nuclear-news

The risk of weakening safety standards at USA nuclear weapons facilities

Don’t let foxes guard our nuclear henhouse THE HILL,   By Katherine M. Fuchs, program director, Alliance for Nuclear Accountability   – 05/09/12  Today the House Armed Services Committee will debate the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), possibly overturning 25 years of safety standards at our nation’s weapons facilities. During this debate members of this committee will have a choice – they can protect communities around nuclear sites and the employees who work there or they can go on record as turning their back on those safety standards.

There are several sections of the NDAA that relate directly to nuclear safety and pose a threat to security. Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this bill is the fact that it would overturn the “adequate protection standard” that has guided nuclear safety oversight for over two decades. The adequate protection standard, which through legal precedent has been defined as not allowing cost considerations to impact safety recommendations, would be muddled by a new “low as reasonably practicable” standard, an imprecise measure undefined by statute and almost certain to favor cost-cutting measures over public safety……
Finally, the NDAA continues the trend toward allowing our nation’s nuclear weapons labs to oversee themselves. Over the course of several House Armed Services Committee hearings this year, Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) invited private contractors from laboratories around the nuclear complex to complain about the fact that they face federal oversight. Now Congress wants to codify these complaints, requiring that contractors themselves determine how to implement “performance-based” safety regulations.

The bottom line for these contractors is profit, not community safety and they require appropriate oversight. We ought not let foxes guard our nuclear henhouses. We saw the result in Fukishima, Japan when nuclear oversight took a backseat to profits. …… http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/homeland-security/226365-dont-let-foxes-guard-our-nuclear-henhouse

May 10, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA