NRC chairman says Vogtle design needs safety changes

By David Markiewicz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thirty years after the nation's worst nuclear power plant accident, the partial meltdown at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island, nuclear is back in the news.

Polls show increased public support, and advocates tout its relatively clean, homegrown power potential. Georgia is at the forefront of the industry's hopes, with Southern Co.'s Plant Vogtle near Augusta scheduled to put the first of two planned new reactors into service in 2016.

As chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission since May, Gregory Jaczko is the official spokesperson of the federal agency that regulates safety and security of nuclear materials and facilities in the country.

Jaczko was in Atlanta Thursday to visit the agency's regional office and to give speeches, one of which was to engineering students at Georgia Tech. In an interview beforehand, he was asked about some industry issues including design concerns at Vogtle and the future handling of spent nuclear fuel.

Q: The NRC recently told Westinghouse to change the design of the shield building for its AP1000 reactor, the kind a Southern subsidiary has picked for Vogtle, because of concerns that it might not protect the reactor core in the event of earthquakes or other calamities. How big a worry is this?

A: Changes need to be made and additional information needs to be provided. There's an option to make some design changes that if those changes use existing codes, existing standards, we feel more comfortable that we have a way to review those and come to a decision on that element of the design. If they choose to want to continue with that particular design that they have, there will be a need to develop and produce more information to really support the safety of the components and the design choices that they would make in that case.

Q: Federal preliminary permits granted for Vogtle by the NRC are being appealed by environmental groups who say they were issued while the project faces delays over matters such as the safety of the reactor design. Can you comment?

A: Generally, the lessons that were brought out in the '70s and '80s were really about making sure the design work was done early. If the design work was done early it would facilitate a more predictable licensing process. And it would prevent the kind of changes that would happen during construction that ultimately, I think, led to a lot of significant cost overruns on the part of the industry.

Q: How is the nuclear industry viewed in the South compared to elsewhere?

A: In the South, we tend to have a public that is engaged, but tends to have fewer concerns that they raise. But a lot of it is plant-specific and a lot is issue-specific.

Q: There is concern now about the future handling of spent nuclear fuel. Your thoughts?

A: What the NRC is focused on right now is making sure that the fuel is safe. We've always been focused on doing that. As the country looks to determine what a long term policy will be with regard to spent fuel, we want to make sure that in that interim time that the fuel continues to be safe, and if there's an extended period of storage that it can be done safely.

Q: The head of nuclear plant operator Entergy Corp. said this week the company probably won't build a new nuclear plant in the Southeast because of economic reasons. Care to comment?

A: I tend to keep my focus on making sure the existing plants we have are safe and secure and that the plants we're reviewing we are reviewing in an effective manner. I'll reserve any judgment on those kinds of remarks, perhaps, for a day when I'm no longer at the NRC.