nuclear-news

Scepticism about the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The NRC was responsible — along with industry — for sitting nuclear power plants on earthquake zones in California, close to major population centers such as Indian Point near New York City and in coastal areas such as Seabrook. What were they thinking?

 Time to phase out nuclear power plants, Newbury Port News,  BRUCE SKUD, 25 April 11, Japan’s nuclear crisis — amidst an earthquake and tsunami — has reignited the public’s concerns about living within a 10-mile radius of Seabrook nuclear power plant and about the safety of nuclear power generally. But the Seabrook operators, the nuclear industry, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission continue to whistle past the graveyard.

Nuclear power plant operators are seeking extensions of their operating licenses from the NRC far beyond their plant’s life cycle design. It is inevitable that a U.S. nuclear power plant will have an incident directly as a result of equipment that has aged far beyond its design limits. Under a pro-industry NRC ruling, Seabrook is seeking an extension of its licence far in advance of when its licence is actually up. Let’s err on the side of caution and wait.

Seabrook won the battle of getting its evacuation plan approved, although few of us are convinced that during summer traffic congestion or during a winter like the one we just had, that the seacoast could realistically be evacuated. If there is radioactive fallout from a nuclear plant, the industry has assured itself that it will make a minuscule contribution to compensating homeowners by getting federal legislation that limits liability to a paltry amount.

As the Japanese crisis has horrifically reminded us, nuclear plants have high-level spent nuclear fuel on the premises. The storage was intended to be temporary; it has become effectively permanent…….. The U.S. should phase out nuclear power by banning licence renewal and new nuclear power plants. We appreciate that the president has ordered a top-to-bottom review of nuclear power in light of the Fukushimi Daiichi disaster, but are skeptical of any review conducted by the NRC. The NRC was responsible — along with industry — for sitting nuclear power plants on earthquake zones in California, close to major population centers such as Indian Point near New York City and in coastal areas such as Seabrook. What were they thinking?   http://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/x1019716061/Time-to-phase-out-nuclear-power-plants

April 26, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA