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Gulf oil disaster highlights need for nuclear reactor regulation

Lessons from the Gulf for nuclear reactors – The Hill, By Dr. Jeffery Patterson,  07/16/10 One crucial lesson from the BP oil spill is that measures to speed licensing, cut corners on safety and undermine regulation can lead to tragic consequences. Yet Congress appears on the verge of repeating mistakes that led to the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf.
Federal lawmakers are weighing a BP-type deregulation of new nuclear reactors — the one energy source in which damage from a major accident could dwarf harm done by a ruptured offshore oil well.

In this effort, the nuclear industry’s backers are working both sides of the street. On one hand, they proclaim that the current nuclear regulatory system is so superior it could well serve as a model for regulating the petrochemical industry.

At the same time, those nuclear proponents are working behind the scenes for regulatory rollbacks that would dramatically reshape safety and environmental requirements for new reactors. These provisions might be incorporated into a climate bill, or into a narrower “energy-only” bill that could be voted on by the Senate as early as this month.

The result of the changes making the rounds of Capitol Hill would further undermine Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) safety reviews by truncating the licensing process for new reactors, scaling back environmental-impact reviews, and limiting public transparency in reactor licensing decisions. All are bad ideas.

Here are a few of the problematic provisions proposed in draft legislation that should not be included in a final climate or energy bill:

— The NRC would not be authorized to prevent startup of a new reactor, even if fundamental safety components already inspected were later compromised in the construction process……………….

As the oil spill illustrates all too well, the more complex the technology, the greater the chance of catastrophic failure. Because of human error, technological failure or unforeseen events, it is virtually guaranteed that there will be other major disasters. The catastrophic effects of these on human health and our environment will continue for generations. As we have seen at Chernobyl and are seeing in the Gulf, our environment cannot sstain this continued onslaught.

Lessons from the Gulf for nuclear reactors – The Hill’s Congress Blog

July 17, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized