Word: nrc
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...understaffed and conceptually weak'' training of the control room operators at T.M.I. There is an indirect accusation that such training may be even more deficient elsewhere in the industry. The T.M.I, operators, the report notes, scored higher than the national average in the NRC licensing and operating examinations. Nonetheless, in these tests, ''emphasis was not given to fundamental understanding of the reactor and little time was devoted to instruction in the biological hazards of radiation. The content was left to the instructors, who had no greater formal education qualifications than those of their students...
...should these failings be corrected? Starting at the top, the Kemeny commission urges abolishing the NRC and replacing it with a single Director of Nuclear Regulation to be appointed by the President. Explained a Kemeny commission member: ''We felt that when you have a collegial body, you delay decision-making while searching for the lowest common denominator of agreement.'' A single director, on the other hand, ''can't pass the buck in an emergency...
...nuclear regulation would be required to improve greatly the training of all nuclear power plant control room operators. The commission also wants the control rooms to be redesigned, claiming that ''problems with the control room contributed to the confusion during the accident.'' At present, NRC is continuing to license control rooms with ''outdated technology...
Also, the commission recommends that no new plants be placed near large population centers. NRC has stopped approving sites near metropolitan areas, though it has not specified any rigid distance requirements. Of the 100 U.S. sites where nuclear plants are operating or under construction, only ten are within ten miles of 100,000 or more residents...
...bring a reactor ''on line'' has stretched out to a dozen years after the start of construction. Reasons for the delays: public opposition, cumbersome regulatory and licensing procedures, and the fact that reactor designs have not been standardized; each plant is custom-built, and the NRC demands many design changes while it is being erected...