Nuclear Panel Files Report On Plant Safety

A state nuclear advisory panel chaired by Richard Wilson, professor of Physics, yesterday outlined steps Massachusetts should take to implement the recommendations of the President's Commission on Three Mile Island (TMI).

In a report to Gov. Edward J. King's cabinet task force, the panel recommended the task force consider establishing a state nuclear safety committee and upgrading licensing functions.

The TMI Commission, chaired by John G. Kemeny, president of Dartmouth College, proposed measures to reduce the chances of a similar accident. Operator training programs, public safety planning, and clearly defined roles and responsibilities in nuclear plant operation are three of the Kemeny recommendations.

Wilson said yesterday he expects the state to adopt most of the report's recommendations, but added that he has doubts about the task force's commitment to their findings. "Even though they were paid and we weren't, we worked much harder than they did," he added.

The problem in the implementation of the panel's measures will be to keep them at "the top of the agenda" of the various state agencies, Susan D. Wiltshire, past president of the Massachusetts League of Women Voters and a member of the panel, said yesterday.

King appointed the advisory panel, which included Wilson, Wiltshire and George W. Rathjens, professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The panel's report does not question the desirability of nuclear power in Massachusetts; it only attempts to make existing nuclear plants safer.

Joseph S. Fitzpatrick, state energy resources secretary and chairman of the task force, said yesterday he expects to endorse the panel's recommendations