US Public losing faith in nuclear power?

NRC chief warns of loss of public confidence in nuclear plants

Brattleboro ReformerBy BOB AUDETTE

BRATTLEBORO — Mishaps at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant such as the collapse of a cooling tower cell in 2007 and a transformer fire in 2004 can lead to an erosion of public confidence in the safe operation of nuclear power plants around the country.

That’s what Dale Klein, the commissioner for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in an August speech sponsored by the American Nuclear Society.

Other problems at other nuclear plants around the country — including leaks in underground piping, cracks in nozzle welds, spent fuel pool leaks, transformer failures, tritium leaks and degraded underground cables — only serve to reinforce the view that nuclear power isn’t safe, said Klein………… Klein also warned that complacency over small things in the nuclear industry can lead to big problems. Relying too much on a plant’s design and its technology to ensure safety can only lead to trouble, said Klein, such as with the partial core meltdown at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pa., in 1979. http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_13406917

September 25, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radioactive