A preliminary sketch of the new facility, courtesy Israel Institute of Technology.
WASHINGTON (Nuclear NewsWire): A Tennessee Valley Authority proposal for one of the nation’s first new nuclear power plants in more than three decades has been slowed by criticism from regulators and environmentalists over possible safety problems.
The proposed plant, named for famous 20th Century artist M.C. Escher, has reached the Early Site Permit stage, where an environmental impact statement is required. Environmentalists who have been concerned about the project from the start are beginning to make their voices heard.
“This project is simply crazy,” said Paul Gunter, of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. “No passive or engineered system is designed for such an environment.”
Gunter is referring to the plant’s controversial layout, in which power lines continuously ascend from a generator that never stops spinning. Reactor safety experts also highlighted the infinitely-long fuel rods as a possible source of problems, although a change in the position of control rods might lower the risk.
“The problem with that is, since both ends are pinned, you might lose some of the negative temperature coefficient,” said Union of Concerned Scientists safety analyst Dave Lochbaum. “It’s also an active system that’s one failure away from losing control of the reactor.”
Industry representatives stated to Reuters that they have confidence in the plant’s Russian designers and expect the reactor, a modified VVER-1000, to achieve design certification in 2009.
NRC staff aren’t so sure. For the first time in the history of the agency, they filed a brief in opposition to the certification, citing low safety standards and shoddy construction in Russian and Eastern European programs. Other problems are related to the plant’s architecture, including infinitely looping stairs that hinder first-responders and may pose security problems.
“Commie piece of crap,” Lochbaum added. “Oops, you’re not going to print that, are you?”
An industry source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that he did not expect the application to go through as it currently stands.
Outgoing Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Nils Diaz remarked, “They’re just going to have to fix it.”
This page was written by Stewart Peterson on May 21, 2009
