NRC to Fine Rancho Seco Nuclear Plant $100,000

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday that it will fine the trouble-plagued Rancho Seco nuclear power plant near Sacramento $100,000 for violating liquid radioactive waste-disposal rules between 1983 and 1986.

Taken together, the series of six violations--some of which resulted in the discharge of radioactive materials into the environment--were given a Level III “severity” ranking, with Level I being the most serious and Level V the least serious.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which operates the 913-megawatt plant, said it will pay the fine. The levy will bring to $695,000 the total penalties paid by the district since 1980.

Last December, the NRC in Washington removed the plant from its “problem plant” list despite an incident that same month that “disturbed” the commission, NRC spokesman Greg Cook said. That incident was not included in the fines proposed Tuesday.

NRC Regional Administrator John B. Martin emphasized that the $100,000 fine was based on past problems.

“We don’t think these fines represent the current method of operation out there,” Martin said in a letter to SMUD Chief Executive Officer J. F. Firlit. “However, we issued the civil penalty, in part to make clear that the NRC will not tolerate conduct such as that demonstrated by supervisors and managers who either were not technically qualified to be involved controlling and monitoring radioactive effluents or were at least negligent in controlling the program.”

Violations included a 1985 incident in which the plant released radioactive materials in liquid waste that could have resulted in a member of the public standing just outside the plant receiving a total radiation dose of about 3.9 millirems, exceeding the 3-millirems regulatory limit. The plant is located 25 miles southeast of Sacramento.

That same year, the plant knew that there were measurable concentrations of the radioactive Cesium 137 in samples of radioactive liquid wastes to be discharged, but failed to report the concentrations as required by the NRC.

In another incident, the plant moved radioactive liquid waste from one holding tank to another, bypassing a required radioactive waste processing unit that would have lowered radiation levels before the waste was disposed of.

The plant was restarted Jan. 10 after a shutdown in mid-December and is now operating at 62% power.

In announcing that the utility will pay the fine, SMUD General Manager David A. Boggs said Tuesday, “This is an issue from the past and we are glad it is now behind us.” He said new treatment equipment to reduce radiation levels in waste has since been installed. He also said changes have been made in plant design and procedures. Further changes are planned, according to SMUD spokesman Jeff Marx.

Cook said the commission was not “100% satisfied” with SMUD’s efforts. “But, they are miles from where they were in 1985 and 1986,” Cook said.