nuclear-news

“Chilling Testimony”: Expert says public was put in great danger because of errors at California nuclear plant — KPBS: NRC hearing was a Catch 22… Kafkaesque (AUDIO)

http://enenews.com/expert-nrc-hearing-public-put-great-danger-because-errors-california-nuclear-plant-hearing-catch-22-kafkaesque-audio

Published: January 18th, 2013 at 6:23 pm ET
By ENENews

See the presentation here

Title: CHILLING TESTIMONY: DESIGN FLAWS AT CALIFORNIA NUCLEAR PLANT PUT MILLIONS IN DANGER
Source: The Reno Dispatch
Date: January 17, 2013

The operator of the San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California made critical errors in the design of the plant’s replacement steam generatorsand, as a result, the public was put in great danger last year, according to expert testimony Wednesday by an internationally renowned nuclear engineer at a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hearing.

The chilling testimony, which was presented to the NRC Petitions Review Board, was accompanied by evidence showing that plant operator Southern California Edison should have been required to go through a license amendment process before installing the new steam generators in 2009 and 2010.

The nuclear expert, Arnie Gundersen, a consultant to Friends of the Earth, explained to the NRC that the design changes proposed by Edison created a dangerously high level of steam at the top of all four replacement steam generators. […]

Title: Nuclear Safety Groups Petition NRC
Source: KPBS
Author: Alison St John
Date: January 17, 2013

[…] In a question and answer session at the end of the hearing, Daniel Hirsch of the nuclear safety group, Committee to Bridge the Gap, told the NRC the hearings are Kafkaesque, because Edison won’t release some very pertinent documents.

“You are placing the burden on Friends of the Earth to tell you what’s wrong with a document you will not permit them so see,” he said. “So I’m asking you for the rationale behind a public agency keeping those documents secret from the public, and then demanding that the public critique something they do not have access to.” […]

KPBS broadcast here

January 20, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized