COLUMBUS, OHIO—Citing evidence of major unresolved engineering and safety issues, health and safety advocates released a report today and called upon Governor Taft and his public safety officials to oppose the restart of FirstEnergy's Davis-Besse nuclear power plant.

Despite at least two major identified structural problems that leave the plant and Ohioans vulnerable to a meltdown, a pending grand jury investigation of potential criminal wrongdoing by FirstEnergy, revelations that the NRC's own inspector general has grave concerns about the NRC's performance as a regulator, and the NRC's failure to implement its own recommendations, the NRC appears poised to approve allowing FirstEnergy to restart Davis-Besse.

"With the health and safety of Ohioans at stake we owe it to the public to ensure that there is no doubt about the safety of this plant. Given its track record, we cannot have confidence that the NRC is prioritizing public safety. In almost all instances regarding public health and safety, state officials have the power to do what is necessary to protect the public. Ohio's public safety officials should not stand by, and allow the NRC to rubber-stamp another decision," stated State Senator Teresa Fedor of Toledo, Ohio.

The report, Lessons Not Learned: How FirstEnergy and the NRC Fail to Prioritize Safety First at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, cited several reasons, including at least two major unresolved structural problems, for why FirstEnergy's demands to restart Davis-Besse should be rejected, and why state officials should do everything in their power to oppose the restart.

• FirstEnergy has failed to fix, at least, two leaking pumps designed to pump cooling water into the reactor.

• FirstEnergy has provided no evidence that it has corrected problems with relief valves designed to prevent pipes from bursting under extreme pressure.

• FirstEnergy is the subject of a federal grand jury investigation stemming from charges that they have falsified safety data.

• Neither FirstEnergy nor the NRC have provided evidence that safety culture at the plant has dramatically improved since last November when it was found that one fourth of control room and equipment operators said that they believed FirstEnergy was more concerned with profit than safety

• The NRC's own Inspector General continues to have serious concerns about the agency's safety performance. As recently as last month, the NRC's internal watchdog issued stern warnings about the agencies actions as a regulator, and

• The NRC has failed to implement 33 of the 49 recommendations it said it would adopt from the a Lessons Learned Task force established in the wake of the near miss at the plant two years ago.

David Lochbaum, Nuclear Engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists commented, "Until the football-sized hole was discovered two years ago, the NRC's grading system ranked Davis-Besse as one of the safest nuclear plants in the United States. With fewer than half of the known problems with that faulty grading system fixed, the NRC now ranks Davis-Besse as ready for restart. It is doubtful that their best guess now could be any better than it was two years ago."

One year ago the NRC briefed Governor Taft about the status of Davis-Besse. At that time the Governor indicated that he felt satisfied that the plant would not restart until there was a much-improved safety culture among all of the staff at the plant so that more problems could be avoided.

"We hope that the NRC will have learned some of its lessons, but in light of the unresolved engineering problems, FirstEnergy's ongoing criminal investigation and the serious criticism of the NRC by its own inspector general, we are not confident that the NRC is capable of putting safety first. Governor Taft and his public safety officials owe it to the citizens of Ohio to do everything in their power to keep Davis-Besse shut down," stated Sarah McKinney, Ohio PIRG Environmental Associate and author of "Lessons Learned."

The report also looked to federal officials such as Congress and the Bush administration, who have the authority to hold the NRC accountable, to do so immediately.

Erin Bowser, Ohio PIRG Director, concluded, "The NRC's chronic failure to be an effective regulator begs the question - how many more Davis-Besse's are out there? We hope that state and federal officials will not wait to find out. President Bush and Congress should do more to force the NRC to become real regulators charged with prioritizing safety at all costs. Here in Ohio, the ample evidence of real public safety issues at Davis-Besse warrants Governor Taft and his Department of Public Safety taking action now. They should demand that the NRC keep Davis-Besse closed."