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<br />Energy has left these vulnerabilities uncorrected far so long because it is a business decision. <br />He said that Progress Energy seeks to silence open and honest debate. He said that he <br />believes now is the time for public officials to step beyond this influence. NCWARN filed a <br />memo to local and state officials correcting some of the misleading statements made by <br />Progress Energy since September 20t". The County Commissioners received a copy of this <br />memo. He said that NCWARN's technical experts are out in the open and willing to talk and <br />answer questions in a professional and honest manner. They are urging elected officials not <br />defer to Progress Energy in this situation. They believe that Shearon Harris is one of the most <br />dangerous plants in the nation. <br />Andy Silver lives in Cary, his wife and children live in Hillsborough, and he said that the <br />chance of a fire at a nuclear plant is significant. He said that all citizens within a 200-mile radius <br />of Shearon Harris have a right to expect that Progress Energy would make safety its highest <br />priority in operating nuclear plants. He said that it is clear that it is not Progress Energy's <br />highest priority. He said that far 14 years Progress Energy has procrastinated, lobbied to lift <br />safety requirements, and refused to engage in direct and honest dialogue with leading scientific <br />experts. He said that, given this, he wonders what its motive is. He said that the public ought to <br />know what the price is that is too high for Progress Energy to pay to implement fire safety <br />measures. He said that it behooves everyone to support these resolutions. <br />Marty Clayton, Community Relations Manager far Progress Energy, said that he was <br />speaking an behalf of all employees of Shearon Harris and the management team. He said that <br />Shearon Harris was meeting the fire safety standards and are aggressively spending funds to <br />address the fire safety standard issues. He said that, before the Board decides on these <br />resolutions, he wants to offer to the Board of County Commissioners the opportunity to visit the <br />plant and meet with the employees and management team to get answers to any questions. <br />Chair Jacobs said that the governments in Orange County have talked about creating a <br />forum at which Progress Energy would came and discuss the issues. He said that in the past <br />the Board could never get Progress Energy to agree to any kind of public forum like this. He <br />asked Marty Clayton to help make this happen. Marty Clayton said that he would da what he <br />could to make this happen. <br />Chair Jacobs said that the forum should be moderated so that Progress Energy is given <br />an equal footing and equal opportunity to speak. <br />Commissioner Carey asked for clarification on Marty Clayton's statement that Progress <br />Energy is meeting the fire safety standards. Marty Clayton said that Progress Energy is <br />meeting the NRC regulations in terms of fire prevention, fire detection and suppression, and fire <br />barriers. In addition, Progress Energy is investing the funds to come up to the standards. While <br />the standards are being met, compensatory measures are being put in place. He introduced <br />Troy Maness, Supervisor of the Fire Protection Team. <br />Troy Maness said that Progress Energy has a defensive, in-depth approach to fire <br />protection. The first tier is fire prevention that deals with education and training. There is also <br />fire detection and suppression, which involves automatic suppression with sprinklers throughout <br />the plant, automatic smoke detection and thermal detectors throughout the plant. There are <br />also fire barriers, which involve concrete walls and fire blankets to wrap the protective cables. <br />He said that the plant has no transit combustibles and the hot work is very controlled. He <br />invited the Board to tour the plant. <br />Commissioner Carey asked again if Progress Energy was out of compliance and it was <br />answered that they are not out of compliance. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that this seems to have been a longstanding issue of 14 <br />years. She assumes that there is periodic written documentation from the NRC about <br />compliance. She asked if the Board could receive this. <br />Troy Maness said that currently there are no unresolved issues. In 2002, there was an <br />inspection and there were some deficiencies that have been resolved. <br />