Editorial: A policy meltdown

Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007 | 7:25 a.m.

I n March 2006 a company that supplies nuclear fuel to the U.S. Navy had a serious spill of highly enriched uranium that could have led to an uncontrolled nuclear reaction.

Last month details of the incident, along with a series of other safety issues or violations at Tennessee-based Nuclear Fuel Service in the past few years, were made public by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The commission had to vote to make the incidents public because the company is a defense contractor and falls under a secrecy policy designed to keep nuclear secrets from terrorists. It made the details public only in reprimanding the company and ordering it to bolster its safety program.

The commission reported that a little more than 9 gallons of highly enriched uranium solution leaked onto a floor at a Nuclear Fuel Service facility. A supervisor discovered the spill after seeing yellow liquid "running into a hallway" from under a door, the Associated Press reported. The regulatory commission found that there were two areas where the solution could have collected in a way to cause an uncontrolled nuclear reaction, which could have led to the injury and death of workers.

Commissioners are struggling with the secrecy policy, trying to find a way to give the public access to information without compromising safety . Luis Reyes, the regulatory commission's operations chief, told commissioners, "The pendulum maybe swung too far."

The commission should change its rules to make public disclosure of such serious incidents the norm. Public disclosure - and the scrutiny that comes as a result - should force companies to make safety a priority and will give Americans a measure of trust that things are being handled properly.

Considering the incident was kept under wraps for more than a year, it is frightening to think what other potential disasters have yet to be reported.