F.B.I. suspects attempt to sabotage N-plant

Press, 10 May 1979, Page 9

F.B.I. suspects attempt to sabotage N-plant

International,.

NZPA-Reuter Richmond, Virginia The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating what may be the first case o f attempted sabotage of an American nuclear power plant, an official of the Virginia Electric and Power Company has said.

Mr C. M. Stallings, the company’s vice-president, said company inspectors had discovered on Monday that a caustic white crystalline substance had been dumped into 62 of 64 new, non-radio-active fuel elements stored for use this year at its Surry power station, 88km south-east of Richmond, the state capital.

Mr Stallings said preliminary indications were that the fuel elements had been damaged very little, if at all, and clean-up operations might take no more than two weeks.

Asked if it was a case ot attempted sabotage, he said: “I don’t know what else it could be.”

He said the contaminating substance — at present under analysis at three separate laboratories, including one of the F.8.1.’s had been dumped into storage units through manhole-like openings in the floor of the fuelstorage building.

The building could be entered onlv through a door activated by a special card.

The records of all cards used to enter the building since February, when fuel deliveries began, had been impounded, said Mr Stallings.

He said that in addition to telling the F.B.L, the firm had notified the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commissio t the incident.

In Washington the 1 id of the Senate inquiiy into the Three Mile Island nuclear accident said yesterday that no more operating licences for nuclear power plants should be issued until emergency evacuation plans were drawn up and approved by the Government Senator Gary Hart, Democrat chairman of the Nuclear Regulation sub-committee, also called for permanent radiation-detection equipment to be set up immediately near every nuclear plant.

Senator Edward Kennedy, a fellow Democrat, told a delegation of nuclear protes-

ters that he favoured a moratorium on the construction of new plants, and a reexamination of facilities at existing ones.

A protest by anti-nuclear demonstrators on Sunday drew at least 65,000 people to Washington and highlighted new public concern over the role of nuclear power.

Speaking at the National Press Club, Senator Hart said the Three Mile Island accident, during which thousands of women and children were evacuated when radiation leaked, “hangs like a cloud over what was only recently considered our most promising source of energy.’’

At the same time, an immediate shut-down of nuclear plants was not a realistic option — “unless we want to make drastic changes in our life-style.” Senator Hart said the Library of Congress estimated that the chances of the meltdcv.n of a reactor core, and the subsequent release of huge amounts of deadly radiation, were less than one

in 10 million per reactor year.

He said nuclear industry officials had told his subcommittee that about 500 atomic plants — compared with 70 operating today — would be required to meet America’s energy needs by the year 2000. At Torness, Scotland, a three-day demonstration by anti-nuclear protesters who occupied the site of a planned atomic power plant has ended peacefully. About 10,000 people demanding the scrapping of the project to build the gascooled nuclear plant in south-east Scotland had camped out near the construction site.

Yesterday all the protesters had left the site, which 3000 demonstrators climbed over a fence to occupy.

The police say $27,000 worth of damage has been caused to equipment. The protesters said the SI4OOM earmarked for the plant should be used in the search to harness other forms of energy.