O-Rings in Atomic Power Plants Could Fail, Nader Group Claims

Key safety systems in nuclear power plants depend on O-rings, the type of rubber seal that caused the Challenger space shuttle disaster, which could fail in a nuclear accident, critics of the nuclear industry said in a report released Tuesday.

Dan Ford, who prepared the report on O-rings for Public Citizen, a Ralph Nader-sponsored consumer group, said that the seals are not designed to withstand the high temperatures that might be caused by an accident. They represent “a very serious weak spot,” he told a news conference.

Back-up Systems Cited

But the nuclear industry and federal regulators said that the comparison with the shuttle accident is invalid, emphasizing that power plants have several back-up systems, unlike the single seal found on the Challenger rockets.

Public Citizen has prepared a television commercial based on the O-ring report and featuring the slogan “Nuclear Power--We Can Live Without It Until They Can Make It Safe.” Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, said that broadcast time will be bought with donated funds from the sale of videotapes of singer Barbra Streisand’s recent benefit concert for liberal causes.

In the Challenger accident, the O-ring was 12 feet in diameter and sealed a section of the rocket containing solid fuel. High-temperature gases escaped through the faulty seal, causing an explosion.

The seals in equipment in nuclear plants are numerous and much smaller, often only a few inches in diameter.

“There is nowhere in a nuclear power plant any collection of O-rings that could cause a major safety problem,” said Robert Newlin, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which licenses and inspects civilian power plants.

Safety Risk Discounted

” . . . We have problems with them, as with any pumping system with leaks. Plant operators have leak detection equipment and make repairs. We don’t consider it to be a major safety problem.”

Scott Peters, a spokesman for the Atomic Industrial Forum, a nuclear industry organization, said that the Public Citizen complaint “is a cheap shot using the Challenger disaster to further their own needs.”

But Ford said that the nuclear industry “is pressing its luck, having close call after close call” with the seals.