USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission changed safety rules to benefit nuclear company

a decision by the NRC that “exempted” Indian Point from fire safety requirements that had been on the books for 30 years. ……And the “exemption” was granted in complete secrecy

NRC Cooks the Books at Indian Point, Policy Shop , 21 Sept 11, Richard Brodsky The Fukushima nuclear catastrophe opened the eyes and minds of most Americans to the dangers of Indian Point, and real mismanagement by the NRC. The NRC is supposed to ensure American nuclear reactors are not operated dangerously. There’s been widespread concern that the NRC isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do. Now we can prove it.

The NRC is to nuclear power today what the SEC was to Wall Street three years ago. It’s letting the corporate owners of Indian Point operate dangerously and secretly. If things go wrong, though, we won’t be able to contain the damage by throwing a trillion dollars at banks and insurance companies. This meltdown would be real and irreversible. Battles are being fought to reduce the risk of a catastrophic meltdown, including a lawsuit trying to make the NRC enforce its own fire safety standards.

Brodsky v NRC challenges a decision by the NRC that “exempted” Indian Point from fire safety requirements that had been on the books for 30 years. Five years ago the NRC discovered that the fire insulation that protects the electric cables that shut down the reactor and prevent a meltdown lasted only 27 minutes, less than half the longstanding requirement that insulation last one hour. Rather than force the plant’s owner Entergy to upgrade the insulation so that it lasts an hour, the NRC secretly granted an “exemption.” This means that a fire at an electric cable has to be discovered, located and extinguished by fire personnel in under a half hour. At many locations at Indian Point that’s just physically impossible.

And the “exemption” was granted in complete secrecy

The NRC excluded evidence of the dangers of 24 minute insulation, and without an Environmental Impact Statement. Most importantly,the Atomic Energy Act, which gives the NRC all its powers and responsibilities, does not give the NRC the power to issue a fire safety “exemption” to begin with. What they did was dangerous and illegal. Here’s a link to a Brief just filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in NYC. It’s an interesting read even for non-lawyers.

Indian Point is today more dangerous than it’s ever been. In a post-Fukushima world, NRC and Entergy cannot keep making exceptions to the very rules that keep millions of Americans safe.

http://www.policyshop.net/home/2011/9/21/nrc-cooks-the-books-at-indian-point.html

September 22, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA

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