- Jeff,
- This is the second time in two weeks that the NRC slapped
the faces of the public with outrageuos decisions handcuffing our abilities
for public openess and public participation. This country is headed for
secrecy to rival the old Eastern Block.
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- The following is from Paul Gunter (former program guest)
of Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
-
- Scott
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- NRC PULLS FAST ONE OVER PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN
- SAFETY OVERSIGHT OF DAVIS-BESSE NUCLEAR POWER STATION
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- COMMISSION ACTION FURTHER UNDERMINES
- PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN AGENCY'S SAFETY PRIORITIES
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- WASHINGTON, DC---The Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners
quietly met on the afternoon of Monday, August 16, 2004 and by a unanimous
vote of 3-0 decided to hold a public meeting at 9:25 AM EST on Tuesday,
August 17, 2004 regarding an appeal of its licensing board's decision to
deny a public hearing on the legality and safety of the restart of Ohio's
controversial Davis-Besse nuclear power station. The only notification
(attached) of the public meeting was emailed to the Toledo, Ohio attorney
for Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and local interveners
at 8:30 AM Tuesday morning-less than one hour before the meeting began.
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- Following its "open to the public meeting,"
the Commission promptly issued an Order and Memorandum (attached) affirming
the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) decision by email to the Attorney
Terry Lodge.
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- "We attempted to raise documented Davis-Besse fire
protection violations and public safety concerns to NRC's restart panel
back in December 2003, months before the restart," said Paul Gunter,
Director of the Reactor Watchdog Project for Washington, DC-based Nuclear
Information and Resource Service (NIRS). "Reminiscent of the same
regulatory malfeasance that led to severe reactor corrosion and a near
miss accident, the agency sunset its own Sunshine Law to circumvent serious
public safety questions," he said.
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- NIRS and local plaintiffs pointed to publicly disclosed
NRC documents where pre-restart NRC inspections of Davis-Besse records
discovered "pretty outrageous" violations of mandatory fire protection
for reactor safe shutdown equipment.
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- "When serious safety allegations didn't fit the
agency's restart script, NRC omitted them from any restart considerations,"
said Toledo Attorney Terry Lodge. "The grand jury investigating wrongdoing
around Davis-Besse's hole-in-the head is public safety's last chance for
any justice," said Lodge.
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- The ASLB dismissed contentions claiming that the plaintiffs
had sought a hearing on actions beyond the scope of the NRC Restart Order.
The plaintiffs then sought an appeal to the Commission
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- "This is simply contempt for public participation
in the reactor safety process," said Michael Keegan, a plaintiff in
the Davis-Besse restart decision. "These rogues masquerading as regulators
must be called out on the Congressional Oversight Carpet," concluded
Keegan.
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