The nuclear power industry has been trying for some time to improve its image by boosting performance and remaining committed to absolute safety.
It`s part of a strategy for reviving nuclear power as a viable energy option for the future. Before it will happen, however, the public must be convinced that utilities can operate their plants safely and economically.
Public confidence has been shaken by the action of the nation`s top nuclear regulator in putting two Commonwealth Edison plants on its list of facilities that need special scrutiny.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission`s decision to put the Dresden nuclear plant near Morris and the Zion facility near the Wisconsin border on its watch list is an embarrassment to Edison, the nation`s largest nuclear utility. But it`s one that can be effaced if Edison commits to running all its nuclear facilities at the highest levels of performance and safety.
Both Ivan Selin, chairman of the NRC, and Edison stress that inclusion on the watch list doesn`t mean the plants are unsafe. Still, the fact that Edison accounts for two of the four nuclear plants in the nation singled out is no trivial matter.
The NRC`s chief concern is a pattern of mismanagement and inconsistent supervision. Dresden, where a reactor component was incorrectly replaced, was cited for inexperienced workers and inattention to detail. At Zion, which was placed on the list a year ago, there continued to be personnel errors and improper procedures followed last year. For a public that still worries about Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, those are not just inconsequential oversights and sloppiness.
Edison recognized it had problems at both Dresden and Zion before the NRC made its recent watch-list announcement. As it should, the nuclear industry operates under strict requirements and controls. The utility must report every deviation from its license specification-even those unrelated to safety-to the NRC, and it is from these that the commission looks for troubling patterns and potential problems.
Edison had performance improvement programs under way at both plants prior to the NRC action, but the progress made wasn`t enough. In hindsight, Edison managers must ask themselves whether they committed enough resources to bring Dresden and Zion up to the standards of their very best plants.
In the nuclear industry, there can be no aged plants or lackadaisical managers. Facilities constantly must be updated. Managers must be committed to preserving the highest safety and maintenance standards.
Edison has shown it can do it at its newer plants. Now it must prove it can do it at Dresden and Zion and make superior performance and safety a permanent company-wide standard. If the current generation of plants can`t be cared for properly, there will be no reason to look ahead to the next.
