Word: nrc
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Galatis and Hadley had been waiting two months for a reply to their petition to deny Northeast's amendment. Finally, on Oct. 26, a letter from William Russell, director of the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, informed them that their petition was "outside of the scope" of the applicable regulatory subchapter. Two weeks later, the NRC granted Northeast's amendment. Millstone started moving fuel the next morning...
Because of Galatis, the plant is still shut down. "What's especially galling," says Hadley, "is that the NRC ignored my client and denied his motion, then validated his concerns after the fact." In late December, Inspector General Norton released his preliminary report. He found that Northeast had conducted improper full-core off-loads for 20 years. Both the NRC's on-site inspectors and headquarters staff, the report said, "were aware" of the practice but somehow "did not realize" that this was a violation. In other words, the NRC's double-barreled oversight system shot blanks from both barrels...
...Russell sent a letter informing Northeast that because "certain of your activities may have been conducted in violation of license requirements," the NRC was considering penalties. In an extraordinary move, Russell demanded a complete review of every system at Millstone 1, with the results "submitted under oath," to prove that every part of the plant is safe--the global examination Galatis asked for two years ago. The results, Russell wrote, "will be used to decide whether or not the license of Millstone Unit 1 should be suspended, modified or revoked...
...pressure is on NRC Chairwoman Jackson to prove her commitment to nuclear safety--and her ability to reform an inert bureaucracy. "I will not make a sweeping indictment of NRC staff," Jackson, a straight-talking physicist who in July 1995 became both the first female and the first African American to run the NRC, told TIME. "Does that mean everybody does things perfectly? Obviously not. We haven't always been on top of things. The ball got dropped. Here's what I'm saying now: The ball will not get dropped again...
...response to the problems Galatis exposed, Jackson launched a series of policies designed to improve training, accountability and vigilance among inspectors and NRC staff. She ordered the agency's second whistle-blower study in two years and a nationwide review of all 110 nuclear plants, to find out how many have been moving fuel in violation of NRC standards. The results will be in by April, along with a menu of fuel-pool safety recommendations. (By using a technique called dry-cask storage, utilities could empty their pools and warehouse rods in airtight concrete containers, reducing risk. In the past...