Эбби Луби - Nuclear Romance

She pressed Send, and then waited.

Chrissy made a splash with her story, especially since it scooped the Daily Suburban , a rarity for a local weekly paper. Al couldn’t believe it. When the Daily Suburban came out the day after the rally, there wasn’t even a mention. Al plastered Chrissy’s story on the front page of the Register , now two days after the event.

Owen was miserable. He messed up. He remembered getting a press release about the rally from that crazy activist lady, Diana Chase. But he didn’t think it was worth covering. They just didn’t have the space for every lunatic cause. Besides, how many folks would really show up?

Not only did the story make front page on the little local weekly, but cable TV kept showing a clip of the angry workers over and over. Owen dragged Chrissy’s article over to Lou who cringed slightly.

“Sonofabitch,” Lou said. “You didn’t send anyone?” A strong tug of guilt made Lou avert his eyes while he scanned Chrissy’s story. He had no intention of telling Owen he was there. It was lying by omission. There was a picture of Diana talking to the angry ALLPower worker. It was a good shot, for a writer.

“Didn’t think it was a real story, dammit. The announcement was from that crazed Chase woman—an activist, for God’s sake. Boss not gonna like it one bit. We’ll have to make up for it somehow. Can you chase down another plant story? Soon?”

“Maybe. I’ll see what I can dig up, but no promises.”

“Thanks, Lou. Really appreciate it.”

It was one of the few times the editor was humbled, but Lou didn’t even notice. He was consumed with the impossible task at hand. What on earth could he write about the plant? And did it mean giving up his connection to Diana? Lou rummaged around and found the pamphlets and information he got from the rally. Like it or not, he started reading.

Chrissy’s story inspired Al to do a follow up about the plant. As long as they were scooping the big paper, why not go for it. Could the rookie pull it off? He had a story idea.

“What about profiling all the key players in the debate over the plant—if they think it should keep running or be shut down. Check in with ALLPower, the activists, elected officials, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Think you can do it?”

Chrissy jumped at the chance and did some quick research online. She was pretty much in the dark about how a nuclear reactor really worked, and after a few hours of research, she felt like she took a graduate course in physics without taking basic science first. As long as she could ask intelligent questions she would be okay.

Now that ALLPower had invested a bunch of money, there was a lot of interest in what was new and improved at the plant. How much more had to be fixed? Were they updating components before they got approval for a new operating license? She dialed the first name on the list.

“It’s the lovely Chrissy Dolan, ace reporter,” drawled Bob Stalinsky when he heard her voice. “Good job on that rally story. It’s right here on my desk.”

“Oh. Why thanks, Bob. But the reason I called is I’m writing up profiles of people involved with the plant. Can you tell me a bit about yourself? When you started working at ALLPower as a PR person?”

“Aw—is that what you really want to talk about? Little old me? How about an interview over lunch?”

“Uh, sounds great, thanks. But I’m on deadline. Can I take a rain check for lunch and do the interview now?”

“I guess. Promise about lunch?”

Yikes. Why does the guy have to be a creep? she thought. “Sure, Bob. I’d love it.”

He gave her the shortened version of his life, leaving out the personal stuff. It was still too painful to go public with a pending divorce. The PR man soaked up the attention and the chance to talk about himself. His campaigns were quite creative, slogans and all. And his sincere concern about the community…

As his ego churned into overdrive, Chrissy interrupted.

“What’s it like working at the plant? Do you ever leave your office and rub elbows with the workers?”

“All the time. You know, this is a great company, Chrissy. They really care about their employees and about the people living in the area. We honestly do.”

“Tell me about how the company is spending money at the plant?”

“You know, Chrissy, the list is so long, I just couldn’t get into it now. How about doing this part of the interview over lunch?”

“How about starting the list now?”

“Let’s see. Oh yeah, we’ve been working on the emergency alert system—there’s a scoop for you—we haven’t come out with anything about that yet. You know the sirens you hear once a month? We’re updating those big time.”

He rattled off a bunch of general PR facts he knew by heart: the updated components, the new training programs for the staff. He steered her away from the leak. She already knew about that, didn’t she?

“Hope you can continue to cover the plant, Chrissy. You full-time at the Register ?”

“Not yet, still part-time. Listen, thanks for the interview.”

“Sure thing. Looking forward to lunch.”

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was next. She was nervous as she dialed up Dick Isling.

“Never heard of your paper. How long has it been around?” Isling snapped into the phone.

“About ten years. Can I ask you some questions about the ALLPower plant?”

“How long you been writing for them? What’s the name of the paper again?”

“The Register . It’s a weekly and I’m just starting—”

“What did you say your name was?”

“Chrissy—”

“Oh yeah, Dolan.”

His profile was easy enough: a civil servant who climbed the ladder and ended up as the spokesperson for the NRC’s Northeast region.

“Do you know how the NRC operates?” he asked her.

“Um, not really. Why don’t you fill me in?”

“Okay. We are the oversight guys for all nuclear power plants in the country. We require them to be current on all the crosscutting standards.”

Crosscutting? What the hell is that?

“Is ALLPower up to date right now?”

“Right now they are. We have two on-site inspectors making sure they meet their cornerstones.”

Cornerstones?

“How often does the plant get reviewed?”

“Every three months.”

He backtracked to some NRC history, how the commissioners were appointed, not elected, how the NRC is independent, meaning they don’t answer to Congress or any elected representatives. The buck stopped with them as far as nuclear power safety.

“Anything else you want to know?”

“What about the leaks?”

“Leak. So far there is only one.”

“That you know of.”

“Yes.”

“Are you inspecting the fuel pool?” she blurted out, wanting to keep the upper hand should he pontificate with a new, encyclopedic explanation.

“Not us. ALLPower should be sending divers into the pool. It’s a big deal. Suiting up in protective gear takes quite a while.”

“How long can they stay in there?”

“Hard to tell. They could spend weeks looking for cracks that might be the actual leak. The divers had to go in a half an hour at a clip—can’t get over exposed. An inspection report will be out in a month or so.”

“Is the pool airtight?”

“Just about. There’s a door to get the fuel in and out. It has hinges and an inflatable seal.”

“Anything ever go wrong with the door?”

Isling didn’t answer.

“Mr. Isling? You there?”

“Yup. Well, let’s see. It’s rare, but if the door’s seals go bad, water leaks out. But that really never happens.”