nuclear-news

US govt part of the system that rubber stamps nuclear plant relicensing

AP IMPACT: NRC and industry rewrite nuke history

By JEFF DONN,  AJC NewsThe Associated Press, 29 June 11 ROCKVILLE, Md. — When commercial nuclear power was getting its start in the 1960s and 1970s, industry and regulators stated unequivocally that reactors were designed only to operate for 40 years. Now they tell another story — insisting that the units were built with no inherent life span, and can run for up to a century, an Associated Press investigation shows.

By rewriting history, plant owners are making it easier to extend the lives of dozens of reactors in a relicensing process that resembles nothing more than an elaborate rubber stamp.

As part of a yearlong investigation of aging issues at the nation’s nuclear power plants, the AP found that the relicensing process often lacks fully independent safety reviews. Records show that paperwork of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sometimes matches word-for-word the language used in a plant operator’s application.

Also, the relicensing process relies heavily on such paperwork, with very little onsite inspection and verification.

And under relicensing rules, tighter standards are not required to compensate for decades of wear and tear.

So far, 66 of 104 reactors have been granted license renewals. Most of the 20-year extensions have been granted with scant public attention. And the NRC has yet to reject a single application to extend an original license. The process has been so routine that many in the industry are already planning for additional license extensions, which could push the plants to operate for 80 years, and then 100………………………………NUCLEAR LIFE RENEWED

Relicensing is a lucrative deal for operators. By the end of their original licenses, reactors are largely paid for. When they’re operating, they’re producing profits. They generate a fifth of the country’s electricity.

…..INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT AS PARTNERS

Despite the aging problems, relicensing rules prohibits any overall safety review of the entire operation. More conservative safety margins are not required in anticipation of higher failure rates in old plants, regulators acknowledge.

The approach has turned relicensing reviews into routine approvals……..

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/ap-impact-nrc-and-990073.html

June 28, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA