Page 14-Friday, July 27, 1979-The Michigan Daily
NRC asks nuke owners to check for cracks
From the Associated Press
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) is advising the owners of about
30 nuclear power plants around the
country to inspect their equipment for
cracks in welds in the emergency
cooling system.
The commission took the action in
response to the discovery of cracks in
the cooling system of Unit 1 of the
nuclear power plant at Three Mile
Island inHarrisburg, Pa.
BUT A CONGRESSIONAL commit-
tee report scheduled for release next
week criticizea the NRC and says the
agency is unprepared to handle nuclear
plant emergencies, the Los Angeles
Times reported yesterday. ___
The 53-page House Government
Operations Committee report says the
NRC suffers from a "lack of strong,
constructive leadership."
"Rather than leading, the NRC has
misled the American people as to the
need for planning for nuclear accidents
and has lulled utilities and state and
local government officials into com-
placency," the report says. "The NRC,
in short, has created an illusion of
protection."
NORMAN MOSELEY, director of the
NRC's division of reactor operation in-
spections, said in a telephone interview
from his Bethesda, Md., headquarters
that the cracking problem could have
"very expensive" implications for
operators of pressurized water reac-
tors.
"It's premature to speculate at this
point, but it could prove very difficult to
fix," he said.
The bulletins from the NRC will ask
the nuclear plant operators to report to
the commission on whether or not they
find cracked welds, and how large any
cracks are.
THE REPORT is scheduled for
release next week. An advanced copy
was obtained by the newspaper. NRC
officials declined comment on the
report.
Such reports are generally prepared
by the staff members of House commit-
tees. The full committee has not yet
voted on the report. Their next
scheduled meeting is Tuesday. The
report could be amended before it is
approved.
The committee report was prepared
after the March 28 accident at the
Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pen-
nsylvania-the nation's worst nuclear
power accident.
THE REPORT said the NRC "has
time and again allowed-and is still
allowing-nuclear power plants to be
built in states and localities without ef-
fective emergency plans."
L4
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