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Worst 25 U.S. Nuclear Reactors
HOLD FOR RELEASE: CONTACTS: James Riccio (202) 546-4996
9:30 A.M. EDT, Oct 9, 1996 Bill Magavern (202) 546-4996
PUBLIC CITIZEN SAYS NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION SLACK ON SAFETY;
IDENTIFIES WORST NUCLEAR REACTORS IN NATION
New Jersey's Salem -1 Tops List of Nuclear Lemons
Washington, DC, Oct. 9 -- Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project
(CMEP) today charged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) with
callous disregard for public health and safety. The advocacy group
says the NRC has failed to identify many of the most troubled nuclear
reactors in the nation, and has failed to improve the performance of
those problem reactors it has identified. The charges are detailed in
Nuclear Lemons, a new CMEP report which lists the twenty-five worst
nuclear reactors in the nation.
"The NRC's attempts to improve performance at troubled nuclear reactors
have been an abysmal failure," said James Riccio, staff attorney for
Public Citizen and primary author of the study. "Although NRC Chair
Shirley Jackson has tried to toughen enforcement, the agency's old
guard is still unwilling to crack down on the worst reactors."
Nuclear Lemons determines the worst commercial nuclear reactors based
on twelve safety, economic and performance indicators. The rankings,
which are being co-released with citizens groups across the country,
are based entirely on statistics garnered from government and industry
documents.
While the NRC keeps a "watch list" of problem plants, the agency has
never explained the criteria used to create the list, or spelled out
conditions to indicate when a reactor should be permanently closed.
"The NRC identifies its problem plants'," said Joan Claybrook,
President of Public Citizen, "but the Commission has no established
standards by which to judge when a nuclear reactor should be shut down.
With so many aging, deteriorating nuclear facilities threatening public
health and safety, the NRC should be closing the most dangerous plants
and moving aggressively to improve the remaining reactors. "
"Increasing competition in the electric power industry threatens the
survival of many nuclear plants that are far more expensive to operate
and maintain than other sources of power," said Bill Magavern, Director
of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project. "Instead of looking
the other way, the NRC needs to keep a much closer watch on nuclear
utilities, which will be tempted to shortchange safety in their efforts
to cut costs. And these nuclear lemons deserve the most scrutiny."
25 WORST REACTORS OVERALL
RANK REACTOR ST UTILITY
1 Salem-1 NJ Public Service Electric & Gas
2 Wash. Nuclear-2 WA Washington Public Power Supply System
3 Millstone-2 CT Northeast Utilities Service
4 River Bend-1 LA Gulf States Utilities
5 Dresden-3 IL Commonwealth Edison
6 Quad Cities-2 IL Commonwealth Edison
7 Sequoyah-1 TN Tennessee Valley Authority
8 Salem-2 NJ Public Service Electric & Gas
9 South Texas-1 TX Houston Lighting & Power
10 Perry-1 OH Cleveland Electric Illuminating
11 Cooper Station NE Nebraska Public Power
12 LaSalle-1 IL Commonwealth Edison
13 Dresden-2 IL Commonwealth Edison
14 Fitzpatrick NY New York Power Authority
15 Fermi-2 MI Detroit Edison
16 Millstone-1 CT Northeast Utilities Service
17 South Texas-2 TX Houston Lighting & Power
18 Haddam Neck CT Northeast Nuclear Energy
19 Indian Point-3 NY New York Power Authority
20 Quad Cities-1 IL Commonwealth Edison
21 Palisades MI Consumers Power
22 Brunswick-1 NC Carolina Power and Light
23 Pilgrim-1 MA Boston Edison
24 Sequoyah-2 TN Tennessee Valley Authority
25 Zion-1 IL Commonwealth Edison
WORST REACTOR IN EACH CATEGORY
CATEGORY REACTOR ST UTILITY
Capacity Factors Browns Ferry 1 AL Tennessee Valley Auth.
Enforcement Discretion Zion 1 IL Commonwealth Edison
Forced Outage Rate Indian Point 3 NY New York Power Authority
Licensee Event Reports Millstone 2 CT Northeast Utilities
O & M Costs Maine Yankee ME MaineYankee Atomic Power
SafetySystemActuations Limerick 2 PA Philadelphia Electric
Safety System Failures Millstone 2 CT Northeast Utilities
Scrams Cook 2 MI Indiana/Michigan Power
Significant Events Haddam Neck CT Yankee Atomic Power
Systematic Assessments Quad Cities 1& 2 IL Commonwealth Edison
Violations Browns Ferry 2 AL Tennessee Valley Auth.
Worker Exposure Washington Nucl.2 WA Washington Public Power
# # #
Copies of Nuclear Lemons are available from Public Citizen (202-588-1000) at a
cost of $40. Discounts are available to citizens groups and
schools. Accredited media may receive complimentary copies of the
study upon request.
Public Citizen is a non-profit research and advocacy organization
founded in 1971 by Ralph Nader. Public Citizen has over 100,000
members nationwide. Critical Mass Energy Project is its energy policy
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