Citizen Action.
Sandy Buchanan: I think the fact that their restart orders include requirements for third-party inspections does show that NRC doesn't believe its own inspections are going to do the job - and that raises some big questions.
Other groups question whether all equipment and design flaws have been fixed. Yesterday, the Ohio Public Interest Research Group released a report detailing lingering safety concerns over two of the plant's essential cooling systems. While the NRC says it's satisfied those systems will operate safely, Ohio PIRG spokesperson Erin Bowser says she's still not sure all issues have been addressed.
Erin Bowser: We're watching this beleaguered watchdog, the NRC. We just can't be assured that things are going to get any better, so we definitely continue to have concerns.
Yet another lingering concern is the on-going investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into possible criminal allegations against former FirstEnergy employees. The NRC's Jack Grobe - who has had direct responsibility for oversight of the plant for the last two years - says there is no immediate safety concern resulting from the investigation. Agency officials have said none of those employees are still working at the plant. But Sandy Buchanan of Ohio Citizen Action remains doubtful.
Sandy Buchanan: Many of the key decisions that were made at Davis-Besse were not made from 2000 to 2002 when the hole was discovered. They were made in the mid-90's and many of the people who were key decision makers at that point are still high within the ranks of the FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, which oversees all their nuclear plants.
But perhaps of most concern to critics is reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission itself. The agency has been sharply criticized by its own inspector general for multiple failures of oversight. It commissioned an internal review and adopted 49 recommendations to tighten its oversight programs. But as recently as last month, the IG was still saying the agency has not fixed problems with its internal communications. And last week, the NRC admitted it may take an additional one to two years before all reforms are complete. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Toledo says it's time to look beyond federal regulation.
Marcy Kaptur: I have learned not to have much faith in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but to place my faith in the workers. What do we do differently than in the past to assure no further infractions occur? Can't a few million be spent on the engineering training at the highest levels we can provide to all the workers inside that plant?
In the coming weeks, regulators, critics, and the company itself will be watching closely to see how the Davis-Besse plant and its staff perform after two years of standing idle. NRC officials say a major mistake could mean another temporary shutdown order. But even if all goes well, it will be some time before the intense scrutiny of the past two years eases. In Cleveland, Karen Schaefer, 90.3.
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