Washington,
Dec 6, 2007 -
In a meeting with Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), asked the governor to look into updating and improving emergency preparedness for Ohio’s nuclear power plants.
“Malfunctioning nuclear power plants in Ohio have become systemic,” Kucinich said. “Over the last several years, these facilities have become unsafe and unreliable because of poor management by FirstEnergy.
“Nuclear power plants in Ohio are famous to regulators for being mismanaged and FirstEnergy is responsible. There is something fundamentally wrong with the way FirstEnergy is running its nuclear power plants and the results of their poor management could be fatal.”
Kucinich has actively sought greater government oversight for FirstEnergy in looking out for the health, safety and safe water supply for Ohio’s residents. The Davis-Besse and Perry plants are on top of the largest supply of fresh water in the world.
Just last week, FirstEnergy’s Perry Nuclear Power Plant automatically shut down. The emergency closure occurred as two water cooling pumps malfunctioned and portions of the backup system failed. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is still investigating exactly what caused the water cooling pumps to malfunction.
Kucinich wrote a letter to the NRC last week, detailing the history of poor management at the plant and requesting a briefing a soon as is “reasonably practicable.” The NRC has stated that their inspection would be finished in seven days, with a report to follow in 45 days. This incident was not the first time the Perry plant had an unplanned shutdown. Most recently, in July, the Perry plant closed for a month when FirstEnergy had to replace a reactor recirculation pump motor.
The Davis-Besse nuclear facility, also operated by FirstEnergy, nearly caused a massive disaster for the residents of Northern Ohio in February 2002. A football-sized crater was found in the reactor vessel and experts predicted the plant might have been as close as 60 days away from bursting the slim steel liner that stood in the way of the radioactive release into the air.
“It is vitally important that Ohio residents have an emergency preparedness procedure in place. We need improved planning, response and communication by federal, state and local governments to deal with the frequent reactor accidents.
“FirstEnergy’s record of incompetence and deception proves that their nuclear plants pose a hazard to public health and safety. The least the State of Ohio must do is adopt robust plans to provide Ohio residents with the safety and security they deserve,” Kucinich said.
