Nrc

"TC Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. shut down one of its two power generating units Thursday after a steam generator feed pump failed at its Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant.The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was informed yesterday that Unit 1 of BGE's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant was shut down after control room operators discovered that a steam generator feed pump had malfunctioned.The shutdown marks the second time in as many weeks that the utility has voluntarily stopped power generation within Unit 1.On Nov. 9, BGE workers "tripped" Unit 1 because of a problem with a feed-water regulatory valve, a device that controls the water level in the steam generator system.

Anne Arundel County cleared a major hurdle on its way to building a new jail in Glen Burnie when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirmed that the proposed site is free of radioactive contamination.In a letter dated last Thursday and released yesterday, an NRC official said the portion of the 85-acre parcel on Ordnance Road where county officials plan to build the jail showed no evidence of radioactivity "and may be considered suitable for unrestricted use."The land never was contaminated by the radioactive thorium nitrate once stored in warehouses in another part of the property, but county officials said they wanted an official determination from the NRC that the plot was clean.

Workers at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant near Delta, Pa., temporarily weakened a key safety system designed to prevent a reactor meltdown -- and didn't realize it, federal regulators say.The safety system at the plant north of the Maryland line in the Harford County area was fully restored in less than an hour, but the incident on Aug. 3 has prompted an inquiry by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.The action could result in a fine against PECO Energy Co., the utility that operates the twin-reactor plant on the Susquehanna River.

A fire retardant widely used in the nation's nuclear plants and known to be defective by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for years is at the center of a federal indictment issued yesterday in which the manufacturer was accused of falsifying tests on its effectiveness.The insulation, called Thermo-Lag 330, was developed in the wake of one of the nation's worst fires, at an atomic power plant in Browns Ferry, Ala., in 1975. Doubts surfaced in 1987 when one utility questioned its ability to prevent the spread of fires.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has assured Republican Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest that the former Army weapons depot on Ordnance Road, although contaminated by radioactive thorium, poses no immediate threat to public health and safety.In a letter received yesterday by the 1st District congressman's office, the NRC said contamination on the county-owned property is limited to a few areas. It cited the floors and the soil underneath or immediately adjacent to eight of the nine former warehouses.

Anne Arundel County residents anxious to see how Rep Wayne Gilchrest tackles their problems won't have to wait long. After winning the right to represent the new 1st District that includes a large portion of Arundel as well as the entire Eastern Shore in the Nov. 3 election, Mr. Gilchrest's first major task on the Western Shore was handed to him recently when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that an old Army depot in Glen Burnie is saturated with...

County residents waiting to see how Rep. Wayne Gilchres tackles their problems will not have to wait very long. Mr. Gilchrest's first major task on the Western Shore was spelled out recently when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that an old Army depot in Glen Burnie is saturated with excessive radiation.The 85-acre, county-owned site on New Ordnance Road is the same site County Executive Robert R. Neall wants to use for a new detention center. At this point, the idea of building a jail there is unthinkable.

County officials were caught by surprise last week when they learned of radioactive contamination on the 85-acre tract of land where County Executive Robert R. Neall had hoped to build a new Detention Center.After all, they received assurances from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission when they bought the property on New Ordnance Road in Glen Burnie 12 years ago that it met all standards. And it did, according to an NRC survey done at that time.But back in 1977, when the NRC performed the survey and cleared the land for sale, there were no guidelines for radiation in the soil.

The site on New Ordnance Road in Glen Burnie that was favored by County Executive Robert R. Neall for a new jail is contaminated with radioactive material, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.In a Nov. 9 letter to the state Department of Environment, NRC officials said "radioactive thorium contamination exists on the property and in the buildings at a level that appears to exceed the NRC's current criteria" for general use.The survey would appear to end consideration of the New Ordnance Road site for the $80 million, 650-bed detention center.

When demonstrators gather at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant this afternoon, they will be sounding a familiar chant: Shut it down.The demonstrators, including members of the local Peach Bottom Alliance, say recent safety violations found by federal inspectors at theYork County, Pa., plant are another example of poor management by the operator, Philadelphia Electric Co."We are asking Philadelphia Electric to shut that plant down, since they don't know how to run it," said Jean Ewing, spokeswoman for the alliance, a watchdog group that monitors the nuclear plant.