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Scientists detail 15 ‘near misses’ at USA nuclear power plants

Fifteen ‘Near-Misses’ at U.S. Nuclear Plants in 2011 Environmental News Service WASHINGTON, DC, February 28, 2012 (ENS) – The Union of Concerned Scientists has documented 15 “near-misses” at 13 U.S. nuclear plants during 2011 and evaluates the response of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to each event in a report released today.

The second in an annual series of reports, “The NRC and Nuclear Power Plant Safety 2011 Report: Living on Borrowed Time” details 15 special inspections launched by the federal agency in response to problems with safety equipment, security shortcomings, and other troubling events at nuclear power plants.

The overview is provided by David Lochbaum, the director of UCS’s Nuclear Safety Project. He worked at U.S. nuclear plants for 17 years and was a boiling water reactor technology instructor for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“While none of the safety problems in 2011 caused harm to plant employees or the public, their frequency – more than one per month – is high for a mature industry,” Lochbaum writes.

In the 40 years that the Union of Concerned Scientists has evaluated safety at U.S. nuclear power plants, “We have repeatedly found that NRC enforcement of safety regulations is not timely, consistent or effective,” the report states.

The UCS says its findings match those of the agency’s internal assessments, as well as of independent agents such as the NRC’s Office of Inspector General and the federal Government Accountability Office, which is the investigative arm of Congress.

Many of these 15 “near misses” occurred because reactor owners either tolerated known safety problems or took inadequate measures to correct them, Lochbaum finds…..

Article goes on to detail each of these.… http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2012/2012-02-28-02.html

February 29, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA