Nuclear Danger: How Safe Is RI’s Reactor?
Thursday, March 31, 2011
State officials say it is safe, but a core breach at Rhode Island’s only nuclear reactor—however minimal the risk—could affect thousands of Rhode Islanders who live near it, according to a nuclear policy expert.
At just 2 megawatts, the reactor at the Nuclear Science Center in Narragansett is less than a thousandth the 3,000-megawatt power of most commercial nuclear plants—like the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan, which has made international headlines recently over fears of a major breach in its nuclear reactor cores.
But even a core breach at the comparatively tiny Nuclear Science Center could pack quite a punch. A core breach could fill the air with deadly levels of radioactive iodine as far as 12 miles from the reactor, according to data provided to GoLocalProv by Dan Hirsch, a lecturer on nuclear policy at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Nuclear Science Center is a state-owned facility located on the Narragansett Bay campus of the University of Rhode Island (pictured below right). Counting employees at nearby offices for NOAA and the EPA, hundreds of people work in the area. Less than 12 miles to the east is Newport, population 24,672. To the west, North and South Kingstown have a combined population of about 57,000.
The iodine would dissipate in a matter of days, having no permanent effect on the environment but raising the risk of thyroid cancer for those who were exposed, according to Hirsch.
‘Chance is extremely small to none’
The area that Hirsch says could be affected far exceeds the emergency planning zone for the reactor, which is confined to the 200-acre campus, according to an official at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “The basic message is that you could have dispersal in excess of the emergency planning zone out several kilometers,” Hirsch said. He estimates that unhealthy levels of iodine could spread out as far as 20 kilometers.
But state and federal officials were at pains yesterday to emphasize just how unlikely such a doomsday scenario is. “The chance would be extremely small to none based on any kind of disaster scenario,” said Bahram Nassersharif, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Rhode Island and a member of the Rhode Island Atomic Energy Commission, which oversees the reactor.
Hirsch said a core breach could occur if the reactor has a runaway reaction. He said that could be caused by human error, such as pulling out a control rod too quickly or too far. The risk is actually heightened because Rhode Island's reactor uses low-enriched uranium.
As unlikely as it may seem, it has happened before.
In fact, America’s first nuclear accident involved a small research reactor. In 1961, a three megawatt reactor in Idaho had a meltdown after a worker removed a control rod 10 centimeters too far. That caused a power surge in the reactor, which reached 20,000 megawatts in a hundredth of a second, melting the fuel-plates. The combination of molten fuel and water caused a steam explosion, blowing the core nine feet in the air.
Two workers at the reactor, which was in a desert, died instantly. Their bodies had absorbed so much radiation that they had to be buried in lead coffins.
The Nuclear Science Center's reactor, which was built in 1961, is one of 33 research reactors that are licensed through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. An official at the agency told GoLocalProv that the license requires annual inspections of the facility.
In order to pass inspection, the facility has to prove its compliance with reams of federal rules and regulations, covering everything from monitoring of radiation levels to the procedures for doing experiments. The most recent inspection report, dated September 2010, concluded that, “ased on the results of this inspection, no safety concern or noncompliance of requirements was identified.”
‘Don’t buy that it’s safe’
But Ray Rickman, a former state rep and a longtime critic of the Nuclear Science Center, isn’t buying it. “Don’t buy that it’s safe. It’s not safe. Hurricanes are not safe. You just hope that it doesn’t come to your town,” Rickman said.
“Nuclear reactors are supposed to explode," Rickman added. “The question is how to keep it from exploding.”
Rickman, who is also a former Deputy Secretary of State, is on a quiet campaign to share his concerns with state reps and senators.
State senator reconsiders statement
Earlier this month, one of those senators, James Sheehan, D-Narragansett, North Kingstown, issued a press released declaring that Rhode Island’s nuclear reactor has “no problems” and is “safe.” Sheehan said that statement was based on a letter he received from Terry Tehan, the director of the Nuclear Science Center.
But now, Sheehan tells GoLocalProv that he is rethinking his position after speaking with Rickman. He said he is determined to find out just how safe the reactor is. "We have a bit of a classic case of he said-he said," Sheehan said. "We're trying to figure out where the truth lies.
However minimal the risk is, Sheehan wonders if it is even worth it. “If the facility is not being utilized why take any risk?” Sheehan said. “That’s what we need to find out. Is the facility being utilized enough?”
He said he is having the staff of the Senate Government Oversight Committee investigate claims about how safe the facility is and how much it is used by local colleges and universities. Depending on what the staff uncovers, Sheehan said he might request hearings on the matter."
Nassersharif told GoLocalProv that the facility gets plenty of use. "The reactor has many users from universities and companies in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut," he said. "I cannot speak for all of the users of the reactor facility but I do take my students to the reactor a couple of times each semester. Some of my students are working at the reactor to obtain their reactor operators license and some have already achieved this and are working in industry."
Currently, there are 13 students who are minoring in nuclear engineering at the University of Rhode Island, according to Nassersharif.
Cost of facility on the rise
Such questions come as Governor Lincoln Chafee's proposed budget increases spending on the Nuclear Science Center, from $1.4 million to $1.5 million. It is one of 15 state agencies that is not seeing a budget cut this year, according to the State Budget Office.
The state Atomic Energy Commission has turned down requests to cut its budget by 5, 10, and 15 percent, according to minutes of an October 2010 meeting. The commission said the cuts would interfere with its ability to meet its licensing requirements.
Thomas Mullaney, the State Budget Officer, told GoLocalProv that all state agencies had taken reductions of one form or another over the past several years.
"It has come to the point with many of these smaller agencies that you can't cut a little more without severely impacting what they are mandated to do," Mullaney said. "The proposed budget for [the Atomic Energy Commission] is a basic, current services level budget that will enable them to continue to do what they need to."
But budget records obtained by GoLocalProv show that some of the increase is going towards Tehan's salary, which has jumped by more than $20,000 over a five-year period. In 2012, he is projected to earn $160,962, up from $137,780 in 2007. Mullaney said the pay raises are due to an annual 3 percent cost of living adjustment.
Rickman noted that the increased costs and pay raise are coming at a time when cuts are being made in so many other places to state and local budgets. "It is an irony ... that funding for the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center has so consistently avoided making similar sacrifices," he said in a March 21 letter that he sent to Governor Lincoln Chafee.
Chafee's office did not disclose what response, if any, it has to the letter. Tehan also did not respond to a request for comment.
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