NUCLEAR REGULATIONS RESULTS, A PERMEATE ORANGE AFRO! (Frazer Chronicles)
You'd think that with a energy source so powerful, and accidents with such potentially catastrophic results, governmental regulations would be one of the most stringent in the country. That assumption might be wrong, if you were talking about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the organization responsible for nuclear power plant safety and so much more.
Taking a quick look at the NRC which was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened in January of 1975. The NRC oversees reactor safety and security, reactor licensing and renewal, radioactive material safety, security and licensing, and spent fuel management (storage, security, recycling and disposal).
The mission of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is to regulate the nation's civilian use of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, to promote the common defense and security, and to protect the environment. The NRC's regulatory mission covers three main areas:
REACTORS, commercial reactors for generating electric power and research and test reactors used for research, testing and training.
MATERIALS, uses of nuclear materials in medical, industrial and academic settings and facilities that produce nuclear fuel.
WASTE, transportation, storage and disposal of nuclear materials and waste and decommissioning of nuclear facilities from service.
The NRC is headed by 5 commissioners appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for 5 year terms. The current chairman is Gregory B. Jaczko who was first sworn in as a commissioner in January of 2005. Guess some of these commissioners make a career out of this committee as "Greg's" term runs through June of 2013.
There are 64 nuclear sites located throughout the United States and most are less then the 50 mile "safe zone" from major population zones that has been talked about since the Fukushima disaster in Japan. In addition, the NRC is in the midst of a examination of all U.S. reactors and the commission is also seeking suspension of 6 existing reactor licenses, 13 new combined construction permit and operating license decisions and several other actions.
To give you an idea of the power of the NRC and the "bite" that they posses, let me cite the Yankee nuclear facility in Brattleboro, Vermont, on the border of Vermont and New Hampshire. A nuclear watchdog group asked the NRC for a study on leaks of radioactive water at the Brattleboro reactor, it was told that the NRC had seen the reports, but never had officially taken custody of the reports.....therefore it wasn't public.
Yankee never denied the leak, the information that they "allowed" the NRC to look at is simply protected by that little bug-a-boo called "claims of proprietary information." You know I've run across that "stipulation" that industry seems to use whenever they don't want the "prying" eye of a watchdog group, a governmental regulatory committee, or just some "John Q. Public" like me to look "their" landscape over.
I know what the word means, "proprietary, owner, or ownership," "see, I'm not dumb," but I figured there must be more to the word then is seen by the naked eye, so I looked it up in my trusty Webster and came up with basically the same answers that I had understood with one exception, and this meaning might be the kicker. "A Monk who has reserved goods and effects to himself, not withstanding his renunciation of all at the time of profession."
I hope that clears things up for you, because I'm more befuddled then I was before that last paragraph. For the purpose of this blog, I'm sure that Entergy Nuclear Options do not, and never have had a Monk as an owner, or one on their board of directors.
These people.....both the NRC and the Yankee plant owner, Entergy Nuclear Options Incorporated, are at it again, playing their little "hide and seek" games with the public. Lets get one thing very straight right now, the leak, radioactive water, "tritium" is linked with cancer when ingested in high amounts
Critics say it's the style of communication between regulators and the regulated that completely cuts out the public as well as state regulators that try to track these leaks. In fact, an NRC spokeswomen confirmed that the agency routinely sees industry reports that it does not share on it's public website.
The Nuclear Regulatory Committee's online documents, which already reads like stereo, was recently redesigned and has become even harder to navigate. The NRC uses power company's claims of proprietary information, security concerns as reasons to limit information. The NRC also reports that the industry is sharing information on a voluntary basis.....another reason not to reveal information.
Wait.....I thought that the NRC was the regulatory body for Nuclear Power Plants, I'm sure I read it someplace during the course of my research. Yep.....I found it, right after Nuclear Reactor Accidents in the United States Section. The job of the NRC IS TO OVERSEE THE NUCLEAR POWER INDUSTRY. Thank God I found it, I thought I was losing my mind.
Now, if we can just get the NRC and these power companies that operate the power plants in the United States to act more like they should, you know, regulator and regulated, there will be less orange Afros and paint pealing off houses.
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