Word: nrc
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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This history is behind the main charge leveled against the NRC by the Union of Concerned Scientists, which is composed of 70,000 members, including 2,500 scientists and engineers, and three dozen nuclear experts. The nonprofit organization charges that the NRC has been far too lax about safety standards for nuclear power. Says U.C.S. Spokesman Robert Pollard, a former NRC safety inspector who resigned when his recommendations were overridden: "The top men at the NRC grew up [in the AEC] with the dream of nuclear energy. For that dream to work, it has to be economical. Even though they...
Pollard and his colleagues cite a series of safety hazards they claim the NRC has tolerated in nuclear plants around the nation, including Three Mile Island. For example, the scientists contend that defects in 26 reactors built by General Electric might cause the release of radiation in an accident similar to the one in Pennsylvania. The scientists have also produced a pamphlet, called the "Nugget File," that describes mishaps at nuclear plants, like the use of a basketball to plug a pipe leading from a radioactive tank...
...U.C.S. also claims that top staff members of the NRC are too cozy with the industry they are regulating. A 1975 study done by Common Cause found that 65% of NRC staffers had been employed by companies that held licenses, permits or contracts with the commission. In particular, the U.C.S. is critical of NRC Chairman Joseph M. Hendrie for not keeping at arm's length the industry he regulates. Retorts Hendrie: "I don't think my critics know my mindset. They have a po litical goal, which is to capture the NRC with antinuclear forces." And Hendrie insists...
...cooling down the failed reactor at Three Mile Island, experts from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had to assess somberly the risks of every feasible step, weigh them against the dangers of waiting too long, and act only after satisfying themselves that they had a reasonably clear idea of what to do. The same spirit ought to govern the public and its leaders in the intense debate about the future of nuclear power that is now beginning...
REGULATION. Experts from the NRC should be on duty in the control room of every reactor round the clock, armed with full authority to take over at the first sign of trouble, order a shut down if that seems necessary, direct all emergency procedures for closing the plant-and damn what it may cost. At present, this responsibility is borne largely by utility-company employees, who, with the best will in the world, cannot avoid thinking about the costs to the company. In addition, computers at all U.S. nuclear plants should be wired in to a central NRC monitoring station...