NRC’s Flirtation with Nuclear Disaster

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission extended its perfect record of kowtowing to the nuclear power industry with its announcement this past week that it would approve a 20-year extension to the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant’s operating license.

The commission’s “Hear No Evil, See No Evil” approach to oversight has resulted in 52 straight license approvals. In fact, it has never failed to approve a license extension for any reason.

The NRC’s blind approval is especially ridiculous given the history of Vermont Yankee. Even now, the plant has been steadily leaking radioactive tritium into the groundwater for more than a year, from several different leaks. As soon as one is located and repaired, another springs up. It’s going on right now.

A few years ago, one of the cooling towers collapsed of its own accord – it didn’t take a hurricane or an earthquake or anything else. It just fell down. The resulting investigation identified shoddy workmanship when it was first built. That’s encouraging.

Now this takes on even more urgency given the trouble in Japan. Just last nigh, on one of the news broadcasts, an “expert” asserted that Japan’s nuclear power plants were the safest in the world, designed with earthquakes in mind. Following last night’s explosion, there’s a lot of backtracking.

This raises serious concerns about allowing Vermont Yankee to continue operating. Thankfully, the Vermont state government has the final say, and hopefully they’ll take all this into consideration.