Date:  6/28/01

                       UNPLUG Salem Campaign and Union of Concerned Scientists
                        Demand NRC Investigation of PSE&G's Action's at Hope Creek

      In a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (letter follows this press release) the UNPLUG Salem Campaign and the Union of Concerned Scientists have requested that the NRC conduct an immediate investigation of safety related problems that occurred at Hope Creek on or around June 5th.  Human error and perhaps direct falsification of records led to the loss of at least 400 gallons of cooling water at Hope Creek. Any loss of cooling water is extremely important from a safety standpoint, since a "LOCA", or Loss Of Cooling Accident, starts with the loss of cooling water and can escalate into a TMI-type meltdown.
      UNPLUG Salem and UCS want the NRC's Region I Office of Inspections to find out how the wrong relief valve could have been installed, whether tests were performed, whether quality control was performed, and whether or not paperwork and records were falsified by PSE&G, the operator of the Hope Creek nuclear plant.
      In addition UNPLUG and UCS want the Office of Inspections to find out in NRC rule 10 CFR 50.59 was violated when PSE&G discovered that Hope Creek was in a non-conforming condition.
     Also, UNPLUG and UCS are asking that the resident NRC inspectors on-site check additional safety concerns.
     "This event could have turned out to be a serious safety hazard for the people of South Jersey", said Norm Cohen, Coordinator of the UNPLUG Salem Campaign. "If this is how PSE&G runs their best performing nuke plant on Artificial Island, I shudder to think how dangerously they are running their two aging clunkers, Salem Units 1 and 2", he continued.

 CONTACT: Norm Cohen 609-601-8583/8537
                    Dave Lochbaum, UCS: 202-223-6133