nuclear-news

Secrecy is a worry, with Nuclear Power Operations

Nuclear industry group works behind the scenes AUGUSTA CHRONICLE>COM By Walter C. Jones | Morris News Service October 12, 2009 ATLANTA — Construction of two reactors at Plant Vogtle in Burke County will be overseen not only by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission but also by a little-known organization that has become a powerful influence in the nuclear power industry.

The Atlanta-based Institute of Nuclear Power Operations was created by industry executives in response to the accident 30 years ago at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. The executives wanted to head off efforts in Congress for more regulation and establishment of a government-run school for plant technicians.

What has evolved is an institution at the center of the industry’s 104 commercial reactors. As plans develop to begin construction of new reactors for the first time in three decades, the institute figures to be integral……………..

“We’re not a public organization at all,” said Ronn Smith, the institute’s director of communications.

The 390-person organization has a large impact…………..The organization’s reviews also determine what premiums insurance companies will charge, according to Edwin Lyman, a nuclear physicist with the Union of Concerned Scientists…………….
The problem, he said, is that it is allowed to keep its evaluations secret.

“From the point of view of the public, it’s a black box,” he said. “The public can’t tell if the process is being abused or gamed.”

Nuclear industry group works behind the scenes 101209 – The Augusta Chronicle

October 13, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy