News & Observer

March 17, 2000

Waste-plan opponents cite 'event' at reactor

By KARIN SCHILL, Staff Writer
A recent reactor emergency at a nuclear plant south of Wilmington has provided new fodder for a group fighting Carolina Power & Light's plan to double its nuclear waste storage at the Shearon Harris plant in southwestern Wake County.

CP&L's Brunswick plant in Southport had what's known as an "unusual event" -- the lowest form of a plant emergency -- after the facility lost power because of a contractor's error March 3. The plant's four standby diesel generators kicked in, but one subsequently failed.

That resulted in a 21-minute loss of cooling to the water that surrounds the highly radioactive fuel rods inside the reactor and in the adjacent storage pool. If a nuclear plant loses cooling for a longer period of time, the water can begin to boil away. That can, in turn, lead to a plant meltdown and -- in a worst-case scenario -- a nuclear release.

Brunswick's Unit 1, where the loss of cooling occurred, was shut down at the time for refueling.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which monitors safety at the nation's nuclear power plants, said the problem at Brunswick earlier this month was never a serious threat.

"There was no serious safety significant to this event," said NRC spokesman Ken Clark. "The NRC's concern in these situations is that they do not deteriorate into something that might become a safety concern."

Jim Warren, the director of NC Warn, the group fighting storage expansion at the Shearon Harris plant, disagreed.  "At Brunswick, a lot of things went wrong which nobody expected or could control," he said Thursday. "The public isn't going to stand by and let CP&L increase the risk of a disaster at Harris just so they can save a little money."

At issue is CP&L's controversial plan to use two idle storage pools at Shearon Harris to store waste generated at the company's nuclear plants in the Carolinas. Orange County and NC Warn have campaigned against the plan, saying it could increase the risk for a serious accident at the plant. They are especially worried about CP&L's plan to tie four fuel storage pools to one reactor cooling system, Warren said.  "That means the backup [power] system would be taxed more," he said. "Tying all that together creates the potential for a very large accident."

CP&L maintains the storage will be safe, and the company is awaiting approval from the NRC to open up the storage pools. The Raleigh-based utility brushed away NC Warn's effort to tie the Brunswick incident to the Shearon Harris plant situation.

"I really think they're grasping at straws now," said CP&L spokesman Mike Hughes. "This has nothing to do with the spent fuel issue, and I would encourage everyone who's hearing anything from NC Warn to take everything they say with a grain of salt. They never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Staff writer Karin Schill can be reached at 829-4521 or kschill@nando.com