Word: aec
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Raymond J. McGrath, public affairs director of WJTV in Jackson, Miss., has filed objections to the plant with the Atomic Energy Commission(AEC), on the grounds that MP&L has not fully considered possible ways of making the plant safer...
McGrath asked the AEC earlier this month to allow him to withdraw as an intervener, on the condition that the AEC board hearing MP&L's request for a plant license consider all his objections...
With Ramey and Shaw gone, Ray was free to tackle what she considers the AEC's No. 1 problem: widespread public fear of nuclear power. She has made 13 speeches on the subject since taking office, and is organizing a series of open workshops in 28 cities for people "who are not sure of this nuclear stuff." Ray has no such doubts. She insists that "no industry is more closely regulated than the nuclear-power industry." AEC standards are so conservative, she maintains, that "when the least thing goes wrong, reactors are shut down immediately. That...
...nonetheless recognizes that such caution still does not satisfy opponents of nuclear plants. Critics are especially concerned about the AEC-designed emergency core-cooling system, a backup device that is supposed to supply cooling water to the hot reactor in the event that the main water system breaks down. They point out that no one-including the AEC'S own experts-is sure it will work. Reason: the system has been tested only with theoretical computer models. But, says Ray, "most big projects are designed this way. NASA did not destroy an Apollo spacecraft to test how much stress...
Even so, the AEC is hedging its bets. It has ordered a study by M.I.T. Nuclear Engineer Norman Rasmussen, of the reliability of every single component in a nuclear plant. Though the study will not be completed until mid-1974, Ray says, it so far shows that mechanically "the reactors are darned good. The weakest point may be the human factor"-that is, an error committed by technicians running an atomic power plant...