Draft A-plant study cites flaws, Nader group says

A draft Nuclear Regulatory Commission study shows the Three Mile Island nuclear accident was one of 141 mishaps between 1969 and 1979 that could have led to a meltdown, a Ralph Nader group said.

The Critical Mass Energy Project said the study verifies that nuclear power plants are riddled with design errors. The study screened 18,000 minor events reported by plant operators. A spokesman for the Atomic Industrial Forum, the main nuclear industry association, said the law requires reporting of minor incidents, such as blown fuses, that are ''significant only because they apply to a nuclear plant.''