Trust Meltdown:Nuclear Power Plants Have Safety Prolems

You wouldn't trust your child to a careless babysitter, so why trust your nuclear power plants to one? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which is charged with keeping a watchful eye on the nuclear power plants operating nationwide, seems to be falling asleep. Instead of holding these often hazardous facilities under tight scrutiny, the NRC has acquiesced to industry pressures by allowing safety problems to fester for years before fixing them, according to the non-profit government watchdog Project on Government Oversight (POGO). While even public perception has it that we are far from a Chernobyl disaster, the proverbial wall that prevents such a devastating situation from happening is beginning to crack. Since 1994 alone, over half of the high priority "Generic Safety" issues have been dismissed without requiring any safety improvements, according to a two-year investigation by POGO.The group's findings revealed that the NRC deems volatile hazards resolved before any changes move off the drawing board. These hazards include: problems maintaining cooling the reactors' core to prevent a meltdown; lower than average test scores by chemical technicians when tested for their knowledge of basic chemistry; unreliable radiation monitors; and a flammable fire barrier system.Under pressure from POGO and such legislators as Sen. Joseph R. Biden, D-Del., the NRC is slowly making changes, although the changes seem to progress only halfway. As one example, the NRC proposed a $900,000 fine against Thermal Science, the makers of the flammable "fire retardant" Thermo-Lag, which violated nine separate NRC requirements. While the NRC is taking a positive step by punishing the company, they aren't taking steps to require nuclear plants to stop using the product. In fact, power plants are in charge of their own regulation of Thermo-Lag, according to Sue Gagner of NRC's office of public affairs. So while the Thermal Science is being fined for failing to meet the requirements that would insure their product's safety, the agency with "the power to make sure plants are operating safely" -- in Gagner's words -- leaves the plants to their own good judgment.This laissez-faire regulation is exactly what POGO is targeting as dangerous to the people who live and work near the nuclear plants. "The NRC trusts the industry," said Amey, "but the industry isn't inclined to be trusted."