Politics & Government
NRC 'Failing the Public' with Seabrook Station
Residents and environmental groups criticized the level of oversight at the local nuclear power plant Tuesday.
Despite the fact that government officials continue to say Seabrook Station nuclear power plant is safe and structurally sound since the discovery of concrete degradation issues, residents questioned and criticized the oversight of the plant Tuesday night during an open house scheduled by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to Foster's Daily Democrat.
During the public session at One Liberty Lane Conference Center in Hampton, which according to Foster's approximately 100 people attended, the NRC explained the current scope of the concrete degradation problems, as well as why that degradation has occurred and the remaining issues owners NextEra Energy must address before the NRC makes a determination on the plant's controversial license extension, which would extend Seabrook Station's license through 2050.
Numerous environmental groups had already outlined many concerns they planned to voice during the meeting, and Foster's has reported that members of groups like the Seacoast Anti-Pollution League raised new concerns Tuesday that the building isn't structurally sound, citing a belief that some workers were drunk while constructing the plant between 1978 and 1984. Additionally, others said the fact that the concrete degradation — caused by an alkali-silica reaction involving groundwater infiltration — went unnoticed until only a few years ago shows the "inadequacy of the NRC's monitoring programs," according to Foster's.
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“The NRC is failing to require the industry to commit sufficient resources, adequate technologies, and trained personnel to inspect structures,” Diane Teed reportedly said. “The NRC is failing to commit sufficient resources to accomplish its own responsibilities, and the NRC is failing the public.”
The NRC reportedly responded by stating that a team of structural engineering experts from across the agency are studying Seabrook Station, in addition to lengthy discussions the NRC has had about the topic at its regulatory information conference and in regional meetings, according to Foster's.
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More information about the NRC's oversight can be found on a new information website about Seabrook Station.
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