Reporter’s Toolbox
Chasing Atoms, Sifting Facts on Nuclear Energy Beat By ROGER WITHERSPOON
Entergy had a problem.
Normally somnolent monitoring wells at its Indian Point nu- clear plant in New York were suddenly spiking, showing increased radiation that, at one point, was 65,000 percent higher than normal. The incident was unplanned, exceeded allowable limits and the com- pany did not know what was leaking or how much had escaped. The resulting press release was a low-key affair and, as is cus-
tomary, the second paragraph said there was “no danger to the pub- lic” and the radioactive liquid was “contained” and would not affect the nearby Hudson River or drinking water. Perhaps predictably, the governor went ballistic and demanded an investigation. And for the most part, that was the story: There was radioactive tritium leaking from somewhere at the plant, the governor was pissed and there was no danger to the public. There was obviously more in- volved. But how do you find it? How do you know what to look for? Whom do you ask? Whose analysis or assertion can you trust? I’ve been covering energy issues, including nuclear, since the Arab oil embargo of 1973. Over nearly five decades covering the industry, I’ve learned that press releases merely indicate that some- thing has gone wrong. Journalists must uncover whether the event is a minor violation of regulations or a serious elevation of risk to the surrounding population.
The good news is that in the nuke business, virtually every- thing is meticulously documented — somewhere. One just has to take the time to find it, since that is where the real story is.
Starting points
A good place to begin is with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, which is charged with overseeing the na- tion’s civilian nuclear uses. This includes 100 nuclear power plants, as well as university-based research reactors, and the more exten- sive use of radioactive material for medical and industrial purposes. All of NRC’s data is publicly available in its voluminous, dig-
itized, Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) (
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html ), which dates back to 1999. Some two million documents from earlier years are available as abstracts, and the NRC can mail you the complete paper documents if necessary. The NRC doesn’t police what the industry tells the public, even
if it’s misleading or a blatant lie. But the regulators will seriously punish a company for misleading the NRC, and there are penalties for delivering information late. Depending on the incident, compa- nies have a specified number of hours to report a problem — in full — to the NRC or else they may have to shut down. When Entergy noted the jump in radioactivity from three mon- itoring wells, therefore, it filed a detailed report with the NRC be- fore it sent a reassuring press release to the public. This is significant for journalists. Unlike the rest of the federal government — and an increasing number of state governments — the NRC’s press operation believes it has a mission to keep the pub- lic informed of what it is doing and what is happening at the facil-
The author speaks to participants visiting the Callaway nuclear power plant near Fulton, Mo., during a two-day nuclear energy journalism workshop in January, hosted by SEJ member Sara Shipley Hiles at the University of Missouri School of Journalism (
http://j.mp/nuclearwkshpl).
ities it regulates.
If the commissioners make a decision, you can get a transcript of their discussion and vote, a copy of the staff’s discussion and recommendation to the board and, if you like, a copy of any staff dissenting views and an interview with the dissenter. The problem with such a massive data dump as ADAMS is that if you aren’t well versed in the system, it can be impossible to navigate. There are three ways to get around that: 1. Call the NRC’s regional public affairs representative. 2. Call the state agency with responsibility for some nuclear plant activities.
3. Call David Lochbaum (more on him later). Tracking a case
The NRC divides the nation into four regions (
j.mp/NRCLo- cations), each served by a media staff (
j.mp/NRC_OPA ). On week- ends and after business hours, there is always a staffer on call. In the Indian Point case, I knew from NRC and state docu- ments that the leak was uncontrolled and flowing inexorably into the Hudson River, which provides drinking water to thousands. The
16 SEJournal Summer 2016 Photo: courtesy of Sara Shipley Hiles
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