Locals reassured about safety during tour

Power plant opened to visitors for first time since Sept. 11 attacks

Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008

The tour was the first time members of the general public have peeked behind the curtain since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the visitor center closed. All visitors submitted to background checks.

Jim Spina, site vice president for the Lusby plant, said Constellation Energy was happy to host local residents but that new security concerns had made it impossible to do, for a time.

"It's been seven years, and for the most part what we were doing was putting new regulations in place, making sure safeguards were working and we've come to the point where the measures are in place" to allow some public access.

"There are a lot of questions and I think the best way to address those is to let local people see it. It's time," Spina said, adding that concerns raised at a series of public hearings on a proposed third reactor for the site had been one impetus for opening up.

Plant workers who described various portions of the plant to the tourists emphasized safety.

"I get paid a lot of money to do what I do," said Charles Walker Jr., a plant technician demonstrating a control room simulator. "If I didn't believe nuclear power was safe, I'd still work here, but I'd move my family up north or down to St. Mary's County. I live in St. Leonard. I live in the plume zone myself."

He explained that the reactors would shut down automatically if necessary, something that last happened at Unit 1 in 2006.

Manager of Engineering Mark Flaherty shared some statistics that give a picture of the size of the plant, including that it draws 2.4 million gallons of Chesapeake Bay water to cool its reactors.

"If we were a river, we would be the fourth largest river in the state of Maryland," Flaherty said.

"They don't ship it to Yucca Mountain or things like that?" asked a woman in one of the tour groups, inquiring about a planned nuclear waste storage facility in Nevada. "It all stays right here? Interesting." Flaherty and plant spokesman Dave Fitz reassured her that the method was safe.

Barbara Vandermer of Long Beach was glad to take the tour but said it hadn't assuaged her concerns — because she didn't have any in the first place.

"I have a lot of confidence that nuclear power is as safe as any form of power generation," she said. "I live about a mile from here and I wouldn't have bought there if we didn't think it was safe."

Brandon Lent, 12, of St. Leonard asked how close the plant had come to having a disaster. He was told that it never had.

Constellation hopes to have public events "regularly" at the plant, Fitz said. The week before the tour, plant workers were encouraged to bring family and friends by for a look inside.

emitrano@somdnews.com