Dukakis to Fight Nuclear Rule

Gov. Michael S. Dukakis will continue to fight an imminent Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruling that would allow nuclear power plants to submit evacuation plans without state input, officials said yesterday.

The soon-to-be published proposal, which circumvents state processes, was created in response to the recent refusals by two governors, including Dukakis, to submit the evacuation plans necessary for nuclear power plants to start operating.

The NRC staff proposal gives utility companies the power to develop their own evacuation plans when state authorities refuse to develop off-sight emergency evacuation plans, said NRC spokesman Frank Ingram. He said that after the publication of the NRC proposal, there will be a 60-day period of public commentary, followed by a vote by five NRC commissioners on whether the proposal should take effect.

The NRC proposal has drawn much criticism from many prominent politicians and anti-nuclear groups. Last Tuesday, Dukakis and N.Y. Gov. Mario Cuomo testified in Washington D.C. against the NRC proposal. Also at the NRC hearing and voicing opposition to the proposal were Senators Edward M. Kennedy '54, (D-Mass.), John F. Kerry, (D-Mass.), and Daniel P. Moynihan (D-N.Y.).

"Governor Dukakis feels that the proposed rule change to strip the governor of his power is as alarming as it is lacking in common sense," said his spokesman Steven Akey.

"The governor is responsible for protecting the people. Without having a governor certify that he could protect the people within a 10-mile radius of a plant is just totally ridiculous."

In an attempt to prevent the proposal from becoming a rule, Dukakis will "write to his fellow governors to ask them for support," said Akey. Dukakis will also "work with the congressional delegation from Massachusetts to have the congress enact legislation to prohibit the rule change."

The refusals last autumn by Dukakis and Cuomo to develop evacuation plans for the Seabrook and Shoreham nuclear plants, located in New Hampshire and Long Island respectively, precipitated the NRC proposal, said state officials.

The officials said the governors did not submit evacuation plans because they felt there was no way that the people within a 10-mile radius of the plants could be evacuated in the event of a nuclear accident.

The population around the Seabrook area grows dramatically during the summer, said Akey. The six northeastern Massachusetts communities within the 10-mile federally-mandated evacuation zone are popular summer resort areas. Traffic jams during the summer would prevent people from getting to safety if a nuclear accident were to occur, said Akey, adding that even in the winter, when the population is 50,000, evacuation would be difficult because there are no major access routes in the area.

NRC spokesmen said that the recent NRC proposal is not only a response to the governors' refusals to submit evacuation plans, but is also an attempt to clarify NRC rules.

The new proposal is "partly in response to Cuomo's and Dukakis' recent actions," said Ingram. "It's also meant to clarify the rule on evacuation and ventilate the issues involved with it. The NRC commission believes it already has the authority to permit the use of utilities' plans in the absence of state and local plans."

Ingram said that Dukakis and Cuomo are the only governors who have refused to submit emergency evacuation plans for nuclear plants that affect their state. "Utilities have never had to develop evacuation plans before," Ingram said. He added that even if the NRC proposal is passed, state governments will still be able to develop evacuation plans for the nuclear plants in their states if they so desire. "We would prefer it that way," Ingram said.

Anti-nuclear group spokesmen will also be lobbying to prevent the proposal from being passed by the NRC. Massachusetts State Energy Alliance member Glen Morrow said his group will "use all efforts to bring pressure to bear on the NRC."

"The NRC proposal is crazy," said Morrow. "The NRC is proposing to have the utilities themselves come up with a set of plans, which would their be approved of by the NRC. The governor could never get to see the plans, but would have to implement them."

The "Citizens Within a 10-Mile Radius," a groupworking on maintaining safety at Seabrook, will"coordinate different groups in the area and getthem energized" in order to prevent the NRCproposal from being passed, said member PeterHaack.

And the message on the answering machine of theanti-nuclear group "Seacoast Clamshell" tellscallers to "stop nuclear power.