NRC Warned Not to License Plants States Oppose

A lengthy parade of politicians--including governors, senators and Democratic presidential candidates--bluntly warned the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday against approving power plants over the objections of state and local governments.

‘I suppose that the only other event besides nuclear plant safety that could bring . . . us together like this would be a reunion of past or future presidential candidates,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Kennedy, who sought the Democratic nomination in 1980, New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, a Democrat who just announced that he would not run in 1988, and Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, also a Democrat, warned of disastrous traffic jams if residents must flee accidents at the Shoreham nuclear plant in New York and the Seabrook facility in New Hampshire.

Cooperation Refused

Neither plant has been licensed to operate by the commission. State and local officials in New York and Massachusetts are refusing to cooperate in preparing emergency evacuation plans, which are required before a nuclear facility can begin generating electricity.

On Tuesday, the commission began considering a staff proposal to permit the acceptance of emergency evacuation plans prepared by the local electric utility without cooperation from state or local agencies. The staff wants to “ventilate the issue for public discussion,” general counsel William Parler told the commission.

Few at the hearing defended the staff proposal. Rep. Charles Pashayan Jr. (R-Fresno) supported the NRC’s right to make the final decision on licensing despite local opposition. The commission “‘must leave no doubt that on radiological and health and safety matters, ‘the buck stops here,’ ” he said.

‘Safety Comes First’

Opponents of any change in the rule say they fear that it would enable the commission to grant power plant licenses over vigorous local objections.

“Safety comes first--there must be no exceptions and these requirements must not be watered down,” said Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.). “I hope you will reject this proposal,” he said. “But you must know that, if you fail to do so, Congress surely will.”

The other New York senator, Republican Alphonse M. D’Amato, agreed and said any evacuation plan without local participation would be “risking the lives of the people of Long Island.”

Moynihan read a statement from former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart, the apparent front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, who said the commission would be “violating congressional intent” if it changed the rule.

Beach Area

Although Seabrook is in New Hampshire, a popular beach area of Massachusetts would fall within the accident evacuation zone. The region is a “notorious point of summer traffic congestion,” Dukakis said. “You simply cannot evacuate this area in the event of a serious nuclear accident,” he said.

The NRC should be worrying about public safety, Cuomo said, but instead the agency is in danger of becoming “the guardian of the balance sheet of private utilities.”

Many of the witnesses at the hearing said the NRC would be usurping powers from the states if it approved a nuclear plant despite state concern over safety issues.

“How can a state be found ‘uncooperative’ because it cannot honestly certify the health and safety of its citizens?” Kennedy asked.