Publication Laka-library:
1983 Nuclear power safety report (1983)
| Author | Public Citizen |
| Date | 1983 |
| Classification | 3.01.0.20/06 (UNITED STATES - SAFETY) |
| Front | 
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From the publication:
Public Citizen 1983 Nuclear Power Safety Report Introduction In 1982 nuclear power plants showed themselves once again to be an unreliable, expensive and potentially very dangerous power source. For the fourth year in a row, Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project has examined a crucial aspect of nuclear power - the safety of operating plants. Among our findings: • There were 4,500 mishaps reported at nuclear power plants during the 1982 calendar year, up more than 10% from the 1981 total. Ten plants had more than 100 mishaps each. • Of the mishaps in 1982, 253 were considered particularly significant, according to NRC reports. Nineteen reactors suffered five or more "particularly significant mishaps," * with Brunswick 2 (Southport, NO and Salem 2 (Salem, NJ) heading the list with ten each. • Nearly 50 percent of the mishaps in 1982 were due to equipment problems or failures, and more than 20 percent involved defects in design or fabrication. More than 25 percent involved human error. • More workers than ever before, 84,322, were exposed to measurable amounts of radiation. The number of exposed workers has increased 113-fold since 1969, considerably higher than the 25-fold increase in nuclear electricity generated over the same period. • One of every three nuclear plant workers with measurable radiation doses received more than 500 millirems (.5 rems), three times higher than the recommended maximum exposure to the general public (170 millirems, or .17 rems). • The NRC levied 23 fines to 20 utilities in 1982 for a total of $1.895,125. Boston Edison paid the heaviest fine, $550,000, for making false statements to the NRC, and for their inability to control combustible gases after a possible loss-of-coolant accident at the Pilgrim (MA) plant, and Carolina Power and Light was fined $600,000 in 1983 for failure to adequately test the safety systems at the Brunswick (NC) plant in 1982. • There were over 60 security threats to nuclear plants in 1982, and six plants had three or more threats. The Salem (NJ) site, operated by Public Service Electric and Gas, had the highest number, with six security threats. Five were sabotage, apparently done by plant "insiders." One incident led to an airborne release of 19 curies of Xenon-133. There were 34 bomb threats, including sixteen in a seven week period at Indiana's Marble Hill. A bomb device was set off in the reactor building at the Bellefonte plant under construction in Alabama. • As of July 1983, 24 nuclear plant sites lacked state or county emergency evacuation plans. * The total number of "particularly significant mishaps" cannot be directly compared to the total number of "especially significant mishaps" calculated last year, because of methodological differences. For a description of methodology, see page 30.
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