NRC Rapped for Ignoring Diablo Plant Quake Risk

California congressmen, responding to a yearlong controversy, sharply criticized the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday for failing to consider the risk of earthquakes in developing emergency operation plans for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

Rep. Leon E. Panetta (D-Carmel Valley), one of three California representatives who requested a House subcommittee hearing in response to allegations of wrongdoing by the commission, called the NRC’s actions on Diablo Canyon “mind-boggling.”

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on energy conservation and power that called commission members to testify, charged that the agency ran “a giant shell game to keep the public confused and in the dark.”

But Commission Chairman Nunzio J. Palladino said the chances of an earthquake’s significantly affecting the Diablo Canyon site near San Luis Obispo are so slim that emergency procedures are unnecessary. The subcommittee’s accusations are “replete with inaccuracies and outright errors,” he declared.

A 22-page subcommittee report issued Tuesday said the commission probably acted illegally last August when it refused to call a public hearing on earthquake-related safety questions to avoid delay in the plant’s start-up. The report also said the commission may have broken the law by using off-the-record material in concluding that earthquakes are not a threat to the site.

Asks Re-Evaluation

Markey asked the commission to re-evaluate its assessment of earthquake risk within 30 days and to consider calling a public hearing for Californians.

“I wish Congress could have more of a sobering impact upon the NRC, because the regulatory process is melting down,” he said in prepared testimony.

In addition to Panetta, California Reps. George Miller (D-Martinez) and Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) attacked the commission for failing to consider the interests of the public.

The public still has a number of questions about the plant, said Panetta, who represents the Central California area near Diablo Canyon. “The people in my district don’t know how a nuclear plant operates--they only want to know the operation is safe.”

Waxman, calling nuclear technology “inherently dangerous,” said the “NRC’s actions have heightened the public’s fear that they are not being protected by tough regulations.”

Meanwhile, Miller, who did not attend the hearing, issued a statement in which he said that the commission appears to be concerned with getting the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. plant licensed, “even at the expense of safety considerations which might have delayed the process.”

In addition, Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) said the commission should have considered earthquake evacuation plans before construction of the plant. Diablo Canyon underwent millions of dollars in redesign to accommodate the risks of an earthquake; the commission concluded that those revisions were enough and that emergency plans were not needed.

Dissenter’s Role

A U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington is expected to decide this summer whether the commission broke the law by making that decision without a public hearing. The charges initially were raised by James K. Asselstine, the lone dissenter among five commissioners on the vote to license Diablo Canyon.

The commission usually considers such natural disasters as floods and tornadoes as most likely to affect a plant but chose to ignore earthquakes in this case, he said.

“The commission has concluded that earthquakes are so different from all other natural phenomena, and so much more unlikely to occur, that at no site in the country need the effects of earthquakes on emergency response be considered,” Asselstine said.

Palladino responded that commission studies indicate that earthquakes are improbable and that the plant’s seismic design would prevent a release of radiation.