NRC removes Oyster Creek 'white finding'
Activist questions agency's reliance on AmerGen's reports
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station no longer has a "white finding" marring its safety record, according to a recent reinspection by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The NRC's determination comes almost two years after an Aug. 6, 2005, incident at the nuclear plant on Route 9 in Lacey Township where plant operators failed to take the appropriate emergency-response actions when a large amount of sea grass clogged the north side intake structure screens, which resulted in a decrease in the intake structure water level. The water level decreased for roughly 60 minutes, which met the NRC's criteria for an unusual event and alert declarations.

AmerGen, the plant's owner, failed to convince NRC inspectors they had taken appropriate steps to correct the problems during the first inspection last year, and the white finding remained.

The latest NRC inspection was conducted from June 4 to June 7, at the plant on Route 9 south in Lacey Township.

"The inspectors determined that AmerGen's review contained sufficient methods for determining the effectiveness of their corrective actions to prevent recurrences," the NRC's Emergency Preparedness Supplemental Inspection Report states.

The inspectors based their conclusion on the increased frequency and number of personnel in-field performance observations and assessments; a management review process to monitor operator and crew performance; the development of stations metrics to track and assess station-wide procedure use, adherence events and procedure changes and continued nuclear oversight observations and self-assessment reports, the NRC report states.

"We determined they had performed a comprehensive evaluation and that they implemented correction action," said NRC spokeswoman Diane Screnci. "The bottom line is we believe they have taken the appropriate actions to remove the white finding."

The news of the white finding removal did not mean much to Janet Tauro, a founding member of the citizens' group Grandmothers, Mothers and More for Energy Safety (GRAMMES), which opposes the plant's relicensing.

"This has been the problem all along with the NRC," Tauro said. "They rely on AmerGen's own assessments to determine safety issues. When they rely on AmerGen's analysis, there is no checks and balances. That's the fundamental problem. You cannot rely on AmerGen's data. You have to conduct your own inspection."

GRAMMES is one of six organizations that opposed the plant's relicensing. The others are the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, the Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch Inc., the New Jersey Public Interest Group, the New Jersey Sierra Club and the New Jersey Environmental Federation.

The coalition of groups filed a contention earlier this year that cited concerns about corrosion in the plant's drywell liner earlier this year. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, an NRC advisory board, in June denied AmerGen's request to have the contention dismissed. A board will hold a hearing on the matter on Sept. 24 in Toms River. It is the first time in the NRC's history the board agreed to hear a contention.

Oyster Creek is the oldest nuclear plant in the country. It went online in 1969. AmerGen is seeking of have the plant's license renewed for another 20 years, when it expires in 2009.

Tauro said the NRC should have arranged for an independent analysis of Oyster Creek's response to the white finding.

"In any other situation, an independent analysis would be done," she said. "It's unfathomable to us that this agency continues to rely on the industry to evaluate themselves and to police themselves."