Word: nrc
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...Kerr-McGee hoped its $1.38 million settlement with Silkwood's heirs had lifted the cloud of controversy from its operations, the furor that erupted last week dashed that hope. A spate of news reports revealed that Sequoyah has for more than a decade, with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approval, been converting radioactive wastewater, called raffinate, into fertilizer and spraying it over company-owned fields. Hay grown on the fields has then been sold as feed to farmers and ranchers. Nearby residents charge that the fertilizer may be contaminating the Arkansas River and the water table near the Oklahoma-Arkansas border...
...Parler and Stello argued, in effect, that the NRC shouldn't get hung up over idle threats regarding the availability of emergency services. Instead, they said, the proposed rule incorporates "the `realism doctrine,' which observes...that in an emergency, state and local authorities will act to protect public health and safety...
...Edward Markey (D-Mass.) attempted in August to bar the NRC from enacting the rules change, but his legislation was defeated 261-160 in the House...
Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which must evaluate the evacuation plans submitted to the NRC, has expressed reservations about any system that lacks state and local cooperation. But Parler and Stello, who met with FEMA officials earlier this month, said the sister agency had not foreclosed acceptance of a utility-drawn plan...
...week ago, NRC Chairman Lando Zech stressed that even if the rules change is adopted, "the commission must still find with reasonable assurance that the public health and safety can be protected before issuing a full-power license for a nuclear power plant. The preferred course of action most certainly is to have state and local participation in emergency planning...