By Associated Press
Washington, DC – A Congressional report finds that operators of nuclear power plants have yet to comply with some of the government's fire safety rules three decades after they were issued.
The Government Accountability Office said there were 125 fires reported at 54 power plants since 1995, an average of nearly 10 a year, although none threatened safe emergency reactor shutdown or posed any significant safety threats. The fires were mostly electrical or maintenance related.
The GAO study, released on Monday, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been unable to resolve ``several long-standing issues'' with the industry over fire safety including full compliance with NRC fire rules put in place in 1976 and 1980 as a result of the fire at the Browns Ferry plant in north Alabama in 1975.
The blaze, which raged for seven hours at the Browns Ferry Unit 1 reactor, was the worst fire ever at an American nuclear plant.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)