Nuclear Safety Rule Ignites Strong Reactions

President Bush, second from right, at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland with energy company executives and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, third from right. Unistar intends to build a new reactor there. (By Dennis Brack -- Bloomberg)

Nuclear activists scoff at the proposal.

"They are trying to conceal that they really aren't doing anything," said Edwin Lyman, senior staff scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists in the District.

The office of New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo filed comments saying: "It is folly to impose requirements necessary to fend off potential terrorist attacks only on new plants that won't be built for another 10-20 years, but to leave vulnerable to attack the existing fleet of 104 reactors."

New York has four nuclear facilities, including Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, about 50 miles north of New York City. It is owned by Entergy of New Orleans.

The comments from Cuomo's office noted that two of the hijacked planes on Sept. 11, 2001, flew near or over Indian Point on their way to the World Trade Center. They recommended that all aircraft be covered, not just the large jetliners cited in the proposal.

Opponents say it is imperative that a new generation of nuclear reactors be built to withstand an air attack.

"If you build in a post-9/11 world, you better damn well be able to withstand an airliner attack," said Jim Riccio, nuclear policy analyst for Greenpeace USA in the District.

Some critics, including one NRC commissioner, complained that the proposal doesn't compel reactor designers to take any specific action and lacks enforcement requirements.

"What if they do an assessment and it crumples like a pi¿ata?" Lyman said. "Does it have to be fixed? There is no requirement to take action on the results."

When the agency voted to go ahead with the proposal last April, Commissioner Gregory Jaczko cast the only "no" vote. He said the proposal didn't require applicants "to make one single design modification." And he criticized exempting already-approved designs.

In its comments, the Nuclear Energy Institute agreed that only new reactor designs should be required to do the risk analysis. The trade group said its members may voluntarily take part.

"Everyone will do an assessment," said Heymer.

Cindy Skrzycki is a regulatory columnist with Bloomberg News. She can be reached atcskrzycki@bloomberg.net.