Leaders: More Security at CP&L

But officials at CP&L, which operates the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant in New Hill, said the concern is unwarranted, citing existing safety measures at the plant.

They claim that leaders petitioning for increased security are using recent events to push a previously existing agenda.

Fourteen leaders from across the state, including eight Orange County and Chapel Hill officials, sent a letter to CP&L CEO William Cavanaugh proposing a major risk-minimization initiative for the plant.

The letter calls for measures to decrease the attractiveness of the nuclear plant as a potential target for terrorist attacks. There also is a demand for increased security to reduce the damage and potential loss of life if an attack does occur.

"The public is understandably frightened by the potential for an attack on a nuclear plant, and that concern may never go away," said Gary Phillips, chairman of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners.

Phillips, who signed the letter, said now is the time to minimize the potential for radiological releases.

"We cannot afford to gamble when dealing with terrorism and public safety," Phillips said.

The letter cites one of the officials' greatest concerns as CP&L's importation of nuclear waste from outside plants on slow-moving trains. These trains are easy terrorist targets and inevitably draw attention to Shearon Harris, the proposal states.

The proposed risk-minimization initiative calls for the end of these imports.

In their letter to Cavanaugh, officials said a continuation of the imports would make Shearon Harris the nation's largest repository waste site, and a successful terrorist attack on the plant could release more radioactivity than the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.

But CP&L officials said the officials' worries are frightening local residents unnecessarily.

"(The officials) are exploiting what happened on Sept. 11 to advance their own stated anti-nuclear agenda," said CP&L spokesman Keith Poston. "Most of these issues have been raised for the last three years."

Another proposal from the officials in their letter to CP&L is the discontinuation of wet storage of nuclear waste at Shearon Harris, which is believed to be more dangerous than dry storage.

In dry-cask storage a cask is put into a pool so water can drain in. Fuel is then moved into a cask. Once a cask has been filled, it can be removed and stored elsewhere.

The officials also requested a reassessment of the region's evacuation plan in the case of an attack.

They have requested a meeting with CP&L officials, who have the decision-making authority to address their concerns for Shearon Harris.

"We hope now that (for CP&L) cost benefit is not the issue," said Margaret Brown, an Orange County commissioner.

"Safety is now clearly the issue. Part of my job is to assure the public that the world they live in is as safe as possible."

But Poston said Shearon Harris is a safe nuclear power plant and that CP&L has no plans to change Shearon Harris' present storage and safety procedures.

"Our storage plan has been reviewed and studied for two and a half years and is proven safe," Poston said. "All these safety issues have already been addressed."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.