Danger of Fires at Nuclear Plants neglected at Indian Point

[Guest guest]

April 6, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Susan Shapiro 845-596-5403

 

 

Fires at Nuke Plants Highlights Danger at Indian Point

 

 

The NRC has allowed Indian Point to have lower standards for fire

protection insulation than are permitted by the commercial building codes of

the

communities in our area. Other commercial buildings in NY State must have

fire ratings of one to three hours --but The Nuclear Regulatory Commission

has granted a series of exemptions to Entergy, owners of Indian Point,

which have degraded the safety requirements for fire protection insulation to

only 24 minutes, placing the public at risk in the event of a fire near

areas required for safe shutdown.

 

 

In an historic litigation, stakeholders near Indian Point have filed in

district court in response to the drastic reduction of fire protection at

Indian Point.

 

 

This weekend four fires at nuclear power plants around the country

underscored the nuclear industry's failure to comply with fire safety

regulations

and the failure of the NRC to enforce those regulations. There is no

question that fire is the greatest danger at nuclear plants and old plants such

as Indian Point are not in compliance with existing regulations. The NRC

grants exemptions to existing regulations in order to comply with industry

demands rather than enforcing the more stringent regulations which are

already on their books, thereby endangering public health and safety of those

in

the area.

 

 

“It’s outrageous that by law you have better protection in a commercial

building than you do in a nuclear power plant.†Said Margo Schepart, a

member of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition

 

 

“The fire safety issue provides an important glimpse into the process of

how the Nuclear Regulatory Commission consistently works to the advantage of

the industry and against public safety. The recent reactor fires clearly

show the results of this dangerous practice " said Marilyn Elie of Citizens

Awareness Network

 

 

The NRC approved a material called " Hemyc " as a fire wrap for use in most

nuclear plants because Hemyc manufacturers claimed it had a one hour fire

rating. Yet, when Congress ordered the NRC to test Hemyc the results proved

that this material was only fire safe for 24 minutes. This leaves 17

million Americans at risk from inadequate fire protection at Indian Point. _NRC

studies_

(http://e2ma.net/go/6637790041/208152761/212070676/35683/goto:http:/www.nrc.gov/\

reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1150/v1/sr1150v1-intro

-and-part-1.pdf) document that the highest risk events for a nuclear

catastrophe start with a fire at a nuclear power plant. Yet violations of

federal fire protection regulations adopted in 1980 following the March 22,

1975

_Browns Ferry Fire_

(http://e2ma.net/go/6637790041/208152761/212070677/35683/goto:http:/www.ccnr.org\

/browns_ferry.html) have gone unresolved for 30

years and remain widespread among the nuclear industry. The NRC continues

to defer enforcement in the hopes of persuading the industry to adopt a

_questionable alternate compliance strategy_

(http://e2ma.net/go/6637790041/208152761/212070678/35683/goto:http:/www.beyondnu\

clear.org/storage/fire_10292008

_Fire_When_NOT_Ready.pdf) that may well stymie enforcement actions

against violations. Meanwhile, the risks from a fire-initiated nuclear

catastrophe are amplified as reactor systems at Indian Point age and become

more

vulnerable to failure.

 

 

Background: According to Beyond Nuclear, a nuclear watchdog group, a

five-hour _fire burned at the H.B. Robinson_

(http://e2ma.net/go/6637790041/208152761/212070673/35683/goto:http:/www.beyondnu\

clear.org/storage/fire_der_032

82010_robi.pdf) Unit 2 nuclear power plant near Hartsville, SC involving

two consecutive high-energy electrical fires that left portions of the

reactor’s switchgear room scorched and heat-buckled, melted steel

electrical

conduits and junction boxes…and threatened redundant reactor

safety-related electrical circuits in the same area. A _fire at the Perry

nuclear

power plant_

(http://e2ma.net/go/6637790041/208152761/212070674/35683/goto:http:/www.beyondnu\

clear.org/storage/fire_der_03282010_perr.pdf) in Ohio burned

for more than three hours following ignition of lubrication oil coming from

a failed reactor feed pump turbine. Another _fire at Brunswick nuclear

power station_

(http://e2ma.net/go/6637790041/208152761/212070675/35683/goto:http:/www.beyondnu\

clear.org/storage/fire_der_03262010_brun.pdf) in Georgia

occurred on March 26, 2010 in the plant’s turbine building. The fire burned

for more than 15 minutes after electric blankets being used in station rep

airs for a post-weld heat treatment ignited the tape binding the blankets

together.

 

Richard Brodsky and Susan Shapiro represent the Indian Point Stakeholders:

Westchester’s Citizen’s Awareness Network, Sierra Club Atlantic

Chapter, Rockland County Conservation Association, Public Health and

Sustainable Energy. Contact: Susan Shapiro 845-596-5403

 

 

 

 

 

 

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