THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 12, 1994 TAG: 9411120171
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
Federal regulators repeatedly have allowed nuclear reactors at Virginia Power's Surry and North Anna stations to operate in violation of safety measures, a consumer group said.
Public Citizen said Thursday that for more than 10 years, regulators failed to enforce the requirements specified in operating licenses.
Surry's two reactors had been allowed to operate in violation of safety requirements 12 times since 1989 and the two reactors in North Anna and in Louisa County, had been allowed to run in violation of requirements seven times, the report said.
William Beecher, a spokesman for the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the allegations are ``overblown and, at times, absolutely wrong.''
Although the report is correct about the existence of a policy for allowing reactors to keep operating at times when strict interpretations of the license regulations would require them to shut down, he said, the NRC never grants permission when it would create an unsafe situation. by CNB