Workers Exposed to Radiation at Plant

BOSTON--Several workers were exposed to radiation at the closed Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth last weekend, Boston Edison Co. said in announcing it had ordered contractors out of the plant.

Gov. Michael S. Dukakis called for a thorough accounting from Edison on the events of the weekend that caused the utility to order about 400 workers to go home at noon yesterday for "deficient performance."

The problems included:

--A valve that malfunctioned causing radioactive water to spray over the skin and clothing of four or five workers.

--A door to a restricted area that was taped open when it is supposed to be locked at all times.

--The failure of a filtration system that caused a previously safe area of the plant to be contaminated with radioactive gases.

"It was very minor," Edison spokesman David Tarantino said of the worker exposure. "It's unfortunate, but it happened."

Tarantino said the sprayed workers were immediately cleaned after they had been splashed by the radioactive water. They were then checked and no residual radioactivity was found, he said.

The problems come at time when Edison is struggling to refurbish the plant and gain permission to reopen it sometime this winter. The plant has been closed since April 1986, for a series of mechanical and managerial problems.

Yesterday's closure brought on a new round of criticism from public officials who have criticized Pilgrim and called for it to remain closed.

Dukakis, who has been critical of emergency evacuation plans at Pilgrim, said, "Today's announcement ... underscores the need to keep that plant closed until safety issues are resolved." Dukakis said his administration would "insist on a full accounting from Boston Edison of the violations at the Plymouth plant, including actions taken by the utility."

State Sen. William Golden (D-Weymouth), one of the most vocal critics of Pilgrim, said, "It appears that the new management is having no better success than the old in safely operating the plant." Golden blasted Edison for what he called a "bunker mentality" in delaying until yesterday the reporting of potential safety violations that occurred over the weekend.

Indeed, as late as five hours after Edison's top nuclear official, Ralph G. Bird, ordered the workers home, company spokesmen had sparse details on the problems that occurred over the weekend.