Nuclear Regulatory Commission disputes state criticism over handling of Oyster Creek spill (NJ)

[jpak]

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/ocean/article_3e00aec6-5e49-11df-8c8f-001cc4c03286.html

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The state Department of Environmental Protection invoked New Jersey’s Spill Act on Friday to oversee the cleanup of 180,000 gallons of irradiated water that leaked from the Oyster Creek Generating Station in April 2009.

The move marked the first time the state took the action against one of New Jersey’s four nuclear power plants, despite the fact that plants in Salem County have experienced more dangerous and more recent tritium leaks than the one at Oyster Creek. Typically, the law is invoked to force cleanups of pollution.

In a statement announcing it was taking over the Oyster Creek cleanup Friday, the DEP seemed to criticize the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency that oversees nuclear power plants.

“Following notification of the 2009 Oyster Creek contamination, NRC performed an investigation but did not compel a cleanup,” the DEP said Friday.

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[kristopher]

1. Another sector where regulatory oversight has been gutted and responsibility turned over to Industry