Agency planning public meetings on nuclear plant

Agency planning public meetings on nuclear plant

By Dennis Sherer
Staff Writer

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is looking for public comments about renewing operating licenses for Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant.

The regulatory agency will conduct two meetings in Athens on Tuesday to collect comments about possible environmental effects of granting a 20-year extension to the operating licenses for the nuclear plant near Athens. The meetings begin at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Athens State University student center ballroom.

Ken Clark, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the agency's staff and its contractors will discuss the environmental impact statement at each meeting and then collect comments from the audience.

"This is to give the public a chance to comment on what we call a draft environmental impact statement," Clark said.

Anyone wishing to speak can call (800) 368-5642 to pre-register. Speakers can also register before the start of each meeting.

Copies of the draft statement will be available for review at the meetings.

The nuclear agency's preliminary recommendation is that there would be no great adverse impact from renewing the licenses.

The operating licenses for the Unit 1, Unit 2 and Unit 3 reactors at Browns Ferry are scheduled to expire in 2013, 2014 and 2016, respectively.

Extending the 40-year operating licenses for the reactors to 60 year is opposed by many environmental groups.

Sara Barczak, safe energy director for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, contends that instead of attempting to extend the operating license for the reactors, TVA should be looking for safer sources of energy to produce electricity. "Nuclear energy is a very unforgiving technology."

She said a mistake at a nuclear power plant could have catastrophic results on the surrounding

TVA officials counter that nuclear energy is safe and extending the operating licenses for Browns Ferry is crucial for meeting the future power demands of the Tennessee Valley.

Area power distributors also support extending the operating license, saying it would help keep power rates low.

Before each of Tuesday's meetings, the nuclear agency's staff will be available for informal discussions about the license renewal process.

James Speegle, of Tuscumbia, plans to meet with NRC officials Tuesday to discuss his concerns about extending the operating license for the Unit 1 reactor.

"I wouldn't have any problem with them adding another 20 years to the license for Unit 2 and Unit 3. But there are some problems with Unit 1 that have me real concerned," Speegle said.

The reactor has been idle since 1985, when it was shut down over safety concerns. It is scheduled restart in 2007.

Units 2 and 3 were also shut down in 1985 but were restarted in 1991 and 1996, respectively, after extensive modifications.

Speegle worked as a painter foreman for TVA contractor Stone and Webster, a subsidiary of Shaw Group Inc., of Louisiana, on the Unit 1 restart project until being fired in May.

Speegle contends the firing was retaliation for his complaints to the NRC that paint inside the torus of Unit 1 was improperly applied and could pose a safety hazard. The torus is a large metal pool that holds water and surrounds the reactor.

After Speegle filed his complaint, the torus was sandblasted and repainted. Nuclear agency officials said sandblasting and repainting was the proper corrective action.

Speegle said the repainting is proof he was right to complain.

Speegle has hired Florence attorney Frank B. Potts and a Washington, D.C., law firm in an effort to return to work.

Potts contends Speegle was fired for being a whistleblower and not for insubordination, as Stone and Webster claimed.

Speegle said he has also shared his concerns about the work under way at the Unit 1 reactor with environmental groups.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.