When news broke of the bungled radiation treatments given to prostate cancer patients at the Philadelphia VA hospital, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was quick to deflect responsibility. The agency said it learned of the problems only in May 2008 and then moved “aggressively and decisively” to correct them.

The Department of Veterans Affairs took a similar line. Testifying before a Senate committee in June, acting VA Undersecretary for Health Gerald Cross expressed regret that “this problem went undetected for nearly six years.”

But the NRC’s own records tell a different story. Documents readily accessible on its Web site show it knew of Dr. Gary Kao’s pattern of errors in 2003, saw it recur in 2005, and did nothing about it until 2008. Far from “undetected,” this problem was papered over by the two agencies……………………

the doctors and hospitals licensed by the NRC are a powerful lobby, relentless and all too successful in demanding less regulation. In recent years, the agency has dismantled much of the system of regulations that used to protect patients and the public.

For example, the NRC used to have a rule requiring safety checks that might have prevented the Philadelphia disaster. But, yielding to the industry, the NRC abolished that rule in 2002………..

…..decisions affecting the medical care of Philadelphia’s veterans or anyone else should not be entrusted to an agency of nuclear engineers – certainly not one with the NRC’s record of failure. This would require a change in the law, which Congress should make after thoroughly investigating the NRC’s medical program.In the meantime, President Obama has two vacancies to fill on the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Recent reports say he is preparing to name two more reactor experts, to the jubilation of the nuclear-power industry. This would only make a bad situation worse.

Obama should instead nominate someone – perhaps a current or former state regulator – with the expertise and will to end the NRC’s long neglect of its medical responsibilities.

Decisions affecting the medical care of Philadelphia’s veterans or anyone else should not be entrusted to an agency of nuclear engineers – certainly not one with the NRC’s record of failure. This would require a change in the law, which Congress should make after thoroughly investigating the NRC’s medical program.

In the meantime, President Obama has two vacancies to fill on the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Recent reports say he is preparing to name two more reactor experts, to the jubilation of the nuclear-power industry. This would only make a bad situation worse.

Obama should instead nominate someone – perhaps a current or former state regulator – with the expertise and will to end the NRC’s long neglect of its medical responsibilities.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090812_The_NRC_s_ghastly_failure.html