Reactor safety system questioned

[Nottingham]

Reactor safety system questioned
By MATTHEW L. WALD
New York Times

WASHINGTON -- The emergency cooling systems that are meant to protect nuclear reactors from melting down in case a water pipe ruptures could fail after a few minutes of use at most reactors, according to a nuclear watchdog group that is citing a government study to argue that the problem makes a catastrophe at one power plant in New York 100 times more likely.

The group, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and a New York environmental organization, Riverkeeper, plan to petition the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week to ask that the two Indian Point reactors in Buchanan, N.Y., on the east bank of the Hudson River, be shut down until corrections are made. The problem, they argue, is that leaking water or steam could scour off pipe insulation, paint and other materials, forming debris that would clog the coolant pumps.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recognized the possibility years ago, and in September 1996 classified it as a serious problem, but it does not anticipate corrective action to be completed until early 2007. A commission official said, however, the problem need not be fixed immediately because the accident that would require use of the safety system is unlikely in the first place.

David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, contended that the emergency core-cooling system "is virtually certain to fail at some plants."
"Right now you're relying on a pipe not breaking," he said.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2087160

More....

Who Needs AlQuida we may have our own Nuclear disaster! :bounce: