The Nation : U.S. Again Cuts Carolina Reactor Power

The Department of Energy has reduced power levels at its last remaining plutonium-production reactor by more than 10%, the third cutback in 14 months, after scientists warned the reactor was still operating beyond the demonstrated capacity of its emergency cooling system, it was reported. DOE officials confirmed that power at the L reactor, one of three government reactors at the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina, was reduced Feb. 12, the Washington Post said. Savannah River managers called it a “routine” action. But others said the reduction was ordered only at the insistence of scientists working for the E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., DOE’s contractor at Savannah River, who had discovered a fundamental error in the calculations that have been used for decades to justify reactor operating levels, the newspaper said.