Nuclear plants design criticized

The design of new nuclear power plants proposed to be built by TVA and Georgia Power lacks adequate containment to protect the public, according to a study released Wednesday by anti-nuclear groups.

The 32-page engineering study by nuclear engineer Arnold Gundersen said the Westinghouse AP1000design is vulnerable to rust leaks in the steel liner of the reactor building.

Mr. Gundersen called the design "inherently less safe than current reactors" and appealed to federal regulators to reject the design. His study was financed by a dozen groups opposed to more nuclear plants.

But Westinghouse officials insist the AP1000 is safer than present designs because the steel containment is three to four times thicker than in any existing plant.

Westinghouse spokesman Vaughn Gilbert also said the AP1000 is designed so it can be cooled during almost any type of accident. The containment structure is designed resist the corrosion that has been found at a handful of U.S. reactors over the past two decades, he added.

"In the unlikely event that there was some corrosion, we're confident it would be readily visible and corrected during plant inspections," he said.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which still must approve and license the AP1000 design, is reviewing proposed changes in the shield building that holds an elevated 8 million-gallon tank above the reactor.

Even before design approval, regulators have said Georgia Power may begin site work at its Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Ga. The first AP1000 reactor is scheduled to be completed there by 2016.

TVA's Bellefonte plant in North Alabama originally was chosen for the first new Westinghouse reactor. But utility officials now are considering whether to finish the original two reactors at Bellefonte before starting to build one of the new designs. A decision is expected later this year.

TVA Vice President Jack Bailey said the new Westinghouse reactors, if built, could use the original cooling towers and water intakes at Bellefonte to limit the plant's construction expense.

On Wednesday, TVA said it has bought a 36,000 square-foot warehouse built by the Jackson County Economic Development Agency and the Scottsboro Industrial Development Board as a training and orientation facility for new Bellefonte workers. The site will have 50 employees, spokesman Jim Allen said.